All things were delivered to Me by My FatherTao Of Rich Review, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father; and who is the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son may desire to reveal Him. [Lk.10:22 - Literal Translation of the Holy Bible]
In a previous blog, we discussed the difference between having a religious opinion, and being in possession of Scriptural faith. To further support this, let's consider the confessions from two different Biblical characters, and Jesus' response to each. The first occurred when Jesus asked the disciples the question, "... who do you say that I am?" Peter answers with, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" [Matt. 16:15,16 - NKJV]
The second confession comes from Nathanael, after he first encountered Jesus: "... You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" [Jn.1:49 - NKJV] Both confessions are virtually the same in content, but Jesus' response to each is quite different. To Peter, He pronounces a blessing, declaring his confession to have originated from a revelation from the Father. To Nathanael, He questions the declaration, due to the shallowness of its impetus. Jesus understood the difference between an opinion, based upon the cognitive abilities of the human soul, and faith, obtained by revelation, which accounts for the way He responded to each man's confession.