" When Jesus heard that statement from Simon, He pronounced a benediction. He looked at His disciple and said: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (v. 17). In other words: “Simon, you didn’t come to this conclusion through your own unaided intellectual ability. To see what you see, to understand what you understand, requires divine assistance. God has unveiled a mystery to you. He has made clear to you what other people are missing every day. You are blessed that you see what you see.” It is crucial that we never forget that we have been given the new birth by the Spirit "

― R.C. Sproul , What Does It Mean To Be Born Again? (Crucial Questions, #6)