A Heaven Sent Answer

Matthew 16:13-20

August 24, 2008

15^th Sunday After Pentecost

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Dear children of God, who do you, say Jesus is? 

Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord; look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.  Look to Abraham you father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him.  (Isa. 51:1-2).

With these words from Isaiah we find the faith of Abraham and Sarah spreading throughout the world, from one rock, one confession of faith in Jesus Christ, we have been hewn.  Indeed the faith of Abraham has gone out into the world and people from the nations will desire to have comfort, peace, forgiveness, hope, and eternal like that has brought to the Jewish people in the Messiah.  The Church will grow as the Lord proclaims in our Old Testament lesson.

Who is this man?  On Palm Sunday this very same questions was asked of the children of God after Jesus entered into Jerusalem.  The children of God in their chants and cheers called out, Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is His who comes in the name of the Lord. (Matt. 21:9).  The whole city was stirred up when Jesus rode through the streets on the donkey.  Who is this? Jerusalem asked.  And the multitudes were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” (Matt. 21:10-11).

The people had heard and see what He had done in those nearly three years of ministry, especially raising Lazarus from the dead.  The Pharisees saw what was happening that the people were going out to meet him.  They were angered to no end that all of their plans and efforts of silencing Jesus had come to not.  The whole world had gone after Him. 

Earlier Jesus had questioned His disciples about who they were saying He was.  You heard their answer in the Gospel Reading for this Sunday.  Jesus asked the most important question that could ever be asked, and answered by, a single soul, and an entire congregation.

Hear again the words of our Gospel reading: He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 16:15-17).

Jesus had previously asked His disciples, “Do people say that I am?”  Apart from God’s revelation the world always answers in the wrong.  The world at that time believed He was John the Baptist back from the dead.  Others thought Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.  None of those answers are correct.  As the same question today and the answers will be as numerous.  A prophet, a good teacher, an insane fictional character.

Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”  Our salvation rests on that answer.  Is the Son of Man the Son of the living God?  Is He is the seed born of the woman?  Is Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World?  Is He David’s Son and David’s Lord?  Is Jesus the Suffering Servant prophesied about in the book of Isaiah?  Is Jesus the King of the magi?  Is He the light to lighten the Gentiles?  We could go on and on, but the answer Peter gives encompasses all of the questions I have just mentioned.

You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  The Son of God, along with our Father is in heaven and the Holy Spirit, is the Lord, the true God,

Based only upon the Word of the Scriptures alone, the Church confesses that Jesus is the Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, He descended into Hell and the third day He rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven.  He will come again to judge the quick and the dead.  Through the Ministry of God in the means of grace, the Holy Spirit grants the gift of faith in us just as it did in Peter.  The soul that trusts in this confession is declared righteous before God, not because of the works we do, but by the grace of God through faith in Jesus.

Who do you say Jesus is?

It can be fairly easy to ask the adults in our midst so let’s begin with the children.  Who do you toddlers and children say that Jesus is?  I know your listening even though you are flipping through the hymnal, eating your cheerios, coloring on the bulletin, and fidgeting on laps.  You children know exactly what I’m talking about.  Your mom’s and dad’s love you very much.  But sometimes we don’t mind them, do we?  They have made rules for you to keep you safe, but we don’t always follow them.  But we like to have our own ways.  When we don’t we get mad.  You don’t want to share your toys.  You may blame others for everything under the sun, you may pit mom and dad against each other to get what you want, and you will use bad language, and be creative when making excuses.  You shouldn’t do those things, should you?  No.

But what has caused you to be this way?  Well, the fact of it is that your parents.  You are just like your mother and father.  We are all like our original parents, Adam and Eve, in fact.  God wants us to live our lives a certain way and we don’t do it either.  When adults don’t get their way, we pout and get angry.  We say bad things about someone behind their back.  We have temper tantrums and we vent our anger to those not involved without talking to the person who hurt us.  These are all sins. 

So who is Jesus?  Is Jesus someone who comes to make us mind the rules?  No moms and dads are here for that.  God knew that we didn’t need Jesus to show us how to keep the law or to make us obey it.  God knew that we needed someone to save us from our sins.  When you don’t mind your parents or others in authority, when you didn’t share, when you said bad words, you sin.

That is why God sent His Son to save you from your sins.  That is what Jesus means, Savior.  Only Jesus can save us from our sins.  Our parents can’t, our pastors can’t, only Jesus can save you.  He can do this because He is God and because He loved you so much that He died on the cross to forgive you all of those sins that you commit.  Jesus did not just die, He rose again.  He’s alive and with you even though you can’t see Him. 

In fact our Lord is here with us right now.  That is why your parents brought you here this morning and why all these other adults are here.  They want to hear about Jesus, about the love that He has for us.  They want to say Amen when we call upon God in the beginning of the Service with In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  They want you to be able to confess all of those sins just like they do and then say Amen when they receive the forgiveness of sins.  They want you to see, and touch, and taste how Christ is here when we receive Jesus’ body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine.  Your parents want you to hear the Bible readings and the sermon and learn about what Jesus has done for you, whether you are young or old.

So if I ask you again, who do you say that Jesus is you could answer the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  Your answer is given to you by the Father in Heaven, the same one who taught you how to pray.  It is the easiest question to answer but also the hardest.  It’s so easy that a baby could answer it correctly and so hard that a grown up is unable to figure it out during an entire lifetime.

The difficult part of the Christian is not becoming one; it is remaining in the faith.  Day in and out.  Week after week, year after year.  That is why dear children, young and old, you keep coming back to God’s house to hear His Word to you.  For if you think that you can remain in the faith on your own it will be very difficult. 

Your parents, grandparents, and all the adults here want you to be able to sing the Church song.  So that you can learn it by heart, even before learning to read.  They want you to memorize it so when you get old and maybe your sick in the hospital or shut-in at home you’ll be able to sing it from memory.  To sing that Jesus if the Son of the Living God, that He loves you and is with you no matter what.  That He will forgive you of your sins no matter how bad they seem.

Is it not true that the Word of God has come to you?  You are a living example of the Gospel.  You are hewn from the rock of Abraham and Sarah and have made the same confession as Peter.  Thanks be to God! Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard and protect your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.