Matt 16:13-23 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
In the last lesson, those in the boat worshiped Jesus, saying, “You are truly the Son of God!” (Matt 14:33).
In this lesson, Jesus comes with his disciples “into the parts of Caesarea Philippi” (v. 13). He asks them two questions: who do others say he is, and who do you say he is. Peter answers the second question; a few verses later, Jesus says something very heavy to him. This lesson reads the two together.
13Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
18I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
19I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.”
20Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
21From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you.”
23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”
Who do men say I am? Jesus first asked, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (v. 13). The disciples reported several answers: “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (v. 14). None of these answers was a bad one; all of them counted Jesus as a prophet.
Who do you say I am? Then Jesus asked, “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). This time it was not a matter of reporting others. Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16).
Not flesh and blood. Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (v. 17). Jesus called him blessed, but did not say he had worked this out himself; the passage says the Father revealed it.
The rock and the keys. Jesus also said, “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly” (v. 18), and that he would give him “the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven” (v. 19). These two sayings have been understood in different ways in the history of the church. This lesson reads only the text: these are words Jesus spoke to Peter, after Peter had recognized him as the Christ.
Suffer many things. “From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up” (v. 21). The words ‘from that time’ tie this to Peter’s answer just before: Jesus is the Christ, and this Christ will suffer, be killed, and be raised.
Far be it from you. “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you’” (v. 22). The man who had just said ‘you are the Christ’ now took the Christ aside and tried to turn him from this road. The passage does not say what Peter was thinking; it records only what he said.
Get behind me. “But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me’” (v. 23). Jesus gave the reason himself: “for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men” (v. 23). A few verses earlier he had called him ‘blessed’; now he called him ‘a stumbling block.’ Jesus said both to the same man, and the passage sets them in the same section.
The answers the disciples reported — John the Baptizer, Elijah, Jeremiah, “one of the prophets” (v. 14) — all placed Jesus among the prophets. What the passage records is these reported answers.
Peter’s answer went beyond that line: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). Yet Jesus at once “commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ” (v. 20). This chapter does not explain why he gave that command; what follows is that he began to speak of the suffering ahead of him (v. 21).
Perhaps you can say ‘you are the Christ’ quickly; in church it is something we hear often.
This lesson lets you see that the man who said it rightly could, a moment later, take Jesus aside and say, “Far be it from you, Lord!” (v. 22). Peter did not understand everything that day; and Jesus did not take back what he had said to him because he got something wrong once.
This week: In your own words, write one sentence beginning ‘You are …’ to answer Jesus’ question, “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). Don’t copy anyone else’s words. Put it away, and take it out again when you have finished this series.
Scripture: World English Bible.