Friday 31 October 2025

Psalm 93

Background
This immensely rich passage needs a lot more than one day and the few words available here to address properly. It contains numerous texts for meaty sermons and then leads into the wonderful story of the Transfiguration. It is a climax point, everything so far building up to Jesus' key question “Who do you say that I am?” Matthew's Gospel follows Mark's in adopting this structure but takes about twice as long to get to this point. It’s like a fulcrum, a turning point, with everything after it pointing inexorably to Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection.

Peter, famously, can’t cope with the massive disjunction in the conversation: the triumphant moment of glorious clarity being followed with talk of suffering and death. One minute he’s the rock on which Jesus’ continuing work will be built and the next he’s accused by Jesus of doing Satan’s work.

Climactic as this seems, it’s not the first time Jesus’ true identity has been recognised. At the end of the story of walking on the water (Matthew 14:33) the disciples worship him saying “Truly you are the Son of God”. However, Jesus’ giving of great authority to Simon as well as the name 'Peter' (which means 'rock') stamps this as a seminal moment, even if the rock can be both a foundation stone and something over which to stumble.

This passage and related material later in Matthew's Gospel (notably the teaching about church order in chapter 18) was deeply important for the Early Church and remains so for us today. The sense of human responsibility to make decisions which have heavenly validity is awesome, for Peter and his successors. Matthew wrote his Gospel for a church in which there were different understandings of leadership, as there still are today in many forms, from the role of the papacy and historic episcopate through the roles of women to the ordering of small lay-lead congregations.

The foretelling of Jesus’ suffering leads into a discussion of the nature of Christian discipleship. It expounds the classic paradox that gaining eternal life, salvation, requires letting go of life.

To Ponder:

• To what extent do we have a sense that church decisions (eg in Church Councils) have heavenly import?
• Try to imagine how Peter felt that day at Caesarea Philippi.
• In what ways do you take up your cross as a disciple?

Prayer
Loving God, give me faith and courage to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and take my part in the tradition of Peter. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Alan Bolton
Alan Bolton is a supernumerary presbyter in the High Wycombe Circuit, having sat down in 2018. He preaches regularly round the Circuit. His other occupations are family, music, model railways, walking and reading, with a close interest in politics.