The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Church” it comes from the Greek Word “ekklesia” which means “assembly, the called-out gathering of believers.”
Jesus asks His disciples one question that changes the direction of everything. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Matthew 16.
Pharisees and Sadducees again ask Jesus for a sign, and He again refuses, pointing only to “the sign of the prophet Jonas.” He warns His disciples to beware of “the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees,” which they eventually understand to mean their corrupted teaching. Coming into the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks His disciples who people say He is, and then asks more directly, “But whom say ye that I am?”
Simon Peter answers boldly. “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responds that this truth was revealed to Peter not by human insight but by “my Father which is in heaven,” and declares, “upon this rock I will build my church,” using the Greek word “ekklesia,” meaning the gathered, called-out assembly of believers. Jesus gives Peter authority described as “the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”
From this point, Jesus begins telling His disciples plainly that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, be killed, and be raised again on the third day. Peter, alarmed, rebukes Him, only to receive a sharp response from Jesus. “Get thee behind me, Satan… thou savourest not the things that be of God.” Jesus then teaches that anyone who wants to follow Him must “deny himself, and take up his cross,” warning that gaining the whole world means nothing if it costs a person their soul.
Peter’s confession is a turning point, the clearest declaration yet of who Jesus really is. But immediately afterward, Peter shows how hard it still is to accept what following Jesus will actually cost. Knowing the truth about Jesus and being ready to live out its full weight are not always the same thing.
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