Declared by Peter

Posted by Julian Lannigan on February 7, 2010 under Sunday School |

February 14, 2010
Lesson 11

Readings

• Monday, Feb. 8, My Sheep Hear My Voice (John 10:22-30)
• Tuesday, Feb. 9, Believe in the Good News (Mark 1:9-15)
• Wednesday, Feb. 10, Only Believe (Mark 6:34-44)
• Thursday, Feb. 11, Help My Unbelief (Mark 9:14-27)
• Friday, Feb. 12, Ask and Believe (Mark 11:20-25)
• Saturday, Feb. 13, Both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:29-36)
• Sunday, Feb. 14, You are the Messiah (Matthew 16:13-27)

What It Takes to Know a Person

What does it take to know another person truly? We may be introduced to someone and right away learn something about that person’s work, home, or family.  We might then draw conclusions about that person’s character, based on what we associate with a particular profession, place, or family situation.  But with time, we learn more about that person and are driven to other conclusions.  People can defy our “first impression” expectations.

Today’s lesson concerns what Peter knew about Jesus.  Be declaring Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Peter declared what Christians ever since have affirmed as the central tenet of their faith.  But by itself, Peter’s confession is not sufficient to tell us who Jesus is.  He is indeed the Christ, but we also must know the kind of Christ he is.  We need to know that he willingly went to the cross for the sake of sinners.  Jesus defied Peter’s expectations.  Perhaps we will need to revise our expectations of Jesus too.

Lesson Background

Today’s story is at the center of the plot of Matthew’s Gospel.  Prior to this story, Matthew presents Jesus performing miracles, teaching, meeting the challenges of his opponents, and issuing calls to repent of sins and follow him.  Notably Jesus has spoken and acted with authority that some recognize can belong only to God.  Yet to this point in time, Jesus has not spoken clearly and directly about his identity.  He has left provocative hints but has made no explicit statements.  Most prominent among those who follow Jesus is Simon, also called Peter.  He is the first Jesus’s followers to be named in Matthew’s Gospel (4:18) and the one most often named thereafter (8:14, 10:2, 14:28, 29; 15:15).  He is usually bold, sometimes in a foolhardy way.

Today’s story is set in Caesarea Philippi, a town on the northern edge of Israel’s territory in Galilee.  The town was famous in Jesus’ time for a shrine to the Greek god Pan.  It was as pagan a place as one could find within Israel’s borders, a symbol of the conflict between the God of Israel and a hostile, sinful world.  Our text divides naturally into two parts.  The first is focused on Peter’s statement about Jesus and Jesus’ response to it.  The second centers around Jesus’ statement about his future, Peter’s response to it, and Jesus’ rejoinder.  We must couple the two parts together to grasp who Jesus really is.