“Blessed are you, Simon . . . for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”

— Matthew 16:17

Peter was a person who would often just blurt out what he was thinking. Sometimes he was right, and other times he was embarrassingly wrong. But in this passage he spoke the absolute truth about Jesus.

In the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Hearing that people were saying he was like one of the great prophets, Jesus asked, “But what about you? . . . Who do you say I am?” And Peter blurted out a confession for the ages: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

How did Peter know this, and what did it mean? Considering some of the things Peter blurted out in other settings, we can be confident that this was not from his own wisdom. Instead, it was revealed to him by God. As Jesus himself said, “Blessed are you, Simon . . . This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” Only God, through the Holy Spirit, could reveal Jesus’ divine identity.

Though Peter spoke the truth, he didn’t fully understand it. The full meaning was revealed later, after Jesus gave up his life to save us from sin, and when he rose from death to give us eternal life. Only the Son of the living God could do all that, as God himself had planned (Acts 2:22-36).

And what about us? Only as we grow in faith and walk with Jesus do we begin to see God’s love and what it means for us.

Jesus, thank you for revealing yourself to Peter and to us. Help us to keep growing in our faith and trust in you. Amen.