Peter Declares His Belief about Jesus^(A)

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They answered, “Some say you are John the Baptizer, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ He asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Simon, son of Jonah, you are blessed! No human revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven revealed it to you. ¹⁸ You are Peter, and I can guarantee that on this rock ^[a] I will build my church. And the gates of hell will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you imprison, God will imprison. And whatever you set free, God will set free.”

²⁰ Then he strictly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Peter Declares His Belief about Jesus^(A)

¹⁸ Once when Jesus was praying privately and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

¹⁹ They answered, “Some say you are John the Baptizer, others Elijah, and still others say that one of the prophets from long ago has come back to life.”

²⁰ He asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, whom God has sent.”

²¹ He ordered them not to tell this to anyone.