Matthew 16:13-20
“The Surprise of Jesus”
Once there was a rich man who wanted to do something good for someone in the community. He noticed a poor carpenter and decided to hire him to build a house. "I want you to build this house for a very special person," the rich man said. "Build the best possible house, using only the finest materials. I am going out of town and will be back in a couple of months, and would like to see the house finished."
When the carpenter was left alone, he thougth that this was his chance to make a good amount of money. He skimped on building materials and covered all faults with paint and plaster.
When the rich man returned, the carpenter brought him the keys of the house. The rich man handed the keys back to the carpenter saying, "the special person I wanted the house for is you, it is yours!"
God often surprises us in the same way.
For many months Jesus had been traveling, healing, preaching, feeding the hungry and proclaming the Good News. If opinion polls existed in these days, Jesus would have ranked very high! However, in spite of his popularity, he wasn't the exact kind of Messiah the people wanted and expected. Jesus knew that. He surely knew that the people expected the Messiah to forcefully overthrow the current ruling powers.
Jesus suddenly puts forth this tough and surprising question: "Who do people say that I am?" Does Jesus not know himself well? Does he have an identity crisis? I do not think so. He knows who he is, yet he wants the disciples to know and declare it.
Today he asks us the same question: "Who am I?"
If you ask this question today, you will come up with answers.
For Muslims he is a prophet,
For Jews he is a strange teacher,
For liberal theologians he is a moral teacher,
For some unchurched Armenians he is a Jewish leader,
For some he is a statue used for prayer.
Does it matter who Jesus is? Only if it matters who God is.
To be continued in the English sermon.