Matthew 16:16-17 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 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.
Nowadays, to be my flesh and blood is to be of my biological family. My children are my flesh and blood. My parents and grandparents are my flesh and blood.
There is another way we use flesh and blood, and that is in the general sense of humanity. There is no physical lineage between my wife and I, so when I speak of her being of flesh and blood, I may mean it generally as her being a part of my family, but more often it may be understood that she is of the same species, of Adam. This understanding brings with it the idea of physical limitations, or one who is prone to errors.
A typical usage may be as
“But I am only flesh and blood”, communicating that no one should expect perfection from me. (An accurate estimation if I may say so!)
When the Lord speaks of flesh and blood, the idea of frailty, or fallibility may be included, but in this case, Jesus seems to indicate that “the Lord was “flesh and blood” was describing a source for the revelation he had received, not simply a description of Peter’s blood lineage, or the general moral strength of humanity.
When Peter blurted out this amazing truth, Jesus wanted to clarify that Peter had no credit in developing this truth, understanding this truth, or enunciating this truth.
This truth was sourced from the Father above. The implication is that flesh and blood could not produce this truth, that flesh and blood is limited in spiritual understanding, and that flesh and blood does not have the capacity to provide enlightenment regarding who the Messiah is.
Jesus wasn’t speaking of Peter’s bloodline, but may have breached the idea of flesh and blood being fallible. I think the core message was that flesh and blood was not the source of revelation. The Father revealed Jesus to Peter, not as a man that was a good teacher, but the very Messiah promised of old.
Peter may have thought he had figgered it out. Jesus wanted to make sure he understood that he was not responsible for developing or finding this truth on his own abilities.
The truth came from the Father.
It is as such today, for if we understand the Person of the Lord Jesus, it is because the Father is revealing Him to us through the Spirit of God, and not by some intellectual effort or ability. As flesh and blood, we just can’t compete, and we would do well to accept that fact. The better approach is, to ask the Father to reveal the Son in the Word for our good.
I understand He loves to reveal the Son!
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