Confession and Rebuke

Jesus and His disciples left Galilee, again, and journeyed to the villages around Caesarea Philippi, 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee at the base of Mount Hermon. The region had one of the largest springs that fed into the Jordan River. The fertile area was very popular for worship by many cultures.

One day, as Jesus and His disciples were praying in private, He asked them: “Who do people say the Son of Man is? Who do they say I am?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets of old has arisen.”

“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, 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 prevail against 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 Jesus strictly warned His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ. And from that time on, Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer. “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He must be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Jesus spoke this message quite frankly.

But Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!”

Then Jesus, turning and looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of people.”

See Matthew 16:13-23; Mark 8:27-33; Luke 9:18-22

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