Peter Says Jesus Is Lord

11-17-2009

Peter says Jesus is the Lord

Matthew 16:13-20 says the following:

“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 bebound 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 section of Matthew is loaded with talking points. Peter’s confession to Jesus, Jesus’ calling to Peter, and the often debated subject matter in verse 19 where Jesus gives Peter the keys of the kingdom are all topics we could spend hours researching. For today’s lesson, I couldn’t help but notice the last sentence which states, “Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.”

Have you ever had such great news you wanted to tell everyone? Imagine seeing Jesus Christ face to face, and then being told you can’t tell anyone! When first reading this, I couldn’t help but ask why not? One of the greatest characteristics is patience, and Jesus knew the disciples weren’t prepared to speak of Jesus as the Christ until they fully understood who he was and why he was with them. To relate this to our world, it’s like getting a new job, and not understanding how to do the job. If you aren’t trained on what to do and what your job entails, you are going to do a lousy job. Let’s say it’s a sales position. You might be so anxious to get the first sale underway so you can hit your mark and put food on the table, but if you rush to sell before you know your product, chances are you may misrepresent the company and/or the product, thus causing a potential problem.

Jesus knew the time would come to spread the word the King has come, but not yet. Imagine if our decision making process was so refined we knew exactly what to do and when to do it? The great news is Christ can and does bless us with clarity when we call on him. Just as Peter had the clarity to confess Christ as Lord, we too can have the clarity to do what God calls us to do if we will simply seek his will in our lives.

Application:
1. Read Matthew 16:13-20
2. Study the dialogue between Jesus and Peter