Matthew 16:15–20: “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but 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 overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.’ Then He instructed His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.”
Can you imagine being the recipient of these powerful words from Jesus? You’re just going on your own, you’re just saying some things, and Jesus says, “No, no, no. You got a revelation from the Father just now. You didn’t come up with this on your own. There was a divine intervention in your life, and you said those words: ‘You are the Christ… the Son of the living God.’”
That is recognizing Christ for who He is. He is the Son of God—not just the son of a god, but the Son of the living God, recognizing that there is only one living God, and Jesus is the Son of the living God in an ultimate expression of divinity. Paul said that in Christ “all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9).
This is not coming from a professional theologian. This is from a fisherman whose economic preoccupation was how to gather some fish and deploy his skill at sea. It was not the result of deep academic digging and careful linking of texts. It was a flash of divine revelation. It was God’s hand on Peter to say, in effect, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus says, “You are blessed.” This is awesome.
He begins to tell Peter that Peter has a special place when it comes to the church: “You are Peter [Petros], and on this rock [petra] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
Look at the shift in Peter after the Holy Spirit came upon him—the shift, the kind of leadership role he took as a front person for the church (Acts 2–5). Nobody was struggling with Peter’s prominence; this is God the Father’s appointment, and you can see the result.
Even though there were twelve apostles, and there were issues among them (some asking, “Who is the greatest?”—Luke 22:24), Jesus, in a way, singles out Peter here as the one who would have a pivotal role. He had a pivotal role in choosing who would replace Judas (Acts 1:15–26). He had a pivotal role on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14–41).
And I’m saying: those things that we see emerge from Peter cannot be divorced from these words, “On this rock I will build My church.” That is talking about Peter in his confessional, apostolic role—God at work through him. “On this rock I will build My church” is telling you this is a divine thing that is happening; it is not an orchestration of man.
When the Pharisees wanted to stop them from preaching about Jesus, Gamaliel told them, “If this plan or this undertaking is from God, you will not be able to stop them” (Acts 5:38–39). Something happened with Peter here. These words are powerful, and these words began to shape Peter into a new kind of person.
God bless you. See you later.