17 October 2010
Psalm 148, 149, 150; Ecclus. 4:1-10; 1 Cor. 10:1-13; Matt. 16:13-20

These things are wisdom but they are more than simply wisdom, they are the law. I don’t mean to say that they are commandments of God but they make the application of the law to life. We need to understand the demands of the law and the explanation of the law so that we are able to live into God’s will for our lives. Here, the writer makes it simple for us, do justice and treat everyone the same. We are to care about those less fortunate than ourselves, we are to reach out to those with less and who have no one to help them. In other words we are to do unto others as the Lord has done unto us, caring for us and providing for us who are helpless in the universe without Him.

The options for Jesus’ identity are those which point to God: Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, one of the prophets. Those are some heady options, people are thinking in the right direction, they just aren’t thinking high enough. Were the disciples nervous about Jesus’ direct question to them? We know what Peter thought but not what the rest were thinking. Peter gets the supreme attaboy, the Father told you the truth, you are the rock on which I will build the church in my name. Jesus was truly excited about this moment, they were getting it, maybe they weren’t so dense after all. Too bad for Peter and Jesus that the moment wouldn’t last and Peter, the rock, would be so weak at the trial of Jesus. The Good News is that after Pentecost Peter was the rock when he, himself, was tried.

Paul speaks of the testing of faith and we need to be prepared for tests of faith. As he points out, the faith that brought the people out of Egypt was not enough to sustain them when the going got tough. Our faith will be tested and tried and we need to know that and allow God to shine through those tests. Peter had great faith in the moment we just read but we also know that soon his faith would fail when circumstances didn’t match up with his expectations. Most of the situations Paul notes are when the people were disappointed with God in the wilderness. Their reaction was to look back to Egypt and believe they were better treated there. Are we moving forward with God no matter what comes or are we looking back to Egypt or, worse, Sodom as Lot’s wife did?

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty firmament!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his surpassing greatness!