Matthew 16:16
Matthew 16:1616Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jehovah's Witnesses read Peter's confession — "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" — as an acknowledgment that Jesus is the Messiah and God's foremost created Son, not a deity claim. The Watchtower teaches that "Son of God" is a category that includes angels and Adam; Jesus is the highest of God's sons because he was God's first creation, but being God's Son means being produced by God, not being equal to God. Peter was simply confessing Jesus as the promised heavenly Ruler — God's appointed King — and nothing in the title "Son of God" implies shared divine nature.
Protestants point out that the first-century Jewish context gives "Son of God" a meaning far weightier than "important creature." in the NWT itself says the Jews sought to kill Jesus because calling God his own Father was "making himself equal to God." In , Jesus equates "Son of God" with the charge of making himself God — and he does not deny it. records that "Son of God" was the claim for which the Jews demanded the death penalty. If the title merely meant a created being, it would not constitute blasphemy. Reformed apologists also note : Jesus tells Peter that "flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father who is in the heavens did." Why would Peter need divine revelation to recognise that Jesus is a created being? Angels are God's sons too — that knowledge requires no supernatural disclosure. Peter needed revelation because the truth is deeper: Jesus shares the nature of the living God. The Father was revealing something the Jewish leaders would kill Jesus for claiming.