Matthew 16:13-20

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Introduction

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Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus 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. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Two weeks ago we looked at Jesus’ last major ministry engagement in the district of Galilee, a place that’s been his home-base for ministry for more than a year. And it ends with a group of Pharisees and Sadducees from Jerusalem putting him to the test, demanding that he prove himself by performing a sign from heaven, and Jesus responds with rebuke. He tells them that they can read the signs in the sky to predict the weather yet they they’re unable to identify who he is. He’s performed more signs and wonders than they can count, yet here they are asking him for another sign. And so he publicly demonstrates how their problem isn’t a lack of proof, or evidence, but instead a hard heart.
And in large part, Jesus has encountered unbelief throughout all of Galilee. Many have followed him around, many have sought after the benefits of his miracles, but most of their hearts have remained hard, whether in outright rebellion like the religious leaders, or by a general indifference to his teaching.
A large portion of Matthew’s Gospel has been dedicated to these responses that Jesus has received. And the application has repeatedly been for us, how will we respond to Jesus? Will our response be indifference? Are we following Jesus for the perceived benefits it might have? Are we just merely interested in watching him from afar? Are our hearts in abject rebellion toward him? Or will we follow him to the ends of the earth, and say with Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” ()
And our text today is sort of a climax or a culmination of this repeatedly implied question. We’ll see that how we respond to Jesus will be dictated by who we believe Jesus to be. Therefore, these verses are important for us to consider. There are many opinions about Jesus and who he is but only one can be true.

Caesarea Philippi

But before we expound these passages any further lets have Matthew set this up for us. Let’s read there again in verse 1,

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

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We previously left off with Jesus and his disciples getting into their boat and rowing to the other side of the lake. Jesus’ encounter with the Pharisees and Sadducees had been in a town called Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, and in verse 5 were told that “when the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring bread.” So, Matthew doesn’t tell us where they’ve come to, but in Mark’s parallel account we’re told that they came to Bethsaida. If you’ll recall, the town is located on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee and it’s where Peter, Andrew and Philip were from. It’s essentially located in the northeast corner of Israel.
Then we’re told there in verse 13 that Jesus and his disciples traveled into the district of Caesarea Philippi north of Bethsaida. We’re not sure where exactly they went or how close they were to the town of Caesarea Philippi, but we definitely know that they were no longer in Jewish territory. Caesarea Philippi was located just south of Mount Hermon in Syria about 25 miles north of Bethsaida. It was located at the foot of the mountains in what’s known as the upper Jordan Valley, at the head waters of the Jordan River. There are large underground springs that reach the surface there which creates a very green and fertile valley. This had been a pagan place of worship for more than a thousand years, where the Canaanites worshipped one of their gods of Baal. You can still travel there today and see one of the cutouts in the cliff side where wooden or stone idols would have been placed.

Who do people say that I am?

However, the location isn’t as important to the understanding of this text as it has been in the past, except that Jesus seems to have traveled there to get away from the crowds. And so, while there, he famously asks his disciples,
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“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
Now, it’s important to point out that Jesus isn’t asking his disciples who they think he is (at least not yet), but first he asks them who do others say that the Son of Man is. He’s polling them for what the word on the street is about his identity. And if you’ve been following over the last couple of years, you might recall that there were a multitude of opinions on the subject.
It wasn’t too long ago, in chapter 14, that Herod Antipas, the governor of Galilee, appeared concerned upon hearing about Jesus. When he had heard about his many miracles he was sure that it was John the Baptist back from the grave. And you got the impression that he feared John might take vengeance upon him for beheading him, that his conscience was in distress.
The scribes and Pharisees back in chapter 12 went so far as to ascribe Jesus’ miracles to the devil. They made him out to be a devil.
In John chapter 3, we saw a man named Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who was afraid of what his peers might think of him, so he approached Jesus during the cover of darkness, and in verses 1-2 we read,
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3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Nicodemus conceded that Jesus must have been a teacher come from God, because he realized that no one could do such miracles unless God was with them. However, his profession goes only so far, we’re told that Nicodemus never regarded him as more than a good teacher.
Throughout Matthew and the other Gospels we’re told that some thought he was Elijah, or a prophet like the prophets of old, such as Jeremiah. Which is why the disciples answer Jesus there verse 14,

“Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Insufficient

While many of the titles given Jesus, such as teacher and prophet, are not incorrect, they are insufficient, they aren’t enough, they aren’t adequate. Jesus is no less than a teacher, and no less than a prophet, but he is certainly more, and for anyone who fails to realize this is, it’s catastrophic. Salvation hangs on who Jesus is. If Jesus isn’t both truly God and truly man then he can’t save us from our sin.

Muslims and Jesus as a prophet

We can also see how this is illustrated today within Islam. Muslims believe that Jesus is a prophet, but no more. They do not believe that he died and was resurrected, they do no believe that he is the way, the truth and the life, and they most certainly do not believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. However, they do recognize that Jesus was an undeniably important figure within human history, they recognize that Jesus’ impact isn’t easily ignored, so rather than deny his identity entirely, they minimize his identity, because if they can do that they can accommodate him within their own religious system, and even use him to gain credibility with others. Yet they must deny much of his teaching to do so, they must argue that the Bible we have has been corrupted, because Jesus claimed to be far more than they believe him to be. Therefore, they make Jesus malleable, a piece of clay that they can shape as they see fit, thereby making him an powerless man. Jesus becomes someone they can use.

Good teacher is not enough

And so it also if we call him merely a good teacher, by doing so we strip him of his divine authority and power, except only for the authority we choose to give him. The only teachings that are authoritative are the ones we choose to embrace. The only teachings that carry weight are the ones we agree with. Because, you see, to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord is also to acknowledge that we are obligated to submit to him, in all things. There’s a reason the carnal mind will not, and cannot submit to Jesus as the Son of God, because to do so would be to relinquish one’s own authority.
While it’s impossible apart from the grace of God to embrace Jesus as divine Lord, many among us are perfectly content with having Jesus as long as he can molded into their own image. As I’ve said many time before, idolatry didn’t disappear hundreds of years ago as some have suggested, thinking that we’ve somehow become enlightened in our thinking and grown past such thing, no, we have the same propensity toward idolatry as we did 2,000 years ago, many of us just don’t feel the need to make earthly images of our idols, instead we’re content constructing them in our minds.
The worldview that shapes so much of the West is this idea that there is no truth, or if there is we can’t know it, which simply boils down to this, “You can have your idol if I can have mine.” If you won’t bother me about what I believe is true then I won’t bother you about what you believe is true. “I’ll let you have your idol if you let me have mine.” The sins we face today are the same sins they faced 2,000 years ago in Israel.

But who do you say that I am?

But who do you say that I am?

And then Jesus turns the question on his disciples,

“But who do you say that I am?”

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And it’s this question that he asks his disciples that gets at the heart of Matthew’s Gospel. He’s writing to a Jewish audience and by walking the reader through the life and ministry of Jesus he is constantly challenging the reader with this question, and he challenges us here today with this question, “who do you say Jesus is?” Because ultimately eternity hangs on how you answer that question.
Then Simon Peter replies with an astonishing response,

16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus 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.

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16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!

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This question that he asks his disciples gets at the heart of Matthew’s Gospel. He’s writing to a Jewish audience and by walking the reader through the life and ministry of Jesus he is constantly challenging the reader with this question, and he challenges us here today with this question, “who do you say Jesus is?” Because ultimately eternity hangs on how you answer that question.

Revealed by my father in heaven

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the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

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I don’t think Jesus has been happier than at this point with his disciples. Up until now their responses have been less than encouraging, and several times Jesus’ has rebuked them for their lack of faith, but this time it’s different. And why is it different? How does Peter see so clearly? Well, in verse 16 Jesus says,
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For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

Why? Because by nature we are slave to sin.
You see, this truth is spiritually discerned, and ultimately apprehended by faith, so Jesus makes sure that Peter knows that flesh and blood has not revealed this to him. In other words, he has not come to believe this by his own power and wisdom, but by the grace of God, by God the Father revealing it to him.
While Jesus’ identity is manifest for all to see, man’s slavery to sin renders him morally incapable of believing, incapable of coming to him because of his love for sin and self, which we see most clearly taught in John chapter 6 when Jesus tells the Jews that, “no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Therefore, Peter’s apprehension of Jesus’ identity comes not by his own fleshly power or wisdom but from, and by, the grace of God, who has chosen to reveal his Son to him. Peter’s apprehension of Jesus’s identity is by a divine faith that came from God. You might say his eyes have been opened to what he was otherwise blind to.
And we get the impression that Peter is answering for the entire group, because when Jesus asks, “but who do you say that I am?” the word ‘you’ is plural in the Greek, so if you’re from the South you might translate it “but who do ya’ll say that I am?”

On this rock I will build my church

And after Peter’s response Jesus take the opportunity to build on what Peter’s said. He says there in verse 18,
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18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

While Peter certainly appears to be answering on behalf of the disciples, Jesus then compares him specifically to a rock, a rock that Jesus will build his church upon, like a foundation. This isn’t to say that Peter will be the only rock a part of the church’s foundation, but that Peter serves to demonstrate how Jesus will build his church, that it’ll be upon his apostles.
The apostle Paul would later write to the believers in Ephesus that the church is,

20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

And the apostle John in the book of Revelation would later describe the foundations of heavenly city (the new Jerusalem) as having the names of the twelve apostles written on them ().
And the apostle Peter himself would later write in that Jesus was,
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a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,

and that the church is like living stones,
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being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone chosen and precious,

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,”

8 and

“A stone of stumbling,

and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

The apostles and prophets are recognized as the foundation of church with Jesus as the chief cornerstone.

Peter’s leadership role

And Peter not only seems to be representative of the disciples as a group, but it appears that he posses a leadership role from the beginning, indicated even as early on as Matthew chapter 10 when Matthew names the 12 apostles, and he says in verse 2,

2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Matthew seems to indicate a certain intentionality in his ordering of the apostles, calling Peter the first. And later we see, specifically throughout the book Acts, that Peter would take a leadership role at the early stages of the church’s development. Therefore, for Jesus to describe him as the rock that the church will be built upon seems appropriate, yet not at all to the exclusion of the other apostles, or Jesus himself.

The Pope and Roman Catholicism

However, it would be disastrous if we were to elevate Peter beyond the bounds of Scripture as it has been done within Roman Catholicism. The claim that Peter held a position as the one and only unique representative of Christ on earth is without any Scripture warrant, especially the idea that such an imaginative role would be perpetuated through perpetually elected successors called popes.

Gates of hades (sheol)

And Jesus continued by saying,

and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Now, depending on the English translation that you have in front of you, verse 18 may read either hell or hades. I believe it’s most helpful when it’s translated hades, which is the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word Sheol. We find the sheol used regularly throughout the OT, and sheol and hades both simply mean “the place of the dead”, whereas the Greek word ghenna is typically translated hell (which isn’t used here). Jesus later uses hell (or ghenna) to describe the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, a place of perpetual torment.
Depending on the English translation that you have in front of you, verse 18 may read either hell or hades. I believe it’s most helpful when it’s translated hades, which is the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew term Sheol. Sheol and hades both simply mean “the place of the dead”, whereas the Greek word ghenna is typically translated hell, which Jesus later describes as the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, a place of perpetual torment.
This distinction is important because it helps us better understand verse 18. Jesus is saying that death (represented by the gates of Sheol or Hades) will not prevail against the church. In other words, death will not be able to defeat Christ’s church, it’ll have no victory over it, in this life or in the next.
Preacher J.C. Ryle describes it like this,
“Nothing can altogether overthrow and destroy [the church]. Its members may be persecuted, oppressed, imprisoned, beaten, beheaded, burned; but the true church is never altogether extinguished; it rises again from its afflictions; it lives on through fire and water. When crushed in one land it springs up in another. The Pharaohs, the Herods, the Neros, have labored in vain to put down this church; they slay their thousands, and then pass away and go to their own place. The true Church outlives them all, and sees them buried each in his turn. [The church] is an anvil that has broken many a hammer in this world, and will break many a hammer still; [the church] is a bush which is often burning, and yet is not consumed.”
And though this body will perish, death has lost it’s sting, because on the day of judgement Christ’s church will rise unto eternal life. We will be resurrected unto eternal life with our Lord forever.

Keys to the kingdom

And finally Jesus concludes by saying, and,

19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

In my experience this text is often misunderstood, so my hope is to shed some light on its meaning. Often analogies and symbols within the Bible get misunderstood simply because it uses analogies and symbols that we’re not familiar with or don’t have in our modern language or culture. But with a little work I think this text can become quite clear.
What Jesus is doing is taking imagery found in the OT and bringing it forward, imagery specifically found in . Imagery of keys and concepts of binding and loosing are intended to teach us the role Jesus has for the church to fulfill.
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What we have in is the prophet rebuking a man named Shebna. He’s referred to as a steward who is over the king’s house, a royal position second only to the king. Therefore, Shebna likely had control of the keys to the king’s treasury, the royal estate, and certain military assets. Shebna was king Hezekiah’s royal steward, and the prophet Isaiah rebukes Shebna for his self-seeking pride, so God says,

“Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17 Behold, the LORD will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house. 19 I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station.

and

20 In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

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He shall open, and none shall shut

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These keys are intended to represent both the authority and the responsibility of Christ’s apostles over the church. They are to be the chief stewards of God’s kingdom, like Eliakim would be over king Hezekiah’s house. The proclamation of the Gospel would be their means of opening the doors to the kingdom of heaven. And their message would ultimately be articulated and defined in the NT Scriptures, providing a foundation for the Gospel to be preached and the church to be built.
This was most dramatically demonstrated in Acts chapter 10 when Peter was commanded to open the doors of the kingdom to the Gentiles. He was instructed use the keys of the kingdom to open its gates to people other than Jews. At first, Peter received resistance from those in Jerusalem, but after he told them about his vision from God, and how the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles they all fell silent and glorified God saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

He shall shut, and none shall open

But the church is also called to carefully shut the doors to the kingdom through church discipline. We see this same language of binding and loosing in when Jesus establishes clear instructions for church discipline, with the most extreme measure of church discipline being excommunication, warranted only by impenitence, or an unrepentant heart. In cases like these the church, as commanded by Jesus and his Apostles are to shut the doors of the kingdom to such people. This is the authority and responsibility that Jesus speaks of here, the authority and responsibility that accompany the keys of kingdom. Both a glorious privilege and a serious responsibility.
And we must remember that we’re stewards of God’s kingdom, not owners. Charged with the responsibility to proclaim faith and repentance, the good news of God’s kingdom, while simultaneously stewarding that kingdom on earth through church discipline.
And finally, Matthew tells us that Jesus strictly charged his disciples to tell no one that we was the Christ. Jesus’ mission is unfolding part by part, and he’s revealing the treasures of the kingdom little by little to his disciples as he prepares for what will come next, his mission to Judea, to becoming the suffering servant necessary to save his people from their sins.

Prayer

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