Thought for the Day – Sunday 23rd August
‘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.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell
anyone that he was the Messiah.’ (Matthew
16: 13-20)
Just for a
moment try and imagine Caesarea Philippi.
Here was a
Roman city, where the culture was truly Roman, where the economy was Roman,
where the religion was Roman, meaning all around there would have been little
chapels to various Roman gods and these chapels would have been unmissable –
there would have been hundreds of them. This meant that Jesus and the disciples
would have passed a great many of them as they wandered around the market place
and the side streets of Caesarea Philippi.
Well, this is
the context in which Jesus chooses to ask Peter in particular, “Who do you say
I am?” Then without hesitation, Peter, responds in a very grown up way for
Peter, he responds showing a great depth of faith and the strength of his
connection to Jesus when he says, “You
are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
The point is now
being made – this is who Jesus is – in among all these gods of the Roman world
surrounding them, Jesus is recognisably different, he is the ‘real deal’ when
set against the gods and empires of this Roman world and at last he is
recognised for who he truly is and this is a momentous moment – a moment of
revelation!
I wonder do we
still have such momentous moments today. Do we have times when we recognise God
as who God is in our world today; do we recognise him at work in the world, do
we recognise him as the one who saves, the one who comes in love for all of us.
I truly hope
there are such moments for us all, for these moments show the depth of our faith
and our great connection to Jesus too, moments when we do see more clearly than
others and moments when we truly know whose we are and who we follow.
‘Who do you say
I am?’
I wonder how we
would answer Jesus’ question if he posed it to us today – maybe this reflection
from Spill the Beans might help us to think through how we would answer his
question.
Who is he?
A man from long ago?
A story in a book?
An idea of better times to come?
A way to live our lives?
A guide through a troubled world?
A philosophy to teach us?
Who is he?
How do we describe the Son of Man?
Not rich,
not warlike,
not angry or loud,
not a ruler,
or a tyrant.
Who is he?
What can we say about the Son of Man?
Who comes among us,
lives with us,
hurts with us,
feels with us,
dies with us,
loves with us.
Who is he?
He is Christ!
The messiah,
God incarnate.
Our saviour,
our guide,
our light,
our life.
Our everything!
Prayer
Loving
Lord,
Come among
us and through the power of your Holy Spirit, transform our hearts and minds so
that we may recognise your presence in our world today, hear your voice
speaking to us, know your will and walk in your way. In your
name we pray. Amen.
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