74. Peter's Confession

Jesus said to the twelve, “You don’t also want to go away, do you?”

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus answered them, “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” Now he spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for it was he who would betray him, being one of the twelve.

Now when Jesus came into Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of God, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven.” Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was the Christ. 

Reflection

For centuries, Jewish prophets had told of the coming of a new kind of king who would lead a new kind of kingdom. This new king came to be referred to as the Promised One, the Messiah (Hebrew) or the Christ (Greek). The woman at the well had asked her neighbors, “Could this be the Messiah?” Peter went further and said, “You are the Messiah.” How do you describe Jesus? A great man? A great teacher? The one whose coming fulfilled all the promises of God? 

Prayer: Help me think clearly, Lord, about who you are – and who you are to me.