The Festival of St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles
Posted on June 29, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 16:13-20 (NKJV)
16:13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.
Devotion
Neither St. Peter nor St. Paul can be accused of what Jesus called in yesterday’s Gospel the “blind leading the blind” (Luke 6:39). Their teaching was founded upon a clear and accurate vision of who Jesus was. Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. And in his second epistle he wrote, “we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Pet. 1:16). Paul, likewise, saw firsthand Jesus’ glory on the road to Damascus and taught everywhere he went that Jesus is the Christ.
But, as Jesus says in today’s text, flesh and blood did not reveal this to them. It was not by their own wisdom that they recognized the Person of Christ, or by their own strength that they confessed Him before the world. Remember that Peter was once a denier and Paul an unbeliever and persecutor. Yet God the Father had mercy upon them, revealed to them His Son, created faith in them, and forgave them their sins. Moreover, He perfectly trained them to be like Christ their Teacher, leading others to the truth as they had been led and using the Office of the Keys to forgive as they had been forgiven.
Collect: O Almighty God, Who by Thy Son Jesus Christ, didst give to Thy holy Apostles many excellent gifts, and commandedst them earnestly to feed Thy flock: Make, we beseech Thee, all Pastors diligently to preach Thy holy Word, and the people obediently to follow the same, that they may receive the crown of everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
