I was reading Matthew 16 this week and noticed how Jesus responded to Peter’s confession. Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven” (vs. 17).
Most attention in Jesus’ response revolves around Simon’s name change to Peter and to Jesus’ proclamation that “on this rock” (“Peter” is related to the Greek word for “rock”) He will build His church.
But, as I read the entire chapter, I noticed that Jesus told the crowd that no sign would be given to the generation except the sign of Jonah (vs. 4). That got me thinking about Jesus’ strategic reference to Peter as a “son of Jonah.”
It appears that Jesus was priming Peter and all believers for God’s mission to reach the world--all nations. Peter, with a newly minted Greek name standing out conspicuously in a Jewish crowd, was a son of Jonah. You know, the guy sent to pagan Ninevah. Yep, that guy who had a very hard time swallowing the fact that he had to proclaim the name of the Lord to a bunch of rotten outsiders who didn’t deserve the time of day let alone the time of God. But after Jonah got swallowed by God’s facts, the reluctant prophet went and spoke up. The result? More than 120,000 people confessed their sin and were saved.
Peter was now in the Jonah family business. As evidenced by the Cornelius episode in Acts 10, Peter finally realized that “God does not show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right” (vss. 34-35). Peter was a son of Jonah, confessing the Christ to the whole world. The gates of hell would never hold up against that onslaught.
Perhaps we need to remember that we’re all sons of Jonah. Yes, we’re stubborn. Yes, we don’t understand God’s ways and plan. Yes, we rebel and try to foul it up. But, still, we are called. We are sent. We are given the Word of the Lord to voice--even in places and situations and ways we would never design or choose. We are God’s redeemed people meant to be in a mission bigger than we can imagine, sent to bring the light of Jesus into every corner of the culture and society that our abundantly loving God dreams up.
So, you--Jonah’s kid, remember the family business!
2 comments:
That was very interesting. I just love how as we learn more and more about Jesus, everything He said has meaning...(He may have just said "duh" to me :-)
You're so right. We are always catching up with the beauty and depth of His Word!
Post a Comment