Summary:
Peter's Confession of Christ
Verses 13-20
Jesus arrived in Caesarea Philippi. He asked His disciples who people said the Son of Man was. They said John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Jesus asked who they said He was. Simon Peter said He is the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God. Jesus told him that he was blessed. He called him Simon son of Jonah, saying that God the Father, not man, had revealed Jesus' identity to him. Jesus called Simon 'Peter', which means 'rock', and said that He would build His church on this rock. The gates of Hades would not overcome this rock. Jesus would give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever he would bind or loosen on earth would be bound or loosened in heaven. Jesus then warned the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.
Jesus Predicts His Death
Verses 21-28
Jesus then began to explain that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and law teachers. He would be killed and raised to life on the third day. Peter took Him aside and rebuked Him, saying it would never happen. Jesus rebuked Satan, telling him to get behind Him. Satan is a stumbling block; he doesn't have in mind what God does, but what man does.
Jesus told His disciples that to follow Him, they must deny themselves and take up their cross. Those that want to save their lives will lose it. Those that lose their lives for Him will find it. What good is it to gain the world, but lose your soul? What can they exchange for their soul?
" 'For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory, with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what (s)he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.' " (Verses 27-28)
Lori's Thoughts:
The Israelites saw God in the form of a cloud, which led them through the wilderness. God was with them in the ark of the covenant. For a long time, they were true to Him. Once they were established in their land, they demanded earthly kings and eventually turned away from God and back again several times. So, God sent prophets to call them back to Him. Then, He sent His Son, Jesus.
I wonder what would have happened if the Israelites had accepted Jesus as their Savior? Would Jesus have needed to die? Would He have taken Israel home and destroyed the rest of us?
Unfortunately, Israel no longer recognized their God or the grand gesture to save them by becoming a human to interact directly with us.
Have you ever tried to help an animal, but it freaks out? The animal doesn't know your intentions or understand your higher language. If you transformed into that animal, you'd be able to communicate with them much more effectively. Then, you could work together to get the animals to safety.
This is what Jesus did for us. We are unable to see God without dying, because we are sinful creatures. We don't understand His mode of communication, because we are lesser beings. So, Jesus became like us to communicate with us directly and work with us for our salvation.
Peter's confession of Jesus being the Son of God and Man is an example of how God speaks to us. Because of his connection with Christ, Peter began to understand God's plan in his life and in the lives of all humans.
The real church is in our hearts. Some would call them our souls. If we surrender the mastership of our souls to God, Christ will fortify our souls by building His church upon them. We will, then, be protected from the power of Satan. Christ will give us the key (I believe this is figurative) to heaven.
I'm not sure what He means about the binding and loosening on earth and heaven...
Every person must choose for themselves whether or not they believe in God and accept His salvation. This is why Jesus told the disciples not to tell people that He is Christ. Faith is a journey that we must initiate for ourselves. Just say yes.
. . .
Even those of us connected to God can be influenced by Satan. I'm sure Peter wanted to protect Jesus from harm. Satan was playing on human emotion to prevent salvation for anyone. But, Jesus saw the lie. When we are connected to God, we will be shown deceit when it arrives. Those not connected to God will be deceived.
Jesus rebuked Satan, not Peter. However, I'm sure Peter was humbled by this experience and tested his thoughts, in the future, before speaking them. We must do the same with humans. They may be unaware of how Satan is using them. Remember that they are children of God. They're just lost. Rebuke the devil and point the people towards God.
To follow God, we must abandon selfish ambitions - defining ourselves by our career, wealth, status, etc. To truly live, surrender yourself to God. You will gain life, love, joy, endurance in hardships, peace, etc. Most importantly, you will gain eternal life and protection for your soul.
Jesus will come again and we will be rewarded according to our actions, which are a reflection of whom we serve. Love for God and fellow humans - we serve God. Love for ourselves - we serve the god of self, Satan.
Jesus said that some standing there would see His return before they died. How is this possible, if it's 2,000 years later and Christ hasn't returned yet? Have you read Revelation?
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