WHO IS CHRIST

 

Matthew 16:13-20

New International Version (NIV)

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter,^[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades^[b] will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[d] loosed in heaven.”²⁰ Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Matthew 16:13-28

A very important conversation

A very important conversation happened about this time. The *disciples had been with Jesus for some time. They had seen his *miracles. They had heard him teach. They had seen the great love and care that he always showed. They were near Caesarea Philippi.

Then, Jesus asked his *disciples this question:

·        Who did people say that Jesus was?

The *disciples replied with many answers:

·        Some people thought that John the Baptist had become alive again. These people guessed that Jesus was really John.

·        Some people thought that Jesus was perhaps Elijah or one of the prophets.

 

·        But Peter said this:

Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’.

Jesus is the *Messiah and the son of God

This was a wonderful answer. 'Christ' means the same as *Messiah. Peter realized that Jesus was the son of God.

Jesus had an explanation for what Peter had said. The *disciples could only say this because God had told them. God had helped them to believe in Jesus.

Wrong ideas about the *Messiah

Jesus immediately told them not to tell anyone. Why did he say this? It was because of the Jews’ idea of a *Messiah. They expected that the *Messiah would be a military leader. They thought that the *Messiah would defeat the Romans. The security of the Jews was important. But Jesus had come to do something that was far more important.  He had come to save mankind from their sins. 

Jesus then reveals because of this revelation voice by Peter that certain results and blessings would come.

Upon men like Peter the Lord will build his church.  Men who God has shown the truth of Jesus Christ and they stand upon that.

The gates of hell will not prevail, overcome or destroy the church.  We win, conquer, overcome and have victory. No demon, worldly influence and fleshly opponent will defeat us.

We have the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.  Righteous, peace, joy and love.  Keys in those days represent power and authority.  We have the power and authority to do the works of Christ.  We are His ambassadors and representatives and we can continue His work.  

Whatever we bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth is loosed in heaven.  The power of binding and loosing is powerful.  This is a fact and reality of authority.  Mixed with faith, love and power we are an unbeatable force for God. Talk about Peter and John at the gate called beautiful.  

This is a foundational passage for the authority of the believer