Answer
In Matthew 16, Jesus tells Peter that “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you” (verse 17, ESV). The statement comes in the context of an important conversation that begins with Jesus asking an important question. Here is the lead-up to the statement:
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 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” (Matthew 16:13–17, ESV).
Peter gives the correct answer to Jesus’ question “Who do you say that I am?” in contrast to what some other people were saying. Jesus is the Christ (or the Messiah), the Son of the living God. Jesus commends Peter: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”In the Old Testament, flesh and blood frequently refers to biological offspring or relatives (compare Genesis15:4; 29:14; 37:27; Judges 9:2; 2 Samuel 5:1.) Eventually, flesh and blood came to be another term for “humanity” or “human being,” as all human beings have flesh and blood and are the biological offspring and relatives of other human beings. We see this usage in Hebrews 2:14. Speaking of Jesus, the writer says, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity.”
Flesh and blood, or humanity, is often contrasted with spiritual entities who do not have a body made of flesh and blood. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). Here, the rulers and authorities are not human, but spiritual. Flesh and blood beings are distinct from spiritual beings.
In Matthew 16:17 Jesus contrasts “flesh and blood” with “my Father in heaven.” In essence, when Jesus says, “Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you,” In essence, when Jesus says, “Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you,” He points out that Peter’s understanding of the truth did not come from human nature. Peter did not figure it out on his own, nor did any other human being explain it to him. The only way that Peter knew the truth about Jesus is that God Himself revealed it to Peter.
The need for divine revelation is clearly demonstrated in a debate between Christian apologist John Lennox and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. In his conclusion, Lennox summed up: “I would remind you that the world Richard Dawkins wishes to bring us to is no paradise except for the few. It denies the existence of good and evil. It even denies justice. But ladies and gentlemen, our hearts cry out for justice. And centuries ago, the apostle Paul spoke to the philosophers of Athens and pointed out that there would be a day on which God would judge the world by the man that he had appointed, Jesus Christ, and that he’d given assurance to all people by raising him from the dead. And the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a miracle, something supernatural, for me constitutes the central evidence upon which I base my faith, not only that atheism is a delusion, but that justice is real and our sense of morality does not mock us. Because if there is no resurrection, if there is nothing after death, in the end the terrorists and the fanatics have got away with it.”
Dawkins replied: “Yes, well that concluding bit rather gives the game away, doesn’t it? All that stuff about science and physics, and the complications of physics and things, what it really comes down to is the resurrection of Jesus. There is a fundamental incompatibility between the sophisticated scientist which we hear part of the time from John Lennox. . . . That’s all very grand and wonderful, and then suddenly we come down to the resurrection of Jesus. It’s so petty, it’s so trivial, it’s so local, it’s so earth-bound, it’s so unworthy of the universe” (The God Delusion Debate, University of Alabama, 10/3/07).
For one like John Lennox, or like Peter, who has been enlightened by the Spirit of God, the resurrection is the basis of everything. For others, like Richard Dawkins, it is “petty” and “trivial.”
Ultimately, every spiritual truth can only be understood because of God’s revelation. He may use human beings to explain it—just as He used human authors to write His Word and He uses His followers to share the gospel. But if a person really understands truth, it is only because God has enabled his understanding. First Corinthians 2:14 says, “But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (NASB).
The truth does not come from flesh and blood; it comes from the Father in heaven. This is why two people can hear the same passage of Scripture or listen to a biblically based sermon, and to one person it is like fresh air and a hearty meal for the soul while to the other person it seems to be utter nonsense. Unless God enlightens the heart, the human being can never make sense of it—even if he understands the words, the significance of the message is lost.
