Devotional for the Eighth Day of Christmas

Matthew 13:13-16 (Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition) “And Jesus came into the quarters of Caesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is? But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.

 

Peter’s assertion that Jesus was The Christ, the anointed one of God, was more than simply attributing to Jesus the role of Messiah or the warrior who would save the Jewish people from yet another oppressive empire. To be The Christ meant so much more! Other so-called messiahs had emerged over the centuries. Many had claimed this role, and the power that came with it, but none could offer any witness or testimony that it was indeed God who had so anointed that person. So what was it that made Peter’s answer so radical that the temple authorities fearful and the Romans uneasy? To be anointed by God is to place one’s life and service at the disposal of God and not the institutional authority. To be in service to God means that our life is no longer content to acquire or dispose of status or treasure, no longer willing to sacrifice our life on the altars of questionable gods. Peter’s claim that Jesus was The Christ meant He too was in service to God. In 2024, let us make the bold claim that as our Lord came to serve, we too are called and sent into the world to serve. We are servants of The Christ, the Son of the Living God. 

— Pastor Charles