When Hearts Speak - A Reflection on Matthew 16:13-20

 


Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Okay, here’s a question to get us started. When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say I am?”, why was it Peter who answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”? Didn’t the others know who Jesus was? According to Scripture they did. One day, not long before Jesus asked this question, they were caught up in a storm, and in the darkness they saw Jesus walking towards them on the water. When he climbed into the boat, along with Peter who had decided to go water walking with Jesus, the wind died down. And Scripture says that, “those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33). 

See, they knew. So, then,  why the silence? Why was Peter the one who answered? One of the reasons was Peter’s impulsiveness. He was governed by his heart more than his head, which is why he shot off at the mouth so much. Before his brain could get into action and stop him from saying something, he had already spoken what was in his heart. This, of course, got him into trouble on numerous occasions. But it also enabled him to do things the other apostles could only dream of doing: like walking on water. 

Now you tell me: can it be done? Can you walk on water? No, right? What makes you say that? Because the rules of physics tell us we can’t. Humans are so big that the force of gravity overcomes the so-called surface tension of water, making us sink. Yet, Peter managed it. How? Because before his brain could kick in and tell him it couldn’t be done, his heart had told him that it could be — after all, he was seeing somebody demonstrate this right before his eyes — and he opened his mouth and said it. And once he said it, he was committed to doing it.

We see a similar thing happening here. The question Jesus asked was straightforward: Who do you say I am? What were the others doing? Well, some of them were probably wondering if it was a trick question. Some may have been afraid to give the wrong answer. Some may have been trying to frame it properly to show how clever they were — you know, perhaps say, “You are the eschatological manifestation of the imago dei”.And while they were analyzing all of this, Peter blurted out the answer. 

And, as it turned out, it was the right answer. Because it came straight from the heart. We need to be more like that. Our society today puts a lot of emphasis on the intellect, on reason, on rationality. While I have no doubt it serves an important purpose, if there is no heart to it, everything becomes robotic. Consider these reflections. They could not be written without the involvement of the mind, but if they didn’t have heart they would only appeal to your intellect, limiting the ability to effect change,

So, Jesus asks you today: Who do you say I am? Let your heart speak for you. 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:  https://youtu.be/oGlZRrh9Evg




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