Matthew 16:13-20 A Confession And A Clarification

When Jesus asked, "And who do you say I am?", He was asking the most important question that we as humans will be asked.  He is either "the Christ, the Son of the Living God" or nothing, and our response determines where we will spend eternity.

My commentary noted that there had been other confessions of faith prior to this one.  "Nathanael had confessed Christ as the Son of God (John 1:49), and the disciples had declared Him God's Son after He stilled the storm (Matt. 14:33).  Peter had given a confession of faith when the crowds left Jesus after His sermon on the Bread of Life (John 6:68-69).  In fact, when Andrew had brought his brother Simon to Jesus, it was on the basis of this belief (John 1:41)."

It said that this confession differed from those because Jesus explicitly asked for it, and it was "a studied and sincere statement of a man who had been taught by God," not an emotional response.  Jesus also accepted this confession, it said.

In regards to Jesus' words to Peter, where He called Peter a rock, it said, "the total teaching of Scripture is that the church, God's temple, is built on Jesus Christ -- not on Peter ... Later, the same Peter who confessed Christ became an adversary and entertained Satan's thoughts."  The keys to the kingdom were not the keys to heaven and the gates of hell.  "Peter was given the privilege of opening the door of faith to the Jews at Pentecost, to the Samaritans, and to the Gentiles.  But the other apostles shared his authority (Matt 18:18), and Paul had the privilege of "opening the door of faith" to the Gentiles outside of Palestine (Acts 14:27).  "Nowhere in this passage, or in the rest of the New Testament, are we told that Peter or his successors had any special position or privilege in the church.  Certainly, Peter in his two epistles claimed to be nothing more than an apostle (1 Peter 1:1), an elder (1 Peter 5:1), and a servant of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1)."

When binding and loosing is mentioned, "the Greek verbs in Matthew 16:19 are most important."  The Expanded Translation reads, "And whatever you bind on earth (forbid to be done), shall have been already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth (permit to be done), shall have already been loosed in heaven."  "Jesus did not say that God would obey what they did on earth, but that they should do on earth whatever God had already willed.  The church does not get man's will done in heaven; it obeys God's will on earth."

Father, I thank You for teaching me that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and my Savior.  Please help me not to entertain Satan's thoughts as Peter did.  I don't want You to ever stop being enough for me!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford