Christ the Lord

Matthew 16:13-19
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 

Peter is such a man. I wish I had his discernment and wisdom and courage. Peter was the first of the disciples to claim that Jesus was the Son of the living God. Peter had been with Jesus just as long as the other disciples, but he was the first one to boldly claim the divinity in Christ. 

We are often just like the other disciples. We spend a lot of time with Jesus. We hang out with him. We eat with him, talk with him, and all that jazz. We have all the information to boldly claim that Jesus is the Christ, but sometimes we are afraid to do this even in front of our peers and friends.

Even though we have all the information we need to claim that he is Lord, we are shy and scared of saying who Jesus really was and is. Sometimes we need to take a step of faith like Peter and just say who we think Jesus is. We don't have to be afraid to claim his divinity. He's not just another prophet, teacher, or friend. He is the Lord.

He came to save us. He came to rescue us. He is fully God and fully man. His manhood makes him one of us. His divinity redeems us.

Be like Peter: talk boldly, speak with confidence, and proclaim that Jesus is Christ the Lord.