Sermon for the Confession of Saint Peter

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“What Does This Mean?”

Text: Mark 8:27-35; 2 Peter 1:1-15; Acts 4:8-13

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

I think Peter was excited. He knew the answer! Other people were saying all kinds of things about Jesus, but Peter knew who He was. So when Jesus then asks, But who do you say that I am? Peter jumps right in. I don’t think it’s that the others didn’t know. I don’t think they were all standing around, looking at each other, trying not to make eye contact with Jesus so He wouldn’t call on them! I think they knew, too. But Peter . . . well, is Peter! So He jumps right in before the others can open their mouths. He answers for them all: You are the Christ.

But while it’s one thing to know the answer, it’s quite another to know what it means. And Peter didn’t know what it meant for Jesus to be the Christ. Because when Jesus starts teaching them, catechizing them about this, Peter takes Jesus aside and, Mark tells us, begins to rebuke Him. And Matthew, in his account, adds a few details to that, that Peter said: No, Jesus! You’re wrong. That’s not what it means. That’s never going to happen to you!

Pretty bold! To say something like that to Jesus. So Jesus is just as forceful back. “Get behind me, Satan!” He says to Peter. “For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Jesus calls Peter satan because this is the same thing satan did in the Garden with Adam and Eve. He told them, No! You’re wrong. Got didn’t say that about this tree! That’s not what that means . . . Except He did say that, and meant it. Adam and Eve found that out the hard way.

What does this mean? That’s the question of the Catechism. The question for catechumens to first ask their teacher, and then for their teacher to ask them. So that they can say the same thing. So they can confess. For that’s what the word confess actually means: to say the same thing. Why do we say that we confess our sins? Because God’s Word calls us sinners, and we say the same thing: Yes, I am a sinner. Why do we say that we confess the Creed? Because God’s Word tells us who God is, and we say the same thing: Yes, I believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God speaks, we listen, and we repeat it back to Him. And not just the answer itself, but What does this mean? It’s important to know what we are confessing.

So Peter is in many ways a typical catechumen. He thought he knew. And he did, on one level. But he really didn’t. And many catechumens today are the same. I know this stuff, Pastor! You don’t have to teach me! But then ask them: What does this mean? . . . and, well, uh . . . 

That’s why we have catechesis. And why Jesus catechized His disciples that day on the way to Caesarea Philippi. They knew who He was. That’s great. Step one. But only step one. They needed to know: What does this mean? What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ?

And this is what it means: that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And Jesus said this plainly, Mark tell us. No figures of speech. Nothing to interpret. Nothing uncertain. Just the facts. The Jewish leaders are going to kill Him. But He will rise from the dead. 

Perhaps it was the directness that got Peter. The definiteness, the clarity. Because we sinful human beings tend to like wiggle room. We like when things are open to interpretation, even negotiation. I’m not wrong, just different. You do you. To each his own. But no wiggle room here with Jesus. So Peter takes Him aside . . . Surely, it doesn’t have to be that way, Jesus! Couldn’t there be another way? Why so firm Jesus? Can’t we talk about it?

Because we think wiggle room is good. Options are good. Flexibility is good. But the truth is exactly the opposite. When things are definite, when you know for sure, you have security, you have confidence. This is right, this is wrong, this is good, this is bad. I know what to do, what to pursue. I know what not to do, what to avoid. But when things are unclear, squishy, open, then I don’t know and can’t be sure. There’s doubt. And I know for me, and I suspect for you, too, even when I’m trying my best and think I’m doing the right thing, I often mess up and make wrong decisions! And if that’s true with the things in my life, do I really want that with my eternal life? Uncertain, unsure, up to me?

So while Get behind me satan! sounds harsh, it is far better than the alternative, which is what satan said in the Garden: Did God really say? So here is Jesus being firm, taking charge, and protecting Peter from himself. Just as He would protect and save Peter with His sure and certain death on the cross. No wiggle room. This must be so it will be. Truth. Solid. Sure. Even if my sinful nature doesn’t like it. I need it. To know the truth and what it means. To know Jesus came for this, for me. And will not change His mind.

That’s what it means to be the Christ. He must suffer many things and be rejected and crucified FOR YOU. For the forgiveness of your sins. To forge a way through death to life in His resurrection. For the wages of sin is death. That’s what you earned and He paid. And the free gift of God is resurrection and eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). That’s what He earned and gave you in His love. For God so loved the world . . . 

So you are the Christ. Quite right, Peter! Bravo! What does this mean? That (pointing to the crucifix). And from that (crucifix), that (pointing to the Font). And from that (Font), that (pointing to the altar). For no cross, no Font, no Baptism, no dying and rising with Christ to a new life. And no cross, no altar, no Supper, no forgiveness and life-giving Body and Blood of Christ. 

So yes, Peter, yes Christian, the Christ MUST suffer and die. That is the only way He can be the Christ, the Saviour of the world. The only way He can be MY Saviour. There is no other way to eternal life. No wiggle room here. Just the truth and what it means.

But Jesus’ catechesis didn’t end there. To confess that Jesus is the Christ means this, too: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. And again notice: no wiggle room there. This is how it is. Not only will Jesus die on a cross. There will be the cross in the life of a believer.

Now, I can already hear the gears in your heads turning about this, trying to create some wiggle room! What cross? When? How? Can I choose my cross? What if it’s too heavy for me to bear? Can I switch? Surely, Jesus didn’t mean I have to lose my life! He wants me to be happy, doesn’t He? Doesn’t He?

Well, sure Jesus wants you to be happy. But happy with what? With the sin you think makes you happy, but is really hurting you and eating away at your life and relationships? Or a happiness that will last and is true, and instead of eating away at you, gives you life and enlarges your life?

So just as with Peter, while Jesus rebuking Peter and calling him satan sounded harsh but was actually Jesus protecting Peter from himself, so too here with the cross in your life. It sounds harsh. It sounds hard. And maybe it is. But it is Jesus protecting you from yourself. It is Jesus loving you. And there is no wiggle room with Him and His love. He loves you with a love that is sure, solid, unshakable, and absolute. And so in love, Jesus took up His cross to defeat sin, satan, death, and hell, and in love, He gives you the cross for the same reason. That satan and his lies not take root in your hearts and lives. That the old sinner in you be crucified with Christ, that the new man, the Christian, live. You can hang onto your old, sinful ways and life if you want, but in the end you’ll find out that what you thought was saving, what you thought was winning, was really losing. But if those old sinful ways and life are crucified with Christ, you may think you’re losing - like it looked for Jesus on the cross! But you’ll find that is really the way to victory and eternal life. 

And it is the way to true happiness. Enjoy the things of this world and life, yes. They’re good and created by God for us to enjoy. But even more than that, God wants you to live not just in this world, for a while, but with Him, forever. To become, as Peter wrote in his epistle that we heard today, a partaker of the divine nature. The divine nature that in love became man to bear the cross for you, and that you, as a partaker of the divine nature, in that same love, now bear for others. That you look at the challenges and difficulties in your life not as things to avoid and get away from, but times and places to bring Christ and His love. Times and places to pray, confess, and forgive. Times and places to learn and grow in the Word and in faith and in good works. For catechesis isn’t just words. It is Jesus teaching us and forming us in our lives and deeds as well.

And notice how that change took place in Peter. From rebuker of Jesus in the Holy Gospel, to bold confessor in the first reading we heard, boldly proclaiming that there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Good for you, Peter! No wiggle room! Definite. Absolute. Steadfast truth. And those who heard him were astonished . . . and recognized that they had been with Jesus.

I pray the same be true for you. That because of your words and deeds, others recognize that you have been with Jesus. That others see Jesus in you. For to confess that Jesus is the Christ is to confess that the very Son of God has come to be with us in the mess we make of this world and our lives. That no how messy your life gets, or your family gets, or this world gets, or even our church gets, God in the flesh is here with us. Really and truly. He is here with forgiveness and life, here with His Body and Blood, for you. You are not alone and don’t have to go it alone. 

But along with that, like Peter, you bring the Jesus who is with you to others. Bringing His love and forgiveness and life into a messy and messed up world. And boldly sure about it! Confessing a truth that is not squishy and unsure, but certain and absolute. As certain and absolute as Jesus’ empty tomb. No wiggle room. Just the truth. So that while today, just as in Jesus’ day, that may not be popular, and there are people all around us saying all kinds of things about Jesus and His teaching, about what is truth and the way to eternal life, we confess with Peter not only with our mouths and words, but with our deeds of love and forgiveness: You are the Christ. And both know in our hearts and show in our lives exactly what that means. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Congregation at Prayer

For the Week of Epiphany 2 (January 19-24, 2026)

Invocation: In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Speak the Apostles’ Creed. 

Verse: Matthew 19:30 – “Many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Hymn of the Week:  Lutheran Service Book #839 “O Christ, Our True and Only Light”

Hymns for Sunday: 396, 839, 642, 409, 517 (v. 12), 412

Readings for the Week: [The readings for Thursday-Saturday are the Scriptures for this coming Sunday.]

Monday: Isaiah 9:1-4

What is the deep darkness Israel (and all people!) walk in? What light do we need? How did God shine that light on us?

Tuesday: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Why are there divisions among Christians and Churches today? How are we united in Christ? Why is this important?

Wednesday: Matthew 4:12–25

How was the kingdom of heaven at hand in Jesus? Who’s hands touched Him? Who were touched by His hands? 

Thursday: Acts 9:1-22

How could there be such a sudden change in Saul’s life? Can people change like that today? Why? How?

Friday: Galatians 1:11-24

Why must the gospel come from God and not man? Can we be sure of anything that is from or of man? Why can we be sure of everything that is from and of God? 

Saturday: Matthew 19:27–30

When we follow Jesus, do we lose more or gain more? Why?

The Catechism - Daily Prayers: Asking a Blessing: The eyes of all look to You, [O Lord,] and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. (Psalm 145:15-16) Lord God, heavenly Father, bless us and these Your gifts which we receive from Your bountiful goodness, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Collect for the Week: Almighty God, You turned the heart of him who persecuted the Church and by his preaching caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world. Grant us ever to rejoice in the saving light of Your Gospel and, following the example of the apostle Paul, to spread it to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. Amen.

The Prayers:  Please pray for . . .

+ yourself and for all in need (remembering especially those on our prayer list).

+ God’s blessing, wisdom, and guidance for our congregation’s Sunday School Teachers.

+ the Ev. Lutheran Church-Synod of France, for God’s wisdom, blessing, guidance, and provision.

+ God’s blessing, guidance, and wisdom for our Synod’s Board for International Mission.

Conclude with the Lord’s Prayer and Luther’s Morning or Evening Prayer from the Catechism.

Now joyfully go about your day (or to bed) in good cheer, child of God!

Collect for the Week © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.

Lutheran Service Book Hymn License: 110019268

Sermon for the Baptism of Our Lord

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Jesu Juva

“All Heaven Broke Loose For You”

Text: Matthew 3:13-17; Romans 6:1-11; Isaiah 42:1-9

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.

No one probably noticed. No one probably gave it a second thought. He was just another man. Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph and Mary’s boy, if they even knew that much. For most, probably just another face in the crowd. Just another in the long line of those coming to John to be baptized by him. 

But John noticed. He had just told the Pharisees and Sadducees that there was one coming, so far mightier and greater than him, that he was not even worthy to untie (Luke 3:16) or carry (Matthew 3:11) his sandals. And then John looked up and there He was! And looking for John to do far more than untie or carry His sandals - He’s there for John to baptize Him! So of course John objects. I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? This isn’t right!

But it is right. Let it be so now, Jesus says, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. 

And John consents. That is, he lets go of his objections, his logic, his view of what should and should not be. He doesn’t argue. He will not exalt himself and his opinion, insist that he is right. Instead, he humbles himself to the word of the one who is humbling Himself before John. Allow it, Jesus said. 

So John will do what John was sent to do - baptize. Baptize Jesus. For you could, in a sense, say that John the Baptizer was really sent to do this ONE baptism. For while all baptisms are important, this one supremely so. For this one is to fulfill ALL righteousness. To make available to ALL the righteousness of God.

Now, it is said, advised, not to speak or write in absolutes. To avoid words like ALL and none, everyone and no one, always and never. Because we change, and things change, we don’t know everything, and we don’t know what the future holds. And as sinners, we are weak and often fail and fall. So such sure and prideful speech is foolish for us. 

But Jesus is different. What He says, He will do. He will fulfill ALL righteousness. He will fulfill His name. He will make available to ALL the righteousness of God. He will stand with unrighteous sinners in the Jordan. He will heal unrighteous sinners with His forgiveness. And He will die for unrighteous sinners on the cross. The unrighteous sin we have, He will take. And the righteousness we lack, He will give. Let it be so now, allow it now, Jesus says. You are not doing this for me; I am doing this for you.

Then he consented. And that’s all Matthew says! That’s it! No details. It’s almost anti-climactic. 

UNTIL . . . until after Jesus is baptized and He went up from the water . . . and then, it wasn’t that all hell broke loose (that would come!) - all heaven broke loose! The heavens were opened, the Spirit of God descends like a dove and comes to rest on Jesus, and a voice from heaven says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” 

Can you imagine being the next person in line? The next to go into the Jordan to be baptized by John . . . wondering if . . . but then, nothing like that happens . . . are you disappointed? Relieved? Doubting?

Jesus’ baptism was clearly different from all others. All others that came before, but not different than all to come. His was not the one and only, but the prototype, the foreshadowing of what Baptism will be because of Him. Because He’s in it.

And to help us think about this, it’s the Old Testament that will help us. If we find the Old Testament roots of what happened here with Jesus and what happened when He was baptized, we can draw a line from the Old Testament to the New Testament to us. And we don’t have to guess at this - there are clues in the text, and Peter tell us (1 Peter 3:20-21)! The Old Testament story that corresponds to this, and is completed and surpassed by this, is Noah and the ark. 

At the time of Noah, when it came time to cleanse the earth of evil with water, the windows of the heavens were opened (Genesis 7:11). Here, after the cleansing water is poured the heavens were again opened.

At the time of Noah, a dove that did not return indicated when the flooding and destruction was over (Genesis 8:12). Here, the Holy Spirit descends like a dove to indicate that in Jesus, the destruction of sin would be ended.

Only Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord in his day. Only of Noah was it said that he was a righteous man (Genesis 6:8-9). And only of Jesus was it said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The man who was not only righteous, but would fulfill all righteousness.

And then to go a little farther even . . . God sealed Noah and his family in the ark as in a tomb (Genesis 7:16), and God determined the day they would come out (Genesis 8:15-16) to begin to live a new life, just as Jesus was sealed in His tomb and came out on the day determined by God: the third day. But for Jesus, not for Him to live a new life - there was nothing wrong with His old one. It was for us to live a new life!

That’s what Paul said in the reading from Romans. Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

New life as sons of God, with whom He is well pleased (Galatians 3:26-27). New life with the Spirit of God who has descended on us in those waters (Acts 2:38). New life for heaven is now opened to us with the forgiveness of our sins (Titus 3:4-7).

And one day, when our bodies are sealed in a tomb, God will determine the day we come out, the day of resurrection, when Jesus comes again in glory. So just as Jesus’ death and resurrection were the first but not the only; the firstfruits of more to come, so too His Baptism. What happened to Him visibly happens to us invisibly. When we are baptized, all heaven breaks loose again, and one day our graves will, too. Because Jesus did what He said He would: He has fulfilled ALL righteousness for us.

So now, I guess . . . we’re kind of like that next person in line after Jesus was baptized. ‘Cuz when we’re baptized, it’s kind of like that - nothing extraordinary is seen . . . But we live by faith, not by sight. We know that something extraordinary did happen. 

So what does that mean for you now? What about this new life we’ve been given to live? After the flood. After the cleansing. Paul asks this question: Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? That is, can I do whatever I want and sin as much as I want because I know I’m forgiven? And then he says: By no means! Or, never! Paul uses the absolute. Never! Never! Never! Not just because you shouldn’t be that way, but because that’s not who you are anymore. The new life and Spirit you’ve been given mean new thoughts and desires that become new words and deeds. Not the same old deeds from the same old person. Christ has done the new thing Isaiah talked about, and given that newness, that righteousness, to you. As a baptized child of God you died with Christ, you are risen with Christ, and you now live in Christ.

All this makes the Baptism of Our Lord the perfect Epiphany story. For it reveals to us this man Jesus of Nazareth as the very Son of God in human flesh. It reveals to us what Jesus has come to do, to fulfill ALL righteousness, so that we can be righteous. It reveals the reality of Baptism and what happens and is given to us in it. And it reveals you. That you enter that water ordinary, but don’t leave it that way. You are now a beloved son of God, with His Father now your Father, His righteousness now your righteousness, His Spirit now your Spirit, and His life now your life. 

And now He gives you that Body and Blood that was baptized in the Jordan for you to eat and to drink. Because that new life He’s given us to live . . . yeeeaaah . . . What I said I would NEVER do again . . . What I said I would ALWAYS do . . . yeeeaaah . . . So we come and confess by the Font where our new life in Christ started and receive again the washing we need, the forgiveness of our sins. And we hear again the Word which tells us who we are and the faithfulness of our Father and Saviour. And then we come and receive Him who gave Himself for us and gives Himself to us to strengthen us to live that new life He has given us. 

To be like John . . . in this way: to let go your objections, your logic, your view of how your life should be and what you can and cannot do. To not argue and not exalt yourself and your opinion and insist on your rights. But instead humble yourself to Him who humbled Himself for you. Receiving all you need from your Saviour, and giving all you have for others. For He has only good for you. He fulfilled ALL righteousness for you, and made you His child, and gives you His Spirit, and forgives your sins, and will open your grave and give you eternal life, and who loves you more than you could know. All you need He will provide, and He will fill you with His love and life. 

So have no doubt and have no fear. No, rejoice! For what happened that day at the Jordan, and what happened on your day at the Font, is the same: all heaven broke loose . . . for you. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.