Mathew 16:13-20

This is a pretty well known passage to most people. Naturally I have read over it many times, but recently the Holy Spirit revealed some important aspects of this scripture as I meditated upon it. Before, when I read this passage, I always took away the point that Peter believed that Jesus was the Christ and this was good. However, I now think that this passage has more to do with knowing Jesus in a personal way rather than knowing a set of teachings; let me explain:

In verse 13 Jesus asks the disciples who the crowd thinks he is. The people referred to here are the masses in contrast with the disciples. All over the place we see tons of ideas about Jesus, some more accurate than others. When the disciples respond to the question, the individuals that people say Jesus is, are without exception men of God. All of these guys, John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, etc., are good people. They were sent from God with a particular message or teaching. The crowd thinks that Jesus is the same. They think that he has been sent from God with a wonderful new message and a few miracles too.

Peter, however, actually knows Jesus rather than knowing about Jesus. He declares that Jesus is the Christ, that is the savior, deliverer and redeemer. The revealing statement comes in verse 17 when Jesus declares that “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven.” It is key to realize the difference between a teaching and a revelation. If a man has told me “Jesus is God” I have received a teaching. However, when God reveals the nature of the Son to me, I received a revelation.

This sheds a little bit of light on what has always puzzled me in verse 20. Here Jesus charges the disciples to tell no one that he is the Christ. This always confused me because I thought, “wait a second, if it was so wonderful that they understood that Jesus is the Christ, why shouldn’t that be told to everyone?” The answer is that if they went about telling this fact to everyone, they would only be spreading a teaching by the flesh. However, after Pentecost, it seems that these same guys do nothing but go around and tell everyone that Jesus is the Christ. This is because after they were filled with the Holy Spirit, the sharing of the gospel became revelation rather than teaching. It is so important that we keep this in mind while we are sharing with someone because we can tell an individual all the key points of the gospel and only convert them to a different kind of heathenism called Christianity. However, if we let the work of the Holy Spirit reveal the nature of God to a person, God has brought them from death to life in Christ.

Another important aspect of this story is in verse 18. Catholics use the part where Jesus says “on this rock I will build my church” as one argument for the establishment of Peter as the first pope. However, in light of the context, I believe that the rock that Jesus is referring to is not Peter but the revelation which Peter had. In other words, I believe that the foundation of the Church is knowing the person of Jesus Christ. This brings great comfort and encouragement because the rest of the verse tells us that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. Satan can attack a teaching; Satan can twist a method, but he cannot stand against the knowledge of God. We see this principle demonstrated in the world frequently. There are many churches who receive a revelation from God which is followed by wonderful action and surrender. The next generation in these churches often adopts the method, ways and doctrines which were good for their parents. However, without a personal revelation from God they are drawn further and further away from the truth. If we teach our children to home-school their kids and not date we have failed, but if we teach them to truly seek God, then the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.