Peter's Confession 

On August 9, 29 CE, Jesus and his apostles began traveling towards Caesarea-Philippi. On the way, they passed through a beautiful area in a valley from where they could see Mount Hermon. Jesus had spent a significant season on this mount during his "great temptation." They were on their way to Mount Hermon because Jesus wanted to share a remarkable experience with them that he knew would be strengthening for them in the difficult days to come.

As they passed south of the Waters of Merom, the apostles were discussing their recent experiences spreading the gospel, how their message was received, and what the people thought of the Master.

When they stopped along the way for lunch under the mulberry trees, Jesus suddenly surprised them by asking, "Who do men say that I am?" Several of the apostles answered this question by telling Jesus the various ways that people saw him: as a prophet, an extraordinary man, a man who was feared by his enemies, even that he was influenced by devils. They told Jesus that some people believed that he was John the Baptist risen from the dead; others that he was like Moses and other Hebrew prophets.

When they had finished this account of how people saw him, Jesus stood up and as he swept his hand before them as a group, he asked: "But who do you say that I am?" After a moment of surprised silence, Simon Peter sprang to his feet and declared: "You are the Deliverer, the Son of the living God." The eleven other apostles then also rose to their feet to indicate to Jesus that Simon Peter had spoken for them, too.

Jesus said: "This has been revealed to you by my Father. The hour has come when you should know the truth about me. But for the time being I charge you that you tell this to no man."

As they resumed their travel, the apostles sensed that something very important had happened. They arrived that night in Caesarea-Philippi, lodging with Celsus.

When Jesus met with his apostles for lunch the next day in the Celsus’ garden, these twelve had already spent considerable time grappling with the conflicting thoughts and feelings that they harbored regarding Jesus. Was he really the Messiah? The experience that they had at Cana when Jesus turned the water to wine was a powerful reason for most of them to accept him as such. But Jesus regularly deflated these hopes. And now, they had reached a turning point. Simon Peter and Simon Zelotes had spent much of the time since Peter’s confession doing their best to upstep the rest of the apostles’ concept of the Master from the promised Messiah to the actual divine Son of the living God.

When Jesus joined them in the garden, they were having lunch together and were discussing the upcoming tour of the Decapolis when Jesus suddenly asked: "Now that a full day has passed since you assented to Simon Peter’s declaration regarding the identity of the Son of Man, I would ask if you still hold to your decision?" All twelve of the apostles rose again to their feet and Peter, moving closer to Jesus, replied: "Yes, Master, we do. We believe that you are the Son of the living God."

Jesus told the apostles: "You are my chosen ambassadors, but I know that, in the circumstances, you could not entertain this belief as a result of mere human knowledge. This is a revelation of the spirit of my Father to your inmost souls. And when, therefore, you make this confession by the insight of the spirit of my Father which dwells within you, I am led to declare that upon this foundation will I build the brotherhood of the kingdom of heaven. Upon this rock of spiritual reality will I build the living temple of spiritual fellowship in the eternal realities of my Father’s kingdom. All the forces of evil and the hosts of sin shall not prevail against this human fraternity of the divine spirit. And while my Father’s spirit shall ever be the divine guide and mentor of all who enter the bonds of this spirit fellowship, to you and your successors I now deliver the keys of the outward kingdom – the authority over things temporal – the social and economic features of this association of men and women as fellows of the kingdom."

Peter's confession introduced a crucial new aspect to the apostles’ understanding of who Jesus really was: a clear affirmation of Jesus as the Son of God, marking a wholehearted acknowledgment of his divine nature. Jesus proclaimed that it was upon this profound truth of the fusion of human and divine natures that he would establish the kingdom of heaven.

For three years, Jesus had consistently identified himself as the "Son of Man," while the apostles had persistently maintained that he was the anticipated Jewish Messiah. He then revealed that he was the Son of God and, based on the apostles' understanding of the dual nature of the Son of Man and the Son of God, resolved to establish the kingdom of heaven. He chose to stop trying to persuade them that he was not the Messiah. Instead, he boldly intended to disclose his true nature to them and disregard their insistence on continuing to perceive him as the Messiah.

None of the apostles really understood this new concept of Jesus’ divinity – his declaration that he was indeed, the Son of the living God. But with Peter’s confession of his divinity, agreed to by all of the apostles, a new element rose in Jesus’ message. From then on, his main purpose became the revelation of the heavenly Father through his personification of the Father’s nature in his own life.

Jesus now embarked on the fourth and final phase of his human life in his physical form. The initial phase encompassed his childhood when he had only a vague awareness of his origins, nature, and purpose as a human being. The second phase involved his increasingly self-aware adolescent and adult years, during which he gained a clearer understanding of his divine essence and human mission. This phase peaked with the events surrounding his baptism.

The third phase of Jesus's earthly journey began at his baptism and continued through the years of his ministry as a teacher and healer, up to the significant moment of Peter's confession. Throughout this phase, his apostles and immediate followers recognized him as the Son of Man and believed him to be the Messiah.

The fourth and final phase of his earthly mission began at Caesarea-Philippi and extended to the time of his crucifixion. This period was characterized by his acknowledgment of divinity and encompassed the efforts of his last year in the physical realm. During this phase, while the majority of his followers still considered him the Messiah, he became known to the apostles as the Son of God. Peter's confession signaled the commencement of a new phase, marking a more comprehensive realization of the truth about his supreme ministry as a Creator Son on earth and for the entire universe, but this fact was only dimly perceived by his chosen representatives.

On Friday, August 12, 29 CE, Jesus and his apostles left the vicinity of Caesarea-Philippi and began their travel to Mount Hermon, where three of the apostles would accompany Jesus to the mount, privileged to witness the Transfiguration.