#14 Top 40 New Testament Passages: Peter’s Confession (Matthew 16:13-19)
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-19)
According to history, both the Greeks and the Romans thought of Caesarea Philippi as the entrance to the underworld where the pagan god Pan lived. The Jewish historian Josephus writes about this region near Mount Hermon in Northern Israel.
There is a rocky face that rises 100 feet above you and 500 feet wide, centered by a foreboding cave with temple ruins strewn about. It was here that Herod the Great built the Temple of Augustus (Augusteum) in 19 B.C. to honor his Caesar. The temple sat in front of the cave that was believed to be the gateway to the underworld, and where the Greek god Pan lived. This was one of three temples Herod constructed to honor Caesar Augustus in Israel–Caesarea Maritima by the Mediterranean Sea, Samaria-Sebaste in the south, and Caesarea Philippi. Herod willed the region to his younger son Philip when he died in 4 B.C., who then built this city up to be his capital and to honor his Caesar, Tiberius. Josephus records the spot in the following: “And when Caesar had further bestowed upon him (Herod) another additional country, he built there also a temple of white marble, hard by the fountains of Jordan: the place is called Panium (Panias, Caesarea Philippi), where is a top of a mountain that is raised to an immense height, and at its side, beneath, or at its bottom, a dark cave opens itself; within which there is a horrible precipice, that descends abruptly to a vast depth: it contains a mighty quantity of water, which is immovable; and when anybody lets down anything to measure the depth of the earth beneath the water, no length of cord is sufficient to reach it. Now the fountains of Jordan rise at the roots of this cavity outwardly; and, as some think, this is the utmost origin of Jordan.”
The disciples had been out and about carrying out the mission of Jesus.
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. (Matthew 10:5-8)
They went about their ministry. Things start to get heated. John the Baptist is beheaded by King Herod. The Pharisees and Sadducees continue to try and trap Jesus in arguments over what is and isn't proper for Jews. So Jesus takes his disciples away from Jewish towns into regions more populated by Gentiles for rest and safety. After traveling trough Tyre ans Sidon along the Mediterranean, they traveled north to Caesarea Philippi and the pagan temple of Pan.
Pan is associated with sexual orgies in pagan worship, a cultic practice of goat-dancers. Jews would avoid going to such a wicked place, but Jesus took his disciples to the area. His disciples would have known the evil reputation of the place. But rather than focus on the pagan rites and sacrifices that went on there, Jesus asks about his own reputation among the people. "Who do the people say that I am?" (Matthew 16:13)
The disciples give varied answers, some think Jesus is John the Baptist brought back to life. Others thought Jesus was Elijah, the ancient prophet foretold to return to herald the messiah. (Malachi 4:5)
But Jesus then asks, "Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15) It's a question we all must answer for ourselves.
I have heard people speak of Jesus as a great teacher, a good person, one of the best who ever lived. Others say that Jesus never existed, but was made up by the Church to control people. If Jesus ever did exist, these critics say, he was nothing like what is said in the Bible. Some refuse to believe that Jesus was God in human form. Some do believe Jesus was a great prophet and that he was able to perform miracles, but he's not the savior of the world, nor the only way to know God. Other religious paths are just as valid as the Christian one. I heard someone once quip, "Jesus was just a nice guy who was stupid enough to get himself killed."
Yes, what people say about Jesus is widely varied. Let us remember that one cannot truly understand who Jesus is until they have had their spiritual blindness cured by the hand of Jesus. The apostle Paul wrote,
We speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual. Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.
“For who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ. (1st Corinthians 2:13-16)
But when through the gift of the Holy Spirit the eyes of one's spirit are opened, they are able to see Jesus for who He truly is.
This happened for Simon Peter when he confessed that Jesus is the Christ (messiah), the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16) And Jesus praised Simon, who was now dubbed Cephas (Peter, the Rock).
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. (Matthew 16:17)
And then Jesus gives us a little insight into the Church He is forming through the ministry of the 12 apostles.
"On this rock, I will build my church. And the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)
The rock is Peter, for that is what Jesus called him. The Roman Catholic tradition interprets this proclamation to be the ordination of the first pope, the chief pontiff of the Church throughout the world and the centuries. The Roman Catholics can show the succession of popes from Peter to the current pope serving at the Vatican. There's been 266 popes. Check out this list (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm)
But for Protestants who do not recognize the authority of Rome, the rock that Jesus will build His church upon is not a person, like Peter, but the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the only living God. In Jewish tradition, there is only one God, creator of heaven and earth. All other so-called gods are idols, mute and unable to answer the prayers of their worshipers. Instead idolaters worship demons in ignorance. (1st Corinthians 10:20) The living God is not one imaged in statues of stone and wood or gold covered. The living God is invisible and lives in inapproachable light. (Colossians 1:15; 1st Timothy 6:16) Yet God has given us an image of the divine in the person of Jesus.
The Church confesses that Christ Jesus is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3). The fullness of God was please to dwell in Jesus. (Colossians 1:15, 19) Jesus was God visiting us in the flesh. (John 1:14, 18) And Jesus is the only mediator between God and humanity. (Acts 2: 1st Timothy 2:5)
Peter witnessed before the ruling council of the Jewish people (Sanhedrin) when arrested for preaching Jesus as the Christ.
"There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
According to history, both the Greeks and the Romans thought of Caesarea Philippi as the entrance to the underworld where the pagan god Pan lived. The Jewish historian Josephus writes about this region near Mount Hermon in Northern Israel.
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| Grotto of Pan |
The disciples had been out and about carrying out the mission of Jesus.
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. (Matthew 10:5-8)
They went about their ministry. Things start to get heated. John the Baptist is beheaded by King Herod. The Pharisees and Sadducees continue to try and trap Jesus in arguments over what is and isn't proper for Jews. So Jesus takes his disciples away from Jewish towns into regions more populated by Gentiles for rest and safety. After traveling trough Tyre ans Sidon along the Mediterranean, they traveled north to Caesarea Philippi and the pagan temple of Pan.
Pan is associated with sexual orgies in pagan worship, a cultic practice of goat-dancers. Jews would avoid going to such a wicked place, but Jesus took his disciples to the area. His disciples would have known the evil reputation of the place. But rather than focus on the pagan rites and sacrifices that went on there, Jesus asks about his own reputation among the people. "Who do the people say that I am?" (Matthew 16:13)
The disciples give varied answers, some think Jesus is John the Baptist brought back to life. Others thought Jesus was Elijah, the ancient prophet foretold to return to herald the messiah. (Malachi 4:5)
But Jesus then asks, "Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15) It's a question we all must answer for ourselves.
I have heard people speak of Jesus as a great teacher, a good person, one of the best who ever lived. Others say that Jesus never existed, but was made up by the Church to control people. If Jesus ever did exist, these critics say, he was nothing like what is said in the Bible. Some refuse to believe that Jesus was God in human form. Some do believe Jesus was a great prophet and that he was able to perform miracles, but he's not the savior of the world, nor the only way to know God. Other religious paths are just as valid as the Christian one. I heard someone once quip, "Jesus was just a nice guy who was stupid enough to get himself killed."
Yes, what people say about Jesus is widely varied. Let us remember that one cannot truly understand who Jesus is until they have had their spiritual blindness cured by the hand of Jesus. The apostle Paul wrote,
We speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual. Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.
“For who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ. (1st Corinthians 2:13-16)
But when through the gift of the Holy Spirit the eyes of one's spirit are opened, they are able to see Jesus for who He truly is.
This happened for Simon Peter when he confessed that Jesus is the Christ (messiah), the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16) And Jesus praised Simon, who was now dubbed Cephas (Peter, the Rock).
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. (Matthew 16:17)
And then Jesus gives us a little insight into the Church He is forming through the ministry of the 12 apostles.
"On this rock, I will build my church. And the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)
The rock is Peter, for that is what Jesus called him. The Roman Catholic tradition interprets this proclamation to be the ordination of the first pope, the chief pontiff of the Church throughout the world and the centuries. The Roman Catholics can show the succession of popes from Peter to the current pope serving at the Vatican. There's been 266 popes. Check out this list (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm)
But for Protestants who do not recognize the authority of Rome, the rock that Jesus will build His church upon is not a person, like Peter, but the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the only living God. In Jewish tradition, there is only one God, creator of heaven and earth. All other so-called gods are idols, mute and unable to answer the prayers of their worshipers. Instead idolaters worship demons in ignorance. (1st Corinthians 10:20) The living God is not one imaged in statues of stone and wood or gold covered. The living God is invisible and lives in inapproachable light. (Colossians 1:15; 1st Timothy 6:16) Yet God has given us an image of the divine in the person of Jesus.
The Church confesses that Christ Jesus is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3). The fullness of God was please to dwell in Jesus. (Colossians 1:15, 19) Jesus was God visiting us in the flesh. (John 1:14, 18) And Jesus is the only mediator between God and humanity. (Acts 2: 1st Timothy 2:5)
Peter witnessed before the ruling council of the Jewish people (Sanhedrin) when arrested for preaching Jesus as the Christ.
"There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
And Jesus is quoted to have said that no one comes to the Father (The creator God of Israel), except through him! (John 14:6) And John says that by believing in Jesus, we will have eternal life. (John 3:16; 20:31)
So the rock, or the foundation of the church of Jesus Christ is the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, The Savior of the World.
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| Ichthus, The Fish Symbol |
The early church was persecuted for its confession. To protect themselves in secrecy, they used a fish symbol to communicate meeting places and as greetings in public. In Greek the word for fish is ichthys, commonly ichthus, pronounced as ick-thoos. Ichthus is an acrostic. Each letter in the Greek word represents a word.
Iota (i) is the first letter of Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς), Greek for "Jesus".
Chi (ch) is the first letter of Christos (Χριστός), Greek for "anointed" (of the Lord).
Theta (th) is the first letter of Theou (Θεοῦ), Greek for "God's", the genitive case of Θεóς, Theos, Greek for "God".
Upsilon (y) is the first letter of (h)yios[8] (Yἱός), Greek for "Son".
Sigma (s) is the first letter of sōtēr (Σωτήρ), Greek for "Savior".
Ichthus means Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior.
Who do you say Jesus is? Who is Jesus for you?
For myself, Jesus is my God, my friend and brother, my savior, my healer, my redeemer, my teacher and my deliverer. Jesus is my Lord and Master. And while I am not perfect in following Him, nor do I love with His perfect love, I trust in the mercy of God shown us in the cross of Christ.
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