In any case, the people tend to identify Christ with one of the prophets in the past. Some say that he is John the Baptist, perhaps because he also comes preaching faith and repentance. Some say that he is Elijah, perhaps because of the amount and magnitude of the miracles that are associated with his ministry, and that he has come to turn the hearts of the people back to God. And some say that he is Jeremiah, perhaps because he stands alone against the religious institutions and traditions of the day, declaring the futility of an external piety that does not arise from an internal reality. As in Jeremiah's day, the people derive their security from temple rituals and human traditions, and with these have rejected God's demands for faith, mercy, and justice.

As positive as these opinions may be, they fall far short of the truth about the person of Jesus Christ. An ordinary preacher could hardly receive greater flattery than to be called an Elijah or a Jeremiah, but to the Lord these would be more like insults than compliments. The truth is, as Peter will declare in a moment, that this is "the Christ, the Son of the living God." He is greater than all the prophets, and the fulfillment of all their prophecies. He stands in a class by himself, and failing to see this, the people lack an existing category with which they could classify him. So it is supposed that they see in Christ something of the spirits of the prophets, but what they fail to grasp and express is that they see in each of the prophets something of the spirit of Christ, who spoke through them concerning himself. Therefore, anyone who says that Christ is nothing more than a prophet, even if the greatest of all prophets, dishonors and slanders the Son of God. There is no salvation and no promise in such a confession. By this standard we judge the peoples and religions of the world.

Jesus does not assume that his disciples share the positive but inadequate opinions of the people, so that he asks, "But what about you? Who do you say I am?" Peter answers, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." To this Jesus responds, "Blessed are you, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven." Cutting through the traditions propagated by society, the confusions amidst the people, the oppositions from religious leaders, and the questions within the disciples themselves, God the Father sovereignly revealed his Son to the apostles, and here specifically to Peter.

He says that Peter's confession arises from a revelation that comes from God and not from man, one that comes from the spirit and not the flesh. This could mean that Jesus thus far has never claimed to be the Christ, or has never given any indication that he is the Christ, and now the Father has revealed the needed information to Peter apart from any natural means, as well as caused him to assent to this revealed information. Taken by itself, the Lord's statement does not exclude this interpretation. It is certainly possible for God to reveal Christ to an individual apart from a man's preaching. This is not to say that Christ is revealed apart from the "word," only that God would be revealing (or even preaching) his word directly to the man's spirit. Scripture never indicates that this is impossible, even if it would be unusual.

Nevertheless, we see that this is an unlikely interpretation of the verse when we consider what has transpired in the Gospel of Matthew. By Matthew 2, John the Baptist has already pointed out Jesus as the Christ, the one who would baptize his people with the Holy Spirit, and the one whose perfect righteousness is such that he requires no repentance or baptism in water. And a voice from heaven announced, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (v. 17). In Matthew 7, it is supposed by some that they could call him "Lord, Lord," and enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus implies that some would, but only those who also do the will of the Father (v. 21). Thus he acknowledges that he is the confessional key to salvation, only that he requires a true confession that results in obedience (Luke 6:46). It is also possible to prophesy, cast out demons, and work miracles in his name (Matthew 7:22-23), implying that he is no mere prophet. Verse 29 indicates that he is different from the teachers of the law, but he is "as one who had authority."

In Matthew 8, Jesus calms the storm with a word, so that the disciples exclaim, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" (v. 27). When the demons see him, they cry out, "What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?" (v. 29). He states in Matthew 10, "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven" (v. 32-33). And even more significantly for our context, he says in Matthew 11, "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (v. 27). Then, in Matthew 12, he calls himself "the Lord of the Sabbath," who is "greater than the temple" (v. 6, 8).

It is unnecessary to multiply examples. It is not that Christ has never taught about himself, or that he has never given any indication as to his nature and identity. The people fail to recognize him for who he is not because there has been no explanation, and not because there has been no demonstration. On the contrary, there have been multiple explicit explanations and numerous spectacular demonstrations. In Matthew 13, Jesus tells us why people do not recognize him, saying, "In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving" (v. 14). Or, as Paul puts it, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14).

So it is not that Christ has not explained his nature and demonstrated his power, but that spiritual perception has not been granted to the people. He says in John 6, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me" (v. 44-45). Therefore, whether with or without explanations, and whether with or without demonstrations, a person comes to Christ when the Father performs a direct work in his heart, causing him to perceive and believe the truth about Christ, that he is the Son of God, and the one who redeems his people through an atoning sacrifice.

This is the basic reason as to why one person believes in Christ and another does not. I can walk up to a person and say, "Repent, and believe the gospel!" And if God enables him to perceive the truth and generates faith in him, then this person will be converted and confess Christ as Lord. It may even be the case that this person has heard the gospel numerous times before, but not until now does God reveal Christ directly to his heart. If so, the person might exclaim, "Why, of course this is so! Of course this Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, who took upon himself human flesh to die for the sins of his people. I thought I was wise – rational, scientific, and all that – but I have been the world's greatest fool until this day. I now see that only an imbecile would deny the truth of the Christian religion." So a person can come to faith through a simple message that contains little explanation or argument.

On the other hand, I can sit for many hours with another person, and set forth the whole of the Christian faith to him in a systematic fashion, providing rational justification for every claim and every premise, now defending this assertion, now refuting that objection, until I have seized total victory over his obstinacy, and until his mind and body come to a point of exhaustion. And still, he could fail to perceive the truth about Christ, and thus fail to believe and confess him. The defect is not in God, in me, in the message, or in the presentation, but in the unbeliever. I can put Christ before his face, and he would fail to perceive him. I can put the gospel in his ears, and he would fail to grasp it. Oh, stupid non-Christian! Who will deliver you from your mental retardation? The unbeliever is a broken, defective, stupid person.

That said, we must not conclude that all our preaching and argumentation are worthless. Human responsibility is determined by divine command, and not by the anticipated effect of our action. Paul writes, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow" (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). He does not conclude from this that he should stop planting and that Apollos should stop watering. No, we are directed by the command and not by the effect. And God commands us to preach the word, to defend sound doctrine, and to refute those who oppose. Whatever their effect may be in a particular instance, sound preaching and argumentation honor God, and he often uses them to effect his purpose, or as means by which he changes the heart of man.

So preaching and argumentation are most necessary, but it is God who determines the effect. Although Peter has been presented with explanations and demonstrations concerning the truth about Christ, he has not always perceived and confessed this truth. It is not until the Father directly reveals Christ to him that the truth finally dawns in his heart like the sunrise dispels the darkness of the night. "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Peter does not make his confession apart from explanation and evidence. In fact, there has been plenty of explanation and evidence, and they logically necessitate the confession. However, although the confession is rational, man is not always rational. Before God's revelation causes the realization to dawn in his heart, Peter has been unable to perceive the truth even when the explanation and evidence about Christ are presented to him over and over again.

Therefore, although truth and reason are on our side, because God hardens the foolish and irrational reprobate, no argument can convince him. And because God preserves the elect, whose mind has been enlightened to perceive and believe the truth, no objection can dissuade him. It is not that man's efforts are meaningless, but that man's efforts in themselves do not produce the effect, whether faith or unbelief. Rather, God often uses man's efforts to bring about his purpose, whether to convert or to harden, although he is able to produce the same effect apart from such efforts. This is crucial for our understanding and application of verse 18. We shall see that this truth should not lead to a feeling of futility and despondency, but a sense of confidence and invincibility.

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