Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, 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 overcome 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 he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” - Matt. 16:16-23 NIV
This is dangerous knowledge, that Jesus was the Christ. It was then and still is today, both in the results and in the requirements. One minute Jesus is telling Peter that he will be the 'rock on which the church is built and the gates of hell will not prevail against it', and the next minute he is telling him, 'Get behind me, Satan!' And there you have it. How are we to live being both the foundation and a stumbling block. How can the good news be so contradictory?
I take consolation in this one thing. God knew his creation. He has always known his creation, our strengths and our weaknesses, and loves us in spite of them all. Just like Peter, I often do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Is it possible, that even with all of my failures, I can still bind things on earth that will be loosed in heaven? I think so.
2010 Post - Matthew 16-17: Demand for a Sign
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