Matthew 16


The Demand for a Sign

¹The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
²He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' ³and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. ⁴A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away.

Matthew 16:1-4

Explanation:

Jesus' Opponents Seek a Sign (16:1-4)
This passage offers some significant lessons, both for Matthew's first audience and for us today.
Asking for a sign after the Lord has already revealed himself is testing him (16:1; compare Ex 17:7; Ps 78:18-20). Pharisees and Sadducees were generally at odds, joining forces only under external duress (compare, for example, Jos. Life 21-22); Matthew reports that Jesus' mission was one such case of duress (3:7).

This passage refers not to those who genuinely fear God yet ask for signs as an assurance of God's promise (Gen 15:6, 8; Judg 6:17, 36-39; 2 Kings 20:8), but to those who seek grounds to disbelieve. Religious leaders had challenged Jesus after other miracles (Mt 15:1-20); the Gospel's first reference to testing (4:1; compare 6:13; 19:3; 22:35) may suggest that the devil is the theological source of their opposition. Now they ignore the signs of a prophet (15:21-39) and demand instead a sign from heaven (16:1). A sign from heaven probably means a sign in the heavens, like those that many people believed presaged the fall of Jerusalem (Jos. War 6.288-91) and the end of the age (compare 24:29-31; 27:45, 51-53). Presumably these leaders ask Jesus to predict a sign in the sky-which essentially reduces them to the level of astrologers or diviners, something forbidden in the Hebrew Bible (Deut 18:10). The religious leaders here contrast starkly with some pagan astrologers who came to worship King Jesus (2:1-12)!

Jesus is giving them a clearer sign than a sign in heaven would be (16:3-4). Jesus' questioners could predict many celestial phenomena with no supernatural inspiration at all; a red sky in the morning, for example, meant that Mediterranean winds from the west would be bringing rain. But Jesus was not interested in predicting events in the sky or using such events to predict the future; they were overlooking an explicit sign that was nearer at hand. The sinfulness of that generation could itself constitute one sign, for many Jewish people understood that a sinful generation would immediately precede the coming of God's kingdom (CD 20.14-15; 2 Baruch 26:12; m. Sota 9:15). The description of that generation resembles Moses' complaint against Israel (Deut 32:5), a generation that had repeatedly tested God in the wilderness and rejected his prophet Moses (Ps 78:18-20).

Jesus' own ministry and resurrection constituted the decisive sign to that generation (16:4). The resurrection was an end-time event (Dan 12:2); Jesus' resurrection was a clear indication that the kingdom time was at hand (Mt 12:39-40).

Matthew 16


The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. ⁶"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
⁷They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread."
⁸Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹¹How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." ¹²Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 16:5-12

Explanation:

Religious Cancer and Doubting Disciples (16:5-12)
If Jesus' opponents were active in their unbelief (vv. 1-4), his disciples were passive in their unbelief. Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus' disciples had stayed with him and witnessed the miracles of the loaves; nevertheless, they still fail to understand his power.
Jesus warns against testing God as his opponents had just done. When Jesus warns against Pharisaic leaven (vv. 5-6), hence Pharisaic teaching (vv. 11-12), he is not implying that he disagrees with all Pharisaic teaching (23:2); the context specifies which teaching he means. The Pharisees and Sadducees have posed challenges intended to discredit Jesus (16:1-4); Jesus' words against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees in this context must constitute a warning against such cynicism, which rapidly poisons the attitudes of others. Yeast was an appropriate metaphor for something that spreads; today we might employ the negative image of cancer. The disciples' passive unbelief (v. 8) suggests that the threat of Pharisaic leaven is closer to them that they would have guessed.

The disciples misunderstand Jesus' point because they are "of little faith." Perhaps they were headed for "the sparsely populated east side" of the lake, where bread would be in short supply (Hoehner 1972:204). At any rate, the disciples had inadvertently neglected their responsibility to bring bread (v. 5; see comment on 14:15), and they were so concerned about what their teacher would think about their lapse that they assumed he was addressing their own failure (16:7). Yet given what had just transpired (vv. 1-4), how could they assume that the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees referred to forgetting to take bread? Did they think Jesus was instructing them to bake bread from scratch once they had crossed the lake, but to make sure not to borrow yeast from the spiritually unclean religious elite? The disciples here appear inordinately dense. Thus they misunderstand because they are self-absorbed (v. 7).

But Jesus is crystal clear why they cannot understand him. Spiritual understanding cannot come apart from faith (v. 8). Had they simply forgotten to take bread-a technical rather than a moral failure-Jesus could have provided bread (vv. 9-10). That Jesus could miraculously supply bread had already eluded them twice (14:15-17; 15:33; compare 6:11, 25-34); by this point his disciples should have more faith, so he corrects them. Their real problem is that they are learning faith so slowly (compare 15:10, 16). He has serious reason for concern: these are his disciples, by definition apprentices expected to take over his earthly ministry after his departure! Yet other instances of his "little-faith" rebuke demonstrate that it represents a reproof like that of a concerned parent, not that of a harsh drill sergeant (compare 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 17:20).

Matthew 16


Peter's Confession of Christ

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
¹⁴They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
¹⁵"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
¹⁶Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
¹⁷Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." ²⁰Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

Matthew 16:13-20

Explanation:

God's Plan Established on Christ (16:13-20)
The religious elite repudiated Jesus (vv. 1-4); the disciples lacked sufficient faith in him to understand his most basic warnings (vv. 5-12). But now, informed by Jesus' works (14:33) and perhaps by a new understanding of Jesus' role vis-a-vis that of their people's religious establishment (16:1-12), the disciples are on the verge of a new level of revelation. Even at this point, however, they do not fully understand their Master's mission (vv. 21-28).
The Revelation of the Gospel Occurs in Pagan Territory (16:13)

Jesus has taken his disciples northward from predominantly Jewish territory, presumably to escape the crowds and spend time privately with his disciples. They have journeyed some twenty-five miles (and seventeen hundred feet uphill) from the Lake of Galilee to the source of the Jordan near the ancient city of Dan, the northern boundary of ancient Israel. The recently renamed Caesarea Philippi was as pagan a territory as one could find. It was famous for its grotto where people worshiped the Greek god Pan; its earlier name Paneas persisted even in its modern Arabic name, Baneas (compare Jos. War 1.404), and public pagan rites reportedly continued there until a later Christian miraculously demonstrated that Jesus was more powerful (Euseb. H.E. 7.17). Following Mark, Matthew emphasizes that God moves where he wills, fitting the theme of Jesus' universal mission in his Gospel (for example, 1:3, 5-6; 2:1-12; 3:9; 4:15).


People Must Recognize Jesus as the Christ (16:14-16)Outsiders' recognition of Jesus as a prophet is inadequate (16:14); those who follow Jesus closely know him as the Christ, God's Son (vv. 15-16). Herod Antipas thought Jesus was John (14:2); many Jewish people anticipated the return of Elijah and other prophets like Baruch. Viewing Jesus in such terms thus fit him into categories of thought that already existed, rather than letting the Lord redefine their categories by his identity (see comment on 4:1-11). Christ designates Jesus as the rightful king of Israel (see introduction).

A Foundational Revelation (16:17-18)

Peter did not receive his revelation from man, literally "flesh and blood" (compare Gal 1:16), a common expression for "mortals" or "humans" (as in 1 Cor 15:50; Eph 6:12; Heb 2:14; 1 Enoch 15:4; Mek. Pisha 1.120). Peter's understanding of Jesus' identity came by divine revelation (Mt 16:17; 11:25), undoubtedly including God's revelation through Jesus' miraculous acts (14:33; compare 15:22). This revelation of Jesus' identity was foundational for God's purposes in history.

Jesus then plays on Simon's nickname, Peter, which would be roughly the English "Rocky": Peter is rocky, and on this rock Jesus will build his church (16:18). Scholars have debated precisely what Jesus means by rock. Protestants, following Augustine and Luther, have sometimes contended that the rock in this passage is only Jesus himself (references in Cullmann 1953:162 n. 13). But by Jesus' day the Greek terms petros (Peter) and petra (rock) were interchangeable, and the original Aramaic form of Peter's nickname that Jesus probably used (k h phas) means simply "rock" (Cullmann 1953:18-19; Ladd 1974b:110; Carson 1984:368; France 1985:254; Blomberg 1992:252).

Further, Jesus does not say, "You are Peter, Ãbut on this rock I will build my church"; he says, ÃAnd on this rock I will build my church. Jesus' teaching is the ultimate foundation for our lives (7:24-27; compare 1 Cor 3:11), but here Peter functions as the foundation rock like the apostles and prophets in Ephesians 2:20-21. Jesus does not simply assign this role to Peter arbitrarily, however; Peter is the "rock" because in this context he is the one who confesses Jesus as the Christ (Mt 16:15-16; Cullmann 1953:162; Ladd 1974b:110; C. Brown 1978:386). Others who share his proclamation also share his authority in building the church (18:18 with 16:19).

The Community Built on This Foundation Will Prevail (16:18)

Ancient teachers from Greek philosophers to Qumran's founding teacher established communities of followers to perpetuate their teachings (as in Culpepper 1975:123; compare Albright and Mann 1971:195; Flusser 1988:35). The Qumran community described themselves as the qahal, the Hebrew word for God's congregation in the exodus narrative, which the Greek versions sometimes translate as ekkl h sia or "church." Jesus thus depicts his followers, his church, as the true, faithful remnant of God's people in continuity with the Old Testament covenant community (Ridderbos 1975:328; F. Bruce 1963:84). What marked it as new, however, was Jesus' specific designation "my community" (Ladd 1974b:110; France 1985:255).

Biblical tradition had often spoken of "building up" the community of God (as in Ps 51:18; 69:35; Jer 24:6; 31:4, 28). The gates of Hades is a familiar Semitic expression for the threshold of the realm of death. The words used here suggest that death itself assaults Christ's church, but death cannot crush us (Ladd 1974b:116). The church will endure until Christ's return, and no opposition, even widespread martyrdom of Christians or the oppression of the final antichrist (compare Jeremias 1968:927), can prevent the ultimate triumph of God's purposes in history.

Jesus Authorizes His Agents to Admit People to the Kingdom (16:19)

The authority belongs not only to Peter (v. 19) but to all who share his proclamation of Jesus' identity (18:18). The realm of heaven here contrasts strikingly with the powers of Hades, or "Sheol," the realm of the dead thought to lie beneath the earth (16:18; compare Heb 2:14; Rev 1:18). Keys opened locked doors or gates, but the carrying of keys especially symbolized the authority of the person who bore them. One who carried keys to a royal palace was the majordomo, as in Isaiah 22:22 and Revelation 3:7. Supervisors held the keys to the temple courts among Jesus' contemporaries (as in ARN 7, 21B), and in Jewish lore prominent angels carried certain keys (for example, 3 Baruch 1:2; compare b. Ta`anit 2a).

Whether Peter thus acts as "prime minister" for the kingdom (see Brown, Donfried and Reumann 1973:96-97) or perhaps as a "chief rabbi" making halakhic rulings based on Jesus' teachings (Meier in Brown and Meier 1983:67), he clearly acts with enough delegated authority (compare Acts 10:44; Gal 2:7). Whereas Israel's religious elite was shutting people out of the kingdom (23:13; compare Lk 11:52), those who confessed Jesus' identity along with Peter were authorized to usher people into God's kingdom.

Scholars have proposed many interpretations of "binding and loosing," but in Jewish texts these terms ('asar and hittir or sera') could refer to authority to interpret the law, hence to evaluate individuals' fidelity to the law as in 18:18 (see comment there). In this context, however, the nuance may be somewhat different from 18:18: Peter and those who share his role (others share it in 18:18) evaluate not those who are in the community, but those who would enter it (10:14-15, 40; this is a role assigned to overseers in the Qumran community-compare 1QS 5.20-21; 6:13-14). In both functions-evaluating entrants and evaluating those already within the church-God's people must evaluate on the authority of the heavenly court. The verb tenses allow (and according to some scholars even suggest) that they merely ratify the heavenly decree (see comment on 18:18; compare Mantey 1973 and 1981; Keener 1987).

Peter must thus accept into the church only those who share his confession of Jesus' true identity (16:16). Of course the church should emulate Jesus' practice of welcoming the unconverted (9:10), but this is not the same as acting as if all comers were true disciples of Christ regardless of their commitment. Today some churches both admit into membership the unconverted and fail to take the message of Jesus' identity to the unconverted outside their walls. The danger of building a church on those not committed to Christ's agendas is that in time the church will reflect more of the world's values than Christ's; this was one way some originally abolitionist churches compromised with the slave trade (Usry and Keener 1996:102-5).

Jesus Admonishes the Disciples Not to Reveal His Identity (16:20)

The context suggests why Jesus admonished his disciples to keep his identity secret. Until after the resurrection (17:9) the disciples were unprepared to understand the cross; and apart from the cross they could not understand the real nature of Jesus' messianic mission (16:21-28).

Matthew 16


Jesus Predicts His Death

²¹From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
²²Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
²³Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. ²⁶What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Matthew 16:21-27

Explanation:

The Cost of the Kingdom (16:21-27)
It is not enough to confess that Jesus is Messiah (16:16) if we do not understand that his messiahship involves suffering and death (vv. 21-23). And if Jesus' mission involves the cross, those who would follow him must embrace the same price (vv. 24-27).

The Cross Is Central to Jesus' Mission (16:21)

The gospel message is incomplete without the cross. Recognizing Jesus as the Messiah was a good first step (vv. 13-20), but not very helpful when the disciples' concept of Jesus' messiahship differed so greatly from his own. Jesus' messiahship meant that he would suffer and die (v. 21); those who wish to follow him must be ready to pay the same price (v. 24). The cross was the most scandalous form of criminal execution in Jesus' day (see Hengel 1977:8-9). Even the term sounded terrible to ancient readers (Hengel 1977:10), and we may not blame the disciples if they hoped he was speaking metaphorically.

The Devil Offers the Kingdom Without the Cross (16:22-23)

If verses 18-19 grant Peter special authority, this passage qualifies it: his authority functions only when he speaks from God, not when he speaks human or demonic wisdom (compare Meier 1979:118). When Peter rebukes Jesus, he oversteps his appropriate bounds as a disciple. Correcting a teacher was rare (ARN 1A), and some sages believed teaching the law even in the presence of one's teacher merited death from God (as in Sipra Shem. Mek. deMil. 99.5.6). Disciples "followed" their teachers (Mt 8:22; 9:9-10; 10:38; 19:21), literally remaining behind them out of respect when they walked. Thus though Jesus turned to confront Peter literally behind him, he now ordered him to get behind him figuratively (16:23), returning to a position of discipleship.

But Peter was not only out of order; he was the devil's agent. At the wilderness temptation Satan offered Jesus the kingdom without the cross (4:8-9); Peter now offers the same temptation and encounters the same title (Cullmann 1956b:27). The devil has influenced this world so deeply that the world's values are quite often the devil's values (Jas 3:15; 4:7); by valuing the things human beings value (like lack of suffering), Peter shows himself in league with the devil. The religious leaders later echoed Satan's temptation as well (Mt 27:42-43). That Peter is a stumbling block (16:23; not in Mk) again plays on his name: rock (see comment on 16:18) could have negative as well as positive functions (Meier 1979:117 and 1980:185).


That some of Jesus' religious contemporaries were Satan's mouthpieces need not surprise us: think how many of us prefer comfortable beliefs to the cross today. (We can wear crosses as jewelry mainly because the Christian symbol has lost much of its original significance; as some preachers point out, few of us would enjoy sporting a miniature electric chair or gallows around our neck.) Some Western Christians expect unlimited prosperity or teach that Christians will escape all tribulation, while many of our brothers and sisters elsewhere (such as in Iran or the Sudan) die for their faith. Is it not possible that some Christians today still speak for the devil?

Jesus Expects Disciples to Follow Him to Death (16:24)

Summoning others to his revolutionary cause, Garibaldi cried, "He that loves Italy, let him follow me! I promise him hardship . . . suffering . . . death. But he that loves Italy, let him follow me!" (Strong 1907:766). Only a cause worth dying for is truly worth living for, and a generation of Western youth, deprived of causes worth their lives and of elders personally committed enough to point the way, have become restless and disillusioned.

"Taking up one's cross" in antiquity hardly meant simply putting up with an annoying roommate or having to live with ingrown toenails. It meant marching on the way to one's execution, shamefully carrying the heavy horizontal beam (the patibulum) of one's own death-instrument through a jeering mob (Jeremias 1972:218-19 and 1971:242). Jesus anticipated literal martyrdom for himself and many of his followers by the Romans' standard means of executing lower-class criminals and slaves; his kingdom was ultimately incompatible with Rome's claims (Manson 1979:131; F. Bruce 1972a:19). If disciples "come after" and imitate their teachers, Christians' lives are forfeit from the moment they begin following Christ; to come after Jesus, Peter himself had to return to walking behind him (v. 23).

Although genuine Christians may fall short on their commitment at times (26:69-75), those who wish to follow Christ should understand from the start that they are surrendering their lives to Christ. Those who do not acknowledge Jesus as Lord-as having the right to demand of them anything, including their lives-have yet to be truly converted. Today Christians continue to debate the character of the gospel: to be saved, does one need to accept Christ as Lord or only as Savior? Throughout the New Testament, however, the question is more or less a moot one. Jesus came to save us from our sin, and accepting him must include recognizing his right to rule our lives. This does not imply that Christians are perfect; it does indicate that they recognize who their Lord is.

Jesus Is Worth Any Price We Must Pay to Follow Him (16:25-27)

Losing one's life in this age would be a small price to preserve it in the eternal age to come (compare 2 Baruch 51:15-16; m. 'Abot 4:17). We must decide whether we "want" to come after Jesus (Mt 16:24; NIV would) or "want" (the same Greek term; NIV wants) to save our lives (v. 25); we cannot have it both ways. The cross means death, and nothing less (10:38-39; Jn 12:25).


Yet the only way to ultimately preserve one's life is to relinquish it in faith that the Son of Man will someday come with his angels to execute judgment (Mt 16:27; compare 25:31; 2 Thess 1:7-8; Dan 7:9-14) according to each person's works (for example, Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12; Rom 2:6; 2 Cor 11:15; Rev 22:12). Those who expected a period of great suffering before the time of the kingdom, as most Jewish people did, would hear in such words a radical call to perseverance (Mt 24:9-13).

In the end God will reward us for what we have done, and eternal life matters more than our temporary lives in this age. I once shared Christ with an associate who cared deeply about his friends, prompting him to consider that eternal life is a gift of far greater significance than any other he could offer them, but he could not give what he did not have himself. God's Spirit prompted him to forsake status and worldly plans, and he became a committed Christian who has touched countless lives since that day. John dared to believe that God's eternal riches outweigh any cost in the present, so he became a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Yet how few disciples we have; except for going to church and paying tithes, many Christians today do with their time and money much the same as what morally upright non-Christians do.