WEEK 6
Day 33
SUNDAY
“Who do you say that I am?” Matthew 16:13-20 Focus verses: Matthew 16:13-16
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
H alfway through Matthew’s Gospel, the camera lens zooms in. We’re no longer watching
Jesus feed crowds or silence storms. Now Jesus turns to his disciples – and to us – and asks the most personal question in Scripture: “Who do you say that I am?” We already know the answer. But Peter speaks it for the first time: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Peter’s confession matters. It signals a turning point in the Gospel and in his own life. And it reminds us that faith is chosen. “Deconstruction” has become a buzzword lately. So-called ex-vangelicals deconstruct the faith of their childhood. Feminists deconstruct biblical womanhood. Queer Christians deconstruct harmful interpretations of Scripture. The word “deconstruction” evokes the painstaking work of pulling apart what no longer holds true, brick by heavy brick. But deconstruction assumes construction happened first. For many of us, faith began as an inheritance: the God of our parents, the theology of our childhood church, the doctrines we absorbed before we knew how to question them. I still remember walking into my first seminary class confident in the faith I’d carried since childhood. But my professors didn’t want me to repeat it — they wanted me to wrestle with it. Each class shook my foundations. But somewhere in that rubble, I began building faith for the first time, not blindly accepting but asking: Do I believe this? Why? Who is the God I am choosing to follow? Peter’s confession is a revelation, both for him and for the future church. This Lent, “Who do you say that I am?” is a question worth asking and answering for ourselves.
Reflection
Where are you rebuilding or reexamining your faith right now? What truth about Jesus feels newly discovered – or newly claimed – in this season?
Prayer
Living Christ, you ask us who we say you are. Give us courage to answer honestly and faithfully. Steady us as we build, claim and renew our belief in you, the Messiah and Son of the living God. Amen.
36 | 2026 Lent Devotional