Thursday Thoughts

Matt 16:17-20

17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,[c] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[d] will not overcome it.[e] 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[f] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[g] loosed in heaven." 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

The disciples had the revelation from God that Jesus was the messiah, so why in verse 20 is Jesus so adamant not to reveal who He is to anyone else?

If I look in the previous verse, Jesus says "I will" in a tense meaning it has not yet happened. The disciples had not yet received the power and authority.

Jesus spoke to them at the end of the gospels to wait to receive power from on high to be His witnesses because at this time they did not have the power to accompany the revelation. They were witnesses to Christ death and resurrection, not just to the fact that he was.

But now today! We have overcome by the blood o the lamb and the word of our testimony. The work of Christ in our lives accompanied with the power of the Holy Spirit, we now are a witness to the love and grace of God.