“Who is speaking, please?” It is a polite response to the rude caller who failed to identify him or herself. Sorry but proper phone etiquette was stressed in my childhood. A skill I am grateful my parents took time to hone and one that has served me well over the years.
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Something my pastor said during the illustrated sermon depicting the last week of Christ’s life, The Passion Week. At the point where He is inquiring who the people say that He is the community's guesses are tossed out. "Some say You are John the Baptist, others say You are Elijah" and still yet the more vague, "Some say You are one of the prophets." One of the prophets? Really? Sounds like the way I used to answer some of those high school multiple choice questions….All of the Above! This usually was a wrong answer and so it was in the Biblical text I am referencing.
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It was at this point of confusion that Peter blurted out the answer without fully realizing what he was saying, “You are Christ, the Son of God!” At this precise point Jesus gave credit for the right answer to Peter and yet delineated where he had gotten it. Sort of reminded me of acing a test in elementary. The teacher gave me a “A plus” and then promptly walked to my desk, picked up my textbook and flipped to the back of the book to confirm her suspicions—yes I had one of the books with all the answers in it! Jesus told Peter, “This answer didn’t come from man (specifically Peter) but it came from My Father above.”
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“Who is speaking, please?” While it was Peter’s voice it was God who was speaking. I can’t imagine how pleased Peter must have been to get something right when everyone else around him was getting it wrong! But this euphoria didn’t last long. It was just a little bit further in the discourse of that day when Jesus revealed the fate that awaited Him. He was to be arrested, tried and executed for crimes He did not commit. Peter jumped to his feet and protested loudly. He simply would not allow this!! Jesus interrupted him with a stern rebuke, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Ouch! That must have stung, especially in light of his recent rise to the head of the class! Satan? Really? “Who is speaking, please?” In this instance it was Satan speaking even though it was Peter’s voice that broke through Jesus’ instruction.
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While I have reviewed this week too many times to recount and have even skirted around the topic that has me presently intrigued, it is this point that I now contemplate and muse. Two statements. Both from Peter’s mouth. Yet, two very distinct and polarized sources. One statement made by God. One statement made by Satan. Peter’s voice, very different sources. A right answer. A wrong response.
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Many of us closely identify with Peter. He was the disciple held up as hot-tempered, quick to act, and slow to think. He loved Jesus with all his heart but many times fell short of his own expectations in their relationship. One step forward, two backward. So, in our close identification with Peter we must acknowledge we, also, are capable of the right answer at the right time but are just as capable of the wrong answer at the wrong time. Before the sound of our voice breaks the silence of any given moment I suppose we need to revert to proper phone etiquette and ask, “Who is speaking, please?”
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Not wanting to be the devil’s mouthpiece I inwardly asked how we might better know God’s voice so that we could tune out the devil’s. Immediately what Jesus had told His disciples along that line many years ago sprang to my consciousness, “My sheep know My voice.” The inference was clear. I was to hang around my Shepherd long enough to know His voice, to recognize His touch and to sense His presence. If I was “warming myself at the enemy’s fire” as did Peter during that dark night of betrayal, it would be the devil’s voice I was more attuned to, his touch that would be more readily recognized and his presence I was more likely to entertain. In the shadow of man’s natural darkness illuminated by Satan’s presence I would be more apt to give the wrong answer at the wrong time, earning myself, at the very least, a stern rebuke.
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In response to my inner query, intimacy had become the central issue. As a lover readily knows his or her partner’s touch we should strive to know our Lord’s. In so doing we will further assure that we know at any given moment “Who is speaking, pease?”
