Here’s a story, also mentioned in Mark 8:27–30 and Luke 9:18–20 but Matthew has more details.
after His busyness of ministry (feeding and debating with Pharisees),
Jesus was chilling out with his disciples and as they are walking in
Caesarea Philippi which is as pagan territory, Jesus asked a question
that caught everyone by surprise.
The response is quite interesting.
It's
important to know the truth. Verse 14 shows their answer was based off
what they hear or perhaps they have a sense of fear. Unconvinced, Jesus
asked again and this time, Simon answered boldly, in Matthew 16:16 --
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Now the
confession of Jesus as Christ the Son of living God speaks that Jesus is
King to Peter and in other gospels, it shows that Peter acknowledge
Him as the Messiah. It also revealed the divinity of Jesus – “son of
God”
He was convinced that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the
coming king who would miraculously heal the people and drive out the
oppressors in the land.
The confession of Peter is very crucial for the foundation of the church, which based on the truth of Jesus.
The
declaration of Simon about Jesus affirms that church shall be built on
that declaration as the foundation of truth. That is why Simon is then
given the name PETER means “the rock”. And this rock, Jesus says He will
build his church. Jesus is not exalting Peter but rather, declaring
into the spiritual realm that the ministry of Jesus and the extension of
His kingdom anchor on these words.
This is important, to say
that Christ was going to build his church on that foundation so that
every doctrine, teaching, writing, organizing is Christ-centred.
It’s
important for us to understand that because these days people can say
all sort of things on how to run a church. But at the end of the day, it
needs to be Jesus way where He is center of it all, He is the
foundation of the truth. Jesus foretold it in Matthew 7 that following
God’s word is like building a firm foundation.
From foundation of church, Jesus goes on to say that keys to the kingdom of heaven will be given.
We
can relate keys to “unlocking” or “opening”, meaning that you have the
power of access (eg house, things, car). Hence, in the Bible, a key is
used as a symbol of power and authority. The kingdom of heaven here
means, doubtless, the church on earth. When the Saviour says, therefore,
he will give to Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven, he means that
he will make him the instrument of opening the door of faith to the
world the first to preach the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles. In
short, the declaration of Peter has the honor of first opening the doors
of the gospel to the world.
Then what Jesus means about “bind”
and “loose”? The phrase "to bind" and "to loose" was often used by the
Jews as “to prohibit” and “to permit”. Simply say that whatever we hold
back, will be reflected in the spiritual atmosphere. Same thing as well
when comes to releasing the gospel and blessings.
Finally, Jesus
safeguards the method of the kingdom by forbidding publicity (v. 20).
Jesus was not trying to keep the message quiet, or his identity a
secret. He was refusing to bow to the demands of the people to declare
himself with a sign. He wanted people to come to faith in Him as Peter
and the disciples had done, through the response of faith to the
revelation. He wanted to make sure that they would come to Him by faith,
and not because of messianic zeal without true repentance. And He
wanted to ensure that the steady progress to the cross would not be
hindered by full disclosure. After the resurrection there would be
complete proclamation to the world.
But at the end of the day,
we need to go back to the basic question : when Jesus ask the question
“who do you say I am”, it’s question that test the truth.
Know the TRUTH for it is the foundation of unlocking the kingdom of heaven on Earth
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