seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 16:1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.[a] 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.
5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6 “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”
8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
a. Matthew 16:3 Some early manuscripts do not have When evening comes … of the times.
b. Matthew 16:18 The Greek word for Peter means rock.
c. Matthew 16:18 That is, the realm of the dead
d. Matthew 16:19 Or will have been
e. Matthew 16:19 Or will have been
f. Matthew 16:25 The Greek word means either life or soul; also in verse 26
This is from the easy English site.
Both the Pharisees and the Sadducees were important people, but they had different ideas. The Pharisees believed God’s Law, but they added many other rules from their own traditions. But the Sadducees refused to accept them. The Pharisees believed that people would live again after death. But the Sadducees denied any life after death. Many Pharisees hated what Jesus taught. He was not a Pharisee. So they thought that he should not be teaching the people. The Sadducees did not like Jesus either, but they had a political reason. They saw Jesus’ actions and they knew that he was popular. The Sadducees were afraid that this would cause trouble with the Romans. Then they would lose their authority. They only had authority because they worked with the Romans. So both the Pharisees and the Sadducees opposed Jesus. They wanted him to show them a sign. They wanted to see a miracle. Perhaps they wanted to hear God speak from heaven. Or perhaps they wanted to see wonderful events connected with the sun or moon. Jesus had already refused to do something that would astonish people (Matthew 4:5-7).
The disciples at last realised that Jesus was not talking about actual bread. In the local language, ‘yeast’ sometimes referred to an evil way to persuade other people. Jesus was warning them not to listen to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Their teaching could change the way that the disciples thought.
The Pharisees had the wrong idea about religion. They thought that people just had to obey a set of rules. But the disciples must not think that God’s way was only rules and ceremonies.
The Sadducees were rich. And they thought that political action would help God. They thought that God could rule through them. But Jesus did not want the disciples to believe that possessions are very important. And they must not think that political effort would make God rule on the earth.
Caesarea Philippi was a town about 25 miles to the north-east from the sea of Galilee. It was in the area that Philip, Herod’s son, ruled. He named the place ‘Caesar’s town’ and added his own name. Philippi means ‘belongs to Philip’. This showed that this town was distinct from the town called Caesarea on the coast. The river Jordan began in the Caesarea Philippi region. And there were many places where people worshipped their own gods in that area. Jesus asked whether his disciples understood who he was. First, he asked them what other people were saying about him.
Keys are a sign of authority. Jesus said, ‘I am alive. I was dead, but now I am alive again. And I hold the keys to death and Hades’ (Revelation 1:18). In Isaiah’s time, Eliakim was a servant who had a responsible job. He had to open and shut the door (Isaiah 22:22). Peter was like that servant. He ‘opened the door’ to God for thousands of people. They became part of God’s stones in his building. Every Christian has the same duty. He or she must show people the way to God. Peter guided the church. He taught Christians how to behave in the right way. This was an honour and a responsibility. Peter shared this authority with other members of the church (Matthew 18:18).
The disciples now knew that Jesus was the Messiah. But he told them not to spread the news. He did not want people to begin a fight against the Romans. He wanted to teach his disciples that he would suffer. They needed to know that he would die.
This tidbit is from bibletrack.org.
Jesus has just completed his comments regarding what lies ahead of them - the mock trials, the crucifixion, the resurrection. Peter's reaction indicated that he did not anticipate that it would be going in this direction. Now it's time to clearly indicate the cost of discipleship that lies in their future. Here's an important concept for understanding the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. Salvation is different from discipleship. As a matter of fact, let's add a category called "special-purpose discipleship." Let's do some definitions here:
- Salvation - Trusting Jesus Christ by faith as your only means for eternal life and going to Heaven. It's a "born-again" experience facilitated by the empowering of the Holy Spirit by faith that delivers the Believer into God's family. An eternity-long covenant relationship is experienced between the Believer and God as a result.
- Discipleship - The action of following and emulating the actions of Jesus. Interestingly enough, Judas was a disciple, but never experienced salvation (John 6:70).
- Special-purpose discipleship - The action of dropping everything one is doing, forsaking family ties and possessions and exclusively committing everything (all your resources) to the cause of ministering with Jesus in his earthly ministry.
Whoa! What is this third category, "Special-purpose discipleship?" Simply speaking, Jesus, on several occasions in the Gospels, called men to recognize the urgency of his earthly mission and drop everything (I mean everything) to follow and assist in this ministry. For example, I married while in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam era. For nine months I reported to my squadron each day and in the evening went home to my wife. Then I received my orders to the Western Pacific - NO WIVES ALLOWED. Even though I ultimately ended up serving in a squadron in Iwakuni, Japan, all of us who served in the Western Pacific were required to leave our wives and families behind and exclusively give our attention to the crisis at hand. So, does being a Marine mean forsaking family? Not necessarily. There were special-purpose assignments that did, but other assignments did not. Please understand this analogy. As Jesus neared his crucifixion, he sought disciples who would recognize this urgency, drop everything else they were involved in (including family) and follow him. I reject the notion that discipleship today involves turning one's back on family commitments. Context is important here. This special-purpose discipleship is to be distinguished from expectations of discipleship for the New Testament Believer. The Apostle Paul makes clear throughout his writings the importance of commitment to one's family responsibilities.
That last sentence of this paragraph has me stuck. None of the commentaries gave me a clue. When an old gray haired woman with an online Bible and some online commentary can't make sense of a sentence.... the commentaries are supposed to at least give her a glimpse of what the verse means.... but not this morning..... so this is based on "Lord what do I write" stuff. Take it with a grain of salt.... it's just my opinion.....I think Jesus was talking about the future church here, not just the Temple in His earthbound days. The crowds Jesus was gathering were making the Pharisees and the Sadduccees really nervous. This was a time of oppression.... and the Pharisees as well as the Sadducees were part of the oppression.... they added a layer of rules and regulations no human could bare for long. They were lacing the truth with their version of the truth without giving anyone an IMHO while doing so. Jesus didn't want His disciples to do this.
Now the Pharisees and the Sadducees knew that the Law given to Moses included a couple of mentions of magic..... remember the staff that turned into a snake.... and the magicians who turned their staff into snakes..... and Moses snake ate their staff snakes and then turned back into a staff??? If Jesus had done something like that..... they would have labeled Him a magician.... end of story.... but Jesus didn't fall for it.... on top of that.... He warned His disciples not to fall for the crap the Pharisees and the Sadducees were spreading over the Temple.
I thought the story about the bread was hilarious..... After all the feeding of 5000 and then the feeding of 4000.... they forgot the bread???? How ironic.... especially since Jesus was right there. Yep... they didn't recognize Jesus as the same guy who took a satchel lunch and turned it into a meal for 5000. They didn't recognize Jesus as the same guy who turned a basket of fish into a meal for 4000 with seven huge baskets of fish left over.... and they were worried about yeast and bread....
I think the conversation with Peter and the disciples was a test. I figure there had to be a time when the Spirit would help Jesus out a little. I figure Jesus was checking to see if the Spirit had opened the "understanding" part of the plan. I figure the Spirit gets moving in the soul of a disciple... after they clean out the human insecurities.... a smart gene is fired up by the Spirit and humans can then recognize Christ in His Glory. I think up until this time... Jesus was training them..... trying to get them up to speed while there was still time.... but, if the Spirit opened up the mind.... the Spirit would be opening the concept of Heaven to understanding. They can Understand if they have the keys.......
So.... in these days when I can't find yeast in the grocery stores.... and the churches are closed for business because people are sick..... I'm sitting here saying.... I don't think Peter [the human disciple] was the rock. I think Peter's understanding of the true identity of Jesus the Messiah was caused by the Spirit..... and THAT not Peter [the human disciple] was the rock the church was to be built on. Unfortunately..... humans who read this don't understand.
