I Believe that Jesus Is the Son of God!

14th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/10/17
Matthew 16:13-20


I Believe that Jesus Is the Son of God!
I. A confession that saves
II. A confession that empowers


I should have known better. I shouldn’t have done it. By now you might be asking yourself, “Pastor, what did you do?” And your mind is racing. Was it something awful? Will it affect his ministry? Will it impact his family?

Don’t worry. It’s nothing like that.

So, what did I do? I Googled something knowing that it wouldn’t help me. So, what did I Google? Real simply: Important questions. And the first website was the worst. In its list of 25 of life’s most important questions, it included these: Can a pregnant woman drive in the carpool lane? What makes a No. 2 pencil so special?

Enough of that. So I dumped that one and clicked on a website that looked a little more serious. Among its most important questions were these: Who are you? Looking back 1-5 years, what are you most proud of? Looking back 1-5 years, what are your biggest regrets?

I suppose that if I had delved a little deeper into the worldwide web, I could have found many more examples of life’s most important questions. I might have even stumbled across a list that I actually appreciated.

So, why did I waste a few minutes of my time in the first place? Because I wanted to see if what I consider to be life’s most important question appeared on any of the lists I checked. It didn’t. So which question am I referring to? It’s the one Jesus poses in this morning’s text from Matthew 16. Listen to it again. “But what about you?” [Jesus] asked. “Who do you say I am?” What makes that question so important is that the answer involves the responder’s eternal future. And Peter’s answer nailed it. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

By the grace of God, Peter’s answer is your answer. Peter’s answer is my answer. With all of you I reply, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” And there you have it. Life’s most important question coupled with life’s most important answer. But let’s not take that answer for granted. Let’s not take our confession of faith for granted. So let’s spend a few minutes this morning taking a look at that answer: I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Part I.

Life is full of thorny issues. At the present time, dealing with North Korea is one. Comprehensive health insurance is another. Locally, deadly drug overdoses is still another. Perhaps you’re dealing with a personal thorny issue. It involves a loved one. Someone said or did something that devastated your relationship and now you’re trying to get to the root of the problem in order to salvage the relationship, but it’s nearly impossible to come to an agreement on what happened and why. Everyone involved has their own story.

Jesus addressed a thorny issue in the event that Matthew describes for us this morning. It was the thorny issue of sorting out the opinions about who Jesus was. That attempt went like this: [Jesus] 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.” To you and me, that sounds like a rather corny opinion of Jesus. In every case, these opinions about Jesus pinned him to a person who was no longer alive. In every case but one, these people were notable figures from the Old Testament who had been dead for centuries. So, why would the Jews link Jesus with some dead prophet? First, it was a testimony to their belief that God could raise the dead. In fact, they had several instances of that very miracle occurring in the Old Testament. But, second, their opinion was based on the misinterpretation of some Old Testament passages which said men like Elijah would return. Most Jews had their opinion. Jesus wanted his disciples to state theirs, to deal with this thorny issue.

Always the one to speak for the group, Peter assumed that position in this instance as well. He replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Just 10 simple words in English but they speak eternal truth. In fact, they correctly answer life’s most important question, “Who is Jesus Christ?” Peter could have caved into popular opinion and claimed Jesus was just another prophet. He could have sided with his fellow Jews who were hoping that Jesus would be their earthly ruler who would usher them into another glorious, worldwide kingdom under undisputed Jewish control. Instead, he avoided such pitfalls and correctly answered Jesus’ question.

And Jesus approved it. In fact, he asserts that Peter’s confession isn’t simply a correct answer, it’s the only correct answer and it’s the only confession that saves a person from eternal condemnation. “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, 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.” Countless Christians even today misinterpret Jesus to say that he is building his church on Peter. That’s not what he said. His words indicate that he is building his Church on the confession that Peter made. As he states in other places of his word, everyone who shares that confession is one of the living stones that comprise his Church. There is only one gathering of believers that will last forever, and that gathering is all those who trust in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world.

So, say it silently with me. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God! That’s the confession that saves.

Have you ever had your doubts about Jesus? I mean, think about it. We’ve never seen Jesus and yet we’re pinning our eternal future on what he says about himself in the Bible. Could we be wrong about him and the rest of the world be correct? Maybe you have had your doubts from time to time. If not, then perhaps you’ve entertained this thought: It’s wonderful that I believe that Jesus is the way to heaven. But I can’t necessarily say that other people who sincerely believe something else are wrong. It’s just a different way of believing. Surely they’ll join me in heaven, too. After all, they’re sincere in their faith. God won’t condemn them for that, will he?

Jesus says, “On this rock I will build my church.” Which rock? The confession that he is the Son of God. And if that’s who Jesus is, then everything he said is absolute truth. Then there is no other way to eternal life because Jesus himself said so. But how can we be sure? Because Jesus is our risen Lord Jesus. That sets him apart from everyone and everything else. Your confession is in a Savior who died for your sins, but it’s also in a Savior who promised to rise for you and did rise for you. That makes your faith a living faith. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God! That’s a confession that saves.

Part II.

It’s common among people who have been richly blessed on earth, whether they are Christian or not, to feel an obligation to help those who aren’t as fortunate as they are. Bill and Melinda Gates are known for their philanthropy. Other billionaires have stated they are working hard to give their wealth away to worthy causes before they die. Great blessings bring great responsibilities.

In a world of billions of people, you confess with Peter the only answer to the most important question of all, “Who do you say Jesus is?” Think about that for a moment. There is literally an infinite number of things you could say about Jesus. He was a great teacher. He was a great prophet. He did some amazing things, to name just a few. But out of all the answers to that question among all the world’s billions of people, the Holy Spirit has led you to confess the only correct answer.

And it’s the answer that everyone needs to know. So Jesus empowers you to share it. That’s what he was doing when he said, “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.” In Lutheran circles we call those the Keys. And we call the use of the Keys the Ministry of the Keys. Jesus has empowered each one of you by your confession of Jesus to tell others one of two things: either your sins are forgiven or your sins are not forgiven.

We could spend quite a bit of time this morning talking about how to do that practically, but it really boils down to this: we use his law to convict people of their sins and we use his gospel to announce to people that their sins are forgiven. If they will not repent of their sins, we are to tell them that the door to heaven is locked. If they repent of their sins, we are to tell them their sins are forgiven and the door to heaven is open to them. Pretty simple, but eternally powerful.

That’s the power and authority Jesus gives to you. You use that power when you scold your children for their sinful behavior and announce their forgiveness when they state they are sorry. You call your spouse to repentance for sinful attitudes and behavior and announce forgiveness. We call our fellow members to repent of our sins with us and to hear God’s pronouncement of forgiveness in Christ.

But it goes beyond that. God also calls us to use that power in our lives outside of our family and our church. He tells us to unleash that power on our world. Legislation and politics won’t change anything in our world. They might only hold sinful hearts in check. The only thing that changes hearts is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That gospel has changed you eternally. It has empowered you to confess the only saving answer about Jesus as your Savior. And now it also empowers you to share that confession with others, to announce to people that their sins are not forgiven or that they are forgiven.

That’s our purpose as a congregation of Christians. May love for Jesus empower you to join your brothers and sisters in sharing our confession of faith. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God! Confess it for yourself. Confess it before others! Amen.