Good morning! 

In Matthew 16:16 Peter is confessing by heavenly revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

If you go to verses 17-20, Jesus declares Peter and the Apostles the foundation on which His church will be built. He grants them the keys to the kingdom and gives them the authority to bind and loose things on the earth and in heaven.

He then charges them to keep this incredible revelation to themselves as it was not time to proclaim this knowledge.

21. Their heads were still reeling from learning who Christ was when He told them He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, die and be raised again on the third day.

22. Peter does what most of us still do. He reasons it wouldn’t be fair, sensible or necessary for pain, suffering and death to be part of God’s plan, so he takes it upon himself to rebuke Jesus. The same Jesus Peter said was not only his master, but “The Son of the Living God” in verse 16.

23. Jesus recognizes the influence of Satan in Peter’s statement and rebukes Peter for his carnal perspective.

In 24-25, Jesus tells His disciples (What many Christians are ill prepared for) that if any man/woman wants to be His follower, they should expect to suffer for His sake.

Jesus was the pattern for leading a life of self denial and self-emptying. (Phil 2:7-8 – He became obedient even unto death on the cross)

Jesus had the power to keep His life but willingly surrendered it as a sacrifice. We also have the power to either keep or surrender our lives.

Matthew 16:25 –For whosoever will save his life must lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

May our day be blessed in the truth that He gave His life for us, so we could give our life to Him. The ultimate and eternal life swap!