Peter’s Confession of Jesus

Matthew 16:13-20

[13] Caesarea Philippi was a city set on the southwestern slope of Mount Hermon and the furthest distance north Jesus traveled in His earthly ministry. Considerably north of Galilee, the city was located near the source of the Jordan River. Mount Hermon was sometimes called Paneas, from the Greek word pán, (the neuter of pás [3956], all), perhaps derived from the heathen Greek god, Pan, during the Hellenistic era. This would correspond with its reputation for being a center of idol worship.

Somewhere along the border of this city, Jesus asked His disciples regarding rumors concerning His Person and work. “Whom (tína, the accusative interrogative pronoun of tís [5150], who) do the men (hoi ánthrōpoi, with the definite article, meaning “the men who have anything to say at all”) say (légousin, the present tense of légō [3004], to select words to convey thought, the present tense highlighting regularity) that I the Son of the man am?” (a.t.).

That the verb légō basically means “to select” is evidenced by its association with logía ([3048], collection, or, in the organizational sense, of a gathering of likeminded persons). So we can paraphrase Jesus’ question as follows: “What is the general opinion concerning the Son of man among those who speak of Him?”

[14] Two opinions, differentiated here by the Greek particles men (3303) and dé (1161), can be translated, “on the one hand, but on the other hand.”

The set of terms, hoi ([3588], translated by the first “some”) and álloi ([243], translated by the second “some” and meaning others of the same kind), represent groups those who believed Jesus was John the Baptist with those who believed He was Elijah. This may have been because Jesus identified John as “Elijah who was to come” (Matt. 11:14), and Luke speaks of John as going before Him [Jesus] “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17).

Then the disciples used another Greek word for “others,” not álloi but héteroi ([2087], meaning others of a different kind or, in this case, persuasion). These people classed Jesus as one of the Old Testament prophets, like Jeremiah.

[15] Jesus was not concerned with the opinions among people who were not His disciples. He wanted to know what His followers thought: “But you, whom do you say that I am?” (a.t.). Since they obviously knew His name and since Jesus knew what they thought, He apparently was seeking a public confession from them of what He was by predication and title.

[16] Simon Peter’s answer was inspired, but we can assume that Peter answered for the other disciples since Jesus’ question was to all: “Whom do you [plural] say…?” (a.t.). Peter responded, “Thou (sú [4771], you, emphatic) art the ([3588], the definite article meaning there is only one, unique) Christ (christós [5547], anointed one, from the verb chríō [5548], to anoint), the Son of the living (zōntos, the present participle of záō [2198], to live) God.”

The definite article “the” is extremely important; it is never used carelessly. Here it means that the Lord Jesus is not one of many sons; He is “the” only Son in His class. Moreover, He is not the son of a dead god but the Son of “the (i.e., only) living (the present participle indicating perpetuity) God.”

[17] This was the right answer, and because of it, Jesus called Peter “blessed” (makários [3107], a state of internal bliss, contentment, satisfaction). The adjectival noun is used to characterize God’s general nature in 1 Timothy 1:11. Jesus blessed Peter because the Father had directly revealed to him the truth about His Son. Peter did not conclude this from any opinion circulating among non-disciples.

Thus, Jesus said, “For flesh and blood hath not revealed (apekálupsen, the aorist tense of apokalúptō [601], to uncover, take the lid off) it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

Because the sense was generic, this included the flesh and blood of Jesus Himself. The revelation of our Lord’s deity was the product of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. No human mediation whatsoever caused this revelation. Regeneration is the operation of the Spirit of God directly on our spirits; as Jesus said, “That which is born of the Spirit (i.e., the Spirit of God) is spirit (a qualitatively new human spirit)” (John 3:6).

[18] Jesus continued with His own blessing on Peter, “And I say (légō [3004], to speak intelligently) also unto thee, That thou art Peter (Pétros, a proper name meaning “stone,” the masculine gender of the feminine noun pétra [4073], a massive rock or cliff), and upon this rock (pétra) I will build (oikodomēsō, the future tense of oikodoméō [3618], to build) my Church.”

The noun translated “Church” is ekklēsía (1577), mentioned here for the first time in the New Testament. It derives from the prefix ek ([1537], out of) and kaléō ([2564], to call). It means the set of individuals called out of the unbelieving world to become and remain believers. The enclitic pronoun mou ([3450], my) is the genitive of egō ([1473], I). The Lord Jesus is not only going to build His Church; He is going to possess it in the fullest sense. It is His Church, and no one else’s.

And He alone builds. As the apostle Paul says later, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God increased (ēúxanen [837], grew)” (1 Cor. 3:6; a.t.). The Lord is sovereign over the growth of His Church. The Church is presented as a structure with an immovable foundation (themélion [2310]): “And [you] are built upon the foundation (themelíō) of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Eph. 2:20). From this, we can see clearly that Jesus Christ Himself is the Rock (the chief cornerstone) on which the Church is built. We are saved by confessing that Rock, the truth that “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

To offset any conjecture that He will fail to build His Church, the Lord added, “And the gates (púlai, the plural of púlē [4439], a large gate as opposed to a thúra [2374], door) of hell (hádou, the genitive singular of hádēs [86] from the alpha privative a [1], not; and eídō [1492], to perceive; therefore the “unseen” or “imperceptible” place) shall not prevail (katischúsousin, the future tense of katischúō [2729] from katá [2596] against; and ischúō [2480], to prevail over) against it.”

“Hades” occurs eleven times in the New Testament (in Matthew, Luke, Acts, 1 Corinthians, and Revelation). The Septuagint uses the Hebrew word sheōl, which occurs sixty-three times. In Luke 16, the rich man who mercilessly disregards a poverty-stricken man named Lazarus is consigned to Hades following his death: “In Hades, he lifted his eyes, being (hupárchōn, the present participle of hupárchō [5225], to subsist) in torments” (v. 23; a.t.). Hades is “unseen” by living men, yet the rich man is spoken of as having eyes that he lifts in order to see Lazarus “afar off.”

Since the gates are on Hades—not heaven—and since Christ has the keys to them (Rev. 1:18), the most natural meaning is that the Lord will beat down Hades’ gates through His Church. People will be saved; there is no satanic stoppage of the overpowering kingdom of Christ. In poetically strong, clear language, Jesus declared that all opposing forces of the enemies of the Gospel shall fail.

[19] Jesus continued His blessing to Peter, “And I shall give (dōsō, the future tense of dídōmi [1325], to give) unto you (soi, the 2^nd person singular dative pronoun of sú [4771]) the keys of the kingdom of the heavens: and that which (hó, the accusative singular neuter relative pronoun of hós [3739]) if you shall bind (dēsēs, the aorist active subjunctive of déō [1210], bind) on the earth, shall be [that which], having been bound (dedeménon, the perfect passive neuter participle of déō) in the heavens, and that which you loosed (lúsēs, the aorist active subjunctive of lúō [3089], to loose) on earth, shall be [that which], having been loosed (leluménon, the perfect passive neuter participle of lúō) in the heavens” (a.t.).

The verbs appear to contradict, but they do not. There is no other way to express an event historically future to Peter but determinately past to God: “Whatever you shall bind on earth and whatever you shall loose on earth has already been bound or loosed in heaven” (a.t.). Heaven’s decision to bind or loose is prior to the actual binding or loosing on earth. The two have to agree; the historical must match what heaven has already decided on.

Binding and loosing both relate to sin: “To Him who loved us and loosed (lúsanti) us from our sins by His blood” (Rev. 1:5, a.t.). Although salvation is depicted as the Lord breaking into Satan’s house, binding him and stealing his treasured possessions, namely, unbelievers (Matt. 12:29), Jesus did not give Peter His power to save and destroy (James 4:12). The binding and loosing here most likely refer to corporate judgments the Church makes on sin: “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained” (John 20:23).

An instance of this seems to have occurred in the Church of Corinth: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:4-5).

Here the whole Church determined to bind an unrepentant believer in sin—specifically to pray not for his salvation but the “destruction of the flesh” that led him into sin. Yet the delivery of this person to Satan serves a good, final purpose—the salvation of his spirit on the Day of the Lord. Unwittingly, Satan’s short-term goal of destruction self-defeatingly produced salvation (see also 1 Tim. 1:20).

Since the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church have based their theory of the primacy of Peter on the singular “you” (meaning to Peter alone) in Matthew 16:19, it is important to note that the same promise regarding binding and loosing is addressed to all disciples (the plural “you”) in John 20:23. The singular “you” may reflect no more than the fact that Peter was the first to confess Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. In other words, the promise belongs to all those who “confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord” (Rom. 10:9; a.t.). Peter was merely the firstborn of this confession, so Jesus addressed him personally.

[20] Yet this was not the time to publicly confess—at least not to the world of unbelief. Following this special promise to His Church, Jesus “charged (diesteílato, the aorist middle indicative of diastéllō [1291], to command; from diá [1223], denoting transition; and stéllō [4724], to send, to shrink back) his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.”

This is a good example of the use of the aorist tense to prevent contradiction. Diesteílato restricts the command and its obedience to the crisis of the moment. The Father had determined a proper season to reveal the deity of His Son. Thus, while Jesus was always the Son of God, Paul explains to the Romans that the declaration of this fact was reserved for the time “out of the resurrection of the dead” (Rom. 1:4, a.t.). The resurrection, in fact, served as proof based on Jesus’ prophecy that He would raise Himself.

Dr. Spiros Zodhiates (1922-2009) served as president of AMG International in Chattanooga, Tennessee for over 40 years, was the founding editor of Pulpit Helps Magazine, and authored dozens of exegetical books.