Matthew 16 - Jesus Christ is the Messiah
The Pharisees & Sadducees (another name : scribes) kept on testing Jesus Christ, they asked for sign from heaven but our Lord knew what they were doing & told them only the sign of Jonah, which refers to the death & resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ will be given. Our Lord then taught the disciples to watch out & beware of the teaching of Pharisees and Sadducees.
Another point of view of the sign of Jonah was that Jonah was sent by God to Nineveh a place with wickedness, he went there and proclaimed the word of God, a warning to the people there, then the king of Nineveh led them into repentance which prevent their total destruction. Though after a few generations they were also utterly destroyed because of their wickedness. This led to thought where a generation’s repentance does not bring forward to another generation, just like how the Pharisees took pride in their ancestor’s line from Abraham, or the rituals & rules of Moses thinking that it will save them but Jesus Christ came to tell them the truth about mercy & grace. When God gave warning thru Jonah, He did not use violence but by the word of God. So our Lord Jesus Christ came without violence but by proclaiming the word of God, teaching the heart of God, doing the will of God & to set an example for the people to follow. This happened after the war of the Jews which was recorded in the book of Maccabees, the point is to bring out that Jesus Christ did not use violence to establish the kingdom of God.
In Caesarea Philippi, a place infamous of idolatry, Jesus Christ was teaching His disciples. When Peter said that He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ then told them this revelation comes from the Father in Heaven. From a point of view, it is said that the revelation of God equals to the word of God & the will of God. In this context, the rock means the foundation of the confession that comes from the Father in heaven : “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”. Peter was given the keys of the kingdom of heaven & he was assigned the duty to do the will of God & carry it out with authority.
Jesus then began to show the disciples His future in Jerusalem & Peter was rebuked with the seriousness of being Satan, a hindrance to Jesus because he set his mind not on God but on human things. This is a much needed drastic correction as Peter’s role has changed & must take it seriously by denying himself. Jesus Christ was teaching him & the disciples to let go of their own desire but to set their mind on things of God, to focus on Jesus Christ & the will of God. This is the cross they have to bear & so do we as believers & disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God has given us the gift of His Son & the Holy Bible, recorded with His will, characters, what pleased Him & what He hated. I’m grateful that Jesus Christ took up His cross & sacrifice Himself to fulfilled the will of our God, Father in heaven, so that we can have eternal salvation. It’s a reminder that we ought to put down our desires & focus on doing God’s will in our lives.