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Scott's Reference Library
Matthew 16:13 through Matthew 16:20 (NIV)
13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others,
Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed
to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And 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. 19I 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.” 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was
the Christ.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
Peter, for himself and his brethren, said that they were assured of our
Lord’s being the promised Messiah, the Son of the living God. This showed that
they believed Jesus to be more than man. Our Lord declared Peter to be blessed,
as the teaching of God made him differ from his unbelieving countrymen. Christ
added that he had named him Peter, in allusion to his stability or firmness in
professing the truth. The word translated “rock,” is not the same word as Peter,
but is of a similar meaning. Nothing can be more wrong than to suppose that
Christ meant the person of Peter was the rock. Without doubt Christ himself is
the Rock, the tried foundation of the church; and woe to him that attempts to
lay any other! Peter’s confession is this rock as to doctrine. If Jesus be not
the Christ, those that own him are not of the church, but deceivers and
deceived. Our Lord next declared the authority with which Peter would be
invested. He spoke in the name of his brethren, and this related to them as well
as to him. They had no certain knowledge of the characters of men, and were
liable to mistakes and sins in their own conduct; but they were kept from error
in stating the way of acceptance and salvation, the rule of obedience, the
believer’s character and experience, and the final doom of unbelievers and
hypocrites. In such matters their decision was right, and it was confirmed in
heaven. But all pretensions of any man, either to absolve or retain men’s sins,
are blasphemous and absurd. None can forgive sins but God only. And this binding
and loosing, in the common language of the Jews, signified to forbid and to
allow, or to teach what is lawful or unlawful.