Jesus begins to prepare His disciples for the role they are to play after He has fulfilled His mission.  It is at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus asks the question of a lifetime. “Who do you say that I am?”

Our entire destiny and especially our eternal destiny depends on how we answer that question.

Matthew 16:16-17
Simon Peter replied, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."  And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

To better understand this passage we must look at some of the Greek words and their meanings. The word "this" is extremely significant.  We must examine what the "this" is.  "This" refers to Peter's statement of "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."  

Matthew 16:18
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Peter (petros- a piece of a rock - a piece of the mountain) rock (Petra – a mass of rock - a mountain) Jesus says He will build His church on this rock,  Again "this" refers to Peter's declaration of "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."  Jesus is speaking of Himself (Jesus) as the foundation, the mass of rock - the mountain. Jesus is saying that Peter is a part – a piece of the rock (Jesus).  Paul explains a little further in the following verse. 

1 Corinthians 10:4
and all (those who were with Moses in the wilderness) drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 

At the time of these statements, Jesus and His followers were at the center of pantheistic faith (earth worship).  At this place there was a cave that was referred to as the Gates of Hades, symbolically the entrance to hell.  When Jesus spoke of the "gates of Hades" He was referencing gates as being somewhat of the courthouse of the day. Jesus is saying that Satan's rulership of eternal death will not prevail against believers. 

Jesus gives the "keys of the kingdom", He gives the power and authority so that all things that we bind or loose on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven. If we have the power and authority of the kingdom, we will be only operating in righteousness.  Only righteous things we do will be released in heaven.  See 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.

Peter rebukes Jesus telling Him that His crucifixion will never take place. John Wesley says that this was the deadliest advice that could ever be given. If Jesus had not gone to the cross, where would we be? Notice Peter goes from being the ROCK to being a stumbling rock.

Jesus says that some of them will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power. He is telling them that some of them will see Him transfigured. John got a “double dose”, once on the mountain (Mount of Transfiguration) and once on the Isle of Patmos, where he was given visions that are written in the book of Revelation.

While on the mountain  (Mount of Transfiguration), a bright cloud enveloped Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. This word "enveloped" is the same Greek word used concerning Mary at the conception of Jesus, except it is translated overshadow in that gospel account. "Overshadow" means "to envelop in a haze of brilliancy". 

Jesus said, "Elijah comes and will restore all things." The word "restore" in this passage was a bit confusing to us until we looked at the Greek word. It means that John completed the prophecies concerning the Messiah and ushered in a new order of things.

Immediately following the transfiguration. Scripture says the people were overwhelmed with wonder when they saw Jesus. Why? Could it be that He still glowed somewhat from the transfiguration? Remember Moses’ face when he came down from the mountain?  It glowed.

In the epileptic boy episode, we can see a micro model of Satan and his interaction and demise in the world.  The man who brought his son to have demons cast out, told Jesus that the disciples had tried and could not drive the demon out. Was it the man’s lack of faith that may have contributed to the failure? He asked Jesus, “… if you can do anything…”

Jesus responds with, “If you can?”

When Jesus rebukes the evil spirit He commands it to come out and never enter again. The spirit shrieks and convulses the body before it comes out. If we compare this to Satan’s reign on earth, he knows he has been defeated, but he is convulsing us now. He will shriek at the end!

Jesus tells the disciples that they were not able to drive out the spirit because they have so little faith. And these were His disciples! They had seen Him perform many signs and wonders. Was it their lack of faith in Jesus or their lack of faith in God’s ability to work through them? They had been given the power but maybe they had figuratively "turned the spigot off". Or were they trying to do it in their own strength. "This kind can come out only by prayer." Some manuscripts add the words "and fasting." The Greek word for prayer is "proseuche" and carries the idea of abiding in an intimate relationship with God as we present our prayers and are willing to sacrifice something back to God in thanksgiving for answers to those prayers. This adds a bit of a different perspective to praying doesn't it?

Jesus tells the disciples they should become like little children, with a childlike innocence, to believe without question.

“See that you do not look down on one of these little ones…”
How little is little? Is it as little as two cells at conception? The words "look down on" mean "to entice to sin, to cause to distrust, to fall away, to place a stumbling block in front of". With that definition in mind, the meaning of the verse reads quite a bit deeper.

“thrown into hell, where their worm does not die…”
Hell in this instance is the Valley of Hinnom, ghenna, a valley outside Jerusalem where garbage is burned. The fire never goes out. It smolders and burns all the time because trash and garbage is constantly added to the fire giving it the fuel to burn. Worm here means grub, maggot, earthworm, all those things that go along with dead, rotten things. 

“Everyone will be salted with fire.”
Everyone will be salted. Will we be salted in hell’s fire and make it burn better or will we be salted with His Divine grace?  Fire is brought into our lives to make us better. It stings and smarts but it often takes us in a new and better direction.

Jesus explains about the testimony of two or three witnesses. This is important when studying the Bible as well. Check scripture to find a confirming verse.

Jesus explains to Peter about forgiveness. This was a whole new concept for Peter.  Forgiveness at that time under the Old Testament was to make atonement for sin by giving a sacrifice at the temple.

As we pondered these verses today, we began thinking about the words rebuke and repent.  
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him."

The definition of rebuke is "to admonish" or call attention to the sin.  Another of the definitions is to "show honor".  The word repent means "to heed, to change" and "heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins".  So, in this passage, it is a given that once the person's sins are pointed out (respectfully or with honor), the person repents of that sin and doesn't commit that sin again.

Sometimes we may not be aware of our own sins and must depend on someone else to point them out.  As for the "seven times in a day" sins, these are other sins that person has committed that also should be pointed out so that the person may repent of those sins as well.  It isn't the same sin over and over.  If that were the case, then the person didn't really repent in the first place.

Do we as believers have a handle on the importance of forgiveness? It isn't always easy is it?