{"id":11618,"date":"2026-08-23T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=11618"},"modified":"2026-09-03T23:00:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T13:00:57","slug":"who-do-you-say-that-i-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=11618","title":{"rendered":"Who Do You Say That I Am?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Scripture Readings: <\/strong>Exodus 2: 1-8 & Matthew 16: 13-20<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Exodus 2:1\u20138, God\u2019s salvation begins in a place of vulnerability. Moses enters the story not as a powerful liberator, but as a helpless baby under a death sentence. Before God saves His people through Moses, Moses himself must first be saved. God often begins great works not with visible strength, but in places of vulnerability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Slide 1) The basket among the reeds looks fragile, yet the future deliverance of Israel is already being carried within it. Interestingly, the Hebrew word used for Moses\u2019 basket is the same unusual word used for Noah\u2019s \u201cark.\u201d Moses\u2019 basket is, in a sense, a little ark. What looks small and vulnerable may already be carrying something far greater than anyone can presently see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Genesis, an ark carries life through the waters of destruction. In Exodus, another little ark carries a child through waters overshadowed by death. The water that represents danger becomes part of the pathway through which God preserves life. Later, Moses will lead Israel through another body of water – the Red Sea. So already in Exodus 2, we can hear an echo of what is to come: God makes a way through the waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Slide 2) One of the striking messages of the opening chapters of Exodus is how much of God\u2019s saving work is carried forward through women. Moses\u2019 mother refuses to surrender her child to death. His sister watches from a distance. Pharaoh\u2019s daughter sees the child and is moved with compassion. Courageous women quietly resist Pharaoh\u2019s world of death. Pharaoh’s plans are undermined through compassion, courage, maternal love, and moral resistance, and God works even within circumstances that appear to oppose God\u2019s purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting one vulnerable life, speaking one courageous word, watching over one person, or refusing to participate in injustice may become part of something far greater than we can imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moses\u2019 sister stands at a distance to see what will happen to him. She cannot control the outcome, but she does not walk away. And when the moment comes, she steps forward and speaks. Sometimes faith means acting boldly; at other times, it means watching, waiting, staying close, and being ready when the moment comes. There are situations we cannot fix and outcomes we cannot control. Yet faithfulness may mean remaining present watching prayerfully and being ready to respond when God opens a door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Slide 3) In Exodus 2:1-8, we see a mother making a basket, a sister watching, a princess bathing, compassion arising, and a young girl speaking at exactly the right moment. God\u2019s providence unfolds through ordinary human actions. Even when God seems almost hidden in the story, God is quietly at work. What might God be doing among us that we cannot yet fully see?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Slide 4) In Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus moves the disciples from what others say to what they themselves confess. His questions are \u201cwhat do they say?\u201d and \u201cwho do you say that I am?\u201d Today’s passage reminds us that our faith in Jesus cannot remain merely a collection of borrowed opinions, inherited traditions, theological information, or what our families and churches have told us about Him. Jesus leads us toward personal and communal confession toward a faith that is known, experienced, lived, and spoken. May we become a more beautiful community of faith: a church that helps people encounter Christ deeply enough that they can make their own genuine confession of faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The location of this conversation, Caesarea Philippi, was associated with political power and various religious traditions. Our world still surrounds us with competing voices telling us what deserves our loyalty, what defines us, and where true power lies. And among all those voices, Jesus still asks: \u201cWho do you say that I am?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Slide 5) How are we confessing Jesus today – not only with our words, but with the way we live? Peter answers, \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.\u201d Yet Jesus immediately reminds Peter that this confession has not come from Peter alone: \u201cFlesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Slide 6) Faith is therefore both human response and divine gift. Peter speaks, but God has opened Peter\u2019s eyes. Recognising Christ should never make us spiritually proud or superior. Rather, it should lead us into humility and gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And after Peter says who Jesus is, Jesus begins to speak about who Peter is and what he is called to become. When we begin to understand who Christ is, we also begin to discover who we are in Christ. Perhaps one of the church\u2019s important ministries is helping people hear both questions: Who is Jesus to you? And Who are you becoming because of Jesus? May we continually rediscover both our identity and our calling through our relationship with Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Slide 7) The church itself is built upon a Christ-centred confession. Christian traditions have understood Jesus\u2019 words about \u201cthis rock\u201d in different ways, but the passage clearly places the confession of Jesus as Messiah at the heart of the church. The church does not belong to any person, denomination, tradition, building, or program. Christ is at the centre. Many things within and around the church may change, but the heart of our confession remains: \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what does Jesus mean when He says, \u201cI will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it\u201d? Jesus declares that the powers of death themselves cannot ultimately withstand what God is doing through Christ. The church\u2019s confidence does not come from worldly power, influence, numbers, or institutional security. Our confidence comes from resurrection-shaped hope. Christ is alive, and death does not have the final word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Slide 8) In today\u2019s Scripture readings, God sees a future that human beings cannot yet see. In Exodus 2, people see a vulnerable Hebrew baby, but God sees Moses. They see a basket among the reeds; God sees the beginning of liberation. In Matthew 16, people see Jesus in many ways, perhaps John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or another prophet. But Peter sees, or is enabled by God to see, \u201cthe Messiah, the Son of the living God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Slide 9) Both passages invite us to look beyond appearances and ask: Can we recognise what God is doing before the whole story becomes visible? Here, identity and calling also belong together. The baby in the basket does not yet know his identity or calling, yet God is preserving him for a purpose. Peter recognises Jesus\u2019 identity, and then Jesus speaks into Peter\u2019s identity and vocation. And we are also called not only to know who Christ is, but also to discover who we are becoming because we belong to Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small actions can participate in God’s great purposes. A mother prepares a basket. A sister watches. A princess shows compassion. Peter speaks one sentence: \u201cYou are the Messiah.\u201d None of these moments necessarily looks enormous when it occurs. Yet each becomes part of God\u2019s story. Today, may we never underestimate what God can do through one courageous action, one compassionate response, one faithful confession, one small act of obedience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes faith means trusting God when we cannot yet see what God is doing; at other times it means recognising and confessing what God has finally enabled us to see. What might God be doing among us that we cannot yet fully see? Even in the midst of all that remains uncertain, may we still recognise Christ and say, \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the living God\u201d And may that confession shape not only what we believe, but also who we are becoming and how we live. Let us add our own genuine and beautiful confession of Jesus in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks be to God! Amen.
<\/strong>(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials, and a Vanderbilt Divinity Library Resources)Top of Form<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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