Collect of the Day
Heavenly Father, You revealed to the apostle Peter the blessed truth that Your Son Jesus is the Christ. Strengthen us by the proclamation of this truth that we too may joyfully confess that there is salvation in no one else; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Readings: Acts 4:8-13 Psalm 118:19-29 2 Peter 1:1-15 St. Mark 8:27-9:1
Confession of St. Peter
The confession of St. Peter did not arise in the imagination of Peter’s heart but was revealed to him by the Father. The reason this confession is important is seen in Jesus’ response: “You are Peter [Greek Petros], and on this rock [Greek petra] I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18). As the people of God in the Old Testament began with the person of Abraham, the rock from which God’s people were hewn (Isaiah 51:1-2), so the people of God in the New Testament would begin with the person of Peter, whose confession is the rock on which Christ would build His Church. But Peter was not alone (the “keys” given to him in Matthew 16:19 were given to all the disciples in Matthew 18:18 and John 20:21-23). As St. Paul tells us, Peter and the other apostles take their place with the prophets as the foundation of the Church, with Christ Himself as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). The confession of Peter, therefore, is the witness of the entire apostolic band and is foundational in the building of Christ’s Church. Thus the Church gives thanks to God for St. Peter and the other apostles who have instructed Christ’s Holy Church in His divine and saving truth. (The Treasury of Daily Prayer, Concordia Publishing House)
This quote is from Pr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Sermon in1933, on the Confession of St. Peter, preached in Berlin’s Trinity Church:
“In the midst of the creakings and groanings of a crumbling and tottering church structure, which has been shaken to its very foundations, we hear in this text the promise of the eternal church, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail; of the church founded on a rock, Christ has built and which he continues to build throughout all time…Pay no heed to views and opinions, don’t ask for judgments, don’t always be calculating what will happen, don’t always be on the lookout for another refuge! Let the church remain the church! But church, confess, confess, confess! Christ alone is your Lord, from his grace alone can you live as you are. Christ builds.”
Peter’s Confession of faith is revealed to him by our Father who art in heaven. The Confession of Peter is not for Peter alone but for the Church and the world: In the world, but not of the world at all, so others come to Christ and know His salvation. Pr. Bonhoeffer cried to the Church in a soon to become Nazi Germany: “But church, confess, confess, confess!” The confession of faith is not for the mind alone but also for the tongue and His Word sanctifies our speech so that others may hear and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The confession of that Jesus is Lord is embodied in our lives, as Jesus is, and will be in new creation at the Resurrection. Many are dying to hear. Many are dying to live. May the Lord give you an opportunity to zero in on this confession and so throw out the eternal life-line to those who are drowning as He has for you and your salvation. The Lord fishes us out of the depths into the depths of His love.
Romans 8: 38-39
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Concordia and Koinonia 
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