And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Peter confessed that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of the living God, affirming His divine identity and sonship. This knowledge came not from human wisdom or teaching alone but was revealed to him by the Father in heaven shining light into the heart. The rock on which Christ builds His church is Christ Himself, stable and immovable, not Peter whose name means only a stone given for his faithful confession. Steadfast confession of Christ's divinity is the great test of faith and the living principle that animates believers in every age. Jesus accepted and blessed the confession as God-led, and it marked the time He began to foretell that He must go to Jerusalem to suffer, die and rise again, though the disciples could not yet reconcile His divine sonship with rejection and crucifixion.
Confession and Its Setting
Simon Peter answered Jesus with the confession that He is the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of the living God, affirming His divine identity and sonship. He spoke for himself and his fellow disciples, expressing the faith they all held, yet he was the one then inspired to put it into words with boldness and inspired fervor, not in an ordinary tone but as if beholding Christ's glory, with a burning heart that could not keep silent and with the veil removed in adoration. This bold declaration was made when the faith of many had failed and priestly and popular opposition stood mighty, by unlettered fishermen while learned teachers, scribes, Pharisees and rulers were perplexed over Jesus' identity.
Peter's conviction rested on John's proclamation, close fellowship with Jesus, and what he had heard and witnessed of Jesus' words, works and miracles despite humble surroundings. He remained devoted and loyal to Jesus in humiliation when others doubted after John's imprisonment and death or left because Jesus did not seek David's throne and kingly honors, accepting Him without waiting for Him to receive earthly exaltation. After hearing His words and seeing His works despite opposition from priests and people, the disciples could so testify to what they knew.
The confession did not mean Peter or the disciples understood that the Messiah must suffer and die. They could not reconcile His divine sonship and promised unshakable kingdom, so firmly established that the gates of hell could not prevail against it, with rejection, insult by scribes and Pharisees, crucifixion and death, nor connect the Messiah with humiliation and suffering as the Jews generally did not.
Jesus asked what people thought of Him not from ignorance and not because He did not know their thoughts, but to give the disciples opportunity to confess and be strengthened for the coming trial of His suffering, humiliation, abuse and apparent degradation, longing that the faith they then expressed might remain firm. While many accepted Jesus as a prophet or hoped to make Him king without recognizing Him as the Messiah, He accepted, commended and blessed the disciples' acknowledgment as led and revealed by God, and it marked the time He began to foretell He must go to Jerusalem to suffer, die and rise again. No human power could degrade Him, for His Godlikeness would appear in every scene of humiliation and flash conviction into the hearts of priests and rulers in scenes whose memory would never be effaced.
Revelation and the Rock
The knowledge Peter confessed was not given by flesh and blood, by human wisdom, insight, understanding or teaching alone, but was revealed to him by the Father in heaven. It came through the mysterious working of God's Spirit upon the human heart, with glory illuminating the soul and light shining into it as God who commanded light to shine out of darkness gives the light of His knowledge. That divine shining lifts even the humblest, unlettered mind to knowledge above all earthly wisdom and acquaintance with sacred truth, removing the veil so the burning heart beholds Christ's glory and cannot keep silent but speaks in adoration with inspired fervor. For receiving it Peter is called blessed.
Steadfast confession of Christ's divinity is the great test of faith and the basis of the promise that Christ's church will stand. This Spirit-given acknowledgment is the living principle that would animate the hearts of believers in coming ages and in every age.
The rock on which Christ builds His church is Christ Himself, the Truth and Light and Life of the world, altogether stable and immovable, the Son of God, not Peter. The name Peter means a stone, and it was given because of his faithful, earnest confession of Christ as the long-awaited Messiah and Son of the living God, not because he himself is the foundation or a superior foundation. Against the church so built on Christ the Rock the gates of hell shall not prevail and will not overcome it.
The church thus founded is wherever people in any nation believe wholeheartedly and with all their heart in the Lord Jesus and are accepted of God. Salvation is found in that believing body, and out of it no one can be saved.
Living the Confession
The confession answers who Jesus is, that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Maker of the world who lived in it unrecognized and unhonored and suffered loneliness of spirit, God manifest in humanity. It stands together with the witness of Isaiah, of John the Baptist, of John, of Christ Himself, and of Paul.
To confess Him as the Son of the living God is to confess that He laid aside His royal robe and royal crown and clothed His divinity with humanity, so that humanity might grasp humanity and divinity might be grasped by humanity in living faith in Him as Saviour. He passed through stages of humiliation to take human nature and meet Satan, the strong man armed with deception and falsehood, who sought to overcome Him, while fallen angels watched that humiliation. Every victory He gained was precious in behalf of the human family, exalting, elevating and ennobling humanity, whereas Satan has worked for centuries to degrade, debase and prostitute human powers. He came in humanity to reveal God's character and purposes and to show what humanity may become through complete obedience to God, and His life, lived for God rather than Himself, perfectly exemplified the ministry God approves.
The apostles afterward proclaimed that the Jesus whom the Jews had crucified is the Prince of life and the Son of the living God, continuing the work He had done among them. They did His works in His name and by His power, not their own and not by their own power.
That confession stands in sharp contrast to Peter's later denial of knowing his Teacher, for the truth had been revealed to him by the Father and not by human insight, yet he afterward denied Christ. It came when the Saviour's glory illuminated his soul, acknowledging Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah and the Son of the living God and as the one who had the words of eternal life, and it stands in sharp contrast to the denial. The confession had identified Jesus as divine, a truth Peter soon failed to represent when he said Jesus would pay the temple tribute. His faith had then reached only the margin of knowing Christ, for to know Christ more deeply is to see more of His character and to respond with homage, faith, perfect trust and unshaken confidence. Christ's promise of greater things invites increased faith and expectation, for He was ready to reveal Himself more fully to Peter, and by warning Peter of his coming denial He exposed Peter's defects and his need for help that Christ alone could give, teaching him to distrust himself and to gain deeper views of God.
The confession sets Christ the Son of the living God over against Satan the father of lies, and calls each person to choose between Christ and the apostate. Everyone who accepts Him must practice self-denial and stay wide awake against the party continually working against sacred truth, and must work out faith with fear and trembling in order not to be overtaken and lose the chance of eternal life. He went forth as the example for His messengers, who are to carry the message to the cities. He stoops to lift up the fallen and seeks to win lost people through promises and words of assurance, valuing character and devoted purpose rather than rank, social standing, worldly honor or wealth.
Peter confessed that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of the living God, affirming His divine identity and sonship. This knowledge came not from human wisdom or teaching alone but was revealed to him by the Father in heaven shining light into the heart. The rock on which Christ builds His church is Christ Himself, stable and immovable, not Peter whose name means only a stone given for his faithful confession. Steadfast confession of Christ's divinity is the great test of faith and the living principle that animates believers in every age. Jesus accepted and blessed the confession as God-led, and it marked the time He began to foretell that He must go to Jerusalem to suffer, die and rise again, though the disciples could not yet reconcile His divine sonship with rejection and crucifixion.
Confession and Its Setting
Simon Peter answered Jesus with the confession that He is the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of the living God, affirming His divine identity and sonship. He spoke for himself and his fellow disciples, expressing the faith they all held, yet he was the one then inspired to put it into words with boldness and inspired fervor, not in an ordinary tone but as if beholding Christ's glory, with a burning heart that could not keep silent and with the veil removed in adoration. This bold declaration was made when the faith of many had failed and priestly and popular opposition stood mighty, by unlettered fishermen while learned teachers, scribes, Pharisees and rulers were perplexed over Jesus' identity.
Peter's conviction rested on John's proclamation, close fellowship with Jesus, and what he had heard and witnessed of Jesus' words, works and miracles despite humble surroundings. He remained devoted and loyal to Jesus in humiliation when others doubted after John's imprisonment and death or left because Jesus did not seek David's throne and kingly honors, accepting Him without waiting for Him to receive earthly exaltation. After hearing His words and seeing His works despite opposition from priests and people, the disciples could so testify to what they knew.
The confession did not mean Peter or the disciples understood that the Messiah must suffer and die. They could not reconcile His divine sonship and promised unshakable kingdom, so firmly established that the gates of hell could not prevail against it, with rejection, insult by scribes and Pharisees, crucifixion and death, nor connect the Messiah with humiliation and suffering as the Jews generally did not.
Jesus asked what people thought of Him not from ignorance and not because He did not know their thoughts, but to give the disciples opportunity to confess and be strengthened for the coming trial of His suffering, humiliation, abuse and apparent degradation, longing that the faith they then expressed might remain firm. While many accepted Jesus as a prophet or hoped to make Him king without recognizing Him as the Messiah, He accepted, commended and blessed the disciples' acknowledgment as led and revealed by God, and it marked the time He began to foretell He must go to Jerusalem to suffer, die and rise again. No human power could degrade Him, for His Godlikeness would appear in every scene of humiliation and flash conviction into the hearts of priests and rulers in scenes whose memory would never be effaced.
Revelation and the Rock
The knowledge Peter confessed was not given by flesh and blood, by human wisdom, insight, understanding or teaching alone, but was revealed to him by the Father in heaven. It came through the mysterious working of God's Spirit upon the human heart, with glory illuminating the soul and light shining into it as God who commanded light to shine out of darkness gives the light of His knowledge. That divine shining lifts even the humblest, unlettered mind to knowledge above all earthly wisdom and acquaintance with sacred truth, removing the veil so the burning heart beholds Christ's glory and cannot keep silent but speaks in adoration with inspired fervor. For receiving it Peter is called blessed.
Steadfast confession of Christ's divinity is the great test of faith and the basis of the promise that Christ's church will stand. This Spirit-given acknowledgment is the living principle that would animate the hearts of believers in coming ages and in every age.
The rock on which Christ builds His church is Christ Himself, the Truth and Light and Life of the world, altogether stable and immovable, the Son of God, not Peter. The name Peter means a stone, and it was given because of his faithful, earnest confession of Christ as the long-awaited Messiah and Son of the living God, not because he himself is the foundation or a superior foundation. Against the church so built on Christ the Rock the gates of hell shall not prevail and will not overcome it.
The church thus founded is wherever people in any nation believe wholeheartedly and with all their heart in the Lord Jesus and are accepted of God. Salvation is found in that believing body, and out of it no one can be saved.
Living the Confession
The confession answers who Jesus is, that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Maker of the world who lived in it unrecognized and unhonored and suffered loneliness of spirit, God manifest in humanity. It stands together with the witness of Isaiah, of John the Baptist, of John, of Christ Himself, and of Paul.
To confess Him as the Son of the living God is to confess that He laid aside His royal robe and royal crown and clothed His divinity with humanity, so that humanity might grasp humanity and divinity might be grasped by humanity in living faith in Him as Saviour. He passed through stages of humiliation to take human nature and meet Satan, the strong man armed with deception and falsehood, who sought to overcome Him, while fallen angels watched that humiliation. Every victory He gained was precious in behalf of the human family, exalting, elevating and ennobling humanity, whereas Satan has worked for centuries to degrade, debase and prostitute human powers. He came in humanity to reveal God's character and purposes and to show what humanity may become through complete obedience to God, and His life, lived for God rather than Himself, perfectly exemplified the ministry God approves.
The apostles afterward proclaimed that the Jesus whom the Jews had crucified is the Prince of life and the Son of the living God, continuing the work He had done among them. They did His works in His name and by His power, not their own and not by their own power.
That confession stands in sharp contrast to Peter's later denial of knowing his Teacher, for the truth had been revealed to him by the Father and not by human insight, yet he afterward denied Christ. It came when the Saviour's glory illuminated his soul, acknowledging Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah and the Son of the living God and as the one who had the words of eternal life, and it stands in sharp contrast to the denial. The confession had identified Jesus as divine, a truth Peter soon failed to represent when he said Jesus would pay the temple tribute. His faith had then reached only the margin of knowing Christ, for to know Christ more deeply is to see more of His character and to respond with homage, faith, perfect trust and unshaken confidence. Christ's promise of greater things invites increased faith and expectation, for He was ready to reveal Himself more fully to Peter, and by warning Peter of his coming denial He exposed Peter's defects and his need for help that Christ alone could give, teaching him to distrust himself and to gain deeper views of God.
The confession sets Christ the Son of the living God over against Satan the father of lies, and calls each person to choose between Christ and the apostate. Everyone who accepts Him must practice self-denial and stay wide awake against the party continually working against sacred truth, and must work out faith with fear and trembling in order not to be overtaken and lose the chance of eternal life. He went forth as the example for His messengers, who are to carry the message to the cities. He stoops to lift up the fallen and seeks to win lost people through promises and words of assurance, valuing character and devoted purpose rather than rank, social standing, worldly honor or wealth.