Blessing and Offence

"13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

21From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." Matthew 16

I. Blessed Revelation - "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."

I have often suggested that the moment a person comes to the revelation that Jesus is the Messiah then this is the moment of salvation for them. The revelation comes from the Father, not from empirical evidence, not from rational deduction. It seems logical to my finite mind that if God chooses to entrust a revelation to me then it must indicate a favorable standing with God, right? If the revelation alone was proof of salvation then why is Jesus calling Peter the devil in verse 23 of this passage? Also, in chapter 18 Jesus comments that the disciples are not converted yet. I will expound on Matthew 18 about some serious misconceptions in that chapter in another post.

Matthew 16:18-19 is a proof text of the Roman Catholic church to support that Peter was the first pope. I have mentioned before that proof texting is often used by cults to establish false doctrine and lure people into its hellish clutches. There is absolutely NO scriptural basis to support that Peter was even in Rome. He was the apostle to the Jews. Read both of his epistles and this is clear. If anyone should be given the title "Pope" it should be Paul. He lived in Rome for 3 years, wrote some of his epistles from there and evidence exists that one of his converts was the first to preach in the British Isles. But these arguments are for another post.

"Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Well, the gates of hell surely prevailed against Peter not only in the context of this conversation when Jesus called Peter, Satan but hell most certainly prevailed against Peter when he denied the Lord 3 times. There is only ONE rock and that rock is Jesus. Paul refers to Christ as the "cornerstone". In ancient times the corner stone was a chiseled and fashioned rock. The revealed Christ is the rock. Never forget that "church" is not an organization but an organism. Upon this rock I will build my "assembly of the called out".

II. Baneful Offence-"thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."

In verses 16-19 Peter must have been feeling rather good about himself knowing that the Father was revealing spiritual truth to him. That all changes in verse 21 because Jesus tells his inner circle what great things He will suffer and the death he will face. Peter rebukes the Lord telling him this can't be. Peter was probably clutching his sword when he made this rebuke. Apparently the revelation that Jesus is the Christ must have some qualifiers to it. Jesus said that Peters desires were not those of God but of men. Peter perceived that Jesus would be a conquering king. After all, in fulfillment of prophecy, Christ is to take the throne of King David his ancestor. As is with most people even today when you tell them a story they focus in on one thing they hear or read that they don't agree with and ignore everything that is being stated. This happened to me recently when my friends refused to see the whole of what I had written and zeroed in on something they did not like. Peter completely ignored that Jesus told them He would die and rise again the third day. That's a very important piece of information amidst the suffering and killing.

There are certainly varying degrees of revelation. Some people are given the ability or insight to perceive spiritual truths that is not as obvious to others. The 12 apostles were the inner circle of Christs disciples and not the whole. There are numerous occasions where Jesus challenges their inability to understand spiritual truths i.e. Matt. 17:17. I can almost envision Jesus shaking his head in disbelief at their disbelief (pun intended). There are certain people that God chooses to reveal things. Sometimes He chooses to use me to shed light on His revelation, not offer new revelation. I trust that is happening as you read this blog. The 12 apostles were the inner circle and they were privy to spiritual things that others were not. In this age of equality I remind you that all things are not equal in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The revelation that Jesus is Christ may not be indication in itself that one is born again. But this revelation is most certainly a necessity. Consider that the disciples had witnessed all of Christs miracles and sat under all of His teaching. Christ also gave the disciples authority and power to heal the sick, cast out demons and perform other miracles yet they still did not believe. At the beginning of this chapter Jesus warns the disciples to beware of the leaven of the scribes and Pharisees. The disciples reasoned among themselves that Jesus was talking about bread because they did not bring bread for their journey. They were actually worrying about how they may get bread when in the previous chapter they took up baskets of food left over from Jesus feeding the 5,000 and the 4,000. This miracle was fresh in their minds but they still worried about their next meal.

Divine revelation is a necessity but not a stand alone faith factor. Jesus elaborates on this at the close of Matthew 16
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

One would think that the disciples would have a grasp of this by now but they do not. Here we find another reference to the things of man or the world. Though one have a true revelation of God and yet still walk in the ways of fleshly delights that revelation does not profit them but only adds to their damnation.