Walking with Peter: Who do you say I am?

Read Matthew 16:13-20

Jesus and his disciples maybe are sitting around the campfire or walking along the road to Caesarea Philippi. Talking about this, that, and the other. Jesus asks the guys a question. “Who do people say I am?”

1. Who did people living in Jesus’ day say He was?

Andrew - “Some say you are Elijah.” Matthew - “Some say you are Jeremiah.” Bartholomew - “Some say you are John the Baptist.” James - “Other say you are a prophet.” Not to mention what the Pharisees called Jesus - drunkard, glutton, follower of Beelzebub, and probably worse. People of Jesus’ day had a lot of opinions on who He was.

2. Who do people today say Jesus is? Good man who said and did a lot of good things. A great religious leader like Gandhi, Buddha, Mohammed.

Jesus turns the question on to his disciples. “What about you guys? Who do you say I am?”

3. Who answered Jesus’ question? Peter. What was his answer? You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. How long do you think it took for him to respond? Instantly. What insight do you get into the disciple’s character based on his response? Boldness, assertiveness.

Peter acknowledged two things about Jesus.

1) Jesus was the Messiah - the Anointed One of God. The One promised by the prophets who would restore the glory of Israel.

2) Jesus was the Son of God - He acknowledged the divine nature of Jesus … the unique bond Jesus and God shared. Jesus was of God.

4. How did the disciple reach this conclusion? Did he reach this conclusion on his own? Did Andrew whisper the answer to him in his ear?

Revealed to Peter by God the Father. How did God reveal this knowledge to Peter? Thunderous voice from heaven? Handwriting on the wall? No. By walking with Jesus. Spending time with Him. Hearing His words. Meditating on His words. Seeing Jesus in action. All the while, God the Father revealed truth to Peter concerning Jesus. Opened Peter’s eyes to the truth. Point out something – Although Peter answered quickly, his revelation was not instantaneous/out of the blue. The truth about Jesus was revealed to Peter over time through experience.

5. Who do you say Jesus is? Who is He to you? Savior, Lord, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counsellor, Immanuel, the Good Shepherd, etc.

6. a) How did you come to this conclusion? Through reason? Words of people? By the Spirit of God. Through a consistent walk with God, He reveals even more of Jesus to you.

b) Can a person reach the conclusion that Jesus is ________ or confess that Jesus is ______ without a revelation from God? See I Corinthians 12:3

Can I, Greg Crawford, convince an unbeliever that Jesus is Lord/Son of God on my own? No. What I can do is plant the seed. I can share the Gospel with someone. Explain to that person who Jesus is. Holy Spirit takes over from there. He reveals the Truth to that person. It’s up to the person to listen to the Holy Spirit’s revelation. When they believe what they’re hearing, they will be able to confess that Jesus is Lord/Son of God. By continuing to walk with God, the Holy Spirit reveals more about who Jesus is.

Jesus commends Peter for his confession. Goes on to say … read vs. 18-19.

7) What is Jesus saying to Peter in vs. 18-19?

My thoughts on these verses - To me, this is a symbolic passing of the torch. Or, in Biblical terms, it’s like Elijah giving his mantle to Elisha. As we’re going to see in vs. 21, Jesus is not long for this world. He’s leaving soon. Jesus needs someone to give the keys of leadership to before he goes … a shepherd to lead the sheep. From the first time Jesus met Peter, He had tapped Peter to be the one who would lead His Church. If you recall their first meeting, that’s when Jesus gave Simon the name Peter. Never really explained to Simon why. Here Jesus does so. “Simon, you are Peter/the Rock and upon this Rock, I will build my church and the gates of Hades (death and the forces of evil) will not/shall not prevail against it. Think about that imagery for a moment. What comes to mind?

Giving the keys - Again, it symbolizes the passing of the torch. After Jesus leaves this world, Peter would be the leader/shepherd of His church.

8) What are the keys to heaven? Prayer. Prayer unlocks the door to heaven and locks the door. Example - Elijah - I Kings 17:1. Tells King Ahab there will be no dew nor rain for the next few years except at my word” No rain for 3 ½ years. Mt. Carmel - prayed fire from heaven. Afterwards prayed for rain. Another example - During a battle, Joshua prayed that God would stop the sun and moon. Prayer is powerful.

9) Was the authority to bind and loose given only to Peter? Read Matthew 18:15-20.

The “you” in these verses is plural. Refers to the Church. From what I gather, the Church as a body has the authority to bind and loose. For more on this, see the addendum below.

APPLICATION

1) Ask yourself “Who is Jesus to me?” Write out your answers.
2) Seek to find out more about who Jesus is. He is your Savior and so much more. Look up Scriptures that deal with Jesus as Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counsellour, the Good Shepherd, Healer of broken hearts, etc.
3) Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal more of Jesus to you this week.
4) When witnessing, you are not going to convince an unbeliever that Jesus is Lord. That is the Holy Spirit’s job. Your job is to plant the seed and water it. Let the Spirit bring forth the fruit.
5) Prayer is a powerful, powerful tool that is very much underused. Don’t let prayer be that tool that just sits on a shelf. Put it to use. I recommend reading Jim Cymbala’s book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.

Addendum

The authority of the Pope, the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church, is found in Matthew 13:18-19. The Roman Catholic church teaches that Jesus gave to Peter and Peter alone the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. Consequently, only Peter and not any of the other disciples were given the authority to bind and loose things on earth and in Heaven. According to Roman Catholic tradition, Peter was the first bishop of Rome. The bishop of Rome over the centuries became known as the pope, the leader of the Church in western Europe. When Peter died, the keys and the authority that came with them were passed down to the next bishop of Rome/pope and when he died they were passed to his successor and so on and so forth up until today. According to Roman Catholic tradition, if someone wants to make a request to God, they must first go through the pope/Roman Catholic Church, because the pope has the keys to the kingdom of Heaven.