Matthew 16:13-20
Peter
Recognizes Jesus as Messiah
16:13
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea
Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do
people say that the Son of Man is?"
14 And they said, "Some
say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still
others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
15 He said to them, "But
who do you say that I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 And Jesus said to him,
"Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and
blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who
is in heaven.
18 "I also say to you that
you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My
church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower
it.
19 "I will give you the
keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you
bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed
in heaven."
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change
the way that we think, and the way that we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
Peter Finally Sees Christ
as the Messiah
The miracles, the astounding
lessons and parables Jesus taught, the knowledge He
shared .. All these things the disciples saw and,
even though they were impressive, were not enough
to convince them that Jesus was more than a prophet
sent to them.
In fact, as John later
describes in his 1st chapter, verse 14, Jesus is
realized to be the Son of God. To be more specific
The Bible states "The Word became flesh .."
meaning God came to earth as Christ to live among
His people, to experience the same joys, triumphs
and sorrow they did. And then to die for the sins
of man so that we, as a people, could be
saved.
We have the advantage of
hindsight and the Scripture to help us understand.
Remember, there was no New Testament at this time.
So, when Jesus asked the disciples who the people
thought He was, and who they believed Him to
be, their answer is not too surprising.
Suddenly, a light went on in
Peter's head and he realized that Jesus was, in
fact, the Messiah promised to them in Scripture. I
can't imagine the joy he must have felt when he
understood that he was standing in the presence of
the Holy Spirit! Peter unknowingly set a precedence
for the first crucial step all future Christians
would take when accepting Jesus as Savior.
Now, back to us. We have the
complete Bible (Old and New Testaments) telling
all about the birth, death and resurrection of
Jesus. Even though we accepted Him when we first
believed we still sometimes struggle with ongoing
faith. If we were asked today who Christ is would
we hesitate or would we instantly answer; "He is my
Lord and Savior."?
Who is Jesus?
Love In Christ
- Bob
If you have never made the
commitment to receive the love and life-changing
experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to
go
here and take the
first
steps to salvation.
Another
Bible Study Lesson Online For Living
...
Matthew 16:5-12
- "Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees and
Sadducees" Warned Jesus
-
Is there a
such thing as a little
bit of sin?
Jesus explains here that, even as Christians, we
can do small things that will affect a whole crowd
of people Even a congregation.
These verses for Baptists about little sins
and how they affect others are from New American
Standard Bible
Comments are welcome. Please email
me with any questions or comments you
may have.
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