Confession of Peter

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Image of a stained-glass window depicting Saint Peter the Apostle kneeling before Jesus and acknowledging him as the Christ

The Confession of Peter is a statement made by Saint Peter the Apostle in the Gospel of Mark 8:27–30, Gospel of Matthew 16:13–20, and Gospel of Luke 9:18–20 in which Jesus is emphatically acknowledged to be the "Messiah" or "Christ" meaining the Anointed One. This date is observed in remembrance of how Saint Peter the Apostle was compelled by grace (from God) to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, and is a date when current Christians acknowledge Jesus as Lord, God and Saviour.

In the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches this event is celebrated as the Feast of the Confession of Peter on 18 January. The Roman Catholic liturgical calendar also allows this date to be an alternate date to observe the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, as it commemorates the day Peter first held a Christian service in Rome. However, this latter feast is usually observed on 22 February. The Confession of Peter is the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an international Christian ecumenical observance that began in 1908, which is an octave (an eight-day observance) spanning from 18 January to 25 January (the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul).

[edit] According to the Gospels

The Gospel according to Saint Matthew, Chapter 16, verses 13 through 20, depicts the most complete narrative of the arrival of Jesus on the coast of Caesarea Philippi. Truncated versions of the story are also told in the Gospels of Saint Luke (9:18-20) and Saint Mark (8:27-30). Jesus asked his disciples: Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? The disciples varied in their answers, claiming that Christ was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.^[1]

Then Jesus asked them: But whom say ye that I am? Only Simon Peter, later Saint Peter, answered Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.^[2]

Jesus blessed Peter, stating:

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.^[3]

before telling the disciples not to reveal the information that he was the Christ.^[4]

[edit] Theological interpretation and context

[edit] Interpretations and meanings

This passage can be seen in several contexts. For one, one could argue that the diciples did not know yet who Jesus really was. Even though they walked with him and believed in his teachings they did not understand at this time that Jesus was the Christ.
This theory is backed with other Bible verses. Matthew 8:23-27 is such a passage. When Jesus rebuked the sea and waves, it is written that the diciples were amazed and said, What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey him? (Verse 27). At this point, they did not know that the living God himself was present among them.

[edit] "Upon this rock I will build my church"

[edit] Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Saint Peter possesses tremendous insight given by the Holy Spirit, and Jesus praises him that this insight was given to him by God, not from man. Immediately following these passages, Jesus explains what sufferings and travails the Messiah has to go through. Peter cannot handle it, and the Lord has to rebuke him, and Jesus admonishes Peter by saying that Peter can only keep his mind on earthly things.

[edit] See also

• Conversion of Paul
• Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
• Calendar of saints
• Liturgical year

[edit] References

[edit] External links