The Assurance of God’s Saving Work

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

The Pharisees and Sadducees Seek a Sign^(A)

16 Then the ^(B)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.’ ^[a]Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. ^4 (C)A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of ^[b]the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees^(D)

⁵ Now ^(E)when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. ⁶ Then Jesus said to them, ^(F)“Take heed and beware of the ^[c]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 ^[d]have brought no bread? ^9 (G)Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? ^10 (H)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 ^[e]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 ^[f]doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ^(I)

¹³ When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ^(J)“Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

¹⁴ So they said, ^(K)“Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or ^(L)one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do ^(M)you say that I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered and said, ^(N)“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, ^(O)for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but ^(P)My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that ^(Q)you are Peter, and ^(R)on this rock I will build My church, and ^(S)the gates of Hades shall not ^[g]prevail against it. ^19 (T)And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth ^[h]will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

^20 (U)Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.