13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14They 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?"
16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
This passage reminds me of my trip to the Vatican where I saw the enormous chair built for Peter to sit and judge and hold the keys to heaven--like a gatekeeper. I remember being awed but scared at the same time. I think right underneath this is where Peter is buried along with all of the other popes. I think this is all derived from this passage?
To me this passage points to a pivotal moment where Jesus has empowered the church with His power to go and reclaim what has been taken by satan and act on behalf of the kingdom of heaven because the gates of hell CANNOT resist the church. Jesus is sharing all that the Father has given to Him with the church to join him in his mission.
That is really all I have for this passage. I would love to hear how you guys understood this passage.
3 comments:
I think Peter's confession is something very important in Bible. It is a very truth. Who's Jesus? He is our savior and living God. Jesus was so pleased by Peter's answer to bless him with those long words like above.
thanks for your reflection, christine. i agree with you that this is a difficult passage. i think Jesus raises maybe the most fundamental question that we all have to face in our lives: "who do you say I am?" the way we answer this question determines everything about our christian life.
many think of Jesus as a great teacher, a great religious leader, a great prophet. well, He may certainly be all these things and more besides, but if He is NOT the Son of the Living God, then christianity is a false and powerless religion that has pulled the wool over A LOT of people's eyes.
all the power of forgiveness and the atonement for sins is only possible if Jesus is actually "the Christ, the Son of the Living God". we don't gather on sundays to worship a great teacher, a great prophet, a great religious leader. we gather to worship Jesus who is God in the flesh.
and from this passage we can conclude that no one can ever really "reason" their way to this truth--it HAS to be revealed by God the Father.
many people "believe" in God, but if you press them, they do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. this heresy was very common in the early church, and it is rampant today. many say they are christians and worship "God" but do not place Jesus Christ at the center of their faith. a christianity that does not have Christ as its center and foundation is no christianity at all, and on the last day, it will be revealed as such.
chris, i was thinking of something similar... and also how the catholics mis-interpreted these verses
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