Year A 2nd Sunday after Epiphany WED 2023 Confession of St. Peter

 Year A 2nd Sunday after Epiphany WEDNESDAY, 18 January 2023 St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA CONFESSION OF PETER THE APOSTLE (18 JAN) Collect: Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, so that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Matthew 16:13-19 When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still 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 Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, 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 heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

On 18 January we remember how the Apostle Peter was led by God's grace to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ (Matthew 16:13-20), and we join with Peter, and with all Christians everywhere, in hailing Jesus as our Lord, God, and Savior. This is the turning point in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), where there is a dividing line. After the confession of Peter, we see Jesus “turning his face to Jerusalem, and the events of Holy Week. In our liturgical year it fits well here. It is in Epiphany, and we are heading for Lent. Peter’s Confession has to come about here if our year follows Jesus’ story. And Peter did not do this alone, for as Scripture says in I Corinthians 12:3, “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.” This was no mere act of devotion, nor was it a statement of mental acquiescence by Peter. He is saying the thing they were all thinking, and he was the first to commit. He always was a bit impetuous. But it also was a very controversial statement in the context of Palestine in the first century. Yearly, those under the Roman Empire had to pay their taxes and make a simple declaration, “Caesar is Lord.” That’s it. Very simple. That is, if you were a Roman, the occupiers of most of the known world. The vanquished had very different feelings. And if Caesar is Lord, could anyone else be? In the early Church, the confession that Jesus is Lord is not only a statement of faith. It is a revolutionary declaration. The Roman Empire is not my kingdom. The Kingdom of God is my kingdom, and Jesus is my Lord. There was a reason this man who came teaching love and kindness was so dangerous to the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman officials as well. So dangerous they had to kill him. Remember what the religious leaders argued with Pilate in John? “From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.” (John 19:12) Today, as we join with Peter in declaring that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, our Savior and Lord, then no one else can be. It is a dangerous, good thing. Amen