Matthew 16:15-16 “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God.”
Jesus asked His followers a very important question here: “Who do you say I am?” Jesus wanted them to understand that a proper understanding of who He is would lead to a right relationship with God. First, He asked the disciples to tell Him who other people thought He was, then Jesus asked them directly who they thought He was. Peter answered by saying what millions have come to acknowledge throughout the years: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” There could not be a more accurate description of who Jesus is. I think Peter was really just beginning to find out what his statement of belief would not only mean to his life, but to the life of the church that Jesus would establish on the basis of Peter’s testimony (Matt. 16:18).
The faith of any believer today can be determined by their answer to this question. True believers are those that confess that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, and anyone that says otherwise does not understand the character and the nature of Jesus. Some say that Jesus was a great moral teacher or a prophet, but Jesus never claimed to be anything other than the Son of God.
Jesus acknowledged that Peter alone had a correct understanding of who Jesus was!!
It is essential for believers today, that they understand the power and the truth of Peter’s proclamation of Jesus as the Son of God. To say that Jesus was and is, the Son of God is to say that He is the truth and the one (and only) way to enter into a right relationship with God. Through Jesus, believers are able to experience everything that comes with knowing God and having a relatrionship with His Son – things like grace, peace, and mercy in this life, and eternity with Him in the life to come!!