And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

– Matthew 16:19

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

Every time I saw this verse, I would think: The twelve disciples were all the followers of the Lord Jesus, but only Peter said the Lord Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter’s answer was the most accurate, and also satisfactory to the Lord Jesus. Because only Peter had some knowledge of God, the Lord gave him the keys of the kingdom of heaven. So, since they were all the Lord Jesus’ disciples, why was it that only Peter recognized Jesus as Christ at that time?

God’s words give me the answer, “Over the time he followed Jesus, Peter observed and took to heart everything about His life: His actions, words, movements, and expressions. He gained a deep understanding that Jesus was not like ordinary men. Although His human appearance was exceedingly ordinary, He was full of love, compassion, and tolerance for man. Everything He did or said was of great aid to others, and by His side Peter saw and learned things he had never seen or had before. He saw that although Jesus had neither a grand stature nor unusual humanity, He had a truly extraordinary and uncommon air about Him. Although Peter couldn’t fully explain it, he could see that Jesus acted different from everyone else, for He did things far different from that done by ordinary man.”

From God’s words we realize: It was no accident that Peter recognized the Lord Jesus as Christ; actually, it was closely related to his careful observation of the Lord Jesus’ actions and His being and possessions in ordinary life. During the period of the Lord Jesus’ work, Peter lived with the Lord Jesus and ate with Him. He focused on observing every action and word of the Lord Jesus in real life, and from that he appreciated with his heart the disposition and emotions of God that the Lord Jesus revealed. Particularly, Peter paid special attention to the Lord Jesus’ words, in which he often searched for the truth and sought His will. He found that every word the Lord Jesus spoke was the truth, and could bring people the supply of truth and life, and that no one could speak such words. He also gradually knew God’s disposition and what God has and is from the Lord Jesus’ utterances and work. And he saw that even though the Lord Jesus looked like a normal human being, and wasn’t physically imposing or born in the palace or in the noble’s family as people imagined, yet what He expressed was the truth that wasn’t possessed by corrupt people, and He was equipped with all that God has and is. His tolerance and mercy for mankind were without limits, yet He was humbly hidden and dined with the sinners. He was not arrogant, not selfish, and He had no trace of any corrupt disposition of human beings. It was through each and every detail of his contact with the Lord Jesus that Peter recognized the Lord Jesus as Christ, the Son of the living God. Eventually, because of his knowledge of God, Peter was approved by the Lord, and the Lord gave him the keys of the kingdom of heaven and entrusted him with the mission to shepherd the flock.

It has also brought me some inspiration: If we want to achieve true knowledge of God, we must focus on God’s word. For it is through His word that God enables us to know His being and possessions, His disposition, His will, His requirements of man, and so on. May we can all seek the truth and grasp God’s intentions more in God’s word like Peter, experience God’s work to gain knowledge of God’s disposition, and pursue to be a person who knows God.