Sunday
Sunday
Peter’s Confession
“Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Matthew 16:15–16
The time had come for the disciples to make an unambiguous statement of their faith in Jesus as Messiah. So he took them with him to the far north, to the village of Caesarea Philippi, on the foothills of Mount Hermon and near the source of the River Jordan. Here in privacy and solitude he asked them two questions. To his first question about public opinion, they replied that people thought he was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or another prophet. To his second question about who they thought he was, Simon Peter, the leader and spokesman of the Twelve, blurted out, “You are the Christ.” According to Matthew, Peter added, “the Son of the living God,” although probably using the title in its limited messianic sense. Then, as soon as Peter had borne witness to Jesus, Jesus bore witness to Peter.
Firstly, Peter had come to his conviction not by human reasoning but by a revelation of the Father.
Secondly, Peter was in some sense the rock on which the Messiah would build his community, which would last forever. This is, of course, a controversial verse. But in making up our minds about it, we would be wise to remember that throughout the New Testament, Christ himself is the rock on which the church is built and that the majority of early church fathers taught that the rock is the faith professed by Peter, not Peter professing the faith.
Thirdly, Peter was given the keys of the kingdom, which he would later use—historically speaking—to admit first the Jews, then the Samaritans, and then the Gentiles into the kingdom of God.
One more point: no sooner had Peter made his confession of faith, than “Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him” (Mark 8:30). We will learn tomorrow that this was the last time Jesus issued his command to silence, and why.
For further reading: Matthew 16:13–20