Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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This section of Scripture begins with Jesus asking his disciples, "Whom do men say that I am?" The disciples then told their Lord what they had been hearing in the marketplaces: some had said he was John the Baptist come back from the dead; others had said that he was Elijah the prophet; others, that he was Jeremiah (whose death is not recorded in the Old Testament); and still others guessed that he was one of the other ancient prophets.
Then Jesus asked them, "Whom do you say that I am?"
They were all silent, except for Peter. He burst out, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!"
Now, Peter did not understand what he said, but he very deeply felt what he said. Neither he nor anyone else at that time understood Jesus' true relationship with the Father. That would come later when the Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost in Acts, chapter 2. God was revealing truth about Jesus, not to Peter's mind but to his spirit, and when Jesus heard Peter's words, he recognized that. He saw the Father's hand in what Peter said, and he rejoiced at it. He knew that no one in the marketplace had put those thoughts into Simon Peter's spirit. And he congratulated Peter for being chosen by God to have the truth injected into his spirit, even if Peter did not yet comprehend it with his mind.
Jesus responded to Peter's declaration of faith, "You are blessed, Simon, son of Jonas, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
"Flesh and blood", as used by Jesus here, means "humans". Jesus knew that the mystery of righteousness, hidden by God from the foundation of the world, was not yet revealed to men because the Spirit had not yet come. Any man who spoke of Jesus' work or person before the birthday of the body of Christ in Acts 2 spoke as he "was moved by the holy Ghost". No ancient prophet of God contrived his message from his own will and understanding. Peter himself would later write, "the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy Ghost" (2Pet. 1:21). This is how it was with Peter. He was moved by the holy Ghost to say something beyond his understanding, and when a man is moved by the holy Ghost to say something, it is because that man's will has been overshadowed by the power of God. Jesus knew that because he himself was moved by the holy Ghost all the time. He knew what it meant to hear from God.
When Jesus came to John the Baptist to be baptized, John was moved by the holy Ghost to proclaim that Jesus was "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world" (Jn. 1:29). John could not possibly have comprehended the gruesome meaning of his own words. Later, not moved by the Spirit, he sent two of his closest helpers to Jesus to ask him if he was really the Messiah (Lk. 7:19-20). As with Peter when he confessed who Jesus was, John the Baptist was moved by the holy Ghost to speak beyond himself, beyond his knowledge. He and Peter were living under the Law, and although they could be moved by the Spirit to speak wonderful things, they had no way of understanding the meaning of their own words.
None of the Old Testament prophets understood their prophecies about Christ Jesus. God's Spirit spoke through them, not to them about the coming One. They inquired of God concerning the things they themselves spoke, to whom God revealed only that their prophecies were for later generations to understand and experience (1Pet. 1:10-12).
This is the first lesson we can learn from this portion of Scripture from Matthew 16: 13-19: Peter was confessing something about Jesus that he himself did not understand. And Peter was able to make that confession only because God anointed him to feel that it was true. It was God at work, not Peter, in the confession that Jesus was "the Messiah, the Son of the living God."