2026-01-18 The Confession of St. Peter

Scripture Readings

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen!

“But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (MT 16:15). There it is! The now iconic words that formed the original confession of the Christian church, voiced by none other than the absolute legend, St. Peter, disciple and Apostle. It is precisely these words that we commemorate today as God’s people because they are the bedrock of our faith and have thus been proclaimed throughout the world over for 2000 years.

But who really was St. Peter? We know a little bit about him. Originally he was called ‘Simon’ or Shimon bar Yonah if we spoke Aramaic. Son of Jonah, born in the small fishing village of Bethsaida near the Sea of Galilee. We know that he worked as a fisherman, alongside his brother Andrew. They likely lived in nearby Capernaum which has archaeological evidence of being a fishing community. The Gospels tell us that Peter was married and that Jesus healed his mother-in-law in Mark 1(29-31) but we don’t know his wife’s name - despite The Chosen telling us her name was Eden! And there is no record if he had any kids. Before encountering Jesus, Peter no doubt led a very simple life, focused on fishin’. Like any good Jew he had some ‘Sunday School’ basics but he never had any formal religious learning or a scholarly background. He certainly wasn’t a Rabbi or a Pharisee. He was your typical, work-a-day Pete, subsistence living hand to mouth like most everyone else.

But that all changed when Jesus showed up. He called him and brother Andrew whilst they were casting a fishing net into the water. “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (MT 4:19). These men were the ‘pick of the litter’ in terms of our Lord’s first hand-picked disciples. Jesus changed Simon’s name too. Cephas in Aramaic and Peter in Greek, both of which are based on the word for ‘rock’. It would have been simpler if Jesus just called him “Rocky” instead! But the ‘rock’ is none other than the rock-solid confession that Peter gives about who Jesus is and what He has done for us and our salvation.

Peter emerges as a leader, a right hand man and spokesman of the disciples. The Gospels show us that he was part of Jesus’ “inner circle” along with James and John. He witnesses key events in our Lord’s life and ministry like the Transfiguration and the raising of Jairus’ daughter. And, Peter’s faith was tested in rather dramatic ways too. He walked on the water - albeit briefly - trying to meet Jesus on the sea. He ran to our Lord’s tomb on Easter morning and charged right in. These kinds of things paint the picture that St. Peter may have been rather impulsive but certainly devoted. In his bold confession of our Lord that we heard today, he earns the praise and promise of being the rock upon which “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (MT 16:18-19).

These ‘keys’ are none other than what we now call The Office of the Keys, the forgiveness, life and salvation of our Lord Jesus’ work on the cross being given to His church. If people repent of their sins in humility, the gates of heaven are unlocked. If people embrace pride and self-righteousness, then the gates of salvation are locked and these people are outside the Kingdom of God. The congregation vests this authority in their pastor for the ongoing work of the Gospel in the life of the church so that we may have the blessed assurance of God’s pardon and peace for our sins. To this end, this is often why St. Peter is artistically depicted as holding keys. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not because he is the patron Saint of locksmiths!

We see these grand examples of St. Peter and tend to put him up on a pedestal. Yet we also recall that his sinful humanity often shone through in moments of weakness too. During the Last Supper, we recall that he vowed unwavering loyalty to Jesus. His rock solid promise of faithfulness to Jesus quickly crumbled as he denied even knowing Jesus three times out of fear and trepidation (LK 22:54-62). Cockadoodledoo! He no doubt developed an aversion to Kentucky Fried Chicken after that!

This three-fold denial haunted Peter, leading to bitter weeping and sorrowful lament. The hand-picked Apostle was also the chief denier, competing even with Judas Iscariot! Thanks be to God his repentance was less rocky and our Lord reinstated him with his three-fold confession of love for Jesus. To this restoration Jesus recommissions Peter: “Feed my sheep” (JN 21:17).

After our Lord’s resurrection from the grave and ascension into heaven, Peter became the de facto leader of the early church. At Pentecost, empowered by the Holy Spirit, he delivered a powerful sermon that converted some 3,000 people (Acts 2:14–41), marking the birth of the Church. Not too shabby! He also performed the first post-resurrection miracle, healing a lame man at the Temple (Acts 3:1–11), and boldly defended the Christian faith before the hostile Jewish authorities. Later in Acts 10 we hear of Peter playing a pivotal role expanding Christianity beyond the walls of Judaism. We just went over this in our Men’s bible study. In a vision, God instructs Peter to accept the Gentiles, leading to the conversion and baptism of Cornelius, a Roman centurion. He has his whole household responded to the Gospel promise through Peter.

He traveled extensively and went on to serve as the first Bishop of Antioch and later Rome where he was martyred under emperor Nero, opting to be crucified upside down, feeling unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. He wrote two of the New Testament Epistles, offering encouragement to persecuted Christians and strict warnings against false teachers. Peter’s legacy endures as the the rock of the Church precisely because of His bedrock confession of Jesus.

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (MT 16:15). Do you know where Peter said these words, geographically speaking, that is? He spoke them at Caesarea Philippi. Earlier it was known as Panias, a city in northern Israel, rebuilt and renamed by Herod the Great’s Son, Herod Philip, in honour of Caesar, and, of course, himself. In this place there is one of the major water sources of the mighty Jordan River itself. And more specifically, there is a cave there from whence the water flows, feeding the river. At this exact site there are ancient ruins from the pagan worship of the fertility god Pan (giving the place it’s original name). This god was depicted as half man, half goat. The water flows out of the cave, giving life and fertility to the area. In the rock of that cave are carved niches for idols of Pan and the cave itself was seen as the gates of the underworld. It was by all accounts a pagan shrine! The disgusting fertility stuff that took place there would be considered heinous - even by the standards of our “anything goes” secular culture. Why would Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, bring His disciples to a sick and twisted pagan place like this?!

It is here that St. Peter gives his bold confession of Jesus. The Christ. The anointed one. The Messiah of the world. He is the Son of the Living God - not like these fake news dead gods at the cave of Pan! On this rock, this pagan, false and sick culture of death, Jesus will build His church. That is to say, the Christian Church will rise up and take the place of this cesspool of pagan iniquity in a very confrontational way. Jesus boldly tells us He will build His church and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (MT 16:18). When we hear these words, we tend to think of God and the church like a mighty fortress, strong walls to protect us against the onslaught of the devil and his minions. But listen closely to the words our Lord speaks. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. This is not defensive language, this is offence language!

The mission of the church, the confession that St. Peter gives, is none other than to smash down the very gates of hell and the devil himself - in our culture, in our society, in our world, in ourselves, everywhere. It’s a spiritual battle with evil that our Lord promises will not stand against us. So we make St. Peter’s confession our confession. We voice these same words in the proclamation of the Gospel. Jesus has conquered by His death on the cross and His resurrection. The light of His glorious Kingdom shines into the sick darkness of our world. Don’t be afraid, don’t cower and hide, but rather bring the fight right into the face of evil. Boldly proclaim the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God and the gates of hell will not prevail against you! Amen!