The Rev. Noah Van Niel
The Chapel of the Cross
August 22nd, 2021
Proper 16 (B): 1 Kings 8: 1, 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43; Ps 84; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69
St. Peter’s confession of faith is such an important moment in the Gospel narrative, that it gets its own feast day on the church calendar. But the reading on that day is always taken from Matthew. That’s the version (mirrored in the Mark and Luke as well) where Peter, when confronted with Jesus’s question “Who do you say that I am?” boldly and unequivocally proclaims: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And for his faithful assertion, Peter is rewarded with the keys to the Kingdom and is established as the rock upon which the church is to be built.
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