在馬太福音十六章，耶穌問祂的門徒：「人說人子是誰？」答案是可預期的「有人說是施洗約翰，有人說是以利亞，又有人說是耶利米或是先知裡的一位。」「但你們說我是誰？」西門彼得回答：「您是基督，是永生上帝的兒子。」這是一個偉大的信心告白，所以耶穌回答說：「西門，你是有福的」，耶穌並且評斷這不是人所指示他的，乃是天父指示的。也就是在此時，耶穌說祂要將祂的教會建造在這磐石上──建造在這偉大的信仰宣告上。只要教會相信耶穌是永生上帝的兒子，教會就能得堅立，陰間的權柄也不能勝過他。

         在此段文意裡，那些教會成員的一分子，特別是居領導地位的成員將在地上和天上有權柄，他們捆綁誰，誰就被捆綁；釋放誰，誰就得釋放，不論是不是教會的信徒。但接著耶穌做了件很奇怪的事。祂警告祂的門徒不要告訴任何人祂是基督。我們所能想到的唯一解釋是，還不到一般大眾知道此事的時候。然後耶穌就告訴祂的門徒，在祂的身分被事實證明出來之前，祂將要面對的事。當耶穌說到即將臨到祂的試鍊、苦難，祂的死和復活時，彼得說：「主啊，萬不可如此，這事必不臨到您身上。」耶穌才讚美過彼得，此刻卻轉過身來責備他：「撒但，退我後邊去吧，你是絆我腳的石頭。」

         耶穌為什麼有這麼強烈的反應？或許因為彼得的話幾乎像是對耶穌的第四次試探。彼得在這裡就像是撒但要引誘耶穌逃避十字架之苦，用其他的方法來建立基督的王國。這又再次顯出人複雜的面目。我們是不折不扣屬土的人，但同時在我們裡面又有上帝的形像，使我們有潛力能如上帝一樣。我們可以發表偉大的信心告白，但另一方面又做撒但的媒介。

         耶穌，我們也可以像彼得那樣熱切的喊說：「您是基督，是永生上帝的兒子！」願我們有相同的熱心告訴別人這個消息。奉主耶穌基督聖名，阿們！

English

         In chapter 16, Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” And the answers were predictable. “Some say John the Baptist, others said, Elijah, some said Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you, who do you say that I am?” And it’s good old Simon Peter who answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This is a great confession of faith, and Jesus replies, “Blessed are you Simon,” and He comments that this was not revealed by man, but by God the Father in heaven. It’s at this point Jesus says He’ll build His church on the rock, on this confession of faith; and as long as the church believes that Jesus is the Son of the living God, then that church will be well-founded and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

         In that context, those who are a part of the church, especially of its leadership, will have authority on earth and in heaven, in terms of fellowshipping with, or disfellowshipping, individuals who may or may not be a part of the kingdom of heaven in that church on earth. But then Jesus does something very strange. He warns His disciples not to tell anyone that He is the Christ. The only thing that comes to mind here is that it wasn’t time yet for the general populace to hear about this. He then talks to the disciples about what He’s going to face before it’s finally revealed who He is. And as Jesus talks about His trials, His sufferings, His death and resurrection, Peter says, “Never Lord, this shall never happen to You.” Jesus turns on Peter, just after commending him, and rebukes him, “Out of My sight, Satan, you’re a stumbling block to Me.”

         Why this strong reaction? Maybe it’s because this was almost like a fourth temptation to Jesus. And so Peter is almost like Satan here in terms of his tempting Jesus to avoid the issue and find some other way to establish His Christness in the public domain. It’s just another indication again of the remarkable hybrid that is man. We’re very much part of the earth, and at the same time the image of God which is in us has such heavenly potential On the one hand, we can make great confessions of faith, and on the other hand, act as agents of the devil.

         Lord Jesus, we too can exclaim with the same zeal as Peter, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” May we have similar zeal in telling others.