Matthew 16
- Who wrote it
- Traditionally Matthew
- Who it was for
- Jewish followers of Jesus
- What was happening
- Demands for a sign, then Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi
What’s happening
The Pharisees and Sadducees, together for once, test Jesus by asking for a sign from heaven. He says they can read the sky for tomorrow's weather but not the signs of the times, and offers only the sign of Jonah. Crossing the lake, the disciples realize they've forgotten bread, and Jesus warns them about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They think he means bread; he reminds them of the two feedings, and they finally understand he means their teaching. At Caesarea Philippi, he asks who people say the Son of Man is: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets. "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answers, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus blesses him: flesh and blood didn't reveal this, but his Father. "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven," and whatever he binds or looses on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven. Then he tells the disciples not to tell anyone he is the Christ. From then on Jesus begins telling them that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised on the third day. Peter takes him aside: "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you." Jesus turns: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me. You're not thinking God's thoughts but man's." He says whoever wants to follow him must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow; whoever tries to save their life will lose it, and what good is gaining the whole world and losing your life? The Son of Man will come in his Father's glory and repay each person, and some standing there won't taste death before they see him coming in his kingdom.
Why the setting matters
Caesarea Philippi lay at the foot of Mount Hermon, at a spring and rock face long linked with the Greek god Pan. Herod's son Philip rebuilt it and named it for the emperor and himself. It was a place of shrines to gods and rulers, so a question about who Jesus is lands in loud company. "Rock" is a word play: Peter's name Petros and the word petra for rock. In Aramaic, which Jesus likely spoke, the same word (kepha, the origin of "Cephas") would serve for both. What the rock is (Peter himself, his confession, or Christ) is debated across Christian traditions. "Binding and loosing" were terms for forbidding and permitting, and the "keys" echo Isaiah 22:22, where the key to David's house is given to a steward. "Yeast" was a picture of something small that spreads through the whole batch. For readers who knew Roman crucifixion, "take up your cross" was a plain way to describe public humiliation and execution.
Who’s in this chapter
Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees
Pharisees and Sadducees, rarely allies, join to test Jesus for a sign.
Simon Peter
Declares Jesus the Christ, is blessed, then rebuked within minutes.
The disciples
Slow to catch the warning about yeast, then asked who they say Jesus is.
John the Baptist
One of the answers the crowds give: "John the Baptist."
Elijah
Another of the crowd's guesses, from the prophet expected to return before the Lord's day.
Talk it through
- The crowds guessed John, Elijah, Jeremiah, or another prophet. What do those guesses show about what people expected?
- Peter is blessed in 16:17-19 and rebuked in 16:23, within a few verses. How do you hold both together?
- Jesus begins to predict his suffering right after Peter's confession. Why might he teach in that order?
- "What good will it do to gain the whole world and lose your life?" How might that sound to someone living under Rome?
Read Matthew 16
World English Bible
1The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2But he answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3In the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can’t discern the signs of the times! 4An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
He left them, and departed. 5The disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread. 6Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7They reasoned among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.”
8Jesus, perceiving it, said, “Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, ‘because you have brought no bread?’ 9Don’t you yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? 10Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? 11How is it that you don’t perceive that I didn’t speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
12Then they understood that he didn’t tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” 20Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ. 21From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
22Peter took him aside, and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you.”
23But he turned, and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.” 24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? 27For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds. 28Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste of death, until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
Text: World English Bible, Public domain. About our sources