NOTES for Mat 16:15-16

It is hard to take responsibility for one's choice. It is hard to express a definite opinion, hard to make a decision, because you bear responsibility for all its consequences and fruits. And if this choice, this decision lies in the religious or moral sphere, then one has to answer for it with one's whole life. And making decisions in general is hard, because can a person really know anything for certain?

Therefore the moment is so important when the apostle Peter, whether on his own behalf or on behalf of all the Twelve, resolves to say the words: "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Thanks to this confession, Peter accepts the Lord Jesus as Savior. Everything that follows - witness, preaching, the burden of the Gethsemane night, and the gift of Pentecost - is based on this decision of Peter and on his action, on his confession. Becoming the foundation of the Church, he partakes, if not of the divine nature, since the Last Supper is still far off, then of Christ's divine authority.

Peter himself appears to have experienced this moment deeply. In the letter written around the year 63, speaking about the essence of faith and life, he mentions precisely readiness to "give an account of the hope" (1 Pet. 3:15). The apostleship of the Twelve consists, in fact, first of all in their confession, and only then in preaching over the whole face of the earth. And this applies also to all their disciples.