Matthew 16
King James Version
16 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 lowering. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Matthew 16
Amplified Bible
Pharisees Test Jesus
16 Now the Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus [to get something to use against Him], they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven [which would support His divine authority]. 2 But He replied to them, “[a]When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and has a threatening look.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but cannot interpret the signs of the times? 4 An evil and [morally] unfaithful generation craves a [miraculous] sign; but no sign will be given to it, except the sign of [the prophet] Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.(A)
5 When the disciples reached the other side of the sea, they realized that they had forgotten to bring bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “Watch out and be on your guard against the [b]leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you have no bread? 9 Do you still not understand or remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up? 11 How is it that you fail to understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But 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 [false] teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Peter’s Confession of Christ
13 Now when Jesus went into the [c]region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”(B) 14 And they answered, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or [just] one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God.” 17 Then Jesus answered him, “Blessed [happy, spiritually secure, favored by God] are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood (mortal man) did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I say to you that you are [d]Peter, and on this [e]rock I will build My church; and the [f]gates of Hades (death) will not overpower it [by preventing the resurrection of the Christ].(C) 19 I will give you the keys (authority) of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth [g]will have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth [h]will have [already] been loosed in heaven.”(D) 20 Then He gave the disciples strict orders to tell no one that He was the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
Jesus Foretells His Death
21 [i]From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples [clearly] that He must go to Jerusalem, and endure many things at the hands of the elders and the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), and be killed, and be raised [from death to life] on the third day.(E) 22 Peter took Him aside [to speak to Him privately] and began to reprimand Him, saying, “May God forbid it! This will never happen to You.” 23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on things of man.”
Discipleship Is Costly
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity]. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory and majesty of His Father with His angels, and then He will repay each one in accordance with what he has done.(F)
28 “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there are some of [j]those standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 16:2 Early mss do not contain the rest of v 2 and all of v 3 beginning with “When it is evening” in v 2.
- Matthew 16:6 Here, leaven represents the man-made traditions and false teachings of the Pharisees which were preventing the nation of Israel from attaining right standing with God and from recognizing and accepting the Messiah.
- Matthew 16:13 In Jesus’ day this was Gentile territory. Today this region is known as the Golan Heights. The ancient city of Caesarea Philippi was located at the foot of Mt. Hermon, near the Banias Spring, one of the three springs which feeds into the Jordan River.
- Matthew 16:18 Gr petros, a small or detached stone.
- Matthew 16:18 Gr petra, bedrock or a huge rock. Jesus uses a simple play on the Greek words petros and petra in this verse. Throughout the N.T. Christ is clearly depicted as both the foundation petra and chief cornerstone of the church. Here He praises Peter for his accurate confession of faith in Him as Messiah. Peter explains the role of believers as “living stones” in the church which is built on Christ as the foundation and cornerstone (1 Pet 2:5, 6).
- Matthew 16:18 The physical death of Christ will not hinder the establishment of the church nor will death overtake the church.
- Matthew 16:19 Gr estai dedemenon, future perfect passive referring to a state of having already been bound.
- Matthew 16:19 Gr estai lelumenon, future perfect passive.
- Matthew 16:21 This marks a turning point in the book. 4:17 marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry offering the kingdom to Israel. Since Israel rejected the Messiah, the kingdom is held in abeyance and the Messiah must suffer death. But He had to die in any case to provide salvation.
- Matthew 16:28 Undoubtedly a reference to Peter, John, and James, who were to witness the transfiguration a few days later.
Matthew 16
Living Bible
16 One day the Pharisees and Sadducees[a] came to test Jesus’ claim of being the Messiah by asking him to show them some great demonstrations in the skies.
2-3 He replied, “You are good at reading the weather signs of the skies—red sky tonight means fair weather tomorrow; red sky in the morning means foul weather all day—but you can’t read the obvious signs of the times! 4 This evil, unbelieving nation is asking for some strange sign in the heavens, but no further proof will be given except the miracle that happened to Jonah.” Then Jesus walked out on them.
5 Arriving across the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any food.
6 “Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They thought he was saying this because they had forgotten to bring bread.
8 Jesus knew what they were thinking and told them, “O men of little faith! Why are you so worried about having no food? 9 Won’t you ever understand? Don’t you remember at all the five thousand I fed with five loaves, and the basketfuls left over? 10 Don’t you remember the four thousand I fed, and all that was left? 11 How could you even think I was talking about food? But again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”
12 Then at last they understood that by yeast he meant the wrong teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 When Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who are the people saying I[b] 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,
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,[c] 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.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 16:1 Pharisees and Sadducees. Jewish politico-religious leaders of two different parties.
- Matthew 16:13 I, literally, “the Son of Man.”
- Matthew 16:21 of the Jewish leaders, literally, “of the elders, and chief priests, and scribes.”
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