Jesus said, “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
Jesus asks Peter to build his Church. This is the same man who denied Christ three times, and Jesus was aware of Peter’s weaknesses.
God, help me understand that although I am limited by natural gifts and life experience (and by sin and wrongdoing), you say to Peter, “I will build my Church.” The same goes for me. It is not under my own power that your Church will thrive but through God’s grace and the saving power of the Son of the living God. You know my shortcomings and provide for me when I am sorry for my sins.
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Jesus asks his disciples. I can hear Jesus ask me the same: Who do you say that I am? I know that Jesus is the Son of the living God, that he runs through every fiber of my being and through every relationship I have. If I truly acknowledge that, what would prevent God from being with me through every moment of the day? If the Creator of the Universe is there before me, what person or thing or activity would I put between me and him? But where is he—nowhere to be seen—that I could put him first? That he is unseen doesn’t matter. “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.”
Today I want to listen for Jesus’ words. I want to be able to slow down enough and go outside myself enough to hear him say, “And so I say to you, Jim. . . .” In the things and people I encounter today, I want to see Jesus’ divine identity present and respond to Jesus saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”