Sermons 2026

13 Sunday after Pentecost

Text: Matthew16:13-20

Outline
1.    Who is Jesus?
2.    How do we make this confession in our daily lives?

Sermon

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

My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation is the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew the Sixteenth Chapter verses thirteen through twenty.

Beloved lambs, do you know what I have here? Right, I have a rock! I know that you love collecting rocks. They come in all kinds of sizes, some really big, some really small. They come in a wide variety of colors, some pink, black, brown, white. Some are solid colors, and some have strips. Do you think that you could build something on this rock? You might be able to build a really, really small house. It would be stable. It would not move, because the rock is solid. In our text for today, Jesus calls Peter a rock. He says that He will build something even larger upon the rock. What is the Rock? What does Jesus build on it? Ponder those questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

1.    Who is Jesus?

Jesus has taken the disciples to the area of Caesarea Philippi. This is an area that is mostly Gentile in nature. It is at the upper most boarder of the land of Israel, around twenty-five miles north of Galilee; snow-capped Mount Hermon can be seen on a clear day from as far away as Nazareth, where Jesus grew up.  In an area populated by temples dedicated to false gods and goddesses, our Lord asks a very important question. He asks the disciples about the crowds. They have seen or heard of our Lord miracles, the feeding of the four thousand with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish, the healing of lepers, restoring sight to the blind, healing to the deaf, casting out demons. They have even heard our Lord taking on the religious leaders of His day when they are asking Jesus for a sign. Who do the disciples say the Son of Man is?
This is already a loaded description of who Jesus is. By identifying Himself as the Son of Man, He is drawing the disciples’ minds, as well as our own, to the book of Daniel, especially chapter seven, where Danial records 

 “13 “I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
   there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
   and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion
   and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
   should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
   which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
   that shall not be destroyed.”

One, appearing to be human, yet having all power and glory, reigning alongside the Ancient of Days. How beautiful a picture of the two natures of our Lord, Fully Divine and Fully human, God of God yet born of the blessed Virgin Mary, united in one Person, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

The disciples answer honestly with some of the reports that they have heard. “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  Herod Antipas, the ruler who had John the Baptister killed, thought that Jesus was John come back from the dead. Others said Elijah because he was to come before the Messiah came and do wonderous works to prepare the way. Other’s identified our Lord with Jeremiah, seeing in the Man of Sorrows a resemblance to the weeping prophet. All of these proclaim that Jesus is more than a mere man. Jesus is doing things that mere men cannot do. At minimum, he has to be a prophet sent by God.

Many people in our world would make a similar claim. Muslims, Jehovah’s witnesses, Mormons, plus many others claim that Jesus is a prime example of what we can be as true humanity. They hold Jesus up as a prophet of God who does marvelous works and wonders. They hold that Jesus is a miracle worker, a prophet, a good teacher, the best example to live by. The problem is that all of these are incomplete statements of who Jesus is.
So, what is a complete statement of who Jesus is? That is answered when our Lord turns the question around on the disciples. “But who do you say that I am?”  He has heard what the popular opinions are. What do those that claim to follow Him believe? 

Peter states without a doubt who Jesus is. ““You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  He does not say, “Scribes and Pharisees, rulers and people, are all perplexed; and shall we, unlettered fishermen, presume to decide?” But feeling the light of his Master’s glory shining in his soul, he breaks forth—not in a tame, prosaic acknowledgment, “I believe that You are,” &c.—but in the language of adoration—such as one uses in worship,  Peter states Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, sent to do the work of God and be the Savior from sin and death. The One sent to crush the head of the serpent and free mankind from the tyranny of the devil forever. 

Yet, Peter does not stop there. He proclaims Jesus as the Son of the Living God. Jesus is God in the flesh for us, that the will of God would be done. The things of God define the Christ. Remember as Jesus walked with the two disciples after his resurrection. They were discussing the things that had happened in Jerusalem. Jesus asked them about their conversation. They responded by saying, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days” (Lk 24:18). Jesus says, “What things?” They continue by describing the arrest, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus responds to them as if to say, “Do you hear the words coming out of your mouths? Do you not recognize that the things you mention describe what the Christ has come to do? Do you not recognize that the things you describe sound familiar as it is these things that I said the Christ must do?” “And beginning with Moses and all of the prophets, he interpreted to them in all of Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Lk 24:27).
Jesus is the Christ, and the Christ must be crucified, die, and be buried, in order to be raised to life by the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit, on the third day. The Christ bears the full wrath of God in our place. Jesus bears our sins for your forgiveness and mine. He rises from the dead, to give us everlasting life and salvation. 

Peter might not have had all of this in mind when he made his confession, but he confessed it. Peter makes this confession, as our Lord says, not because he figured everything out, or connected all the dots. Rather, because the Father revealed it to him. The same is true today, we believe, and have faith, in spite of ourselves. As we confess in the Third Article of the Creed: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.” Effectively, I believe I cannot believe. I cannot  connect the dots on my own, or get everything right, except by the power of the Holy Spirit as He acts through His Word.

To Simon’s confession, our Lord shows His sense of humor. Jesus says, you are Petros and on this petra I will build my ekklesian. You are pebble/small rock and on this rock, I will build my church.
What a blessing to know that our salvation is given to us, purely as a gift from God. And to know that the church is His. It belongs to Him. God watches over it. He cares and tends to it, and nothing, not even the very gates of hell or death itself can prevail over it.

2.    Confession in our lives

What great comfort this gives us today as we continue to make the same confession as Peter in our daily lives that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God. When we tend to our neighbors, friends, and family as they need help. When we provide notebooks, paper, and pencils for those who need it at school, what are we doing? We are confessing who our Lord is as we live in the forgiveness of sins that He has won for us. When we teach our children the faith, teach them how to pray, lead them in the liturgy. When we do our devotions and gather around the word of God, we proclaim who Jesus is to a world that is lost in darkness.

We do this because we are built on the rock and cornerstone, Jesus Christ. We have peace and comfort as we live our daily lives.  Comfort that death cannot end our gladness. Comfort that no matter how small the church may seem, even if only two people are in church, that their Lord and Savior is with them always, as He has promised to be. Comfort that even in the midst of the hatred of the world. As we face the persecution of the devil who seeks to steal away our faith, that in the end, all his plans will be undone and he will be destroyed eternally, while this world will be made new again. 

A rock, yes! A bold rock, not because Peter finally got it, but because the Father revealed it to him, Peter confessed it, and upon this confession our Lord continues to build, strengthen, tend, and care for His people until the day when all the saints are gathered in the new heavens and new earth, around His throne forever and ever.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.