'You are the Christ': Saint Peter's confession and the faith we share with Syrian Christians

At Parish Communion on Saint Peter’s Day, 29.6.25

Matthew 16:13-19

“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’.” [1]

Last Sunday evening, here in our parish church, was the last Choral Evensong before the summer break. As in many other churches here and beyond, prayer was offered unto God in the name of Jesus Christ, the Scriptures were read, and the praises of God the Holy Trinity were sung.

At around the same time, the congregation of Mar Elias Orthodox Church, Damascus, had also gathered for their evening liturgy: just as in our parish church, they were offering prayer unto God in the name of Jesus Christ, reading the Scriptures, and singing the praises of God the Holy Trinity.

There was then a confrontation at the door of Mar Elias Church. At least one gunman was forcing his way into the church. Members of the congregation sought to push him out. He then detonated the explosives on his suicide vest.

At least 25 members of the congregation were killed; 65 were injured, many seriously. [2]

It was the latest incident in the suffering and persecution experienced by the Christians of Syria at the hands of Islamist extremists, since the beginning of the civil war in 2011. [3]

We must note that in the days following the attack, many Muslims in Syria and across the Middle East expressed their solidarity with the Christians of Syria.

Why were those who gathered in Mar Elias Church last Sunday evening targeted by Islamist extremists? The answer is found in the great confession of faith made by the Apostle Peter, heard in our gospel reading on this Saint Peter’s Day. Those who gathered in Mar Elias Church, Damascus, last Sunday evening were targeted because they share the faith of Saint Peter, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God - a faith that Islamist extremists cannot tolerate.

It is what defines the Christian faith: that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

The Christ: the Anointed One, in whom the reign, purposes, and saving power of God come to us.

The Son of the living God: the One in whom we behold the grace, love, and mercy of God the Father; in whom God the Father's purposes are fulfilled.

Peter’s confession of faith is found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It is a key turning point in each, the moment in which the disciples are brought to the realisation that Jesus is not merely another prophet or teacher.

Peter’s words give utterance to the truth that Jesus is infinitely more than this: that the embryonic church, represented by the disciples, was to be defined by faith in Him, the Christ, the Son of the living God.

This is what defines us as Christians and unites us as Christians. Those who gathered in Mar Elias church, Damascus, last Sunday evening have a different skin colour to many of us here; their language is Arabic; belonging to the Greek Orthodox church, their worship looks different to our style of worship; but we are one with them because we all share in the faith of Saint Peter’s great confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”.

Why, however, is this important? Why do the Christians of Syria not give up their Christian faith for a quiet life? Why do they not embrace Islam and forget about the fear of persecution? Why do we not also forget about Christian faith, settle for a quiet life in a secular society, or look for a more convenient spiritual pursuit in our lives?

The answer comes in Jesus’ response to Peter’s confession of faith: “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven”.

In other words, we behold the truth of God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

To say otherwise of Jesus - to deny that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, to say that He is only a great teacher or moral example, or one figure of spiritual importance amongst many - would be to deny what is encountered in His life, death, and resurrection: that there is revealed the Christ, the Son of the living God.

This is what we mean when we end our prayers with ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord’; when, as the Gospel is read in our liturgy, we sing ‘Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ’, ‘Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ’; when we say in the Creed, ‘We believe in One Lord, Jesus Christ’ [4]; when we partake of the Holy Communion - ‘the Body of Christ, the Blood of Christ keep you in eternal life’.

To deny that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God would be to deny the saving truth revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, set before us as the scriptures are read and the sacraments are celebrated here in our parish church.

You might have noticed the banner at the front of our church, on the gates at the main entrance. It says something of who we as a parish church. And the first thing it says about us is this: ‘Christ-centred’.

If you wanted a summary about what Saint Peter’s great confession of faith should mean for us as individual Christians, for a parish church, for a denomination, and for the universal Church, it is this: we are to be Christ-centred.

There is always the temptation for individual Christians and for churches to be otherwise. 

In this time of great political divisions and cultural confusions, for example, some are tempted to place traditional, conservative values at the centre of the Christian faith and the church’s life - and there are some who are tempted to place progressive, liberal values at the centre of the Christian faith and the church's life. Neither, however, can be at the centre of Christian faith: Jesus Christ challenges us all, whether we are conservative or liberal, and calls us all to faithful discipleship.

After Peter makes his great confession of faith, Jesus says: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church”. The rock of the faith confessed by Peter is the church’s centre: so we as Christians and as the church must be Christ-centred.

We began in Syria, let us end in Syria. 

The city of Antioch is now in present-day Turkey, but it was in Syria during New Testament times. It was here, according to the Acts of the Apostles that Saint Peter ministered [5] and, in the words of Acts, “it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians” [6]. It was in ancient Syria, then, that the word ‘Christian’ emerged: recognising that at the very heart of the church is the faith confessed by Saint Peter in Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

‘Christian’ - it tells us what defines and unites us: we who gather here in our parish church; those in Mar Elias Church, Damascus, as they mourn and continue to confess the faith; and Christians gathering across the globe on this first day of the day. 

We are those who are defined by, who are united by, who are to be centred around the faith confessed by Saint Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. 

__________

[1] The Gospel appointed for Saint Peter's Day, in both BCP 1662/1926 and BCP 2004. BCP 2004 rightly retains the traditional Anglican observance of Saint Peter, rather than Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The NRSV footnote provides 'Christ' as the alternative to 'Messiah': quite why NRSV persists in using 'Messiah' in Christian Scripture is difficult to understand.

[2] These figures are from the BBC report.

[3] The Open Doors statement on the incident quoted a local priest: "I was preaching when the shooting began ... Then came the screams. Everyone instinctively dropped to the ground. The fear… it was unspeakable. We were all in shock, paralysed by the horror".

[4] As Rowan Williams has recently stated of this affirmation in the Nicene Creed, "one 'Lord', the one who comes to us and transforms us in the life of Jesus". 

[5] Saint Peter's Day is a fitting time to pray for the Christians of Syria, gathered around the Patriarchates of Antioch, mindful of the ancient relationship between this See and Saint Peter.

[6] Acts 11:26.