Matthew 16

Mt 16:1-12.

A

SIGN FROM

HEAVEN

SOUGHT AND

REFUSED--CAUTION AGAINST THE

LEAVEN OF THE

PHARISEES AND

SADDUCEES.

For the exposition, see on

Mr 8:11-21.

Mt 16:13-28.

PETER'S

NOBLE

CONFESSION OF

CHRIST AND THE

BENEDICTION

PRONOUNCED UPON

HIM--CHRIST'S

FIRST

EXPLICIT

ANNOUNCEMENT OF

HIS

APPROACHING

SUFFERINGS,

DEATH, AND

RESURRECTION--HIS

REBUKE OF

PETER AND

WARNING TO

ALL THE

TWELVE.

Mr 8:27; 9:1;

Lu 9:18-27).

The time of this section--which is beyond doubt, and will presently be

mentioned--is of immense importance, and throws a touching interest

around the incidents which it records.

Peter's Confession, and the Benediction Pronounced upon Him.

(Mt 16:13-20).

13. When Jesus came into the coasts--"the parts," that is, the

territory or region. In Mark

(Mr 8:27)

it is "the towns" or "villages."

of Cæsarea Philippi--It lay at the foot of Mount Lebanon, near the

sources of the Jordan, in the territory of Dan, and at the northeast

extremity of Palestine. It was originally called Panium (from a

cavern in its neighborhood dedicated to the god Pan) and Paneas. Philip, the tetrarch, the only good son of Herod

the Great, in whose

dominions Paneas lay, having beautified and enlarged it, changed its

name to Cæsarea, in honor of the Roman emperor, and added

Philippi after his own name, to distinguish it from the other

Cæsarea

(Ac 10:1)

on the northeast coast of the Mediterranean Sea. [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 15.10,3; 18.2,1]. This

quiet and distant retreat Jesus appears to have sought with the view of

talking over with the Twelve the fruit of His past labors, and breaking

to them for the first time the sad intelligence of His approaching

death.

he asked his disciples--"by the way," says Mark

(Mr 8:27),

and "as He was alone praying," says Luke

(Lu 9:18).

saying, Whom--or more grammatically, "Who"

do men say that I the Son of man am?--(or, "that the Son of man

is"--the recent editors omitting here the me of Mark and Luke

[Mr 8:27;

Lu 9:18];

though the evidence seems pretty nearly balanced)--that is, "What are

the views generally entertained of Me, the Son of man, after going up

and down among them so long?" He had now closed the first great stage

of His ministry, and was just entering on the last dark one. His

spirit, burdened, sought relief in retirement, not only from the

multitude, but even for a season from the Twelve. He retreated into

"the secret place of the Most High," pouring out His soul "in

supplications and prayers, with strong crying and tears"

(Heb 5:7).

On rejoining His disciples, and as they were pursuing their quiet

journey, He asked them this question.

14. And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist--risen

from the dead. So that Herod Antipas was not singular in his surmise

(Mt 14:1, 2).

some, Elias--(Compare

Mr 6:15).

and others, Jeremias--Was this theory suggested by a supposed

resemblance between the "Man of Sorrows" and "the weeping prophet?"

or one of the prophets--or, as Luke

(Lu 9:8)

expresses it, "that one of the old prophets is risen again." In another

report of the popular opinions which Mark

(Mr 6:15)

gives us, it is thus expressed, "That it is a prophet [or], as one of

the prophets": in other words, That He was a prophetical person,

resembling those of old.

15. He saith unto them, But whom--rather, "who."

say ye that I am?--He had never put this question before, but the

crisis He was reaching made it fitting that He should now have it from

them. We may suppose this to be one of those moments of which the

prophet says, in His name, "Then I said, I have labored in vain; I have

spent my strength for naught, and in vain"

(Isa 49:4):

Lo, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree; and what

is it? As the result of all, I am taken for John the Baptist, for

Elias, for Jeremias, for one of the prophets. Yet some there are that

have beheld My glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father,

and I shall hear their voice, for it is sweet.

16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of

the living God--He does not say, "Scribes and Pharisees, rulers and

people, are all perplexed; and shall we, unlettered fishermen, presume

to decide?" But feeling the light of his Master's glory shining in his

soul, he breaks forth--not in a tame, prosaic acknowledgment,

"I believe that Thou art," &c.--but in the language of

adoration--such as one uses in worship,

"THOU

ART THE

CHRIST, THE

SON OF THE

LIVING

GOD!"

He first owns Him the promised Messiah (see on

Mt 1:16);

then he rises higher, echoing the voice from heaven--"This is My

beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"; and in the important

addition--"Son of the LIVING GOD"--he recognizes the essential and eternal life of God

as in this His Son--though doubtless without that distinct perception

afterwards vouchsafed.

17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou--Though

it is not to be doubted that Peter, in this noble testimony to Christ,

only expressed the conviction of all the Twelve, yet since he alone

seems to have had clear enough apprehensions to put that conviction in

proper and suitable words, and courage enough to speak them out, and

readiness enough to do this at the right time--so he only, of all the

Twelve, seems to have met the present want, and communicated to the

saddened soul of the Redeemer at the critical moment that balm which was

needed to cheer and refresh it. Nor is Jesus above giving indication of

the deep satisfaction which this speech yielded Him, and hastening to

respond to it by a signal acknowledgment of Peter in return.

Simon Bar-jona--or, "son of Jona"

(Joh 1:42),

or "Jonas"

(Joh 21:15).

This name, denoting his humble fleshly extraction, seems to have been

purposely here mentioned, to contrast the more vividly with the

spiritual elevation to which divine illumination had raised him.

for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee--"This is not the

fruit of human teaching."

but my Father which is in heaven--In speaking of God, Jesus, it

is to be observed, never calls Him, "our Father" (see on

Joh 20:17),

but either "your Father"--when He would encourage His timid believing

ones with the assurance that He was theirs, and teach themselves to

call Him so--or, as here, "My Father," to signify some peculiar action

or aspect of Him as "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

18. And I say also unto thee--that is, "As thou hast borne such

testimony to Me, even so in return do I to thee."

That thou art Peter--At his first calling, this new name was

announced to him as an honor afterwards to be conferred on him

(Joh 1:43).

Now he gets it, with an explanation of what it was meant to convey.

and upon this rock--As "Peter" and "Rock" are one word in the dialect

familiarly spoken by our Lord--the Aramaic or Syro-Chaldaic, which

was the mother tongue of the country--this exalted play upon the word can be fully seen only in languages which have one

word for both. Even

in the Greek it is imperfectly represented. In French, as

WEBSTER

and WILKINSON remark, it is perfect, Pierre--pierre.

I will build my Church--not on the man Simon Bar-jona; but on

him as the heavenly-taught confessor of a faith. "My Church," says our

Lord, calling the Church HIS

OWN; a magnificent expression regarding Himself,

remarks BENGEL--nowhere else occurring in the

Gospels.

and the gates of hell--"of Hades," or, the unseen world; meaning, the

gates of Death: in other words, "It shall never perish." Some explain it

of "the assaults of the powers of darkness"; but though that expresses a

glorious truth, probably the former is the sense here.

19. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven--the

kingdom of God about to be set up on earth

and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and

whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven--Whatever this mean, it was soon expressly

extended to all the apostles

(Mt 18:18);

so that the claim of supreme authority in the Church, made for Peter by

the Church of Rome, and then arrogated to themselves by the popes as

the legitimate successors of St. Peter, is baseless and impudent. As

first in confessing Christ, Peter got this commission before the rest;

and with these "keys," on the day of Pentecost, he first "opened the

door of faith" to the Jews, and then, in the person of

Cornelius, he was honored to do the same to the Gentiles. Hence,

in the lists of the apostles, Peter is always first named. See on

Mt 18:18.

One thing is clear, that not in all the New Testament is there the

vestige of any authority either claimed or exercised by Peter, or

conceded to him, above the rest of the apostles--a thing conclusive

against the Romish claims in behalf of that apostle.

20. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he

was Jesus the Christ--Now that He had been so explicit, they might

naturally think the time come for giving it out openly; but here they

are told it had not.

Announcement of His Approaching Death

and Rebuke of Peter

(Mt 16:21-28).

The occasion here is evidently the same.

21. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples--that

is, with an explicitness and frequency He had never observed before.

how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things--"and be

rejected,"

(Mr 8:31;

Lu 9:22).

of the elders and chief priests and scribes--not as before, merely by

not receiving Him, but by formal deeds.

and be killed, and be raised again the third day--Mark

(Mr 8:32)

adds, that "He spake that saying openly"--"explicitly," or "without

disguise."

22. Then Peter took him--aside, apart from the rest; presuming on

the distinction just conferred on him; showing how unexpected and

distasteful to them all was the announcement.

and began to rebuke him--affectionately, yet with a certain generous

indignation, to chide Him.

saying, Be it far from thee: this shall not be unto thee--that is,

"If I can help it": the same spirit that prompted him in the garden to

draw the sword in His behalf

(Joh 18:10).

23. But he turned, and said--in the hearing of the rest; for Mark

(Mr 8:33)

expressly says, "When He had turned about and looked on His disciples,

He rebuked Peter"; perceiving that he had but boldly uttered what

others felt, and that the check was needed by them also.

Get thee behind me, Satan--the same words as He had addressed to the

Tempter

(Lu 4:8);

for He felt in it a satanic lure, a whisper from hell, to move Him from

His purpose to suffer. So He shook off the Serpent, then coiling around

Him, and "felt no harm"

(Ac 28:5).

How quickly has the "rock" turned to a devil! The fruit of divine

teaching the Lord delighted to honor in Peter; but the mouthpiece of

hell, which he had in a moment of forgetfulness become, the Lord shook

off with horror.

thou art an offence--a stumbling-block.

unto me--"Thou playest the Tempter, casting a stumbling-block in My

way to the Cross. Could it succeed, where wert thou? and how should the

Serpent's head be bruised?"

for thou savourest not--thou thinkest not.

the things that be of God, but those that be of men--"Thou art carried

away by human views of the way of setting up Messiah's kingdom, quite

contrary to those of God." This was kindly said, not to take off the

sharp edge of the rebuke, but to explain and justify it, as it was

evident Peter knew not what was in the bosom of his rash speech.

24. Then said Jesus unto his disciples--Mark

(Mr 8:34)

says, "When He had called the people unto Him, with His disciples also,

He said unto them"--turning the rebuke of one into a warning to all.

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his

cross, and follow me.

25. For whosoever will save--is minded to save, or bent on saving.

his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake

shall find it--(See on

Mt 10:38,39).

"A suffering and dying Messiah liketh you ill; but what if His servants

shall meet the same fate? They may not; but who follows Me must be

prepared for the worst."

26. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and

lose his own soul--or forfeit his own soul?

or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?--Instead of these

weighty words, which we find in

Mr 8:36

also, it is thus expressed in

Lu 9:25:

"If he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away," or

better, "If he gain the whole world, and destroy or forfeit himself."

How awful is the stake as here set forth! If a man makes the present

world--in its various forms of riches, honors, pleasures, and such

like--the object of supreme pursuit, be it that he gains the world; yet

along with it he forfeits his own soul. Not that any ever did, or ever

will gain the whole world--a very small portion of it, indeed, falls to

the lot of the most successful of the world's votaries--but to make the

extravagant concession, that by giving himself entirely up to it, a man

gains the whole world; yet, setting over against this gain the

forfeiture of his soul--necessarily following the surrender of his

whole heart to the world--what is he profited? But, if not the whole

world, yet possibly something else may be conceived as an equivalent

for the soul. Well, what is it?--"Or what shall a man give in exchange

for his soul?" Thus, in language the weightiest, because the simplest,

does our Lord shut up His hearers, and all who shall read these words

to the end of the world, to the priceless value to every man of his own

soul. In Mark and Luke

(Mr 8:38;

Lu 9:26)

the following words are added: "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of

Me and of My words [shall be ashamed of belonging to Me, and ashamed of

My Gospel] in this adulterous and sinful generation" (see on

Mt 12:39),

"of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when He cometh in the glory of

His Father, with the holy angels." He will render back to that man his

own treatment, disowning him before the most august of all assemblies,

and putting him to "shame and everlasting contempt"

(Da 12:2).

"O shame," exclaims BENGEL, "to be put to shame

before God, Christ, and angels!" The sense of shame is founded

on our love of reputation, which causes instinctive aversion to

what is fitted to lower it, and was given us as a preservative from all

that is properly shameful. To be lost to shame is to be

nearly past hope.

(Zep 3:5;

Jer 6:15; 3:3).

But when Christ and "His words" are unpopular, the same instinctive

desire to stand well with others begets that temptation to be

ashamed of Him which only the expulsive power of a higher affection can

effectually counteract.

27. For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his

angels--in the splendor of His Father's authority and with all His

angelic ministers, ready to execute His pleasure.

and then he shall reward, &c.

28. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here--"some of those

standing here."

which shall not taste of death, fill they see the Son of man coming in

his kingdom--or, as in Mark

(Mr 9:1),

"till they see the kingdom of God come with power"; or, as in Luke

(Lu 9:27),

more simply still, "till they see the kingdom of God." The reference,

beyond doubt, is to the firm establishment and victorious progress, in

the lifetime of some then present, of that new kingdom of Christ, which

was destined to work the greatest of all changes on this earth, and be

the grand pledge of His final coming in glory.