16 1 And having come to Him, the Pharisees and Sadducees— testing Him— asked Him to show them a sign out-of heaven. 2 But the One, having responded, said to them, “Having become evening, you say, ‘Fair weather!— for the heaven is red’; 3 and early-in-the-morning, ‘Stormy-weather today!— for the lowering[a] heaven is red’. You[b] know-how to discern the appearance of the heaven but cannot discern the signs of the times! 4 An evil and adulterous[c] generation is seeking-for a sign. And a sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah”.
Jesus Warns His Disciples To Beware of The Leaven of The Pharisees: Their Teachings
And having left them behind, He went away. 5 And the disciples, having come to the other side, forgot to take bread. 6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch-out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees”. 7 And the ones were discussing among themselves, saying that[d] “We did not take bread”. 8 But having known it, Jesus said, “Why are you discussing among yourselves, ones of-little-faith, that you do not have bread? 9 Do you not yet perceive? Do you not-even[e] remember the five loaves of the five-thousand, and how many baskets you received? 10 Not even the seven loaves of the four-thousand, and how many large-baskets you received? 11 How is it you do not perceive that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees”. 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Who Do You Say That I Am? Peter Says, You Are The Messiah, The Son of The Living God
13 And Jesus, having come into the regions of Philip’s[f] Caesarea, was asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And the ones said, “Some, John the Baptist. And others, Elijah. And different ones, Jeremiah or one of the prophets”. 15 He says to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 And having responded, Simon Peter said “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. 17 And having responded, Jesus said to him, “You are blessed, Simon Bar-Jonah[g], because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father in the heavens. 18 And I also[h] say to you that you are a rock[i], and upon this bed-rock[j] I will build My church— and the gates[k] of Hades will not prevail-against[l] it. 19 I will give you the keys[m] of the kingdom of the heavens. And whatever you[n] bind[o] on earth will have been bound[p] in the heavens, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in the heavens”. 20 Then He gave-orders to the disciples that they should tell no one that He is the Christ[q].
The King Begins To Predict His Death And Resurrection
21 From that time[r] on, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day. 22 And having taken Him aside, Peter began to rebuke Him, saying, “God be merciful[s] to You, Lord! This shall never happen to You”. 23 But the One, having turned, said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a cause-of-falling to Me, because you are not thinking the things of God, but the things of humans”.
Deny Yourself, Take Up Your Cross, And Follow Me. Some Here Will See Me In My Kingdom
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny[t] himself, and take up his cross[u], and be following Me. 25 For whoever wants to save[v] his life[w] will lose it. But whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will a person be profited if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his life[x]? Or what will a person give in-exchange-for his life? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels. And then He will render to each one according to his practice[y]. 28 Truly I say to you that there are some of the ones standing here who will by no means taste death until[z] they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom”.
Footnotes
- Matthew 16:3 Or, gloomy, overcast.
- Matthew 16:3 Or, this may be a question, Do you know-how?
- Matthew 16:4 That is, spiritually unfaithful to God.
- Matthew 16:7 Or, saying, “It is because we did not take bread”.
- Matthew 16:9 Or, perceive, nor remember.
- Matthew 16:13 That is, the Caesarea that was the capital city of Herod Philip II (see Lk 3:1), north of the Sea of Galilee.
- Matthew 16:17 That is, son of Jonah.
- Matthew 16:18 That is, I also reveal in addition to what the Father revealed; or, I also bless you, in addition to this blessing you have received from the Father.
- Matthew 16:18 Or, Peter, as this is always rendered elsewhere. Jesus has both his name and the meaning of his name in view. ‘A rock’ shows the flow of thought, ‘Peter’ the connection to the apostle. Jesus had long ago given him this name, Jn 1:42.
- Matthew 16:18 That is, Peter himself, as the leader described in v 19; or, Peter’s confession, the human confession of Christ as Son of God; or, the Father’s revelation of Him to humans; or, Christ may be pointing to Himself.
- Matthew 16:18 That is, the gates all humans pass through at death; death will not defeat the church. Or, the forces of evil coming through those gates to attack the church; they will not be victorious.
- Matthew 16:18 Or, win the victory over.
- Matthew 16:19 Keys are for opening and closing. Peter may be using these keys when he opens the kingdom to the Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles, in Acts.
- Matthew 16:19 This is singular. This power may have been held by Peter exclusively; or, by all the apostles; or, it may have passed on to other believers. Compare 18:18.
- Matthew 16:19 bind... loose. Some think this means forbidding and permitting things, as the Rabbis used these terms; others, forgiving and retaining sins, Jn 20:23; others, the power of excommunication, Mt 18:18.
- Matthew 16:19 will have been bound... loosed. Lit, will be having been bound... loosed. God does not second what Peter binds, but what Peter binds will correspond to what has been bound in heaven. In other words, Peter will speak with God’s authority, with divine guidance.
- Matthew 16:20 That is, Messiah. This term had political overtones Jesus did not want to fan at this time.
- Matthew 16:21 Matthew reaches a turning point. Jesus now speaks directly about His death and resurrection for the first time, and begins to prepare the disciples for that event and their life and mission after it.
- Matthew 16:22 That is, May God mercifully spare You from this.
- Matthew 16:24 That is, disown and refuse to follow the impulses of self.
- Matthew 16:24 That is, the instrument of his or her death to self.
- Matthew 16:25 That is, by avoiding his cross, and refusing to deny himself.
- Matthew 16:25 That is, life in an earthly sense.
- Matthew 16:26 That is, life in an eternal sense.
- Matthew 16:27 Or, doing, activity, course of action.
- Matthew 16:28 Jesus may be referring to the three with Him at the transfiguration next, where they saw the King in His glory; or, to the eleven who saw Him after the resurrection or experienced the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost; or, to those who remained alive to see the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, the judgment of the King on Israel.