We know, as we sing in this week’s Psalm, that the Lord has rescued us in Christ Jesus.
Readings:
Acts 12:1–11
Psalm 34:2–3, 4–5, 6–7, 8–9
2 Timothy 4:6–8, 17–18
Matthew 16:13–19
This Sunday’s celebration of the great Apostles Peter and Paul is a celebration of the Church. Peter’s deliverance from jail is compared to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Like Israel, he is rescued at Passover from “the hand” of his enemy by an “angel of the Lord” after girding himself with belt, sandals, and cloak (see Exodus 3:8; 12:11; 14:19).
As Peter affirms in his great confession of faith in Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is “the Christ,” the Messiah for whom the prophets had taught Israel to hope. But He is more than what the Jewish people had been hoping for.
He is the Christ, but He is also, as Peter confesses, “the Son of the living God.” Born of the flesh of the Jewish people, He is a son of Abraham and David (see Matthew 1:1; Romans 1:3). Through Him and the Church founded on the rock of Peter’s faith, God fulfills the promise He made to Abraham: to bless all nations in his seed (see Genesis 22:16–18).
What Christ calls “my Church” is the new Israel, the kingdom of God, the family made up of all peoples—Jews and Gentiles—who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (see Galatians 3:26–29; 6:15–16). And we must make this confession our own. Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” is addressed to each of us personally.
We must confess our faith in Christ not only with our tongues but with our lives. As Paul describes his discipleship in this week’s Epistle, we must make our lives an oblation, an offering of love for the sake of Jesus and His kingdom (see Romans 12:1).
We know, as we sing in this week’s Psalm, that the Lord has rescued us in Christ Jesus. We know that He will stand by us, giving us strength to face every evil—and that He will bring us to the heavenly kingdom we anticipate in this Eucharist.
This Sunday Reflection appears here with the kind permission of the author. Visit Dr. Hahn’s website at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.
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