Matthew 16:17

What then saith Christ? "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee." Yet surely unless he had rightly confessed Him, as begotten of the very Father Himself, this were no work of revelation; had he accounted our Lord to be one of the many, his saying was not worthy of a blessing. Since before this also they said, "Truly He is Son of God," those, I mean, who were in the vessel after the tempest, which they saw, and were not blessed, although of course they spake truly. For they confessed not such a Sonship as Peter, but accounted Him to be truly Son as one of the many, and though peculiarly so beyond the many, yet not of the same substance. And Nathanael too said, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel;" and so far from being blessed, he is even reproved by Him, as having said what was far short of the truth. He replied at least, "Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these." Why then is this man blessed? Because he acknowledged Him very Son. Wherefore you see, that while in those former instances He had said no such thing, in this case He also signifies who had revealed it. That is, lest his words might seem to the many (because he was an earnest lover of Christ) to be words of friendship and flattery, and of a disposition to show favor to Him, he brings forward the person who had made them ring in his soul; to inform thee that Peter indeed spake, but the Father suggested, and that thou mightest believe the saying to be no longer a human opinion, but a divine doctrine. And wherefore doth He not Himself declare it, nor say, "I am the Christ," but by His question establish this, bringing them in to confess it? […]

This return Christ makes to the Apostle for the testimony which Peter had spoken concerning Him, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. The Lord said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonas? Why? Because flesh and blood has not revealed this unto thee, but My Father. That which flesh and blood could not reveal, was revealed by the grace of the Holy Spirit. By his confession then he obtains a title, which should signify that he had received a revelation from the Holy Spirit, whose son he shall also be called; for Barjonas in our tongue signifies The son of a dove. Others take it in the simple sense, that Peter is the son of Johnq, according to that question in another place, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? (John 21:15.) affirming that it is an error of the copyists in writing here Barjonas for Barjoannas, dropping one syllable. Now Joanna is interpreted 'The grace of God.' But either name has its mystical interpretation; the dove signifies the Holy Spirit; and the grace of God signifies the spiritual gift. Compare what is here said, flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, with the Apostolic declaration, Immediately I was not content with flesh and blood, (Gal. 1:16.) meaning there by this expression the Jews; so that here also the same thing is shown in different words, that not by the teaching of the Pharisees, but by the grace of God, Christ was revealed to him the Son of God.

This is not the property of Peter alone, but it came about on behalf of every human being. Having said that his confession is a rock, he stated that upon this rock I will build my church. This means he will build his church upon …

And Jesus answering etc. Here, first, he approves his confession; second, he commands it to be kept silent, at then he charged his disciples to tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ. Concerning the first: first, he approves this confession by commending the …

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father Who is in heaven. He calls Peter blessed for having received knowledge by divine grace. And by commending Peter, …

And Jesus answered and said unto him,.... Not waiting for any other declaration from them; but taking this to be the sense of them all, he said, blessed art thou Simon Bar Jona, or son of Jona, or Jonas, as in Joh 1:42. His father's name was Jonah, whence he was so called: so we read (i) of R. Bo bar Jonah, and of a Rabbi of this very name (k), ר שמעון בר יונא, Rabbi Simeon bar Jona; for Simon and Simeon are one, and the same name.

Note, The revealing of Christ to us and in us is a distinguishing token of God's good will, and a firm foundation of true happiness; and blessed are they that are thus highly favoured. Perhaps Christ discerned something of pride and vain-glory in Peter's confession; a subtle sin, and which is apt to mingle itself even with our good duties.

Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona - Or Simon, son of Jonah; so Bar-jonah should be translated, and so it is rendered by our Lord, Joh 1:42. Flesh and blood - i.e. Man; - no human being hath revealed this; and though the text is literal enough, yet every body should know that this is a Hebrew periphrasis for man; and the literal translation of it here, and in Gal 1:16, has misled thousands, who suppose that flesh and blood signify carnal reason, as it is termed, or the unregenerate principle in man.

There are words in this passage which have led to painful differences and divisions among Christians. Men have striven and contended about their meaning till they have lost sight of all charity, and yet have failed to carry conviction to one another’s minds. Let it suffice us to glance briefly at the controverted words, and then pass on to more practical lessons. What then are we to understand, when we read that remarkable saying of our Lord’s, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church?”

THIS is one of the earliest places in the New Testament in which we find any mention of the Church. Jesus says, in verse eighteen, "I will build My Church." It is very significant that our Lord should connect with the Church the right idea of Himself. In our text we have the test question which must be put to everyone who is to be admitted into the assembly of the Lord—"Whom do you say that I am?" The first question to be put to one who would join the Church is, "What do you think of Jesus?"

Nor is Jesus above giving indication of the deep satisfaction which this speech yielded Him, and hastening to respond to it by a signal acknowledgment of Peter in return. Simon Bar-jona--or, "son of Jona" (Joh 1:42), or "Jonas" (Joh 21:15).

There are words in this passage which have led to painful differences and divisions among Christians. Men have striven and contended about their meaning till they have lost sight of all charity, and yet have failed to carry conviction to one another’s minds. Let it suffice us to glance briefly at the controverted words, and then pass on to more practical lessons. What then are we to understand, when we read that remarkable saying of our Lord’s, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church?” Does it mean that the apostle Peter himself was to be the foundation on which Christ’s church was to be built? Such an interpretation, to say the least, appears exceedingly improbable. To speak of an erring, fallible child of Adam as the foundation of the spiritual temple is very unlike the ordinary language of Scripture. Above all, no reason can be given why our Lord should not have said, “I will build my church upon thee, ” if such had been his meaning, instead of saying, “I will build my church upon this rock .” The true meaning of the “rock” in this passage appears to be the truth of our Lord’s messiahship and divinity, which Peter had just confessed. It is as though our Lord had said, “thou art rightly called by the name Peter, or stone, for thou hast confessed that mighty truth on which, as on a rock, I will build my church.” [There is nothing modern, or peculiarly Protestant, in the view here maintained. It was held by Chrysostom long ago. It was taught by Ferus, a famous Roman Catholic preacher of the Franciscan order, at Mainz in the sixteenth century, in his homilies on St. Matthew. It may be well to remark in this place, that it is a complete delusion to suppose that the Scriptures can be interpreted according to the “unanimous consent of the Fathers.” There is no such unanimous consent!

THIS is one of the earliest places in the New Testament in which we find any mention of the Church. Jesus says, in verse eighteen, "I will build My Church." It is very significant that our Lord should connect with the Church the right idea of Himself. In our text we have the test question which must be put to everyone who is to be admitted into the assembly of the Lord—"Whom do you say that I am?" The first question to be put to one who would join the Church is, "What do you think of Jesus?" You cannot be right in the rest unless you think rightly of Him. If you do not begin aright with Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, you will not go on aright, and your joining of any visible Church will be a mistake which will be injurious both to yourself and the Church. Beloved, let it be with you first, Christ, then the Church. There is a certain style of preaching in which the Church is the leading idea— meaning, to a great extent, by "the Church," the priest, as the dispenser of ordinances and the voice of God. But as for us, our chief word is not "Church," but "Christ," and not even the Church of Christ, but Christ as very God of very God—the Son of the Highest. First Christ, the Root, then the Church, the outgrowth. First Christ, the Builder, then the Church, which is His building. The most important question is not, "To which part of the Church do you belong?" but, "Do you belong to Christ, who is the Son of the living God?" This must be decided by that other question, "Whom do you say that I am?" If you know Christ, if you rest in Christ, if Christ is to you "the Way, the Truth and the Life"—above all, if Christ is "formed in you the hope of glory"—your connection with the true Church, the Church of God's election and redemption, is clear and certain.