Matthew 16

Debate Over a Sign from Heaven

1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.2 He answered and said to them, When it is evening you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red; 3 and in the morning, It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And He left them and departed.

Withdrawal of Jesus

5 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.6 Then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? 10 Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? 11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Revelation of the Person of the King

13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?14 So they said, Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.15 He said to them, But who do you say that I am? 16 Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.17 Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

Revelation of the Church

18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give 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.20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

Revelation of Jesus Death

21 From that time Jesus began to show 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.22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!23 But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.

Revelation of Jesus Reward

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 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?

The Prophecy of the Second Coming

27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.

MATTHEW 16

A Demand for a Sign //from Heaven

(Mark 8.11-13; Luke 12.54-56)

1  t The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tried to test him by asking for a sign from heaven.

2 He told them:
If the sky is red in the evening, you say the weather will be good. 3 But if the sky is red and gloomy in the morning, you say it is going to rain. You can tell what the weather will be like by looking at the sky. But you don't understand what is happening now.t

4 t You want a sign because you are evil and won't believe! But the only sign you will be given is what happened to Jonah.t
Then Jesus left.

The Yeast of the Pharisees //and Sadducees

(Mark 8.14-21)

6 t Jesus then warned them, “Watch out! Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

7 The disciples talked this over and said to each other, “He must be saying this because we didn't bring along any bread.”

8 Jesus knew what they were thinking and said:
You surely don't have much faith! Why are you talking about not having any bread? 9 t Don't you understand? Have you forgotten about the 5,000 people and all those baskets of leftovers from just five loaves of bread? 10 t And what about the 4,000 people and all those baskets of leftovers from only seven loaves of bread?

11 Don't you know by now that I am not talking to you about bread? Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!

12 Finally, the disciples understood that Jesus wasn't talking about the yeast used to make bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Who Is Jesus?

(Mark 8.27-30; Luke 9.18-21)

13 When Jesus and his disciples were near the town of Caesarea Philippi, he asked them, “What do people say about the Son of Man?”

14  t The disciples answered, “Some people say you are John the Baptist or maybe Elijaht or Jeremiah or some other prophet.”

15 Then Jesus asked, “But who do you say I am?”

16  t Simon Peter spoke up, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus told him:
Simon, son of Jonah, you are blessed! You didn't discover this on your own. It was shown to you by my Father in heaven. 18 So I will call you Peter, which means “a rock.” On this rock I will build my church, and death itself will not have any power over it.

19 t I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth. But he will not allow anything you don't allow.

20 Jesus told his disciples not to tell anyone he was the Messiah.

Jesus Speaks about His Suffering //and Death

(Mark 8.31—9.1; Luke 9.22-27)

21 From then on, Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, “I must go to Jerusalem. There the nation's leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make me suffer terribly. I will be killed, but three days later I will rise to life.”

22 Peter took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking like that. He said, “God would never let this happen to you, Lord!”

23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Satan, get away from me! You're in my way because you think like everyone else and not like God.”

24  t Then Jesus said to his disciples:
If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. 25 t If you want to save your life, t you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

26 What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What would you give to get back your soul?
27  t The Son of Man will soon come in the glory of his Father and with his angels to reward all people for what they have done. 28 I promise you some of those standing here will not die before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.