Read: Matthew 16.13-17.27
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: Matthew's Gospel makes a decisive turn in this passage: his account moves from presenting evidence that Jesus is the long-promised Messiah/Savior to an explanation of the nature of His mission as Messiah/Savior. It begins with Jesus taking His disciples to a relatively remote location away from the crowds; here He asks them, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" After hearing their responses, He asks the more crucial question: "Who you you say I am?" Simon's answer is straightforward: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (verse 16.16). Jesus states that Simon's recognition of this fact was a direct result of God's work in his life (verse 16.17) and that Simon would now be known as Peter ("the Rock"), for Peter's confession of Jesus as "the Messiah, the Son of the living God," would be the confession upon which Jesus would build His church. The "keys of the Kingdom" promised to Peter will not give him the right to declare who is "in" or "out" of the Kingdom of God; rather, Matthew uses technical terms for the work of rabbis or "teachers" in prohibiting (binding) or allowing (loosing) practices as consistent with the nature and mission of God's Kingdom. The leadership role Peter fills in the early church (as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles) shows the fulfillment of Jesus' words.
It's no surprise that Jesus orders the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah. After all, they still had to learn the true reason the Messiah was sent into the world, and they were clearly having trouble learning that lesson. When Jesus began to teach them that He would ultimately be killed in Jerusalem and raised from the dead three days later, Peter (yes, "the Rock" just a little while ago) rebuked Jesus, leading Jesus to declare that Satan was using Peter to tempt Him into following a course different from God's will. Jesus had completely surrendered Himself to God's will, and He makes clear that anyone who would be His disciple must surrender in the same way. The choice to follow Jesus has eternal consequences. Many scholars are uncertain of the meaning of verse 16.28, but it makes clear the urgency of choosing to follow Jesus.
Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain six days later give Peter, James, and John a glimpse of His true glory as the Son of God...and Jesus' role as the fulfillment of the Old Testament law (represented by Moses) and prophets (as represented by Elijah). The sight left Peter stumbling to find adequately words, but the important words came from a voice in the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" (verse 17.5). Obviously, the disciples needed the reminder to listen to Him, since they still struggled to understand Old Testament prophecy (witness the discussion about Elijah and John the Baptist) and found themselves unable to cast a demon out of a young boy and heal him of his seizures. Jesus, who healed the boy, told the disciples that they had "so little faith." Through faith, Jesus says, "nothing will be impossible for you" (verse 17.21).
As Jesus continues to prepare His disciples for the events that will soon occur in Jerusalem (verses 17.22-23), Peter finds himself confronted with a rather ordinary problem: the collectors of the temple tax want a payment from Jesus. Jesus makes it clear that, as the King of the Kingdom to which the temple serves as an instrument of worship, He has no obligation to pay the tax...and neither do His children (namely, His disciples). "But so that we may not cause offense," Jesus arranges for a miraculous payment. What was about to happen to Jesus in Jerusalem was not the result of Jesus' failure to fulfill the Law in any way; it fact, it was the way that the whole Law would ultimately be fulfilled.
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