Matthew 16:13-20

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They 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?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are ‘Stone’, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Caesarea Philippi

Caesarea Philippi was a twenty-five

journey from Galilee that would take at least

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days.
There is a striking

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formation, and at the base of this formation, a stream which is a source of the

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River.
In Jesus’ time, at the mouth of the cave there was a sanctuary for the god

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. It was thought of as a

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to the underworld.
Jesus and his disciples made the long journey here in order to have a

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.

Who do people say the Son of Man is?

1. Some said Jesus was John the Baptist, who was Jesus’
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   who had a large following in the wilderness.
2. Others said he was Elijah, whom the prophet
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   predicted would come prepare the way for the Messiah.
3. Still others thought he might be the prophet Jeremiah, perhaps because of their shared tendency to downplay the importance of the
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   .

In each of these, people assumed Jesus was from God and empowered by God, but also that he was only preparing the way for the Messiah.

“You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God”

On this occasion, Peter is called out in a positive way and given a special

.
In reflecting on Peter and his role, it is possible to give him either too much or too little

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.

Jesus tells Peter he is giving him the

to the kingdom.

Two occasions this is especially significant are:
1. Peter’s

on the day of Pentecost where he both convicts people’s consciences and instructs them how to become Christians (Acts 2:38-39)
2. Peter’s encounter with

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in Acts 10 where God guides him to welcome Gentiles in to the Kingdom.

Our Ongoing Mission

Jesus gives to us, just as he did to Peter, a firm

for us as Christians and for our church as a community of faith.

Even though the forces of darkness are nearby, we face a

opposition. The Gates of Hell will not prevail over us, just as they didn’t against the early Christians.

Discussion Questions:

1. In what way do you believe the physical location of Caesarea Philippi impacted Jesus’ conversation with the Disciples about his identity as the Christ?
2. What are ways we could give a person like Peter too much significance? What are ways we might give him too little significance? How might this apply to other great Christian leaders we know?
3. What is it about a sincere confession of one’s belief in Christ that provides such a solid foundation upon which Jesus could build his church?