Jesus began asking His disciples who do people say that He is. The disciples gave all sorts of prophets as answers. He then asked them who they thought He is. Peter said that He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. However, surprisingly, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone that He is the Messiah. Later, Jesus tells them about His plan to go to Jerusalem and that He would be killed and raised from the dead. Peter rebukes Jesus and tells Him that it should not happen.

The disciples expected the Messiah to conquer the Romans and restore the Kingdom. Instead Jesus came to conquer sin and destroy the power of death. Jesus had a larger plan than the disciples even had conceived. What situations do we expect Jesus to do one thing but the reality is the complete opposite?

The disciples beliefs about the Messiah was a stumbling block to their truly following Him. What lies do we believe regarding the Savior of the world? Do we hold on to traditions or teachings that people have told us to believe without really searching the Scriptures to find the validity of such teachings?

Peter literally told Jesus "God forbit it!" when he rebuked Jesus. Are we saying "God forbid it" without trusting the words of Jesus?

Instead Jesus rebukes Peter and explains how the new resurrection will occur in the kingdom. How do we see evidence of resurrection in our world today? Do we realize that anything good must come from the Spirit of God?

Jesus says that the gates of Hades will not prevail against the rock that He will build His church on. The gates of Hades are defeated when we can tell our worst enemies: "Jesus loves you and I forgive you."