Matthew 16:13-28

Living Bible

¹³ When Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who are the people saying I^[a] am?”

¹⁴ “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; some, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

¹⁵ Then he asked them, “Who do you think I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “The Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ “God has blessed you, Simon, son of Jonah,” Jesus said, “for my Father in heaven has personally revealed this to you—this is not from any human source. ¹⁸ You are Peter, a stone; and upon this rock I will build my church; and all the powers of hell shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; whatever doors you lock on earth shall be locked in heaven; and whatever doors you open on earth shall be open in heaven!”

²⁰ Then he warned the disciples against telling others that he was the Messiah.

²¹ From then on Jesus began to speak plainly to his disciples about going to Jerusalem, and what would happen to him there—that he would suffer at the hands of the Jewish leaders,^[b] that he would be killed, and that three days later he would be raised to life again.

²² But Peter took him aside to remonstrate with him. “Heaven forbid, sir,” he said. “This is not going to happen to you!”

²³ Jesus turned on Peter and said, “Get away from me, you Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are thinking merely from a human point of view, and not from God’s.”

²⁴ Then Jesus said to the disciples, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For anyone who keeps his life for himself shall lose it; and anyone who loses his life for me shall find it again. ²⁶ What profit is there if you gain the whole world—and lose eternal life? What can be compared with the value of eternal life? ²⁷ For I, the Son of Mankind, shall come with my angels in the glory of my Father and judge each person according to his deeds. ²⁸ And some of you standing right here now will certainly live to see me coming in my Kingdom.”