Feb 22, 2005

Feb 22, 2005 On This Rock Mt 16:13-19

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples,
"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."He said to them,
"But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
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.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ, Son of God because God the Father had revealed it to him. Our faith is a gift from God. Peter is the rock that the church is built on. Peter is at times stubborn and impulsive and in the end denies that he knows Christ three times. A weak, humble man who is the rock of our faith. He knew enough to always turn to God and ask for forgiveness when he acted in the wrong way. It is an encouragement that a man who failed in his acts was still the rock that the church is built upon. I need to keep that in mind that as long as I continue to turn to God, my failings and weaknesses will be forgiven.