• Psalm 44
• Psalm 124
• Ezekiel 40:1–4; 41:1–12
• Romans 8:18–39
• Large Catechism III:85–98

Today we celebrate the Festival of The Confession of St. Peter. In response to Christ’s challenge: “But who do you say that I am?”, Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This — Peter’s confession — is the rock upon which the Church is built. As Christ makes clear, it is not “flesh and blood [that] [reveals]” this truth, but “[the] Father Who is in Heaven”.

Here in Matthew, and elsewhere in the NT, Christ makes clear that He gives the Keys to the entire Church, not to Peter alone, and with the Keys the power to bind and to loose: “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” As the Smalcald Articles state:

The Keys are an office and power given by Christ to the Church for binding and loosing sin. This applies not only to gross and well-known sins, but also the subtle, hidden sins that are known only to God. As it is written, “Who can discern his errors?” (Psalm 19:12).

It is truly this confession of Peter — that Christ is the Son of the living God — upon which the Church is founded, with Christ as cornerstone.

• Psalm 76
• Psalm 137
• Ezekiel 39:1–29
• Romans 7:21—8:17
• Large Catechism III:71–84

• Psalm 36
• Psalm 54
• Ezekiel 38:1–23
• Romans 7:1–20
• Large Catechism III:59–70

• Psalm 29
• Ezekiel 37:15–28
• Romans 6:1–23
• Large Catechism III:49–58

• Psalm 104
• Psalm 79
• Ezekiel 36:33—37:14
• Romans 5:1–21
• Large Catechism III:35–48

• Psalm 32
• Psalm 51
• Ezekiel 36:13–28
• Romans 4:1–25
• Large Catechism III:25–34

• Psalm 63
• Psalm 59
• Ezekiel 34:1–24
• Romans 3:19–31
• Large Catechism III:14–24

• Psalm 7
• Psalm 14
• Ezekiel 33:1–20
• Romans 3:1–18
• Large Catechism III:1–13

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. As recounted in the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (and in parallel passages in Mark, Luke, and John), Christ was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Although John initially hesitated when asked to baptize Christ, because Christ was without sin and John knew he was in the presence of One greater than he, Christ spoke His first words in Matthew so that John would agree:

“Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

On Christ’s Baptism, Luther said:

“[Christ] accepted it from John for the reason that He was entering into our stead, indeed, our person, that is, becoming a sinner for us, taking upon Himself the sins which He had not committed, and wiping them out and drowning them in His Holy Baptism.”

This Baptism in the Jordan River marked the beginning of Christ’s ministry.