Menu“And [Jesus] asked them ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered Him, “You are the
Christ.” – Mark 8:29
In the course of His earthly ministry, Jesus put this hard question to His disciples, “Who do
you say that I am?” Jesus wasn’t asking for the opinions of the crowds. He wanted a confession of faith.
In one sense this confession of faith is like the confession of sins. In both cases, we acknowledge that what God has said is true. When we confess our sins, we acknowledge in repentance the truth that God speaks about us–that we are sinners. When we confess the faith of the Church in the creed, our confession speaks about God–who He is and what He has done to forgive our sins.
How did we get the Nicene Creed?
Early in the 4th century, a north African pastor named Arius began falsely teaching that Jesus Christ was not truly God. The whole Christian Church responded decisively. Exactly 1700 years ago this month (A.D. 325), Christian leaders met in a special Council in the Roman city of Nicaea (in modern-day Turkey) and produced a statement of faith that came to be called the Nicene Creed, which confesses that Jesus is, in fact, true God – of the same divine essence as the Father. That creed, which was expanded in A.D. 381 to defend the divinity of the Holy Spirit, is still widely used as a confession of the triune faith.
In every age, the same question is put to the Church: “Who do you say that I am?” When we open our mouths and say, “I believe one God, the Father Almighty…,” we confess a profound truth that has passed over the lips of Christians in every generation since Christ ascended. This confession of the triune God is the property of no single individual, but of the whole church, including the whole company of heaven.
There are more than a few saints and martyrs who put their lives on the line as they defended the truths that we confess in the creeds. We think of Athanasius, that faithful fourth-century pastor and confessor, who was exiled numerous times for his defense of the truth against the false teachers of his day. Or Luther, who stood firm against the combined might of the Roman Church and the Holy Roman Empire. In our own day, there are faithful Christians who risk their lives–and sometimes die–to confess these truths.
In the Book of Revelation, we find confession going on in heaven. Just listen to the snippets
of the grand confession that swirls around God’s throne:
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come! (Revelation 4:8b)
Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created (Revelation 4:11).
In the same way, as we stand on holy ground where Jesus comes in His Word and Sacraments, we join that noble company of saints and martyrs, confessing these holy truths concerning the triune God.