When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”   “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  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. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.  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.”  Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.  Matthew 16:13-20 

This week we are going to look into the portion of Scripture where Jesus begins to make Peter’s calling very clear. Jesus is at a point in His ministry where there is a considerable amount of discussion about who this miracle worker, claiming to be the Son of God truly is. It appears that He is “testing their meddle” in the hopes that His teachings and signs have had their true effect.

One of the interesting points that stands out to me in this passage is that Jesus does not seem to ask His question directly to Peter, but to all of the disciples that are gathered around him.  In typical Peter fashion, he speaks up immediately once he asks them what they believe. It is at that point that Jesus reveals to Peter what he will be responsible for once His time on earth is through. It is unclear, mostly due to Peter’s actions in the wake of Christ’s death and His resurrection, at just how well Peter understood exactly what Jesus was requiring of him. We are lucky enough to have the Scriptures to refer to, so we can understand how Peter’s story ultimately turns out. How will your story ultimately turn out? Did you start out like Peter?  Did you not understand when He requested you?  Will you progress into your calling like God has asked?

Have a great week!

~Danny