MATTHEW 16:13, 16
"Who do people say that the Son of man is?" Simon Peter, answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God".
Beloved, this is the confession that Jesus wants to hear today.
I don't think that Jesus wants us to parrot back answers we have heard or read. Maybe, that's why he pushes his disciples to move from what they are hearing around them - "John the Baptist, Ellijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets" to what they are hearing within themselves, hence Peter's confession.
Confessing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God is very important. It is to confess that Jesus is the only way to salvation and your personal saviour. It is based on this confession that our salvation hinges.
Romans 10.9-10 says that "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved".
The early Christians in Rome were persecuted for believing in Jesus as the Christ, the only way to salvation. They refused to bow down to Roman gods including the Emperor. They loved Jesus more than anything in this world. They committed their hearts and lives to Jesus and they were happy to live and die for him.
Nowadays, we are not threatened to worship false gods of this world, but we are tempted to do so. People think of money, job and success as their Christ.
When one has a clear personal confession of faith that Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God, he becomes firm and steady in his inner man like a rock just as Jesus tells Peter. "And l also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock l will build my church and the gates of hades will not overcome it. This means, that those who confess Jesus as their Christ will be victorious in this world of sin as well as the world to come, even over the grave.
Without a clear commitment and confession of faith and love we become useless like chaff blown by the wind.
May our confession this morning reveal how we live and and stand for.
May it guide our decisions and determine the actions we take and the words we speak.
May it describe our expectations and demands we place on Jesus.
Amen.
