May 11, 2015

Matthew 16:13-20

Rachel Workman: 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”[c]
14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah,[d] the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John,[e] because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’),[f] and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell[g] will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid[h] on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit[i] on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
20 Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

And He says, ‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church”.  Now here He’s talking about the declaration of Peter is the Rock upon which Jesus is going to build the church.  ‘And I will give you the keys of the kingdom’—now He’s not talking to Peter, He’s talking to all the disciples who are there in this dialogue.  And He says, ‘I’m giving you the keys to the kingdom meaning, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.  They had the freedom, in delivering the gospel to people, to make an eternal difference.  What they did on earth would be seen in heaven.  People who are….  Evil spirits and habits that were bound on earth would be bound for the world to come and it was saying that those who were loosed from those things would be loosed in the world to come.


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John Burnett:  And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the [f]leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? 10 Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? 11 How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the [g]leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  It doesn’t take long for us to forget how much God has blessed us and how abundantly He does so.
Peter’s Confession of Christ
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, [h]Elijah; but still others, [i]Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are [j]the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon [k]Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 I also say to you that you are [l]Peter, and upon this [m]rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth [n]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth [o]shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He [p]warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was [q]the Christ.  Peter definitely got it right and the blessings Jesus promised him are unique to only him.  One of these days, we will be asked a similar question and it may be for our life. 

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Allen MichaelsWhen Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 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.

The disciples answered Jesus’ question with the common view—that Jesus was one of the great prophets come back to life. Peter, always quick to respond, exclaimed that he was the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  No mortal being could have revealed this to Peter; but only God.  If Jesus were to ask us this question how would we answer?

18 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. Jesus then confers on Peter authority to govern the church that Jesus would build, a church that no powers would overcome. Peter will later go on to remind Christians that they are the church built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus the Christ as the cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-6). All believers are joined into this church by faith in Jesus the Christ as Savior, the same faith that Peter expressed here. Jesus praised Peter for his confession of faith. It is a faith like Peter’s that is the foundation of Christ’s kingdom. 19 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.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. Jesus warned the disciples not to publicize Peter’s confession because they did not yet fully understand the kind of Messiah he had come to be. Christ was not a military commander but a suffering servant. They needed to come to a full understanding of Jesus and their mission as disciples before they could proclaim it to others in a way that would not cause rebellion. They would have a difficult time understanding what Jesus came to do until his earthly mission was complete.

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