The King warns His disciples about Jewish leaders
16
📚The Pharisees and the Sadducees came, and testing him asked him to show them a sign from heaven.16:1 Pharisees and Sadducees were divided in many things, but they joined together in one thing – opposition to Jesus. An evil cause can unite people as much as a good cause. See Luke 23:12. Note on Sadducees at Matt 3:7.⚜
2 📚He answered and said to them, “When evening comes, you say, ‘We’ll have fine weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 📚And in the morning, ‘Today we’ll have a storm, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You hypocrites! You can discern the appearance of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times!
16:2-3 There were already many signs, but they had no heart to accept them. The prophecies of the Old Testament, the ministries of John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus revealed that the days of the Messiah were with them. And the many miracles Jesus had performed revealed His supernatural power – Matt 8:1. Those unbelievers deserved no special signs, and He would not give them any. They had not responded to the truth God had already given them.⚜
4 📚A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah”. And he left them and went away.
5 📚And when his disciples went to the other side, they forgot to take bread. 6 📚Then Jesus said to them, “Watch out and be on your guard about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees”.
7 📚And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we did not bring any bread”.
8 📚Knowing this, Jesus said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you did not bring any bread?
16:8 See Matt 6:30; 8:26; 14:31. In the next two verses Jesus points out that they had no cause to be anxious or unbelieving about food, even though they had forgotten to bring any. He had twice miraculously provided food for great multitudes. Do we fall into the same anxiety and unbelief as theirs? Even after years of Christian experience, do we not sometimes need to be rebuked for lack of faith and understanding?⚜
9 📚Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many basketfuls you picked up? 10 📚Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you picked up? 11 📚How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread, but that you should be on your guard about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees?”
12 📚Then they understood that he told them to be on their guard, not about the yeast in bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
16:6-12 Here we have yeast (leaven) used as a symbol of something evil. See Matt 13:33; Ex 12:8; 1 Cor 5:6-8; Gal 5:9. This occasion once again revealed dullness in the disciples. The Lord Jesus used a figure of speech which they should have understood. It seems that their minds were too much on literal bread. Occupation with physical needs and desires may make all of us dull hearers of God's Word.⚜
16:12 By “yeast” Jesus meant false religious teaching. Just as yeast permeates all the dough where it has been put, false teaching can spread through a whole group of people, can corrupt an entire religious organization, can influence even a nation. Both Pharisees and Sadducees claimed to be followers of the true religion revealed by God, but they did not partake of its reality and spiritual life. Every church still needs to beware of such “yeast” wherever it may be found (see Rom 16:17-18; 1 Tim 4:1-2; 2 Tim 4:3-4; 2 Pet 2:1-3). Compare Matt 13:33.
We see something of the false teaching of the Pharisees and the results of it at Matt 3:7-9; 5:20; 9:11; 12:2, 24, 28; 15:1-2; 23:2-36. They said they believed the Bible was the Word of God and that there was one true God, but they emphasized ceremonies, traditions, mere outward observance of God's law and man-made rules. It all tended to self-righteousness and hypocrisy – Luke 12:1; 18:10-12. The Sadducees denied truth plainly revealed in the Word of God (Acts 23:8). Their ways resulted in worldly, carnal reasoning. Both of these groups were sunk in unbelief and hypocrisy. The same kinds of people, under different names, are still with us today.⚜
The King reveals who He is and what would happen to Him
13 📚When Jesus arrived in the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?”
16:13 Caesarea Philippi was a town about 40 kilometers north of the lake of Galilee, near the highest mountain in the region – Mt Hermon. Note on Son of man at Matt 8:20.⚜
14 📚And they said, “Some say that you are John the Baptist. Some say, ‘Elijah.’ And others say, ‘Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ”
16:14 When the Jews of Christ's day suggested He might be John or one of the prophets who had died, they were not expressing a belief in reincarnation but in resurrection – Matt 14:1-2. On reincarnation see notes at Job 11:12; John 9:2-3.⚜
15 📚He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16:15 This is a question that still comes to us all. The answer we give to it is of the utmost importance.⚜
16 📚And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”.
16:16 Note on Christ at Matt 1:1; on Son of God at Matt 3:16-17; John 3:16; 5:18-23. God is called “the living God” in contrast to dead idols, and to the “gods” who exist only in people's imaginations. Notes at Ps 115:3-8.⚜
17 📚And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed 📖 are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 📚And also I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell 📖 will not overcome it.
16:18 The name Peter in Greek (Petros) means a small rock, a stone. The word for the “rock” on which Christ builds His Church (petra) means a large rock. So Christ is not saying He would build the Church on Peter. Such a magnificent structure requires more than such a weak and puny foundation. A comparison with other references to this subject makes this even more clear. See 1 Cor 3:11; Eph 2:19-21. Peter, together with all the apostles and prophets, was a part of the Church's foundation, but Christ Himself is by far the most important “rock”. “Rock” as used here in Matthew may mean the confession of Peter that Jesus was the Christ, the only Son of God. That is a foundational truth for anyone entering the fellowship of God's people. In this verse the word “church” appears for the first time in the New Testament. The Greek word is “ecclesia” and comes from a verb which means “called out from”. In the NT it is the word commonly used for an assembly of God's people. They are called out from the world to be a separate holy people – 1 Pet 2:9; 2 Cor 6:17-18; Rom 8:30; John 17:6.⚜
19 📚And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”.
16:19 Jesus gave the keys to Peter as the leader of the twelve apostles. He was chosen for the special task of opening the kingdom of God to others. We see his use of these keys in his ministry to Jews (Acts 2:14-41), Samaritans (Acts 8:14-17), and Gentiles (Acts 10:1-48) – these were the only three groups of people that existed.
Let us learn the following: the doors to God's kingdom are now wide open, and anyone who will may enter. Once a door is opened keys are no longer needed to open it. The keys were given to Peter, not to his successors. Peter alone could do what he did. God used Peter as His instrument to open the door of His kingdom to all. And he did it once for all time. Now if there is any closing or opening of doors to do, the Lord Jesus Himself will do it. See Rev 1:8; 3:7.
Peter had more to do than opening the gate of God's kingdom. There were things to “bind” and “loose”. That is, the affairs of the kingdom had to be administered and decisions must be made concerning things to be allowed or forbidden. It is important to see that in this work the other disciples had the same authority as Peter. See Matt 18:18; John 20:23. Verse 19 could (and perhaps should) be translated “whatever you bind on earth will (already) have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven”. This would mean that Peter and the other disciples would be agents to carry out decisions already made in heaven.⚜
20 📚Then he ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
16:20 The time had not yet come to announce what Peter had learned. It would have caused more obstacles to Christ's ministry, more opposition from His enemies, and bring about a crisis before the proper time (see John 7:30).⚜
21 📚From that time on Jesus began to explain to 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 the third day.
16:21 For the first time Jesus taught His disciples what His principal work was to be. His chief reason for coming into the world was not to gather huge crowds, declare His divinity, become popular, and ascend a human throne. He came to die for sinners and rise again (Matt 20:28; Luke 24:46-47; John 1:29; 3:14; 10:11; 1 Cor 15:1-4). Note on resurrection of the dead at John 5:28-29.⚜
22 📚Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Be it far from you, Lord! This shall not happen to you”.
16:22 This shows how little the disciples at that time understood Christ's mission to the world. They thought He would be a mighty conqueror of their enemies, not a suffering saviour. Poor Peter! He thought he would be Christ's advisor! He rebuked Jesus, the One he had called the Messiah, the Son of God! Such was Peter, ascending one moment to the heights, falling to the depths the next moment. Did he imagine he knew better than Christ Himself what Christ should do? He was not the last person to fall into this error. There are still many who complain against God's ways as if they knew better than God how things should be done (see note at Ps 47:2).⚜
23 📚But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! 📖 To me you are a stumbling block, because you are not thinking of the things of God, but of the things of men”.
The King speaks of discipleship
24 📚Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.
16:24 Note at 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23. The denial of self is an essential part of true Christianity. This is contrary to all philosophies which teach the exaltation of self or assertion of self. According to the Bible self is fallen and sinful and worthy only of death (Matt 15:19; Ps 51:5; Jer 17:9; Rom 8:7-8, 12, 13; Gal 5:17, 24; Eph 4:22; Col 3:5). “Himself” does not mean just the body, but the whole person as he is by nature – all that he thinks, desires, and does. The person who lives for self cannot live for God, and living for God is the chief duty and privilege of men (1 Cor 10:31; 2 Cor 5:15).⚜
25 📚For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
16:25 Note at 10:39. We must give up self for Christ. People may lose themselves in other things and for other reasons. Only when we give our life to Christ will we find true and abundant life.⚜
26 📚For what profit is it to a man, if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
16:26 The world is a passing show (1 John 2:16-17), and we are here only for a little while (Ps 90:10; Heb 9:27). Even if we could gain it all, it would be the height of foolishness to chose that when we can have something far better and enjoy it forever – inheritance with Christ (Rom 8:17; 1 Cor 3:21-23; 1 Pet 1:4; Rev 21:7). Yet many there are who throw away eternal life for a plot of land or a few pleasures. Even one of the original apostles chose a bag of money rather than eternal life (Matt 26:14-16; John 12:6. See also Gen 25:29-34; Heb 12:16-17).⚜
27 📚For the Son of man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each one according to his deeds.
16:27 Here are two events in the future which are absolutely certain to occur – the return of Christ (Matt 19:28; 24:27, 30; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thess 4:16; Heb 9:28), and His judgment of men (Matt 25:31-32; Acts 17:31; Rom 2:16; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 22:12). All of our choices and activities should be in the light of these two facts.⚜
28 📚Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste of death until they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom”.
16:28 Note on Son of man at Matt 8:20. “Coming in his kingdom” here does not mean His second coming to rule over the earth. The best explanation seems to be that Christ is speaking of the establishment of His kingdom through His death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, His sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the spread of His kingdom as recorded in Acts. This verse also seems to be related to His transfiguration which is recorded in the next chapter. Compare 2 Pet 1:16-18.⚜