A LIVING ROCK

      At opportune time Jesus tested his disciples with a crucial question: ‘who do the people say that I am and who do you say that I am?’ (Mt 16:13). Jesus was widely recognized in Israel as a mighty man of God, even being compared with the greatest of the prophets, John the Baptist, and Jeremiah, peter, always quick to respond, exclaimed that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God.
The gift of faith
What enable peter to recognize that Jesus was more than a man of flesh and blood? Through the gift of faith, peter recognized that Jesus was the ‘Anointed One’ – called the messiah in Hebrew and the Christ in Greek – and the only begotten Son except through the gift of revelation which God gives to those who seek him. Jesus then conferred on peter authority to govern the church that Jesus would build, a church that no powers could overcome. Jesus played on peter’s name which is the same word for ‘rock’ in both Arabic and Greek.
Spiritual rock and living stones
To call someone a ‘rock’ is one of the greatest of compliments. The ancient rabbis had a saying that when God saw Abraham, he exclaimed: ‘I have discovered a rock to found the world upon. ‘Abraham put his trust in God and made God’s word the foundation of his life and the bedrock of his faith. Through Abraham, God established a nation for himself. Through faith, peter grasped who Jesus truly was. He was the first apostle to proclaim the Jesus was truly the Anointed One and the only begotten son of God.
Church as a spiritual house
The New Testament describes the church, the people of God, as a spiritual house and temple of the Holy Spirit with each member joined as living stones (1Pet 2:5). That means that each member of the church is a living stone. This is because faith in Jesus Christ makes us into rocks – spiritual stones. The lord Jesus tests each of us personally with the same question: who do you say that I am? Let us end this quote from Epiphanius the Latin, 5th century AD church father; did the lord not know what people called him? But questioning he brought forth the conviction of the apostle peter and left for us in the future a strong affirmation of faith. For the lord questioned not only peter but all the apostles when he asked, ‘who do people say that I am? Yet one on behalf of all answered the king, who is in due time to judge the whole world. He is God, both God and man. How miserable does this make those who are false teachers and strangers now, and to be judged in eternity. If Christ is the Son of God. By all means he is also God. If he is not God, he is not the Son of God. But since he himself is the Son, and as the Son takes up all things from the father, let us hold this same one inseparably in our heart because there is no one who escapes his hand.’ May God strengthen your faith in him and grant you all the blessings you need to drew you closer
Shalom!