"When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ."
The essence of today's lesson is that Jesus was identified as the Messiah, the Son of God.
The second portion of this text designates the twelve Apostles as the charter members of the Church. Peter was specifically named as the first of these.
There are millions of people today (The whole of Roman Catholicism, and its many spin-offs.) who contend that Jesus intended that Peter be the head of His Church, the undisputed leader.
That is a horribly distorted view of what Jesus actually said, and intended.
First; Jesus said "thou are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church". That statement simply means that the Church started with Peter as its first member. When Jesus said "upon this rock I will BUILD My Church", he meant that beginning with Peter, the membership would grow (build) in numbers.
Jesus also said, speaking of His Church, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." This meant that His Church would last forever, and that it would stand eternally against all challenges.
Jesus went further to say "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, there are those millions who wrongly believe this statement was made directly to Peter, and gave him ultimate authority over the Church, even the power to forgive sin.
That contention is absolute heresy and easily confirmed as such by what Jesus said to Peter shortly after establishing him as the first member of the Church. When Peter challenged Jesus about His upcoming sacrificial ordeal, "Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."
It is absolutely ludicrous to believe that Jesus would give Peter ultimate authority over His Church and then within minutes, and as a part of the same conversation, refer to him as Satan, "Get thee behind me, Satan:"
Further, after Jesus said, "thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.", to believe He would grant the power to Peter to forgive sin, is a stretch that should be impossible for anyone to comprehend.
It is absolutely ludicrous to believe that Jesus would give Peter ultimate authority over His Church and then within minutes, and as a part of the same conversation, refer to him as Satan, "Get thee behind me, Satan:"
Further, after Jesus said, "thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.", to believe He would grant the power to Peter to forgive sin, is a stretch that should be impossible for anyone to comprehend.
It is clear, with just the slightest depth of thought, that the powers mentioned in this lesson, " And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.", were granted to the Church membership as a body, and NOT to any individual within it.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, those who have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for remission of sin, hold the power to do all manner of miraculous things through prayer, including even the possibility of persuading God to convict the hearts of the lost. But to assume that a mortal man has the power to remit sins denies the very purpose for the coming and soul saving sacrifice of Christ Jesus. ~
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