“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Such a simple statement of faith, at least from where we sit in our comfortable and often privatized religious world. How easy it is today to say Jesus is Lord and Messiah. How easy it is to say we believe.

For Peter, this may have been a declaration of faith, but it was far more. Likely standing within eyesight of the imperial cult sites of Cesarea Phillipi where Caesar alone was worshiped as the son of God, this declaration was nothing short of treason under the penalty of death…

…Who in our lives do we see as “less than” in some way? Who do we instinctively turn away from? Who do we assume are the people furthest away from God?

Might it be that those are the very ones God has placed in our path to wake us up to our own prejudice and self-righteousness? Might it be that the very people we assume have no faith at all are the ones who might remind us what faith is really all about?

The next day, which was the day after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate. They said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will arise.’ Therefore, order the grave to be sealed until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people, ‘He’s been raised from the dead.’ This last deception will be worse than the first.”

Matthew 27:62-64

If the authorities were terrified of a dead savior, who they were convinced could not truly have risen from the grave, how is it that a living savior who we believe is alive in us be so easily ignored by the world? Could it be that a dead Savior held more power over them than a living savior holds over us? …

You now rejoice in this hope, even if it’s necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials. This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine.

- 1 Peter 1:6-7a

I find it interesting that the one who writes so boldly about faith, especially in the midst of trials, is the very one who denied even knowing Jesus when the trials came his way.

"What are you talking about, Peter?" we might ask. "If what you're saying is true, your faith wasn't very genuine all those times you challenged Jesus? Where was your faith when he was arrested and needed you the most?" And of course we would not be wrong in such a challenge. We might even begin to feel a bit self-righteous if we have not personally denied Jesus in such a public way…

It's in our nature as human beings to solve problems. We are rational and critical thinkers. We always want to fix or improve things... even other people. We also have a million competing ideas of how to fix the problems of our world. We don't agree on who might best lead us toward those solutions or on how to divide our limited resources for the greatest outcome.

Unlike us, Jesus actually had the resources to fix everyone's problems. He could have walked through town waving his hands like a magic wand taking away every sickness and infirmity before people even realized what was happening. But he didn't. Every healing Jesus performed involved a one on one personal encounter. Their "problems" were not "fixed" from a distance. Maybe their problems were not "fixed" at all. In some cases, being healed created a whole new set of problems…