What are we to make of Matthew on the question of who Jesus was:
Matthew 16:14-18 14 "They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven."
One of them might have asked: "And who do YOU say you are, master?" Sadly, no one did.
Many take this passage as an indication of Christ's divinity. If Christ was NOT God, then his commendation of Peter and his suggestion that Peter got the information directly from heaven, are misleading. Jesus may have been flattered, and who can resist flattery?
If we take Son of the living God to be just one of God's many creatures, a poetic son, then Christ's grand reception of Peter's words is unmerited. We are led to believe that Jesus is in fact divine, not just mere flesh and blood.
What do you suppose was Christ's purpose in posing his question?
Does Peter's answer, that delighted Jesus, show Jesus was God?
If we think Jesus was a mere man, how do we explain the reception of Peter's reply?
Did Jesus intend Peter to conclude he was God?
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Re: Did Jesus intend Peter to conclude he was God?
Post #11"Kingdom of messiah" has no relation to what happened. Jesus wandered round on foot in a tiny part of the known world while the vast Roman Empire functioned in a more grown-up way, with its system of roads and comemndable communication network. Jesus was "king" only sarcastically.shnarkle wrote: [Replying to post 1 by marco]
During the kingdom of messiah, "they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." so the gospel writers are personifying that kingdom in Jesus, and spotlighting this by pointing out that it is only through revelation from God that anyone may learn or discover the kingdom. The revelation is divine. The kingdom is divine, and those who are drawn into it become divine sons of God.
If the creator of the universe really did decide to concentrate his efforts round a bit of the Jordan he was using inefficiency to sell his product. But of course we might conclude that, miraculously from this little mustard seed, grew the Vatican with its million trumpets and cathedrals across the world.
Reading reason into Christ's wanderings is rather like looking into a kaledioscope and commenting on the meaning of the shapes we see.
