seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Mattthew 16:13 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 Peter, 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.
Jesus asked His disciples "when people talk.... about me.... what do they say?" That's how we would say it today. As a matter of fact, most would say "it doesn't matter what people think of me".
Why would Matthew include this in his version of what happened while Jesus was here? Jesus didn't say "Matthew write this down". Matthew was a stickler for who people were. He was the IRS of the day. This is where Simon, son of Jonah, got his name changed.
Apparently, Simon the fisherman was very staunch about his Jewish traditions. He was one of those who stuck to the laws the Pharisees and the Sadducees were in charge of. Apparently, according to the binging I did, Simon wouldn't have been one of the guys who was eating grain right off the plaint on the Sabbath. Simon was steadfast.... and Simon believed Jesus to be the Messiah. It is possible to live with the laws set in the Ten Commandments and believe Jesus to be Lord, the Son of God, the Messiah.
That's what Jesus was building His church on.
The Jonah here.... is the same Jonah that argued with God about Nineveh. Peter could argue the fundamentals of the Jewish Traditions. Peter knew "repent".
I don't think it was the "faith" of Peter.... I think it was the "steadfastness" of Peter that Jesus built His church on.
When people talk.... what do they say about your Christian Walk? Jesus said Simon was a good example of the church. Simon was steadfast in the Jewish Tradition and knew the Jesus is the Messiah everyone was waiting for. He was a changed human. Now he should be Peter.... a changed man.
When people talk.... what do they say about your Christian Walk? Apparently, what people think of us is indeed important.
When people talk.... what do they say about your Christian Walk?
