Matthew 16:13-20

Pentecost +15 – Year A

Matthew 16:13-20

Caesarea Philippi – where honorifics are most prudently directed toward representatives of Roman rule. Here comes a question to peek behind the trappings of power.

The question begins innocently enough – what's the scuttlebutt at the watering hole? Where are folks looking for hope?

This is an easy one – they are looking for a prophet – one who is oriented toward justice and will speak and act on what they see and hear.

Then the question deepens. Am I among the prophets? Who am I? Or, to phrase it as a hint, I AM whom?

Here in Caesarea Philippi there is a question that must be responded to – what is the balance of justice and power between myself and Rome?

This question continues on and becomes our question in the context of our power broker.

Hooray for those who can see within us to an image of a just G*D. They hold for us the Presence of G*D, they unlock the justice that had been un-hoped in the face of powerful principalities.

Can you hear here Peter unlocking Jesus, not just responding to a mid-term test? [Note: This follows Jesus being unlocked by a Syro-Phoenician woman.] Have you honored those who have unlocked you? Have you passed that favor on by aiding in the unlocking of another?

Finally, the deal is not to set up an alternative power system with Jesus or yourself as top-dog. Simply be a rock bigger than the ancient Pan or pandering Caesarea Philippi rock formation, a rock big enough it doesn't have to prove itself through power – a rock that can skip over water, a rock that can learn faith, a rock of prophetic justice.