Matthew 16:13-20 (But who do you say that I am?)

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

It wasn’t going to last, but at least for a moment Peter had done well. Poor Peter; previously on the lake he had been chided for not having enough faith, and recently he had frustrated Jesus by ‘still not understanding’. But at last of Peter was having a good day. 

Jesus was questioning his disciples about something vitally important. In fact, nothing could have been more important. Jesus wanted to know who they thought he was. Had they worked out his identity? It is Peter who blurts out, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." In response, Jesus showers him with compliments. 

Jesus’ ministry had been controversial. He had challenged the religious authorities. He had claimed a unique ability to understand and interpret the scriptures. He had won over crowds of supporters. It is no wonder that the high and mighty were disturbed by him, and they had to find a way of dealing with him. One way of dealing with a troublemaker is to label them. Once someone has been labelled, they can be pigeonholed – set aside, ignored. When confronted by a challenging idea, the provoker can be waved away by a disparaging comment such as ‘Oh, that’s so typical of (so and so). He’s a stirrer.’ Labelled and dismissed. 

Labelling things also helps us organise them - to make them more manageable. In a similar way we often label experiences. We try and find the words to describe an experience because the words help us get a handle on the situation. 

Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was. They came up with a set of labels. This is how people had tried to get a handle on Jesus. But Peter knew that something much more profound, almost inexplicable, was happening to them as they encountered Jesus. Jesus couldn’t be pigeonholed; he couldn’t be defined using traditional labels. For this reason we hear Peter blurting out "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." What Peter had said was so extraordinary that Jesus hints that maybe Peter, himself, had not really understood the words. The disciple had had a flash of divine inspiration, a momentary glimpse of a blinding truth. And yet that mind-boggling insight, however shocking it may have been, is applauded by Jesus and rewarded. 

Have we fully comprehended who Jesus is? If we find that introducing him to a friend is easy, then maybe we have missed something. We can begin to describe him, but the best definition of Jesus is the unfinished one because words fail us as we try to complete the picture. We can only say, ‘Come and see him for yourself.’