What Say Ye?

The pundits are out there. Everyone has a word, spoken with assurance that their viewpoint is the correct one. While they may take pride in feeling as if this is some new phenomenon, it is not. Since the beginning of time, as long as there has been man on earth, there has been that ‘one’ who felt as if they had the answers.

In some occasions however, it is necessary to be assured of what you believe, and there is nothing more vital than where you stand with Jesus:

Jesus: ¹⁵ And you? Who do you say that I am?

Peter: ¹⁶ You are the Anointed One. You are the Son of the living God.

Jesus: ¹⁷ Simon, son of Jonah, your knowledge is a mark of blessing. For you didn’t learn this truth from your friends or from teachers or from sages you’ve met on the way. You learned it from My Father in heaven. 

¹⁸ This is why I have called you Peter (rock): for on this rock I will build my church. The church will reign triumphant even at the gates of hell. ¹⁹ Peter, I give you the keys to 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. Matthew 16:15-19 (The Voice)

In this conversation that Jesus had with His disciples, He had heard that the talk of the town centered around who He was. The speculation ran from being Elijah, Jeremiah, or even John the Baptist (all who have had to have been reincarnated). Jesus, known for getting to the bottom line, asked them point blank, “what about you, who do you say I am?”

Peter, that one that always had his hand up first, blurted out, “You are the anointed One, the Son of the living God”. He was so proud of himself for getting the right answer that he probably didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. For in the next few verses Peter’s life was forecast. He was going to be a leader who would build the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In those verses was not only victory, but suffering, for in those verses was a lifelong commitment to that confession, no matter what!

It is the same for us. We make a confession that we’re so very proud of. We have crossed over, we’re on the Lord’s side. Yet when tribulation, or persecution , or distress comes – where is our confession. We signed up for the victory that is in Jesus; we didn’t sign up for the heartache. We didn’t sign up for lonely days and misjudged opinions about us. We didn’t sign up for having to “wait on the Lord‘ for our breakthrough.

So I say unto you Peter, remember you are a rock. You are a rock upon which the Lord Jesus Christ has built His church – rocks don’t talk back, or lament their condition – rocks stay in the place they’re put – until moved. In the appointed time – at God’s command- you will move also.

Maria