At this point Jesus said: “Happy you are, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father who is in the heavens did.

Matt. 16:13-19.

Note what was being discussed​—the identity of the “Son of man.” Peter correctly identified Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Because this had been revealed to Peter by the Father, evidently through the operation of the holy spirit, the Son of God could speak of Simon Peter as “happy.” Peter’s happiness was one of a spiritual kind, testifying to his having an approved standing with the Father.