Daughters of Faith

Scripture:  Matthew 16:1–20

 

“… no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.”

Matthew 16:4b

 

Observation:  When reading this passage I caught something interesting in the text.  Here Jesus says the only sign given to them would be the son of Jonah and later He refers to Peter as “the son of Jonah”.  Coincidence?  I did a little digging.  Matthew, as we know, is the gospel written by a Jew to Jews about a Jew.  In other places Peter is referred to as the son of John.  Why call him son of Jonah here? 

 

It is a play on words.  Yeshua was trying to make a point here.  In one place I read today they put it this way, “When Jesus says to Simon son of John - Bar-Jonah, Jesus is calling him a son of faith.”  When Yeshua asked Peter, “Who do you say I am?”  Peter responded, “You are the Messiah.”  Not everyone knew or proclaimed Him to be the Messiah, but Peter did.  Peter had great faith.  Peter believed without a sign, unlike the Pharisees.

 

The people of the Bible watched with faithful hearts for the coming of the Messiah, the Son of Man, and their salvation.  They waited with faith trusting in the promises of Scripture.  Sometimes when we are waiting on His promises to be fulfilled it can be hard.  Sometimes we lose sight of the promises, but we need to keep believing, keep hoping and keep on having faith.

 

Yeshua promised that one day (hopefully soon) He will return.  We look around at the world in the condition it is in now and we wonder when that promise might be fulfilled.  May we have the faith of Peter knowing whom we have believed in and knowing He is faithful to do as He has said.

 

Application:  Be the sons and daughters of faith.  Remember the same Peter who Jesus praises for making this confession of faith also had his moments of faithlessness (He denied Christ in the moments before the crucifixion), but Peter learned to pick up his cross and follow Jesus.  Peter grew in faith and was forgiven often by Jesus. 

 

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank you for examples like Peter!  Peter was human like we are.  At times he demonstrated great faith and at other times he had a great need for forgiveness.  I pray that we would live more on the side of faith than needing forgiveness, but when we do need your forgiveness may we be quick to ask for it.  May we remember today WHO you are and WHAT You have promised so that our faith would be strengthened today.  Through Christ our Messiah I pray, Amen & Amen.

 

 

Quoting Peter in Acts 4:12:

"There is salvation in no one else,

for there is no other name under heaven

given among men by which we must be saved.”

 

Let’s go deeper:  In the beginning of the passage Jesus, Yeshua, referred to the sky and how the Pharisees look to the sky for a prediction.  Lutheran Pastor Ted Giese put it this way, “If life is like a sailing expedition and the sky is red and dangerous as you raise your sail in the morning, the LORD wants you to put your trust in His promises and sail on, trust that He will bring you through the storm into the safe port at the end of the day.  Some days you think to yourself, "I am a tempest in a tea cup turned in on myself" and some days, "I feel like a tea cup at the bottom of the sea - lost, chipped and covered in deep darkness."  If this is you remember ‘[The LORD] made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, [He] keeps faith forever;’ Even if you ‘dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, [the LORD is there].’  Peter's confession of faith in Christ Jesus is a prophecy in and of itself that hits at the heart of what Jesus was going to do, it hits at the heart of what the Son of Man is all about: That He will suffer and die, and be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  Your future resurrection from death is wrapped up in His resurrection.  The waves of the storms of life will not wash the Rock of your salvation away.  Red sky at night, red sky in morning makes no difference, your sign in the sky, your sign in heaven, your sign in life is Christ Jesus.”