Knowing The Word in Matthew 16:13-20

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

[Peter’s confession is the climax of the series of teachings that began in 4:17 with Jesus’ teaching mission in Galilee. It is interesting this identification of Jesus as the Christ is done in private and not in public.]

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi [the furthest point north Jesus ever traveled (unless he actually made it to Upstate New York!) in a Gentile area with no Galilean crowd], he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” [The answers of others identify Jesus as a great man, but still a man.] 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” [Now Jesus gets personal.] 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” [This is the first time the title Christ was used to describe Jesus by another human being. The term “living” was probably used to contrast the God Peter knows with the local deities who were only idols.] 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed [someone who is being congratulated, whose place in life is enviable] are you, Simon Bar-Jonah [son of Jonah]! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. [Peter has spoken a God-given truth. Does it take a work of God for a person to know God in Jesus?] 18 And I tell you [Jesus’ response to Peter’s statement], you are Peter [“petra” in Greek, which means “rock”], and on this rock [this confession of who Jesus is by Peter, who will proclaim again and again who Jesus is to others, thus Jesus will use him] I will build my church [a Messianic community in OT terms that is Jesus’, not God’s], and the gates of hell [see Isaiah 38:10, the place of death, the place of the dead, the power of death] shall not prevail against it. [This Messianic community will not die and be shut in the gates of death. So Peter is to be the foundation stone of a new community of the restored people of God that will last forever.] 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” [Peter is to have a leading role with a daunting degree of authority. The image of the keys suggests a steward who regulates the administration of a house. The issue is not admission to the church, which is not what the kingdom of heaven means, but an authority derived from a delegation of God’s authority. That authority is exercised in binding and loosing, which are technical terms for the pronouncements of Rabbis on what was not permitted (bind) and what was permitted (loose). An early example of Peter exercising this authority is when he pioneered and authorized the church’s acceptance of Gentiles in Acts 10-11. “Shall be bound” and “shall be loosed” are in the future perfect tense, which means that Peter will pass on decisions that have already been made in heaven, not his new ideas but what God has determined beforehand.] 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. [This is a command not to reveal Jesus’ Messiahship. As we will see below, Peter does not fully understand it yet. The Messiahship Peter has triumphantly declared will be very different than what he has imagined. Jesus wants the title Christ to be for the world, not just for the Jews. If his own disciples do not understand it yet, then how would the Galilean crowd? Now enter into a new phase of teaching.]