“You Are the Christ”
This Sunday, many will hear the gospel reading in which
Peter identifies Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:13-20) Peter’s
confession is not mere words on his lips, but rather a conviction deep
in his heart. "Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke
6:45)
What, then, is the conviction of Peter’s heart? What does it mean to believe that Jesus is "the Christ"? It means believing he is the true Savior from sin, death, and the devil. These three are the "Unholy Trinity" that ruin life, and from which man needs salvation. The world proposes a
variety of functional saviors, created things that will somehow fulfill our
deepest longings, save us, and make life truly blessed. (The advertisement industry
is expert at this.) Peter’s conviction is that none but Jesus is Savior. He’s
the one and only Christ, in whom man’s deepest desires find their satisfaction.
There is in the human heart a certain inviolable law.
Namely, the human heart most loves whatever is most lovely to it. This same law
can be extrapolated thusly: The human heart trusts that which it esteems most
trustworthy, desires that which it believes most desirable, and worships and
serves that which it finds most good and glorious. Peter’s confession indicates
that his heart has grasped the following truth: Jesus is incomparably lovelier
and more trustworthy, desirable, good, and glorious than anything else. That is
to say, life in Jesus – walking in his ways – is incomparably better than anything
the world has to offer.*
*The one who really believes this will live accordingly.
Contrariwise, the one who doesn’t live accordingly thereby shows that he does
not believe.
“Flesh and Blood Has Not Revealed This”
How did Peter reach this conviction? Jesus says, “Flesh and
blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” Despite
Jesus’ statement, people have long tried to arrive at faith through flesh and
blood efforts. Two particular ways have predominated.
First, there is the flesh and blood attempt to arrive at
faith through eloquent speech and argumentation. (For the record, I am much
more prone to this kind of “flesh and blood” attempt than to the next.) If only
our preachers were more impressive, or our Christian books (including the
Bible!) more intellectually convincing, then we’d all believe that Jesus is the
Christ. The result of such thinking? We chase only the most eloquent preachers,
rather than the most faithful. And we read book after book in order to convince
ourselves that Jesus is the Christ, and yet we still never arrive at such faith.
St. Anselm spoke of faith seeking understanding, but many
reverse the order as if faith will be ours once we understand. This never
works. Faith is no mere assent of the intellect, but a conviction written on the
heart. Whereas intellectual assent can exist solely in the head and can coincide
with persistent disobedience, faith cannot. Faith makes fundamental changes to
the human will so that it delights in obeying God. No human wisdom can achieve
this.
The second “flesh and blood” attempt to produce conversion
is through emotional experience. The thinking goes like this: If only we had a
certain kind of religious experience, something in which we felt emotional
about Jesus, then we’d believe in him and follow his ways. And so, Christians
of this bent are always pursuing a religious experience that will produce a
certain feeling in them. Worship services and prayer are engaged in for the
sake of this feeling, and if the feeling isn’t found, then disappointment
ensues. And even if the feeling is found, it never lasts. True faith abides;
emotional experiences do not.
While the first “flesh and blood” attempt thinks of faith as
mere intellectual assent, the second defines faith as a feeling. Neither is
right. Yes, the gospel is intellectually and emotionally persuasive, and faith
in Christ does indeed change the intellect and forms one’s feelings.
Nevertheless, such intellectual and emotional changes are not faith itself. They
are simply its byproducts, and the one who pursues only the byproducts of faith
is sinfully mistaken.
One may pursue the most eloquent preachers and books, or the
most emotional worship services and service opportunities, but such a man will
not be pursuing Jesus. He will have made a god out of his intellect or his
emotions, and therefore the true God, Jesus, will remain elusive to him.
“But My Father Who is in Heaven”
Peter’s conviction was wrought in him not by flesh and
blood, but by the Spirit of God. The kind of faith that changes the heart and gives
rise to discipleship is something God himself works inside a man. 2nd
Corinthians 4:6 is key here: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of
darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” This knowledge of God’s glory in the
face of Jesus Christ – this belief that life in Christ is truly better than
anything else – is arrived at not through the flesh and blood efforts of man,
but through the revelation of God. It is his gift to those whom he has chosen;
it is his work inside his people.
One caveat, however: That does not mean one can go along his
merry way and expect to somehow arrive at faith. There is much talk in the
Church about faith being a gift of God that we do nothing to earn. That’s true
so far as it goes, but it’s also true that faith doesn’t just appear out of nowhere.
God has ordained a certain way in which people come to faith. Namely, faith
comes through hearing the Word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)
That means would-be Christians must hear God’s Word. It is
no accident that Christ says, “Take care then how you hear.” (Luke 8:18) In
order for the obedience of faith to come about, it is crucial that one listen
attentively and submissively to God’s Word – whether his Word is written,
preached and taught, or visible (i.e. the Sacraments).
Plant and Water Prayerfully
Perhaps the best analogy for understanding this is 1st
Corinthians 3:6: “I planted the Seed (God’s Word), Apollos watered, but God
gave the growth.” The duty of Christians is to plant and water the Seed. But in
the end, only God can give the growth. That means all planting and watering –
all preaching, teaching, listening, learning, Bible-studies, worship services,
any and all kinds of spiritual disciplines – must be done prayerfully. They
must be done, that is, in complete reliance on and openness to the Spirit of
God. Only he can produce true growth in Christ.
A Final Word
Peter’s confession – “You are the Christ” – signified his
faith in Christ. Yes, his faith was weak and he was prone to lapses. (Read just
a few verses after the passage being addressed here. It’s not pretty.)
Nevertheless, Peter had begun to believe in Jesus and be changed by him. This
faith was not an achievement, whether intellectual, emotional, or otherwise.
No, Peter’s faith was wrought in him by the Spirit of God through the hearing
of the Word of God. He heard the Word, and he received it with the obedience of
faith. Such is the way of all God’s people right down to this very day.
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