The Confession of St. Peter
January 18, 2026
Text:
Mark 8:27-9:1
“For whoever would save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save
it” (Mark 8:35; ESV).
Peter had to die. There were no two ways about it. He knew it, and so he wrote, “I think it
right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I
know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ
made clear to me” (2 Peter 1:13-14; ESV).
Our Lord Jesus Christ made it clear to him, of course, at the end of St.
John’s Gospel: “‘when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and
another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.’ (This he said to show by what kind of death
he was to glorify God.) And after saying
this he said to him, ‘Follow me’” (John 21:18-19).
Peter had to die. Because he confessed of Jesus, “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29). Satan doesn’t like that confession. And, therefore, the world doesn’t like
that confession, either. And frankly, our
own sinful flesh doesn’t like that confession, as Peter himself proves in
this very episode. Because that
confession means the downfall of the devil, the world, and our own
sinful flesh. It means that Jesus is
King, and Jesus is God, and that God, the Son of God,
has come into the flesh to snatch us away from the devil’s kingdom, claim
our allegiance over against the unbelieving world, and do Old Adam to
death, raising us to new life in Himself.
Peter had to die. Because the Christ Peter follows had to die. Jesus teaches Peter and the disciples what
it means that He is the Christ. “And
he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and
be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed,
and after three days rise again” (v. 31; emphasis added). He must. The Greek word (δεῖ) indicates divine
necessity. This is why God
sent Him.
Peter had to die. Because martyrdom is the ultimate confession. Martyr means witness. In Christian terms, it can simply mean the testimony
we bear to the Lord Jesus, our confession of faith. But it has come to mean dying as a
consequence of maintaining that confession.
The disciple is called upon to lose his life for Jesus and for
the Gospel, and so find it. And
sometimes that means bodily suffering and death. But there is a Promise attached to that. Whoever loses his life for Jesus will save
it. The one who is not ashamed… who does
not deny Jesus and His Words under threat of persecution, but persists in this
confession, no matter the consequences…
of him, Jesus will not be ashamed when He comes into the glory of His
Father. But let us be warned: The
opposite is true, as well, as our Lord here explicitly states: “whoever is
ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him
will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father
with the holy angels” (v. 38). Peter
was such a one, ashamed of Jesus in the hour of trial, denying Him three
times. Thank God, the Lord looked at
Peter (Luke 22:61), and bid His rooster preach a sunrise sermon (v. 60),
and so brought Peter back to Himself in repentance (he wept bitterly),
and then restoration and faith (Do you love Me, Peter? Feed My lambs. Tend My sheep. Feed My sheep. Follow Me [John 21:15-19]).
We see the seeds of this denial
already in our text. After Jesus teaches
the disciples that the Christ must suffer and die at the hands of
sinners, and for sinners, Peter takes him aside and rebukes Him. Peter doesn’t want that kind of
Christ. Peter has in mind the things of
men… power, might, glory… not the things of God… weakness, suffering,
humiliation… the cross… We
know the blistering words this elicits from Jesus. “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mark
8:33). It kills Peter to hear
it. But then, that’s right, isn’t
it. Peter has to die.
The same is true of you and me. When we have in mind the things of men,
rather than the things of God, Jesus must speak us to death with His
Law. That He may raise us to life…
His life… by His Gospel. When we
want a Christ other than the Christ of the cross… a Christ who
obliterates His (and our) enemies in a blaze of power, might, and
glory, not One who accomplishes His mission in weakness, suffering, and
humiliation… Jesus says to us, “Get behind me, Satan!” It kills us to hear it. But then, that’s right, isn’t it. We have to die.
To ourselves, first of
all. That we may live in Christ alone. Jesus does that to us in Baptism. Old Adam, drowned in the water. New Creation emerging and arising to live
before God in righteousness and purity forever.
He does it in Scripture, and preaching.
Law and Gospel. Repentance and
faith. Daily life, planted in the blest
baptismal water. Possessed by the
Spirit. Nourished by the body and the
blood that was given and shed for us on the cross.
And then, who knows? We may have to die, bodily, for Jesus’ sake,
and for the Gospel. Well… it’s a scary
thought, but then, is it really so bad?
We all have to die, anyway, unless Jesus returns first. If our death is for Jesus, all the
better. God grant us His Spirit, and
courage, that if we are called upon to shed our blood for the One who shed His
blood for us, we do so, with confidence and joy, maintaining our confession to
the end. But in any case, we are
called to be martyrs, witnesses, confessors, no matter the consequence. Whether simple rejection (the worst most of
us have ever had to suffer), or imprisonment, torture, and execution. Let it be so.
Beloved… you and I, we have to die.
Because we confess of Jesus, “You
are the Christ.” Because the Christ
we follow had to die. Following Him necessarily
(and divinely so) means our journey to eternal life goes by way of
the cross. So be it. Deny yourself. Take it up, the cross Jesus gives. And follow Him. In weakness, and suffering, and
humiliation. Because you know where this
all ends up. After three days, He
must… (what?)… rise again.
And so you. He will raise you. Bodily, in the End. And eternally. The only way to that life is the death
of Christ. And your death with
Christ, and in Christ. Your life
being, as Paul says, “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).
Peter had to die. And he did.
First, to himself, in repentance.
And then, quite literally, in fulfillment of the Lord’s Word: He
stretched out his hands, and others dressed him, and led him where he did not
want to go. Crucified in Rome, it is
believed. Upside down, believing himself
unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus (thus his symbol is an upside down
cross). This happened, apparently, on
the same day Paul was beheaded, both by order of Emperor Nero, who blamed the
Christians for the Great Fire in the imperial city.
Peter died. But Peter lives. He joins us, by the way, at the altar, every
time we gather, “with angels and archangels and all the company of
heaven.” Jesus will raise him up on the
Last Day.
You have died with
Christ. But you live. In Christ.
And you will die, whether a martyr’s death, or some other
way. But you will live. Eternally.
Jesus will raise you up on the Last Day.
Because Jesus died. But Jesus lives. He is risen from the dead. And so, you confess Him, your Savior,
your God. You’ve already lost your life
in Him, and so found it (Baptism, faith).
In light of that, what could the devil or the world possibly do to you,
that it would be worth giving that up? Lose
your life? Die? Okay.
Because Christ is risen, and so, for you who are in Christ, the final
word is Life. You live. And that, forevermore. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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