“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that I the son of man am? And they answered, some say that thou art John the Baptist: some Elias; and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And 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” – Matthew 16:13-19
LIGHT FOR NOW: The revelation of God is found in Christ.
In our opening text, Jesus posed a question to his disciples about his identity. Now, from the response the people gave to Jesus, it implies they did not know who Jesus was. Observe in verse 16 Simon Peter answered ‘thou art the Christ; the son of the living God’. The word Christ here was translated from the Greek word, ‘christos’ which implies the anointed one and his anointing. Now Jesus in his response in verse 17 implied what Peter said was by revelation. The word revealed in verse 17 was translated from the Greek word, ‘apokalupto’ which implies to uncover. Meaning what Peter said revealed of the father, that is why Jesus said ‘flesh and blood’ has not revealed this to you. The phrase ‘flesh and blood’ implies human acquaintance. That is, what Peter said was not because he walked with Jesus, touched Jesus, nor ate with Jesus. That was a revelation of Christ by the father communicated to Peter. Meaning it takes revelation to know God. You cannot know God by experience nor by your five senses. God is revealed and his entire revelation has been communicated to us in the son in the written document called the bible. God is not revealed or known in the dream, nor visions.
All of God’s revelation is encapsulated in the person of Christ and has been communicated to us in a written document called the Bible. Meaning you cannot rely on your experiences to know; you can only rely on the son who is the entire revelation of the father. If you do not know Jesus, you cannot know God.
Now, notice, after Peter spoke by revelation in verse 16, Jesus in verse 18 revealed Peter to Peter “thou art Peter and upon this rock…”. Therefore, happening simultaneously when Christ is revealed, the believer is unveiled. That is, the revelation of Christ unveils the believer. Thus, the revelation of Christ demystifies God, unveils the believer and exposes Satan. Take note: the phrase, ‘upon this rock’ is not in reference to Peter. Jesus was not saying he will build his church upon Peter when the context of Matthew 16:13-19 is well understood. The rock there is in reference to the revelation Peter communicated in verse 16 about Jesus. That is, Jesus is saying upon this rock of the revelation of who I am, I will build my church. Meaning that revelation communicated by Peter prompted what Jesus said in verse 18. Thus, what Jesus said in verse 18 was not about the personality of Peter but about the revelation he communicated in verse 16. Therefore, we can deduce that for God to be known, he has to be revealed; for Jesus also to be known, he has to be revealed and all of this revelation has been put to writing in a document called the Bible. It will therefore take a revelation of Jesus in the Bible to know God and to know yourself.
INSTRUCTION: If you do not know Jesus, you don’t know God. You have to look at the written word to know him.
PRAYER: Father, I receive understanding to know you in the written word. The eyes of mine understanding is enlightened, in Jesus Name. Amen.
For More Light; get the message, “The Revelation of Christ” by Dr. John Linus
QUOTE: Jesus is God demystified, the believer unveiled and Satan exposed.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: MATTHEW CHAPTER 16; EVENING: LUKE CHAPTER 24
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 