Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven
For the next few days, I want to think about Matthew 16:17-19 with you. As I studied this passage last week, some things came to light that I had never thought about before. I guess I'd never deeply studied that passage because it, honestly, reads like it supports Roman Catholicism. So I avoided it I guess because I don't live in a R.C. oriented area and was never asked about it.
This 1st verse isn't very controversial, but one thing should be pointed out. "This" (that Jesus was the Christ), had been declared to Simon son of Jonah by man. Probably numerous men. In fact, the very first thing told to Simon about Jesus was that he was the Christ (John 1:41). So what does it mean that man hadn't revealed this to him?
I think it means that God had now penetrated Simon himself. He no longer just heard from others who Jesus was, he believed personally in the indentity of Jesus as the Messiah. I don't think this was a sudden revelation. Simon was probably just being the spokemen for the other disciples who had jointly agreed on this.
Your thoughts? Or shall we continue?
This 1st verse isn't very controversial, but one thing should be pointed out. "This" (that Jesus was the Christ), had been declared to Simon son of Jonah by man. Probably numerous men. In fact, the very first thing told to Simon about Jesus was that he was the Christ (John 1:41). So what does it mean that man hadn't revealed this to him?
I think it means that God had now penetrated Simon himself. He no longer just heard from others who Jesus was, he believed personally in the indentity of Jesus as the Messiah. I don't think this was a sudden revelation. Simon was probably just being the spokemen for the other disciples who had jointly agreed on this.
Your thoughts? Or shall we continue?
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