Matthew 16

More Warnings about Religious Leadership

Interesting how much talk of the Pharisees and their actions dominates the discussion in Matthew.  I recall this from Mark but don't recall that being the case in Matthew.  Of course, it makes sense with the thought that this particular gospel is tailor-made for the Jews and that it would focus on these things.

Chapter 15 was dominated by the images of evil intertwined in the good...the parable of the wheat and tares, the mustard seed (with the "birds" nesting in the branches), the yeast.  Christ spends a lot of time of these "imposters" of the faith.  Now in Chapter 16, it begins with the Pharisees and Sadducees questioning him and again he replies with another enigmatic statement that highlights their "out-of-touch" nature:

"And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.
He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. hAn evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." So he left them and departed." -Matthew 16:1-4

For me, I am still puzzling over this loyalty God has to the Jews.  He chose them, gave them first priority.  Even in sending his son, Christ's ministry seems to be to the Jews first---as evidenced in the reluctant healing of the Canaanite woman, in the prior chapters.  This loyalty is interesting, and I believe tells us more about the nature of God than the nature of the Jews.  The Jews are no better, no worse, than all of us.  We all have tendencies to become callous, hard-hearted, self-serving, to get lost in our own traditions to the neglect of mercy.  Maintaining ritualism is easier than loving people.  With rituals, you don't have to engage your heart.

As if this litany of illustrations is not enough, Christ gets them into the boat and warns his disciples most directly:


"How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." -Matthew 16:11

Interesting comment on the Saducees perspective: "The leaven of the Sadducees was rationalism. The freethinkers of their day, they, like the liberals of today, had built a system of doubts and denials. They denied the existence of angels and spirits, the resurrection of the body, the immortality of the soul, and eternal punishment. This leaven of skepticism, if tolerated, will spread and permeate like yeast in meal." -BBC

Our culture is certainly full of this kind of literalness---science is viewed as supremely rational and, religion of all kinds, as wishful thinking.

On Feeding the Disciples After They Forgot the Food

Our physical and literal needs are a continual opportunity for us to trust the Lord.  We are readily distracted by them.

"When His disciples rejoined the Lord on the east side of the lake, they had forgotten to take food with them. Therefore when Jesus greeted them with a warning to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sad ducees, they thought He was saying, “Don't go to those Jewish leaders for food supplies!” Their preoccupation with food caused them to look for a literal, natural explanation where a spiritual lesson was intended.

If we put our limited resources at His disposal, He can multiply them in inverse proportion to their amount. “Little is much if God is in it.”-BBC

The people were given miracles, yet they wanted more.  The disciples had seen the Lord provide food for the masses, yet they continued to doubt and worry about physical provision.  It shows us that we can be blessed, yet we doubt.  We think that if the Lord would "provide" this one time, then we would trust and be confident in him, yet the truth is that we continually doubt, our default of doubt is the easiest route and we have to actively fight against it.

Peter, the Foundation of the Church

What to do with the below passage?  The Catholic Church uses it as the basis of their entire structure.



Mat 16:15  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Mat 16:16  Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
Mat 16:18  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Not sure if I fully buy this explanation, but it is attractive:

"We all know that more controversy has swirled around this verse than almost any other verse in the Gospel. The question is, “Who or what is the rock?” Part of the problem arises from the fact that the Greek words for Peter and for rock are similar, but the meanings are different. The first, petros, means a stone or loose rock; the second, petra, means rock, such as a rocky ledge. So what Jesus really said was “ ... you are Peter (stone), and on this rock I will build My church.” He did not say He would build His church on a stone but on a rock.

If Peter is not the rock, then what is? If we stick to the context, the obvious answer is that the rock is Peter's confession that Christ is the Son of the living God, the truth on which the church is founded. Eph_2:20 teaches that the church is built on Jesus Christ, the chief cornerstone. Its statement that we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets refers not to them, but to the foundation laid in their teachings concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ is spoken of as a Rock in 1Co_10:4. In this connection, Morgan gives a helpful reminder:

Remember, He was talking to Jews. If we trace the figurative use of the word rock through Hebrew Scriptures, we find that it is never used symbolically of man, but always of God. So here at Caesarea Philippi, it is not upon Peter that the Church is built. Jesus did not trifle with figures of speech. He took up their old Hebrew illustration—rock, always the symbol of Deity—and said, “Upon God Himself —Christ, the Son of the living God—I will build my church.”-BBC

His Coming Death

Jesus was quite direct about his impending death.  You would think this would have inspired the disciples to react more steadfastly when later under the weight of this circumstance, but they all fled regardless.

Mat 16:21  From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Christ the Dialectic Teacher

He asks questions to engage his disciples:


Mat 16:13  Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

Mat 16:15  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 

His is no abstract impersonal theology---it demands a personal response from each individual.  It is not mere head knowledge, but intensely practical.