13th Sunday After Pentecost
Proper 16, Year A
August, 23, 2026
Matthew 16:13-20
How many of you have ever looked up what your name means? You may not know why you were given the name you were given, but I think most of us have been curious about what our names mean. Do they have prophetic power as to who we become?
Names do have power. They give us identity. We use them to show our love and care and we use them to hurt. We give names to people and places we honor. Apparently mine means “of sane mind.” Maybe that was wishful thinking on my parents behalf.
Our Gospel reading for today is centered on the power of a name. The very first sentence intentionally names the place where Jesus and his disciples have arrived, Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was once called Panias, as it was a center for the worship of the Greek god Pan. When Rome conquered the area, they did not want tribute going to a Greek god, so Philip the Tetrarch (son of Herod the Great) named it after himself and so perhaps as to not get fed to the lions, he added Caesar’s name. And since Rome isn’t there any longer, and Arabic doesn’t have a “p” in their alphabet, it’s now renamed Banias.
So here they all are at Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus asks them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” This isn’t “Son of God” the title the Caesars use also, but specifically Son of Man, a title only Jesus ever uses in the Gospels, referring to himself. Now when the disciples answer this question, they all give a list of names, names of prophets. Important prophets to the Judaens. To compare Jesus to the likes of John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah, was to give high praise indeed. And it also indicates that they did not see Jesus meek and mild, they knew Jesus as a prophet similar to those who stood up to imperial powers that oppressed and harmed the children of God, the poor, and the outcasts of society. These prophets did not mince words to the leaders of their land or their religious leaders and called them out for turning a blind eye to the commandments of God and the needs of others.
Now it is most likely that Jesus is referring to the Hebrew scriptures in the book of Daniel, chapter 7, where Daniel describes in a vision “I saw one like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, so that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed” (Dan 7:13-14).
Simon doesn’t dispute that others have been talking about Jesus as a prophet, but he saw Jesus as more than a prophet. He may have had the prophecy of Daniel in mind when he said, “You are the Messiah.” This confession marks a turn in the ministry of Jesus as healer and miracle worker to the long awaited one who will save his people and set them free.
There had already been many claims of Messiahship throughout the centuries who did not live up to the expectations of what claiming dominion and kingship over all nations meant. Basically, kick out the Romans please and give us the power. If any of you are Monty Python fans, you may recall Life of Brian which tells the story of a man who has the misfortune of being mistaken for the messiah. At one point, an exacerbated Brian confronts his would-be followers, “I am not the messiah!” to which a member of the crowd responds, “I say that you are! And I should know, lord, I’ve followed a few.”
Comical as this scene from Life of Brian may be, it aptly illustrates the paradox of messianism. On the one hand, messianism entails a strong sense of how a messiah should look and behave, features that are mediated through idealized traditions about ancient kings and priests. One of the constant themes in Life of Brian, for example, is that the messiah would be an upstart military leader, like a young David (see 1Sam 16:13). On the other hand, messianism negotiates scriptural traditions in light of current experience.1
Up to this point, Jesus had made no claims as to his identity. Others have called him by names such as glutton and drunkard, blasphemer, and demon possessed. Yet he has fed thousands, healed lepers, rid folks of tormenting demons, given sight to the blind, helped the lame walk again, calmed a few storms, and an untold number of other miracles. Jesus’ actions and teachings are what held weight and lived on in the memories of his followers and those they taught about Jesus. That was the power behind the movement and also informed what they believed and how they understood the Resurrection.
The hope and belief of Resurrection, the Messiah raising the dead, was deeply embedded in much of Jewish understanding of the scriptures. Biblical scholar Jon D. Levenson has researched in detail how an explicit hope for a general resurrection at history’s end arose organically from deep roots in Scripture. Long-established hopes and dreams within Scripture—symbols and mythic images such as Eden’s rivers of life and the tree of life—helped formed a resurrection faith, according to Levenson.
Followers of Jesus saw Jesus’ indirect or private claim to be the Messiah as legitimate based on his actions and teachings. There was proof in the pudding, so to speak. And with all the false prophets throughout the centuries and all claims of messiahship, Jesus’ claim was not negated even after arrest, even after crucifixion, even after being seen with the lowest of the low, even after contending with religious and political leaders. All the things that would have gotten him cancelled in 1st century Judea.
Jesus followers were at first disappointed that the Messiah was not what they thought a Messiah should do and be. We all want a hero. Even today, we all respond passionately to triumphant power. Yet Jesus was no triumphalist. All the experiences of his ministry and the recorded sightings and conversations with him after the Resurrection, and the aha! moments led to his followers confidently and assuredly making the claim that Jesus was the Christ, the Savior. This wasn’t hopeful or wishful thinking because many of them died for that confession, unwilling to recant and claim otherwise.
While it may have been socially and culturally acceptable in the 1940s and 50s in the United States to call Jesus the Christ, the Savior, it was made easy because there was no cost. The dominant society had become Christian. But Jesus followers in the Middle East in the 1st century had to really, really believe what they claimed from their own encounters with the Spirit of Christ. I have met people around the world who only had faith in Jesus as the Christ to live on–the one thing that could not be taken from them.
In the Western world in 2026, most Christians have never had to face real persecution for their faith. Not getting one’s way is not persecution, but putting one’s life for the sake of others in the name of Christ is. For many it’s just too uncomfortable to really talk about Jesus today. So much has gotten distorted and too often we lose sight of Jesus the Messiah and are still clamoring for a warrior king and power. But every year these passages are read, we should seriously take some time and contemplate Jesus asking us directly, “[And] who do you say that I am?” Is he merely a prophet? Is he sweet Sunday School Jesus meek and mild? A lot of contemporary praise songs make it sound like Jesus is a boyfriend.
We all may come up with different answers to the question. But who is Jesus to you? Why do you claim to be his follower and worship here? Why do you receive Christ’s presence in the bread and wine at communion? What does that mean to you?
Simon, after spending a couple of years with Jesus, was able to blurt out, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” It was a start, but even Simon didn’t really understand what that meant because his desire for the Messiah he wanted often superseded what Jesus’ purpose was and is. Next week we will once again hear how Simon Peter doesn’t really understand the answer he gave. Bless his heart. But Jesus does bless him and…changes his name! He’s now Peter, a rock, and the assembly of Jesus followers was going to be built upon that rock. I mean, Peter is more like shale than granite, but Jesus takes what little faith we have and makes it stronger. The salvation of the Christ makes us whole again, and can make someone like Peter the bedrock of the church.
If you are floundering for an answer to Jesus’ question, perhaps take a look at who Jesus said he was. First and foremost Jesus says, “I am.” That was the first name God gave to Moses in Exodus–”I am who I am” which is the name reserved for God alone. Jesus is the Son of God and the Bread of Life. Through prayer and worship and service we come to know what this means. There are seven other names in the Gospels Jesus claims: I am the Bridegroom, I am the Gate, I am the Good Shepherd, I am your Lord and Teacher, I am the Vine, and I am the Messiah, the Christ.
And who do you say that Jesus is?
- Max Botner. Bible Odyssey, December 3, 2019. https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/christ/ ↩︎
Magdalena's Musings 