Matthew 16:13-20: The Question and the Confession ("You are the Christ!")

Matthew 16:13–20 ESV

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Introduction

I received my first speeding ticket when I was 19 years old. It was Christmas evening, and I was driving from one grandparent’s house to the other. As I left a small town, I assumed the speed limit had increased to 55 mph. However, the flashing red and blue lights behind me quickly told me I was mistaken.

When the officer pulled me over, I asked why, and he told me I was speeding. Confused, I asked what my speed was. He said, “55.” That only confused me more—I thought that was the speed limit. But then he clarified: the limit was actually 35. My assumption had cost me a multi-hundred-dollar ticket.

I paid the fine and moved on, but what I didn’t realize was that my dad would soon receive an email from his insurance company. It stated that “David Guess” needed to complete a defensive driving course to avoid an increase in premiums. Now, I’m David Guess III, named after my father and grandfather,

And my dad, assuming the notice was about his increasing age, dutifully completed the course. Neither of us thought anything more of it—until years later, when one of my loud-mouthed siblings ratted me out at a family gathering.

As I was being teased for hiding my ticket and playfully scolded by my mother for not telling them, my dad sat there, piecing things together.

When I told him the date of the ticket—Christmas night 2015—he realized the truth:

HE had completed MY defensive driving course.

There was some mild frustration on his part, plenty of laughter from the rest of the family, and, for me, a happy case of mistaken identity.

But that night, we both learned something important—it matters that we get identity right.

In our passage this morning, Jesus asks His disciples a question that is far more significant than a bureaucratic mix-up: “Who do you say that I am?” This isn’t just a test of knowledge—it’s the defining question of life and eternity. As we’ll see, Peter’s answer is not merely his own—it is the confession of all true disciples, and it is a confession that can only come from God Himself. Recognizing Jesus for who He truly is changes everything.

Sermon

Who is Jesus? That’s the question that this passage is concerned with and we get a definitive answer. Jesus is not merely some prophet, he is the Son of God!

I. The Question (vv. 13-15)

Context and Exposition:

Jesus sets the question up by leading His disciples to withdraw to Caesarea Philippi

Known for idol worship and pagan temples.

It is here, surrounded by false gods, that Jesus poses the ultimate question.

(13) Who do people say that the Son of Man is?

Here Jesus uses his favorite title from the Messianic prophecy in Daniel 7:13-14 where Daniel is shown a vision of one like a “Son of Man” who will stand before the Father

and will be given authority, glory, and a kingdom

that presides over all the earth, for all time,

never to pass away or be destroyed.

We know this to be Jesus, God the Son, who conquers and establishes His kingdom through His sacrifice, welcoming in people from every tribe, language, and nation to His New Covenant people.

But the Jews were expecting the Messiah to conquer through violence. They wanted a kingdom like the Old Kingdom. Just like their ancient ancestors who chose Saul as king, they wanted a king and emperor like the nations.

And by the answer of the disciples we see that the people weren’t even thinking of Jesus as the Messiah.

They responded to Jesus:

(14) “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

If you remember, Herod thought that Jesus was the reincarnation of John the Baptist, who he had killed, and it appeared to be a popular misconception because the people were apparently saying that Jesus was John.

But of course, anyone who was present at Jesus’ baptism would know this to be false.

The second assertion, the one that Jesus was Elijah, is a reference to Malachi 3:1 and Mal 4:5-6. These are the prophecies to send a “messenger” who will “prepare the way” for the Lord to “suddenly come to his temple” (reference to Holy Week) and this will be a precursor “great and awesome day of the LORD” where God brings freedom and judgement.

So they’re calling Him this promised messenger, Elijah.

Ironically this is the same thing as asserting that Jesus was John the Baptist, they just are too blind to see it. John was the promised “Elijah” messenger who came to prepare the way of the LORD, Jesus Christ. So Jesus could be neither of those.

And then they said that Jesus was a return of Jeremiah or some other prophet. But they were all pointers to the main point.

So, who is it that people say Jesus is? A prophet, but not God. He is a pointer, not the point.

The people, then, are still missing the point.

Now, we’ve seen that the disciples are often in the same boat as the people; they often miss the whole point of what Jesus is doing and teaching, and who he is.

So Jesus turns the question on them in verse 15 to test and see if they are missing the point.

5 “But who do you say that I am?

Jesus has been preparing his disciples for his death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven.

They have GOT TO get the identity of Jesus right if they are going to lead his people when he leaves them.

These disciples have regularly messed it all up, but we did get a little encouragement from them at the end of the previous passage in verse 12 where we see that they finally understood something Jesus was trying to teach them.

So Jesus is testing them to see if they are starting to get it. He is testing their understanding of his identity.

“I know that everyone else says that I’m either in league with Satan or one of the great prophets, but who do you say I am?”

“What is your belief on who I am?”

Key Idea: And really, that’s just about the most important question anyone can answer.

Who do you say Jesus is?

And really, even more importantly, who do believe and trust Jesus to be?

Application:

There are many in our world who say they love and believe in Jesus and if we just accept that statement at face value we might welcome in some weird beliefs because we wrongly think that they are brothers and sisters in Christ.

We have to ask: “Which Jesus do you believe in?”

There are many different Jesus’ being believed in, and I’ll state just a few.

The Good Moral Teacher

The people who believe in this Jesus believe that Jesus was a wise man who had some good ideas about living morally, but not God.

And they are mistaken. C.S. Lewis outlines the reason why in what he calls the “Trilemma.”

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.

You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher.

He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The Political and Cultural Supporter

People who say they love Jesus and believe in him often will claim he supports whatever cause they support.

From Critical Theorists to LGBT activists to White Supremacists to immigration supporters and mass deportation supporters. There are even satanists who say Jesus is on their side.

Just about everyone from every sort of background and ideology seems to think that Jesus would support them in whatever they are trying to get people to support. It doesn’t matter to them who Jesus really is.

The Jesus they believe in is just a mirror image of themselves.

The Prophet

As we’ve already seen from the response of the disciples, there are many then and now who view Jesus as just a prophet.

Every single Muslim would say this. They would also even agree that Jesus was sinless, but since they believe all the prophets were sinless that’s not really a big deal to them.

Ironically, no major Jewish sect today would agree with the Muslims. They don’t even give Jesus the title of prophet. At best, they think of him as a good moral teacher. At worst they consider him a false messiah and heretic.

There is a small group of Jews who do believe in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, called Messianic Jews, but they are rejected as Jews by essentially all the rest of global modern Judaism.

There are countless other ideas and beliefs we could discuss about who Jesus is, but the question still remains: Who do you believe and trust Him to be?

Have you ever really confronted that question? Have you confronted the question of who Jesus is? Because

And we see Peter step forward to respond to that question with one of the most famous confessions of truth.

II. The Confession (vv. 16-18)

16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

As we so often see, Peter steps forward as a representative of all the disciples and speaks for them all. And in a very real sense he is speaking for all who are true disciples of Jesus.

This is the foundational answer we must give when asked about who Jesus is.

He is the Christ! The promised one throughout history!

The promised Son of Eve who would crush the head of the serpent, who would not fall to sin, and who would be the Last Adam to lead his people back to paradise (Gen 1-3, Rm 5, 1 Cor 15)!

The promised offspring of Abraham who would bring blessing and and an everlasting covenant to people from all the nations of the earth! (Gen 12:1-3, Gen 17:7, Gal 3:16)

The perfect lawkeeper who would lead his people through the wilderness and into his promised kingdom! (Ex-Deut)

The perfect sacrifice who would cover the sins of all his people through the shedding of his blood so that the wrath of God would pass-over them and their sin may be forgiven! The one whose shed blood would enact the New Covenant, an everlasting covenant with God! (Gn 22:8-9, Ex 12, Is 53, 1 Cor 5:7, Jn 1:29, 1 Pt 1:19)

The Promised Son of David who would bring the true and unbreakable, everlasting Kingdom to reality!

So Peter says it rightly, He is the Christ!

But Peter does not stop there simply acknowledging that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. He continues with a further declaration that takes his confession even further.

He says that Jesus is “the Son of the Living God!”

Now, this isn’t the first time that the disciples have said this, (they also recognized him as the Son of God after he walked on water in 14:33) but it is a massive realization of who the Messiah actually is!

The Old Testament doesn’t actually say that the Messiah would be the Son of God, so in contrast to all the others who think Jesus is merely a prophet, a pointer, Peter has rightly recognized that Jesus is the point itself!

After so many missteps by the disciples, they’re finally starting to get it! Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God! This is a huge step in the development of the disciples!

And Jesus acknowledges Peter’s win in the next verse.

17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

This is not Peter’s own fleshly wisdom that has revealed this to Peter

This was revealed to him by God himself!

And this reveals an important truth: Spiritual things must be revealed by the spirit, not the flesh.

The recognition of Jesus as the Son of God and Lord of all is something that we cannot force upon people. This is something that historically we haven’t always remembered as Christians.

We represent Christ faithfully in our homes and in public. We pray for open eyes and changed hearts. We joyfully proclaim the Gospel and the coming of the kingdom of Heaven, but that’s it.

The understanding and recognition of Jesus as Lord and God must come from God. We cannot argue people into heaven. We cannot force people to be Christians.

That doesn’t mean we don’t desperately pray for souls or that we should stop proclaiming the Gospel, but it does mean that we need to start resting in the power of God to save sinners.

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Some wordplay (Peter means rock)

3 Interpretations

Peter as the foundational rock of the Church

That Peter was the primary one given authority to lead and bind and loose

Catholic position - a foundational argument for Peter being the first pope and then the necessity of papal succession for authority

wrong and goes around Jesus being the true foundation

Peter’s confession as the rock

Jesus isn’t speaking about Peter himself, but really the confession he made that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God”

Many protestants take this position, but it was never fully satisfying to me

Jesus is speaking directly to Peter and using his given name as a pun.

Peter as a representative of all true disciples

This takes a middle ground

It recognizes Peter is the focus here, and the first stone laid in the great house of Jesus’ church,

but not in the way that Romists would say

It also recognizes Peter’s confession is a foundational concept of how the church is built. Every stone that follows him must make and believe that same confession.

So in that way, Peter is the representative of all disciples

We see that Peter does take the biggest role in leading the church in boldness once Jesus ascends to heaven

We see that he preaches and travels and helps make decisions for the new church

though he may be the first stone laid in the building that is Jesus’s new assembly of people,

he is not the only stone and it is not through him or his supposed papal authority that the church is led

Because when we lay a foundation of a house, is it the foundation that determines what the rest of the house looks like? NO

The builder, the architect, is the one who determines the house.

And who is the builder of the church? Look at verse 18

Jesus is the builder

and he is the one who determines what the church is.

The pope doesn’t decide, the church doesn’t decide, individual Christians don’t decide, and the outside world doesn’t decide

JESUS DOES

And Jesus, the builder, is also Jesus the protector

He promises that his church will not fall to the forces of Hell

And he upholds that promise through the sacrifice of his own life

(Gospel) Defeating the hold of darkness on all who would repent and believe Jesus and his Gospel

But then before his ascension he establishes his people to go into the world with his authority and make disciples (Matt 28:18-20)

How does the Great Commission begin? “All Authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go...”

And here, Jesus is preparing his disciples for the day where he would give them that commission.

Preparing them to recognize that when they go out on their own, they have the authority of God backing them, so they have nothing to fear.

So, Peter’s confession is so much more than just his own personal story or testimony. It is his confession of who Jesus Christ is!

So it is personal, each disciple of Jesus must make that same confession, but it is so much more as the very foundation of the mission of the church!

Gospel Connection: The Church doesn’t stand on human strength but on the unshakable truth of Jesus' identity and work.

It doesn’t stand, survive, or thrive on papal authority

It is Jesus’ authority alone that builds, protects, and empowers the church.

And with that foundation laid, Jesus begins talking about the authority he gives to His Church in verses 19-20.

III. The Keys (vv. 19-20)

Matthew 16:19–20 ESV

19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Context and Exposition:

Understanding and rightly applying these verses have been some of the bigger issues we have faced in Christianity of the past 150 years.

Some don’t understand it at all and just ignore the insights given, comfortably ignorant

Others wrongly say it was an authority only given to the Catholic Church

Still others say it applies to spiritual warfare and gives us the authority to bind and loose Satan and his minions, or even to determine new revelation for the church based on modern day prophets and apostles.

And when we search the Scriptures to see what is true like the noble Bereans, we see that each of these positions are wrong

But we really don’t have to search the Scriptures very far to receive more information about what is going on here.

Just a few pages later in Matt 18:15-17 Jesus begins talking about church discipline and the necessity of the church to seek repentance and restoration for sinners, but to cast out those sinners who are unrepentant.

Matthew 18:15–17 ESV

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

But look at the next verse and what do we see? the exact same language of binding and loosing.

So, by letting Scripture interpret Scripture, what do we learn about this difficult passage of keys and binding and loosing?

We learn that Jesus is speaking about church discipline

Binding - to prohibit (excommunicate unrepentant sinners)

Loosing - to permit (restore repentant sinners)

When Jesus is speaking of the "keys" he is saying that they are the authority to declare what is bound and loosed according to God's Word.

In looking at the original language of Matthew, the best way to understand this is that when Jesus says “shall be bound” or “shall be loosed” it is speaking of things that have already been determined in heaven. So, when the church binds or looses something, it is simply acting in the already decided action of God.

But the authority to bind or loose does not come from us. It comes from the Father, through the Son, Jesus Christ.

If we try to act in the authority Jesus gave us while completely misrepresenting him, then it is a false authority we are acting under.

If you need help understanding this, think of a servant of a king who is trusted by his king to go and establish order in a recently acquired region.

This servant is given the ring of the king to stamp laws with authority to help bring the region into step with the rest of the kingdom.

But after a while, this servant decides he knows better than the king’s laws and wants to create some new laws. Maybe he wants to strengthen his own authority, or fill his pockets with gold. So he uses the ring to create laws that actually work against the King. Or maybe he decides he doesn’t want to use his authority to follow the law himself anymore and encourages others to break the laws too.

Is that servant still acting in the authority of the King or is it a false authority? What can that servant expect when the King hears of his new declarations? Should he expect to be welcomed back with open arms? NO! He should expect judgement and death for misrepresenting his King and abusing the authority given.

In the same way, churches and Christians who misrepresent the One who gave them the authority, either by making up new stuff, or by refusing to practice church discipline on unrepentant sinners, should expect judgement from their King for abusing the authority given to them.

Our King has given us keys to open and close the gates to his kingdom, but only on the basis of what he has already determined to be right.

So then what are the keys to the kingdom?

Preaching the Gospel (We see this in Peter’s almost immediate response in Acts 2 to Jesus’ Great Commission. What does he do? He goes and preaches the gospel)

The Call to repent and believe in Christ for forgiveness of sins

Then, administering baptism and the Lord’s Supper to those who have repented and believed.

So to those who respond with repentance and faith that lead to obedience, to these keys, to them the door to the kingdom is joyfully thrown open and they are “loosed” into the people of God.

But to those who are unrepentant and disobedient, to them the door of the kingdom is locked and they are “bound” outside the gate.

Our authority as a church has been given for the flourishing of God’s people. To proclaim the gospel, call sinners to repentance and faith, and to administer baptism and the Lord’s Supper to those who have responded in such a way.

So the Keys are eternally tied to the Question and the Confession.

“Who do you say Jesus is?” Your true answer to that question, your confession in your heart of hearts, is more important than you can possibly imagine.

Conclusion

Application:

For Non-Christians:

Have you personally confronted the question of who Jesus is?

Will you build your life on the only foundation that endures?

The Gospel is the key—will you repent and enter Christ's kingdom?

For Christians:

As we go through life we must hold fast to that confession, believing and acting upon our belief that Christ is the Son of God

Life Stages:

Older Couples and Widows: Your steadfast faith testifies to Christ's enduring foundation. Model how to live under the authority of God's Word.

Parents and grandparents: Help your children see that their faith is built on the firm truth of Christ.

Teach your children the seriousness of church membership both by your words and by being an example to them (in joining a church and committing yourself to other believers and placing yourself under the authority established by Christ).

Let us Build our hopes and plans on the reality of Jesus' lordship. Seek accountability within the Church, submitting to biblical leadership and to one another.

Guard yourselves against adopting cultural views of Jesus. Anchor your belief in Scripture.

Let the confession of Jesus as Christ and the Son of God shape everything about who you are and what you do.

If you have not engaged faithfully in the life of the Church, understanding its God-given authority to administer membership, then I encourage you to start praying, reading the Scriptures and thinking deeply about what it means to be a member of the church.

For Public Life:

The Church is a witness to the world, declaring the unchanging truth of Christ. We must hold fast to Jesus alone so that we can be true witnesses.

The Church must proclaim the Gospel boldly, but with love, holding the keys with humility and reverence to the responsibility entrusted to us.

Transition to Conclusion: The question remains—how will we respond to the authority and identity of Christ?

Reflection: Christ is the foundation, His confession is our rock, and His Church holds the authority to declare His Gospel.

Challenge: Will you stand firm in your confession of Christ, build your life upon Him, and submit to His authority in the Church?

Key Verse: Matthew 16:16, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Call to Action: Examine your heart. Are you resting on the true confession of Christ? Commit to strengthening your walk, building your life on Christ, and embracing the Church's mission to proclaim His Gospel.