Who is This Man?

Matthew 16.13-20

Pentecost 13, August 23, 2026

Holy Trinity Cathedral

“Who is this Man?”

There used to be ‘personal’ ads in the newspapers for individuals seeking companionship.  Then it happened on dating apps.  Recently, in-person gatherings for singles are gaining momentum again for those who have been disappointed with virtual match-ups. There's a good reason for that. Humans have a deeply rooted urge to connect with others, perhaps even to find that one soul mate to share one’s life with.  But it is a tricky business.  Just how far can you trust what a stranger tells you?  How much do you trust your own intuition?  What strategies will help you get to know the real person behind the ad, which sounded so perfect?

For example:

33 year old male seeking intimate long-term relationship.  Loves children, picnics, moonlit walks on the water, romantic dinners with wine.  Interests include healing touch, story-telling, carpentry.  Middle-Eastern background but race, language, or gender not a barrier to getting together. 

You may well ask yourself, “Who is this man?”  That’s exactly what the people of Jesus’ time were asking.  Many had different opinions about who he was and what he was doing.  Some had heard rumours about him and came to check him out for themselves.  Others had followed him around to try and get to know him a bit better.  A few committed themselves to becoming his disciples.  Then there were various groups like the Pharisees and Sadducees and Romans and Jewish authorities who were all trying to figure him out.  In the end, various people took it upon themselves to write down their impressions and try and paint a picture of the man’s life and meaning.

In Matthew’s gospel, the writer comes out at the beginning with where he stands on the matter.  In the opening verse, this book of scripture claims to be “an account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt. 1.1).  Matthew’s intent is to show his readers, which to start were primarily Jews, that the historical person that they knew as Jesus of Nazareth is really the long-awaited Messiah or Saviour that had been prophesied by their own Hebrew holy books.  It was important, therefore, for Matthew to establish that not only is Jesus a real human being, living in a specific time and place in history, but that his role as God’s redeemer was supported by everything that they previously had been taught by their faith.  Jesus’ was the fulfillment of God’s covenant with his people, Israel.

In Jesus’ public ministry, he teaches and preaches, heals and admonishes, loves and shares with those who will listen.  All along the way, he is challenged by those who are hostile to his identity as Messiah and by those who are asking the hard questions to find the truth.  He doesn’t shy away from any of these interrogations.  On the contrary, he invites people to stretch their hearts and minds to understand God’s purpose in him.  In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus has a particularly demanding day with a group of Pharisees and Sadducees.  The Pharisees were devout Jews who tried to keep all aspects of the Jewish law, or Torah, and who helped instruct others to interpret the law by using the traditions of the elders.  The Sadducees were another contingent within Judaism with ties to the priestly aristocracy and who denied certain doctrines like that of the Messiah.  These two very different factions had banded together to test Jesus, and perhaps show him up as a fraud.  When Jesus is through answering their challenges, he throws out one of his own to his followers.  “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  Jesus uses the term ‘son of man’ in the gospels to refer to himself.  It is a title with roots back in the book of Daniel, where it refers to a messianic figure that the prophet sees in a vision.  It’s an obscure phrase, which invites his listeners to define it.

Jesus’ temperature check of the masses brings back some interesting answers.  Some say that he is John the Baptist come again.  John was seen by the people as a prophet who foretold the coming of the Messiah in a new and powerful way, before Herod was maneuvered into ordering his execution.  After his death, there appears to be a feeling that Jesus, John’s kinsman, will carry on his work. 

Others go further, and report that Jesus is said to be Elijah, another very important figure in Jewish prophecy.  For Jesus to be seen as Elijah come again not only marks him as a revered prophet, but also a sign that God is on the verge of restoring Israel to a new golden age. 

Still others see Jesus in the long line of Old Testament prophets, like Jeremiah.  This is not surprising, given his encounters with Jewish authorities.  Jesus speaks from outside the centre of religious power, but with an authority that people sense comes straight from God.   Both his followers and opponents alike view him as a person to be reckoned with.  But enough of hear-say.  Jesus is not so much interested in what people are tweeting or posting on their Facebook pages as the truth.  What have the men and women who have got to know him better decided?

Now comes the ultimate question. “Who do you say that I am?”  It is Peter, dear bumbling Peter whose mouth moves before his brain processes, that blurts out the confession of faith,  “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”.   Peter and the other disciples have had three years to eat and argue and work and walk with Jesus.  They have seen him in action: healing the sick, counseling the broken, loving the rejected, bringing God’s light into the darkest corners of their society.  They have observed first-hand things that they couldn’t explain by rational means.  But most of all, they have received and shared the love of a person beyond any other intimate relationship they have ever experienced.  They have taken all of the evidence around them, and now they have been asked to put it all together and come to a verdict.  Peter would have been lousy as an attorney, and he didn’t write a gospel that made it into the Bible, but he gets it exactly right.  “You are the Christ.  You are the Son of the living God.”  Upon this confession of faith, to be made in the future by countless believers in Christ, the Church is founded.  And this declaration is the bedrock that cannot be undermined.

Every person has to decide for himself or herself whether Jesus is really who he says he is.  You can look at the evidence in the Scriptures.  You can test out the ethical demands against other faiths.  You can turn to archeology, to philosophy, to documents, to science, and to the reports of eyewitnesses.  In the end, it is your choice.  For those who take that last step of faith and accept that Jesus is the Son of God, there is a promise.  “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  I will give you the keys of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”  (Matt. 16.18).  This is not a promise that is directed just at Peter, nor is it an affirmation of the superiority of the Roman church.  This statement is for every person who turns to Jesus as Saviour.  

Our faith in God’s love through Jesus is the only firm foundation we can stand on.  Everything else in our lives can get swept away.  We will make awful mistakes; we will have awful things happen to us.  We will know pain and suffering and grief.  But God’s love for us will never fail.  When the waters rise and threaten to cover us and sweep us away, there is still that Rock to cling to.   Once we know it is there, we can reach out and grab on.  And although we can lead others to that safe place, it has to be their decision to accept Jesus.  Maybe that is why Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.  We each have to find out for ourselves.  Amen.