Matthew 16:1 ¶ The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
Here, Jesus really mocks the religious elite’s sarcastic
questioning. They wanted a magic trick but He gave them wisdom. Notice how He
refers to Jonah (Jonas from Greek) and his three days in the whale’s belly.
Remember back in chapter 12 in His encounter with the scribes and Pharisees.
He’s already been over this ground with them.
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas
was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man
be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew 16:5 ¶ And when his
disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It
is because we have taken no bread. 8
Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little
faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember
the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many
baskets ye took up? 10
Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye
took up? 11 How is it that ye do not
understand that I spake it not to you
concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12 Then
understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of
bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Here is an example of how Jesus and the Bible use typology to
describe something. Jesus has likened the leaven of bread to the doctrine of
the religious elite. What does leaven do? Yeast, as a biological leavening
agent eats sugar and secretes carbon dioxide, important for bread makers, and alcohol,
important for beermakers. But this leaven makes the flour something different
from what it was. It is a pollutant, a necessary pollutant, for us to enjoy
bread. But when comparing leavened to unleavened bread God has used the
typology of corruption previously.
Matthew 13:33 Another
parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a
woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
Paul will use a similar point about corruption using a Greek word
for adulterated wine, kap-ale-yoo-o.
2 Corinthians 2:17 For we
are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of
God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
Another issue is presented here regarding the numbers of food
before and the baskets leftover. Jesus is pointing to this as having some
deeper significance. This is worth considering as I have previously talked
about the possible meaning of the numbers regarding the leftover food.
Matthew 16:13 ¶ When Jesus
came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom
do men say that I the Son of man am? 14
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some,
Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I
am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my
Father which is in heaven. 18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will
give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20
Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was
Jesus the Christ.
Peter makes the acknowledgment that Christ is the Son of God,
which is God walking in the flesh on the earth. Jesus also uses the phrase Son
of man. Jesus, the Messiah, is fully God and fully man. The Son of man
is a reference to His being the Messiah.
As I said before the phrase Son of man links Christ to
Daniel 7:13.
Daniel 7:13 I saw in the
night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they
brought him near before him.
It is the Messiah in His human form as fully man just as He is
fully God as the Son of God.
Jesus Christ is the only time that God has come to earth to live
in human flesh. This is the importance of the phrase the only begotten Son
of God.
John 1:18 No man hath seen
God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he
hath declared him.
John 3:18 He that believeth
on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Remember that Adam was the son of God, lowercase ‘s’.
Luke 3:38 Which was the son
of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the
son of God.
Remember that when a song says, “God’s one and only son.”
Alexander the Great had himself declared the son of God or the gods in Egypt
and Augustus Caesar, nephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar signed his
documents Deus Fide, the son of god or a god. They were fakes. Jesus was the
only begotten of the Father in His humanity.
The son of a king came in the name of the king and had, in effect,
the authority of the king. What you did to the son you did to the king and how
you obeyed the son was how you obeyed his father.
As I said in my commentary on Genesis about the ancient world, “that
the son, due to his position in the family, represented the father and, in
fact, was regarded in authority and importance the same as the father if even
in fact he did not have the actual legal power of the father or if at that time
could dispose of his family’s goods as the father could, that is, until the
father’s death at which time the son took the father’s place.”
Christ’s church is built on this declaration, that He is the Son
of the living God. It is not built on Peter even though there is an interplay
between the meaning of Peter’s name both from the Greek (Petros) and Aramaic
(Cephas) words meaning rock. This is a clever play on words that the Holy
Spirit uses to refer to Peter’s confession of faith.
In any event, Christ is the Rock, not Peter. Read Deuteronomy,
chapter 32 for several instances of Rock, uppercase R.
Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the
Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and
without iniquity, just and right is he.
Then, see what Paul said;
1 Corinthians 10:4 And did
all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that
followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
In
Genesis, Lot
sat in the gate indicating that he had become a judge in Sodom to judge
disputes and help manage the city’s affairs. Sitting in the gate as a position
of judgment is defined in the Bible. It was a place to meet with the elders of
a city.
Deuteronomy 21:19
Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out
unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
It was a place of
the king’s authority.
2Samuel 15:2
And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it
was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment,
then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy
servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
2Samuel 19:8
Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the
people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came
before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.
1Kings 22:10
And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his
throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate
of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.
The mention of the
gate is equivalent to the deciding of judgment.
Amos 5:15 Hate
the evil, and love the good, and establish
judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious
unto the remnant of Joseph.
The gates of hell then is a reference to the judgments of
Hell not some huge set of physical doors.
Verse 19 is a problem for a lot of people but it would be clearer
if we accepted that we do not direct heaven or change God’s orders like some
kind of pagan Egyptian priest who would cajole or even threaten their gods.
What the apostles will do is ordained in Heaven.
Let’s start with the keys of the kingdom of heaven. In
Luke 11 knowledge is likened to a key.
Luke 11:52 Woe unto you,
lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in
yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the key to the kingdom of Heaven as
John Gill declared. The apostles and disciples of Christ were entrusted with
that key. That entry to the kingdom of Heaven is based on one’s acceptance of
the gospel, and belief in it. Peter is not the doorkeeper to Heaven, who
determines who gets in as in popular mythology. What is loosed is doctrine, not
sins. The context of John 20:23 shows that the apostles then have received the
Holy Ghost. The interpretation of the Scripture, the expression of the gospel,
of Christian doctrine is given to these people to spread the faith of Christ.
Then, Jesus charged them that they tell no one that He is the
Messiah. John Gill noted that Jesus’ ministry and miracles must be sufficient
proof that Jesus is the Messiah and that it would not be useful to provoke the
scribes and Pharisees or the Roman authorities before the appointed time.
Matthew 16:21 ¶ From that
time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto
Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him,
saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee
behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men.
This shows how the Fundamentalist doctrine that in the
Old Testament the Jews were looking forward to the Cross is wrong. Actually,
they did not understand Isaiah 53. Their confusion persisted until an eleventh
century rabbi nicknamed Rashi developed the idea that rather than being about a
singular man the chapters in Isaiah about the Messiah were actually about the
suffering Jewish people as a group thereby totally confusing the Jews with
regard to Christ.
We must keep in mind that the Bible says explicitly
that the passage in Isaiah was talking about Christ.
Acts 8:26 ¶ And the angel
of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the
way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of
Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians,
who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to
worship, 28 Was returning, and sitting
in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29
Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this
chariot. 30 And Philip ran thither to
him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what
thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I,
except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up
and sit with him. 32 The place of the
scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and
like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken
away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the
earth. 34 And the eunuch answered
Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself,
or of some other man? 35 Then Philip
opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
Jesus’ Jewish followers literally had no clue what He
was talking about when He referred to His impending agony on the Cross or
understood anything about His Resurrection.
Mark
9:9 And as they came down from the
mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had
seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. 10 And they kept that saying with themselves,
questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean…31 For he
taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the
hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall
rise the third day. 32
But
they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
Luke
18:31 ¶ Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto
them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the
prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles,
and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the
third day he shall rise again. 34 And
they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken.
John
20:9 For as yet they knew not the
scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
Jesus rebukes Peter for wishing what
Satan did back in chapter 4 that He should not go to the Cross. Satan offered Him
a crown to subvert His mission while Peter says this out of his love and
respect for his rabbi.
Matthew 4:8 Again, the
devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the
kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall
down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus
unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
An offence is a stumbling block, something in the way.
1 Peter 2:8 And a stone of
stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being
disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
Matthew 16:24 ¶ Then said
Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose
it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain
the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? 27
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his
angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. 28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing
here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in
his kingdom.
Christ then lays out, after rebuking Peter, the most basic demands
made on His disciples. They were clearly looking at things from too temporal
and too worldly a perspective. The true Christian must deny himself; his sin,
his ungodliness, his worldliness, even his own righteousness.
1John 2:15 Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. 16 For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust
thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
The Christian must not seek worldly wealth but focus on treasure
in heaven.
Matthew 6:19 ¶ Lay not up
for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves break through and steal: 20
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your
heart be also.
The Encyclopedia Britannica online notes that crucifixion, the
reference to the cross, was not used first by the Romans. But the Persians, the
Carthaginians, and the Seleucids also used that horrific form of execution.[1] The
point here is that the suffering and persecution Christ’s followers faced was
something they should embrace as a badge of their obedience to Him, following
their rejection of the demands that Self makes or rather putting God first over
Self. The third step after denying one’s self and taking up one’s cross of
persecution and suffering, is to openly follow Christ.
If a man or a woman tries to save themselves by pursuit of the
approval of mankind, the pursuit of sin, the pursuit of worldliness, the
exaltation of their self apart from God they will lose that life they hold most
precious in eternity. But whomever dies in the service of Christ will ensure
their life everlasting with Him in eternity.
Remember Matthew 10:38,39 as the disciples were sent out on a
perilous mission?
Matthew 10:38 And he that
taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and
he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Consider this in Revelation.
Revelation 12:11 And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and
they loved not their lives unto the death.
What good would it do us get everything this world had to offer; pleasure,
success, wealth, and power and then lose our souls in eternity? What is
something so valuable in this world, in this finite life that is receding from
you every moment that is worth your eternal soul?
Verse 27 is one of those verses that gives a broad explanation of
something that is described elsewhere in more detail. Notice how the following in
Revelation depicts the end of history in general terms while the rest of
Revelation is more specific as to events.
Revelation 11:18 And the
nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they
should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the
prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and
shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Now notice these references later in Matthew;
Matthew 24:30 And then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Matthew 25:31 ¶ When the
Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Matthew 26:64 Jesus saith
unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see
the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of
heaven.
Verse 27 speaks of Christ’s return in the glory of God the Father with
His angels. Verse 28, though, speaks of those standing with Him who will see
Him coming in His kingdom, which is clearly a reference to what happens in
chapter 17. He says that He will return with His angels to judge the world and
that, truthfully, there are disciples standing there who will see Him in His glorified
state.
So, in chapter 16, Jesus begins at Caesarea Philippi with a question
for His disciples. Who do men say that I, the Messiah, am? Then He expounds on
His coming Crucifixion and Resurrection, which Peter objects to, and which requires
a rebuke from Christ. Christ then goes on to explain the level of commitment a
disciple of His will need in the coming years. He reveals His inevitable return
to judge the world and then says that selected disciples will see Him as He is
in His kingdom. This will happen next.
[1] Encyclopedia Britannica online,
“crucifixion; capital punishment,” https://www.britannica.com/topic/cross-religious-symbol (accessed 4.24.2023).
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