Matthew 16:13-20 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
The key to the above verses lies with the question, Who do people say the Son of Man is? We have evidence of this theme by Jesus’ last statement in this focus: Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. The central point of this conversation is the fact that Jesus is the Messiah sent by God to the world. Jesus did not address this question to Peter specifically but to all the disciples, But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am? Peter, under the influence of the Spirit of God, responds correctly to the question: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” For Jesus’ disciples, who know Jesus as a biological man, this was a significant revelation. Peter’s response does not place Jesus in the category of inspired, anointed men of God as were the prophets or the patriarchs of old, but instead, he places Jesus into the category of God: Son of the living God. This was a concept beyond the understanding of most of the disciples at that time. They had seen Jesus do wonderful things: healings and miracles, but to consider him as God probably never entered their minds. Why? Because Jesus had all the needs and functions of a biological man. He ate food, drank liquid; He walked from place to place, needed housing; He had normal bodily functions and so on. How could this man be anything other than a mere human? But Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question was so correct that it had to have been given to him from the Father God. God was responsible for Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question, not Peter. Jesus then addresses Peter’s response directly by using the second person pronoun “you.” What God has given you will be the rock upon which I will build my church. Nothing will escape this Rock in heaven or on earth. Whoever does not know that I am the Son of God will be bound on earth and in heaven, and whoever knows the Son of God on earth will also know him in heaven. He or she, the believer, will be free indeed as God is free from the bondage of sin. Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (Matthew 7:24-27) At this time, this statement of him being the Son of God was so dangerous to Jesus’ mission on earth that He warns the disciples not to tell anyone about this revelation that He is the true Messiah. If they were to propagate this idea throughout the Jewish society, Jesus would be considered totally mad, ending the people’s acceptance of him. The knowledge that Jesus was truly the Son of God meant his words were not just from a man’s lips, but from God’s lips. Therefore, they were the words of the Rock, the foundation of all that is. Consequently, Jesus’ words should be followed and people’s lives should be built on them.
If Peter misconstrued Jesus’ words as being something more than words given to him by God, this idea was quickly done away with when Jesus was telling the disciples of his imminent death. From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. (Matthew 16:21-23) If Peter thought that he personally possessed the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, he was quickly corrected by Jesus. Jesus told Peter that his ideas about life and reality were merely human. So human, that Jesus said they possessed the words of rebellion, just like Satan’s words in the wilderness. When Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus rejected his temptation. Now Peter’s statement is in the same category: NEVER LORD! THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN. I WILL MAKE SURE OF THAT. I WILL DETERMINE WHAT IS BOUND AND WHAT IS LOOSED. Jesus knows where these words are coming from, not God as when Peter expressed that Jesus was the Son of God, but from the mouth of Satan. Get behind me, Satan! We see that Peter does not have the ability to bind or loose people on earth in himself, only the revelation of Jesus as being the Son of God can do that. Peter is quickly put in his place. We find Peter on Pentecost expressing the reality of who can loose or bind people on earth and in heaven. Jesus is the one who delivers people from sin, and to know God one must repent and be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39) The Rock will save you, not any man. There is only one way to God and that is by repenting and turning to Jesus the Savior of mankind. He will loose people from the fetters of sin and death: not any man has this power, only the Son of God.
After the resurrection, we see Jesus giving Peter direction on what to do with his life. He was to be a shepherd over the sheep of the church. We know Peter as with all the disciples except for John would give their lives shepherding the sheep. They would be hated because of delivering the Good News that Jesus saves to all the people of the world. Peter is a leader in announcing this message to people. He is willing to express the idea that attempting to obey the Judaic laws is not tantamount to serving God, but that serving God comes through faith in Jesus Christ, even taking this message to the Gentiles of the world. The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, PETER GOT UP and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke (the law) that NEITHER WE NOR OUR ANCESTORS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BEAR? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” (Acts 15:6-11) Jesus’ commission to Peter was to serve the sheep regardless of the consequences. At the end of Peter’s life after dispensing the Good News to thousands, he would not have the ability to loose his own body from the hands of his tormentors. Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” (John 21:17-19) Peter’s life was lived for the glory of God and his death was for the glory of God. He lived with the message of the Rock imprinted on his life. You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God, was a declaration that bound Peter to his Lord. We are to live the same way, with the message of Jesus the Savior written across our lives. To live is Christ, to die is Christ. We are the very body of Christ on Earth. Any other concept we hold in our minds about life is from the evil one. The Devil wants us to die alone, without the comfort of the Holy One. Jesus told Peter that his frame of mind when he said, Never, Lord! was obsessed with merely human concerns. A dangerous place to be, for the secular mind will not see Jesus, and bondage lies within that mind. But the spiritual mind will know Jesus and be loosed here on earth as well as in heaven. Breakfast companions, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5) Amen!
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