Get A Revelation

Get A Revelation


When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?  And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (St Matthew 16:13-18)

Peter was one of the most important of Jesus' twelve apostles.  The name Peter comes from the Aramaic term for "rock" and Simon comes from the Greek word for "hearing."  Peter would often speak as the leader of the other twelve apostles.  He was introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew (a disciple of John the Baptist, who became a disciple of Jesus).  Most of Jesus' twelve apostles were virtually silent in the gospels, but Peter, is often speaking.  He is the first to confess that Jesus is the Messiah (St. Matthew 16:16) as well as the only one described as actively denying Jesus (St. Mathew 26:69-75)  He also got out of the boat to walk on water to meet Jesus who was walking on the sea. (Matthew 14:26-31)  Peter tried two times to stop the crucifixion of Jesus.  First in St Matthew 16:22-23 "Heaven forbid Lord' he said, 'This will never happen to you.'" The second time was in St. John 18:10 at Jesus' arrest, Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest's servant.  In Acts after Jesus' resurrection, Peter is seen traveling extensively preaching the message of Jesus and converting people to Christianity.  The gospels describe Jesus as calling Peter his "rock" upon which the future church would be built. He was the first to begin preaching to the gentiles.  Peter wrote the book of 1st Peter with the help of Silas a well educated, chosen church leader in Jerusalem. (1st Peter 5:12).  It is believed that 2nd Peter was written long after Peter by someone wanting to honor his memory.

Although Peter failed many times, he was eventually portrayed as a model disciple for others to follows.  What brought Peter to this place is the fact that he got a revelation of who Jesus really was.  The scripture says: Jesus answered, "God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.  (St Matthew 16:17-18 message bible)

If we could (like Peter did), just get a revelation of who Jesus is in our lives, and how he sees us, we too can become unrestrained with a power from on high that even hell itself can't come up against!