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Matthew 16:13-20

From the very beginning of his account, Matthew has been making the case that Jesus is the Messiah of
Israel. His genealogy conveyed that Jesus is heir to the throne of David. His birth and early life fulfilled
OT Scripture. The heavenly voice at His baptism declared that Jesus was His Son, as He was anointed with
the Spirit of God. And His teaching and healing ministry revealed the words and the works of His Father.

But remarkably, to this point, Jesus Himself never overtly claimed the title of Messiah. The multitudes, and
His disciples, are left to draw their own conclusions.

Matthew sometimes suggests that certain individuals recognized Jesus as Lord - and they didn’t mean it just
as a term of politeness, to a superior - something more. Some even addressed Jesus by the title Son of
David - a distinct allusion to Messiah - desperately hoping that Jesus might be willing to apply His healing
power, to them - and He did. But never did Jesus acknowledge to them that He was indeed the Messiah.

The disciples certainly recognized Jesus as their Lord - their Master, their Teacher. And upon a certain
manifestation of His supernatural power, the disciples even spontaneously declared Jesus to be the Son of
God. But that was a response generated by sensational circumstances.

Matthew has been waiting until this point in his gospel - when the ministry of Jesus in Galilee is drawing to
a close - to reveal the conclusion of the disciples, about who Jesus is. Matthew will show this through the
response of just one of the disciples, Peter - who then comes into focus in this passage, as well as the
passage which follows.

This is the turning point in the gospel of Matthew - for Jesus will shortly be leaving behind the enthusiastic
crowds, and proceeding southward, toward Jerusalem, with all of its hostile religious rulers.

As we begin, we find Jesus and His disciples are once again on a journey. Remember that they had left
behind the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the region of Magdala, and crossed the Sea of Galilee. Mark
indicates that they then came to the town of Bethsaida, which is on the northern shore, just outside of
Galilee.

From there they traveled north, because Mark mentions that they went out to the towns of Caesarea
Philippi. The actual city was about 25 miles north of Galilee. The surrounding towns in that region would
still bring Jesus and His disciples deeper in Gentile territory than they had ever gone before.

16:13 It would appear that Jesus had left the crowds behind at this time, and that He was alone with His
disciples. Mark tells us that Jesus posed this question to His disciples while they were on the road to the
towns near Caesarea Philippi.

As Jesus asked His question, how did He speak of Himself? As the Son of Man. This is the way in which
Jesus most frequently refers to Himself. Although this is a title for Messiah from a prophecy of Daniel,
Jesus uses it most often simply to emphasize His humanity - which is the case, here.

So Jesus was asking all of His disciples what they have heard, from their interactions with the people -
those people being Jews. And the disciples give Jesus their feedback.

16:14 So there seemed to be a range of opinions, right? First mentioned is John the Baptist.
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How could Jesus be John? Remember what Herod Antipas had said about Jesus? “This is John the Baptist;
he is risen from the dead” (14:2). The idea was that Herod had a second John, on his hands - whom he
perceived as another trouble-maker, in his realm. There were some others, too, who saw Jesus as a second
John - seeing Him as a stirring, even disruptive, prophet.

The same idea was in place with the Jews who though Jesus was Elijah. The people saw the miraculous
works of Jesus, and thought Jesus was a second Elijah, who had caused the heavens to withhold rain,
caused an endless supply of meal and oil, and raised the widow’s son. They may even have thought Jesus
was Elijah himself, since Malachi prophesied that Elijah would return before the day of the LORD (Mal 4:5).

And some of the Jews thought Jesus was a second Jeremiah. Jeremiah was regarded by the Jews as the
prophet of doom; perhaps when Jesus pronounced judgment on the cities of Galilee, or on the religious
rulers, some Jews were reminded of Jeremiah.

You can just picture the disciples of Jesus, gathered around Him, one and another of them throwing out
names - who the Jews thought that Jesus was - all of them, prophets.

Was Jesus a prophet? Yes, He was. He came speaking the words of His Father, God (Heb 1:1-2). But the
Jews just thought Jesus was like one of these prophets; that is to say, they really didn’t know who He was.
They were just speculating - based on what they saw with their eyes, and heard with their ears, from Him.
So that was the popular estimate, of Jesus.

But Jesus was far more than just a prophet; and to view Him as only a prophet was an underestimation of
Him. People still do that today, don’t they? Jesus was a good man; He was a wise teacher; He was a
powerful healer; He was an enlightened holy man. These estimates fall short of the reality of who Jesus is.
And to believe that Jesus is any less than who He really is will cause a man to fall short of God’s salvation.

So after the disciples tell Jesus who people say He is, Jesus then poses the same question, to all of them - to
those who have been continually with Him, throughout His public ministry.

16:15-16 The “you” in verse 15 is plural. Jesus was asking this question of all of His disciples. But only
one of them answered - Simon Peter. And what was Simon Peter’s answer? It was, “You are the Christ” -
the Messiah, in the Hebrew. Simon Peter was declaring that Jesus is the Messiah - and further, “the Son of
the living God”.

“Living God” is an OT title for Jehovah, often in contrast to dead, dumb idols - Jehovah is the living God -
the one true God. It was the psalmist who prophesied of the Anointed One, the Messiah - who would be
also Jehovah’s Son, and Israel’s King (Ps 2). A son is of the same essence as his father; therefore, the
Anointed Son is God Himself.

Simon Peter recognized in Jesus all the fullness of Israel’s Messiah and Israel’s God; the One in whom the
Father’s purposes were coming to fruition. It was a momentous declaration - as well as a personal
confession of faith.

Now let me ask you a question. Do you think that Simon Peter was the only one of the disciples who
believed this? No, I think we can be reasonably certain they all believed it - all but one of the Twelve, who
would never believe.
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But the essential point that Matthew is making here is that it was Simon Peter who voiced his, as well as
their, belief. He had the boldness, to state what he believed. He expressed the view of the others, with his
characteristic forwardness. He was the natural leader, and the spokesman, for the group.

And it was because of his confession, and because of this God-given quality in Simon Peter, that Jesus
specifically addresses him next - apart from the other disciples.

16:17 So Jesus is specifically commending Simon Peter for his declaration - that Jesus is the Messiah, the
Son of the living God. Does this mean that Jesus was affirming what Simon Peter said? Yes, definitely;
Jesus was indirectly acknowledging that He is Israel’s Messiah and that He is God.

Notice that Jesus used the name “Simon Bar-Jonah” - that is, Simon, son of Jonah; his full given name.
Simon was blessed because God had revealed to him through the Spirit the deeper understanding of who
Jesus is - a revelation which Simon had received, through faith.

Simon Bar-Jonah means “hearkening of the dove” - an apt description of Simon’s receptiveness to the
Spirit’s revelation - who is sometimes seen as a dove. Notice that Jesus spoke of God personally as His
Father, in heaven - further confirming Jesus’ identity as the Son of God.

Now, why did Matthew use the name Simon Peter? Because Jesus gave the name Peter to Simon, as a
nickname. Do you remember when that happened? We learn from John’s gospel that it was at the moment
when Jesus first met Simon - before he was a follower, of Jesus. Jesus said, “You are Simon, the son of
Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (Jn 1:42).

Cephas is Aramaic (Kephas), which is generally the language that Jesus and the disciples spoke; Matthew
wrote in Greek; and the Greek for Cephas is Petros; in English, Peter. In both Aramaic and Greek, the
name means “stone” or “rock”.

The next set of statements that Jesus made has met with some difficulty in interpretation. Let’s read
through the entire answer of Jesus, starting back in verse 17, through verse 19.

16:17-19 Several things in this passage are challenging to understand. What is the rock, that Jesus says He
will build His church upon? What are the gates of Hades? In what way will they not prevail against the
church? What are the keys of the kingdom of heaven? And what is it that is bound, or loosed? That is to
say, almost everything that Jesus says here is a little challenging to understand.

But I think that the first thing we need to consider, and adhere closely to, is the context. Who was Jesus
speaking to? To Simon Peter - upon him receiving and believing the revelation of the Father, that Jesus is
the Messiah, the Son of God - and declaring it.

All of the statements that follow the first one are linked with the word “and” - …you are Peter, and on this
rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will given you the
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”.

Furthermore, all of the “you’s” are singular, not plural. What Jesus was saying involved Simon Peter, and
him only.
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Jesus pronounced Simon to be blessed - he possessed the favor of God - blessed, not only because of what
had been revealed to him - but in believing and declaring it, Jesus was showing that Simon would be
additionally blessed. Simon was to have a personal and unique role in the establishment of the church.

Simon had declared that Jesus is the Messiah. Well, Jesus had something to declare in response, to him -
that he is Peter. Remember that Jesus said in John’s gospel, “you shall be called Cephas (Peter)” - future
tense. This is when Jesus was calling him that; this is when that nickname became significant - “you are
Peter”- based on his declaration of faith.

What we read next is a play on words, on the part of Jesus. This is something that Jesus often did; it was a
means of drawing attention, to something He was saying. For instance, in our previous passage, Jesus used
a wordplay when He said to the disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees”.

In the language that Jesus would have spoke to His disciples - Aramaic - leaven is the word hamira; and
teaching is the word mira. The similarity between hamira and mira provided a play on words that would
give the disciples a clue as to what Jesus meant; that the teaching of the religious rulers - mira - was like
leaven - hamira; insidious and corrupting. The wordplay connects the two ideas.

Jesus was using a wordplay here again, to draw His disciples’ attention to what He was saying; to get them
to think about it, and to make the connection. The name Peter and the word for rock are very similar, in the
Greek. In Greek, Peter is Petros, and rock is petra. Petra is a feminine word; in order to be a male name,
it must be Petros.

This suggests that Jesus was equating Peter with the statement that followed, about “this rock”; it’s a
wordplay, on his name. Jesus would build His church on this rock - Peter.

This is the most natural reading, of what Jesus is saying. But great effort has been made, throughout the
history of the church, to read this differently. Why is this so?

One reason is because the rock was a well-established motif in the OT for Israel’s Messiah; Jesus had
alluded to it Himself, in the “sermon on the mount” (Mt 7:24-25). He is the stone of Israel (Gen 49:24); He
is the rock of their salvation (Deut 32:15). And that motif would be later picked up for Jesus, in the NT
writings of Luke, Paul - and Peter.

Some commentators have pointed out that in the classical Greek, the word rock, petra, means bedrock, or
foundation stone - a mass of rock; while petros means a detached stone or boulder; a stone that can be
easily moved.

But those Greek words were not commonly used that way, at this time; if a stone was intended, the Greek
word lithos would have been used.

In addition to this, Jesus would have spoken to His disciples in Aramaic, not in Greek. And in the Aramaic,
the words for “Peter” and “rock” are identical - making the wordplay even more certain to pertain to Peter.

The grammar also would be extremely awkward, if Jesus was referring to Himself as the Rock, here.
Matthew’s audience would never have read it that way, without some clarification from Matthew in the text
that Jesus meant Himself. And Matthew does not provide any.

So if the evidence is so strong that Peter is the one Jesus meant in the wordplay with rock, why have there
been such efforts to read His words differently? That has to do with church history.
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Peter came to be regarded, well after his death, as the first pope. The Roman Catholic church retroactively
established Peter as the head of the church - over a century after his death - with supreme authority over all
believers. In addition, that authority was said to have been passed on - to appointed successors of Peter, as
pope. In fact, the Roman Catholic Church views this very passage as evidence that Peter had been given
this authority by Jesus Himself.

But that is a dreadful mistaking of the words of Jesus, here. Let’s consider more carefully what Jesus said.
“you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church”. The “My” in the Greek is emphatic; this church is
Jesus’ church. He will design it; He will build it; He will own it; and He will be the Head of it. There can
only be one Head.

The writers of the NT make it abundantly clear that the Head of the church is Jesus; the church is His body;
believers submit directly to Him, and they draw their Life from Him (Eph 1:22, 4:15, 5:23;Col 1:18, 2:19).

And Peter? He is the rock that Jesus will build His church upon. In what sense? To understand this, we
need to consider what has just happened.

Simon had been given the name Peter long ago by Jesus; but now, Simon has finally come into that name -
“rock”. What brought that to pass? His declaration of faith - that Jesus is the Messiah; the Son of the
Living God.

What made Simon become Peter in that moment was his initiative in expressing the truth about Jesus.
This is the rock that Jesus would build his church upon - as Peter would continue to take the lead, in
expressing that truth before all the world.

Peter’s preaching and teaching would be fundamental, in the earliest days of the church, as the foundation
of the church was being laid - on the truth that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus would begin to build His church
on the foundational teaching of Peter. And He would continue to build His church on the apostles and
prophets, as they followed Peter’s lead, in preaching the gospel throughout the world.

I think this was most clearly explained by the apostle Paul. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Paul wrote this
letter to some churches in Asia, which were predominantly Gentile assemblies. He wanted these Gentile
believers to know that they were accepted by God on an equal basis with the Jewish believers.

[Ephesians 2:19-22] Paul was saying that the Gentiles are no longer excluded; they are being included as
the new people of God. He describes the church as a building, a holy temple in the Lord - that is, in Christ.

What is each believer built up on, in verse 20? On the foundation of the apostles and prophets. This is
referring to their foundational teaching, concerning Jesus; the gospel of Christ, that they shared with men.
That’s the foundation of the church - a foundation that must lay in perfect alignment with the cornerstone.

The cornerstone is what the entire building depends on, then - and who is that? Jesus Christ. Paul
understood that everything in the true church - the teaching, the believers - everything rests on that
cornerstone - Christ.

And Peter understood that, too. Even as Jesus spoke His words, Peter would not have taken it that Jesus
was putting him in charge over what would be His church. No, indeed - Jesus simply saw in Peter a good
tool, with which to build His church.
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With time, Peter would see just how Jesus would use him, to do that. In one of his letters, Peter would later
write about Jesus as the cornerstone of the church. Turn to First Peter chapter 2. At this point of the letter,
Peter was addressing those who were beginning to be enlightened, to Christ.

[First Peter 2:1-6]

v. 1-3 the imagery speaks of those who are still unenlightened - to take in the light of truth; to believe the
word preached to them.

v. 4-5 Peter refers to the Lord as a living stone - what a stunning description of Him! The idea is that He is
trustworthy, and He is life-giving - and so you should build your life on Him. That’s an apt illustration of
Jesus, isn’t it?

But how do you do that? You come to Him, by faith; you entrust yourself to Him. And in doing so, you
become a living stone, yourself, with His Life in you; part of the household of God; a dwelling place for
Him - in which true worship of God can take place.

v. 6 This letter was written close to the end of Peter’s life - and we see him doing what he did from the
first; expressing the truth about Jesus; preaching the gospel of Christ. Peter understood the basis of the true
church was Christ, the cornerstone; his foundational teaching was laid in accordance with Him.

[Return to Matthew 16]

Before we continue, I want to point out the word “church” in verse 18 - ekklesia, in the Greek. Matthew is
the only gospel writer who uses the word, although it is then used extensively throughout the rest of the NT.
Although the church is likened at times to a building, the word “church” is never used for a physical
structure in the NT; the church is always a community of people.

This was a common term even in secular usage for an assembly of people; ekklesia was a body of free
citizens who were called together by a herald. What a perfect word to describe the Body of Christ - freed
from sin and death - who have been called together by the Holy Spirit, to be the new people of God - and
emphatically, the Lord’s church.

Jesus said the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it - against what? The church. Hades is the Greek
form of the Hebrew Sheol; the place where departed souls went, after death. The grave took the body, and
Sheol took the soul - until the time that body and soul were reunited, in resurrection.

The symbolism behind “gates” conveys the power to hold and imprison. Jesus was saying that Hades
would have no power to overcome and imprison those of His church. He meant this, quite literally.

Everyone in the Lord’s church will have received the Lord’s Life - eternal life, for the body. What happens
when a believer dies? As Paul said, he is absent from the body, and present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8).

That is to say, the souls of those who died believing in Jesus are immediately brought into His presence in
heaven - to one day return with Him, to receive their glorified bodies - redeemed from death. Believers in
Jesus will never be held in Hades - it cannot prevail, over them.
As Jesus continued, he told Peter that He would give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven. This has led
to the notion that Peter controls who goes in to the pearly gates, in heaven - Peter makes the determination
who’s in, and who’s out.
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But that would mean that a mere human is being given the authority of judgment - something that the NT
makes clear is given by the Father to the Son, alone (Jn 5:26-27). So what does Jesus mean by what He
said?

The idea is of a steward, in a royal kingdom (Is 22:20-22). The steward was given the keys to the
household. The keys vested the steward with the authority to open doors, by which others could be
admitted.

So what “keys” was Peter given, that opened the doors to the kingdom of heaven? The gospel keys: Christ
died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and He was buried; and He rose again the third day, according
to the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:3-4).

We can see this fulfilled historically in the book of Acts. Turn to Acts chapter 2. It was the feast of
Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was poured out from heaven on the body of believers in the upper room, in
Jerusalem, and they all began to speak in tongues - actual foreign languages, understood by the Jewish
pilgrims who had come up for the feast, from all over the Roman Empire.

As they were drawn by the sound, wondering at what they heard, Peter, by the Spirit, seized the moment,
stood up, and preached to them - proving from their Scriptures that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had
crucified, was both Lord and Christ - their Messiah.

This was the response of the Jews, to Peter’s words.

[Acts 2:37-41] So Peter was the one who opened up the kingdom of heaven to the Jews - through his
preaching of the gospel.

And Peter was also given this privilege with the Gentiles. Turn to Acts chapter 10. Peter was given a
vision from heaven - three times - to open up his narrow Jewish mindset toward the Gentiles - that God
shows no partiality, whether Jew or Gentile.

Through the Spirit’s direction, Peter went to the home of a Gentile named Cornelius, who was a god-fearer
- a follower of the God of Israel. There, Peter preached to Cornelius, and his Gentile relatives, and his
Gentile friends - urging them to believe in Jesus, and their sins would be forgiven. This was the result.

[Acts 10:44-46] So Peter used the gospel keys to open up the kingdom of heaven to the Gentiles - and to
his astonishment, they went right in. Peter was later instrumental in convincing the apostles and brethren in
Judea - the Jewish believers - that God had also granted to the Gentiles repentance to Life (Acts 11:18). It
was a novel concept, in that day.

Once Peter had used the keys to open up the kingdom, many others used those keys - the apostles,
including Paul; Timothy; Titus; and many others. But Peter was given the privilege of proclaiming the
gospel first - because of his initiative; taking the lead in proclaiming Jesus to be the Christ, from the start.

[Return to Matthew 16]

As we continue in verse 19, the idea of “binding” and “loosing” speaks of administrative authority. In that
day, these terms were used by the rabbis, referring to was or was not permitted. Notice the wording here -
whatever you bind; whatever you loose. It doesn’t refer to people, but to things; to issues. Things that
were to be permitted; things that were not to be permitted.
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This pertains to decision-making, in the church; including church discipline. In the book of Acts, Peter is
seen to take the lead in this as well, until the foundation of the church was established (Acts 5:1-11, 11:1-
18, 15:6-11). Later in Matthew’s gospel, we will see that Jesus extends this administrative authority to all
of the apostles, in almost the same language (Mt 18:18).

The phrasing in the Greek is unusual, and it is glossed over in the translations. More literally, it would
read, “and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
will have been loosed in heaven”.

So the idea is not that heaven will give an endorsement to decisions that Peter makes, in the church;
instead, it is that Peter will make decisions based on divine guidance; he will decide in accordance with
God’s already determined purpose.

How would Peter do that? Through the Holy Spirit - the One who gave him the revelation about Jesus, in
the first place. Peter came to a clear understanding of this authority, given to him by Jesus, and describes it
near the end of his first letter.

Turn again to First Peter - chapter 5. Peter was exhorting the elders of the assemblies in their
responsibilities.

[First Peter 5:1-4] Notice how Peter views himself - just as fellow to these elders he is writing to; no more
than that.

Peter’s exhortation follows the imagery of a shepherd with his flock. But who does the flock belong to, in
verse 2? To God. So that makes these elders God’s laborers, who take care of God’s sheep - they’re
undershepherds; they just oversee God’s people. But they are to do so willingly, and eagerly - it’s a labor
of love.

God had entrusted His sheep to these undershepherds, so they were never to lord their authority over them;
instead they should be examples to the flock - how? Through their loving service, to them. That way,
when the Boss comes - the Chief Shepherd - and who would that be? Jesus - when the Boss comes, He’ll
be pleased with their work - and reward them accordingly. The authority given, then, is the authority to
serve others - in love.

[Return to Matthew 16]

After Jesus spoke these things to Simon Peter, He spoke again to the whole group of disciples.

16:20 It was Jesus who had raised the issue of who He is; and Simon Peter had correctly stated who He is;
but after commending him, and showing Peter the blessings that would come his way, Jesus now
commanded His disciples - all of them - not to tell anyone who He is - the Messiah.

Why? We’ve encountered this before, in Matthew’s gospel. The people had misconceptions about Messiah
- and unrealistic expectations of Him. Above all, they did not understand His primary mission - to be their
Savior.

This will become abundantly clear next time, right from within the ranks of the closest followers of Jesus -
in fact, from the very man who seemed best to understand just who Jesus is.
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Reading: Mt 16:21-28; Mark 8:31-9:1; Lk 9:21-27, 1 Cor 3:5-15; 2 Cor 5:10; 2 Th 1:3-10.