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Matthew 16:21-28
Jesus had once again taken His disciples into Gentile territory, in the region of Caesarea Philippi, north of
Galilee. On the journey, He had questioned His disciples: “Who do you say that I am?”

It was Simon Peter who had taken the initiative and responded with a declaration of his personal belief -
Jesus is the Christ - the son of the living God. Simon Peter was saying that Jesus is Israel’s Messiah and
King, and that Jesus is God Himself. All the disciples had likely come to the same conclusion; but it was
Simon Peter who proclaimed it, with his typical boldness.

Jesus commended Simon Peter for this, and declared that Peter was the rock - that He, Jesus, would build
His church upon. The church would be established on the foundational teaching of the apostles and
prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:19-22).

But Peter would be the first to carry the good news forward; first to use the gospel keys to open the doors
of the kingdom of heaven for both Jew and Gentile; and first to begin administering God’s authority, within
the church.

Peter would be privileged to be the first among equals, both because Peter had first declared Jesus to be the
Messiah; and because of Peter’s characteristic forwardness.

But as we continue in chapter 16, we come to see that this characteristic forwardness of Peter - which
caused him to be bold in declaring great revelations from God - could also cause him to be brash - and blurt
out things that couldn’t be further from God’s thinking.

We continue in verse 21. But I want to read this together with the command that Jesus gave His disciples,
back in verse 20.

16:20-21 The sense here is that there is not a significant lapse in actual time; but there is a significant
change in course, in Matthew’s gospel. The declaration of Peter - that Jesus is the Messiah - marks the
culmination of the ministry of Jesus, in Galilee; this was the conclusion, to that ministry. It was a
conclusion voiced by Peter, but it was shared by all of the disciples - except one.

This is the turning point, in Matthew’s gospel - for he will begin to show Jesus proceeding to the south,
slowly moving toward Jerusalem, and the final confrontation. And instead of seeing Jesus mostly with the
public - preaching, teaching, and healing - we will see that this became a time of mostly private, intensive
instruction, for His disciples - and that this began here and now - “from that time”.

Jesus had initiated this discussion of who He is, and confirmed the conclusion: He is the Messiah. Having
established that, Jesus then began to reveal to His disciples what He, as Messiah, had come to do.
Here was His crucial mission, as He laid it out, in verse 21: to go to Jerusalem; to suffer at the hands of the
religious authorities there, and be killed; and then to be raised the third day.

It was the first time that Jesus was disclosing this, to His disciples. It is true that Jesus had spoke of a time
when the Bridegroom would be taken away from His friends, and then they would mourn (Mt 9:15). But
the disciples of Jesus were so busy celebrating His presence at that time, that they surely didn’t think too
deeply about what He meant.
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And then, Jesus had told the religious rulers that no other sign would be given them except the sign of the
prophet Jonah - who was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish - likewise would the Son
of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Mt 12:39-40).

What did that mean, to the disciples? I’m sure it was pretty incomprehensible to them, at the time; Jesus
would just do some great miracle in the future - one that would demonstrate to Israel that He was the
Messiah. The disciples weren’t wrong about that. They just couldn’t have understood precisely what the
nature of that miracle would be.

But now, in no uncertain terms, Jesus was telling His disciples what lay ahead, for Him. Jesus must go to
Jerusalem; it was absolutely necessary. The thought here is that this was the predetermined will of God; it
was an issue of obedience. Jesus always obeyed the will of His Father.

In Jerusalem, Jesus must suffer many things - again, it was the will of God. Jesus would be subjected to
evil. By who? By the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes - the religious authorities, in Jerusalem.
Party allegiances aside, these were the three main groups who composed the Sanhedrin - the judicial ruling
body, of the Jews.

The Sanhedrin was like the Supreme Court, deciding the most significant issues of Law, for the Jews - and
violations of it. Mark indicates Jesus said that the members of the Sanhedrin would reject Jesus (Mk 8:31),
suggesting that they would rule against Him. The Sanhedrin had been granted authority by the Romans to
execute their judgments - short of the death sentence itself.

Yet Jesus also added that He must be killed. This too was God’s will. Jesus would be put to death. Notice
that Jesus was not necessarily attributing this to the Sanhedrin, directly; nonetheless, the progression He
indicates here underlines their culpability.

Jesus would be killed; but that wasn’t the end. Jesus then adds He must be raised the third day - referring of
course to His resurrection. The raising of Jesus points to the intervention of God, to overrule the death of
Jesus, with resurrection Life.

Jesus was showing that He would overcome death; but more than that, He was indicating that this would be
His vindication, by God; His resurrection would show that Jesus was precisely who He claimed to be:
Israel’s Messiah and God.

Mark indicates that Jesus spoke this word openly (Mk 8:32); it was a completely forthright saying; no one
could mistake what Jesus meant. The disciples took all of His words in. But as they did, we can just
picture how those words were hitting them - like seismic waves, coursing through their beings - creating
shock and horror.

Jesus was going to suffer - and be put to death? We would like to be able to point out to the disciples that
Jesus also said He would be raised - He would come back to life again. Of course, it’s easy for us to point
that out, isn’t it? It’s already happened. We know the end of this story - because now, it’s history.

But the disciples are in the middle of the story, with Jesus. Their experience is limited in real-time - right
now, to His preaching, and teaching, and healing ministry. Yes, Jesus had some opposition - but He had
multitudes of followers - and even the Gentiles were responding to Him.
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And now Jesus was speaking of what sounded to them like the failure of His ministry - an abject failure,
with a most ignominious end - death. Death is what stood out to them, through all of the words of Jesus.
That Jesus indicated He would be raised from the dead after three days - this was overlooked, by them.

But why would they overlook that? Their OT Scriptures spoke of resurrection (Eze 37:1-14) - but that was
a promise for the future nation. They had seen Jesus raise a little girl from the dead - but of course, that
was right after she had died - not days later (Mt 9:23-26).

Still, Jesus had granted His disciples the power to raise the dead, when they went on their short-term
mission, through Galilee (Mt 10:5-8). We wonder, had any of them exercised the power to do that? Some
most likely had. But that was with people they didn’t know, that passed in and out of their lives, in a
moment.

The death of someone you know, that you have been living your life with - that is much more real to you.
And death has always meant the end of life, in the natural realm; The End.

So the idea of Jesus, who they knew so well, who they had spent three years of their lives with, being raised
- after being dead three days - that held no reality for the disciples, at this time. When Jesus uttered those
words, they fell on unhearing ears. The disciples were fixated upon the appalling thought of Jesus being
killed.

As always, there was one particular disciple who was ready to voice the reaction of the group to what Jesus
had just said - and to add his own personal words - with the aim of erasing what was just said.

16:22-23 Like the rest of the disciples, Peter was horrified by what Jesus said. But unlike them, Peter did
not exercise any restraint, and immediately sought to correct his Master and Teacher.

Peter took Jesus aside. The idea is that Peter took Jesus by the hand, drawing Him away from the other
disciples, in order to have a word with Him - a private word. After all, correcting the Teacher shouldn’t be
done in front of the group!

The word “rebuke” in verse 22 is quite strong. The idea is sharp words, intended to address error - because
Peter certainly thought this idea of Jesus was just that - an error. “Far be it from You” might also be
expressed as “God forbid!” And, this shall not happen is a very strong negative: “this shall never happen
to You!”

Jesus had laid out what was ahead of Him as the will of God, and so therefore as His mission, that He
would accomplish. Peter was indicating that this was a terrible idea; this was not a goal to be
accomplished; this was a disaster to be averted.

But we think, didn’t Peter - and the other disciples - understand that the Messiah had to suffer and die, in
order to become the Sin Bearer, for the nation - and for all the world?

We think of all of the OT prophecies that foretell of this: “The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”
(Is 53:6); “He bore the sin of the many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Is 53:12); “Messiah
shall be cut off” (Dan 9:26); “By His stripes we are healed” (Is 53:53:5). And we think of the ceremonial
worship of Israel, that foreshadowed Messiah’s sacrificial death.
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But that worship had been changed by Jesus’ day into mere religious form; for most, it had lost its meaning.
And prophecies concerning Messiah suffering and dying were either ignored, or applied to the sufferings of
Israel as a nation.

The Jews saw other prophecies in their Scriptures, which spoke of Messiah as a victorious conqueror - who
would save His people from their oppressors. After all, who needed to be saved from sin; that’s why they
offered God their sacrifices!

Of course, those were prophecies concerning the Second Coming of Messiah; but there is no mention in the
OT Scriptures that there would be two comings of Messiah, to the earth. So the Jews paid attention only to
the Scriptures that appealed to them - about Messiah as Conqueror and King.

Incidentally, this makes it evident why Jesus commanded His disciples not to tell others that He was the
Messiah (16:20). Since most of the Jews expected their Messiah to come as a Conquering King, a
widespread disclosure of the identity of Jesus might cause the people to mount a popular uprising in His
name - and the subsequent intervention of the Roman authorities.

The disciples had long held the same misconceptions about Messiah as the rest of the Jews. This is why the
words of Jesus came as such a shock, to them. And in Peter’s mind, what Jesus had outlined here was
nothing short of a mistaking of His mission, as Messiah. Jesus had it all wrong; Peter was there to
straighten Him out.

What was this talk of death? The crowds were already following Jesus; it would just be a natural extension
of that movement to now lead them into the kingdom - which God had always intended for Israel - under
the reign of their Victorious Messiah.

But look at the response of Jesus, to this. First, we read, Jesus turned. Peter had taken Jesus by the hand,
and led Him aside to have this private chat. When Jesus heard what Peter had to say, He turned - putting
Himself in a position opposed, to Peter.

Mark adds that Jesus turned around, and looked at His disciples - who were presumably behind Peter - and
then, Jesus rebuked Peter (Mk 8:33). The idea is that Jesus did this, in their hearing - which exposed Peter.

Why would Jesus do that? Because it was absolutely necessary; they all shared Peter’s thinking, and Jesus
knew it. They might not yet grasp His mission, but they had to be made to understand that Jesus must
pursue it.

Mark says that Jesus rebuked Peter - the one who had presumed to correct Jesus, was now being sharply
corrected by Him - as His Teacher; as His Master; as His God.

And what a sharp rebuke it was! It was almost unimaginably sharp! “Get behind Me, Satan!” Jesus was
calling Peter “Satan”! Was Jesus saying the Satan had possessed Peter; that Satan was speaking through
him? No; Peter genuinely believed in Jesus as Lord. One who belongs to the Lord is in the Lord’s
possession; he cannot be possessed by Satan.

We can view the words of Jesus here in two ways. The title Satan literally means, “adversary”. So Jesus
was effectively saying, “Get behind Me, adversary!” Or we can see in the words of Jesus that He was
saying Peter had taken the position of the great adversary of God; Satan. This is an even harsher rebuke -
and is most likely the one that Jesus intended.
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What was in Peter’s mind, in speaking as he did? That he didn’t want Jesus to suffer and die; Peter loved
Jesus. And, if Jesus suffered and died, that meant the end of His ministry; and that would mean that the
ministry of Jesus was a failure; and that would mean that Peter, and the other disciples, had wasted three
years of their lives, following Jesus. Something like that.

These were unexamined thoughts - unexamined, because Peter blurted them right out of his mouth without
thinking, as a rebuke of Jesus.

But what came out of Peter’s mouth actually took the form of a temptation, in the direction of Jesus; a
temptation to disobey His Father; and to bypass the cross; and to just set up His Kingdom - right now.
Does this ring any bells? Let’s look back in Matthew’s gospel at chapter 4 - and the temptation of Jesus, by
the devil.

After Jesus had been anointed at His baptism by John to be the Sin Bearer for mankind, the Spirit led Jesus
into the wilderness, where He was tempted by the devil.

What was the goal, of the Tempter? To get Jesus to step outside the will of His Father, and exercise His
own power - His own will - of which He had emptied Himself, in order to come to the earth to fulfill the
Father’s purposes (Phil 2:5-8).

We’re going to look again at the third and final attempt of the devil, to tempt Jesus - his most audacious
attempt.

[Matthew 4:8-11]

v. 8 Since there is no mountain high enough to see all of the kingdoms of the world, we understand that
this was shown to Jesus as a vision. Jesus was given to see the kingdoms in all their earthly splendor.

v. 9 The devil was offering these kingdoms to Jesus. Were they the devil’s, to give? Yes; he is the ruler of
this world (Jn 12:31); it all lies in his power (1 Jn 5:19).

But Jesus is the Messiah. He will rule and reign over the whole earth. So in what way is this a temptation
for Jesus? Because if Jesus would come the devil’s way, He could have a kingdom right now. Jesus could
bypass the cross. He could spare Himself that agonizing and shameful death; and still have a kingdom. All
Jesus would have to do is… submit to Satan, instead of to His Father.

First of all, what kind of a kingdom would that be? A kingdom of lawless, rebellious men - at war with
God and with one another. It’s a far cry from the kingdom of righteousness and peace, that Jesus will rule.
But the greater travesty is the thought of giving allegiance to the enemy of the Father - and the enemy of
the Son. It was a desperate attempt, by an enemy grasping for a hold. But the devil found no hold, in
Jesus.

v. 10-11 Jesus once again counters the devil’s attempt with Scripture - words His Father had given to men -
in which Jesus found His defense, in His time of temptation.

Now look at the words of Jesus, as He dismisses the enemy: “Away with you, Satan!”; so alike to what He
said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!”. For unwittingly, Peter was offering Jesus the same temptation.
Jesus didn’t have to die; God forbid! He could bypass the cross, and claim His kingdom, right now.
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But that is the devil’s lie. Before there can be God’s kingdom of righteousness, unrighteousness must be
put away - by the one and only Righteous Son. There was no other way, to fulfill the purposes of God.

[Return to Matthew 16]

Peter thinks he is offering Jesus a better way. What Jesus shows him is that Peter is in the way. Jesus said
to Peter, “You are an offense to Me”.

The word for “offense” in the Greek, skandalon, means a cause of stumbling. It referred to a stumbling
stone, over which people could trip, and therefore came to mean an enticement to ruin.

We had previously seen that Peter declared Jesus to be the Messiah; and Jesus declared Peter to be the rock
upon which He would build His church. But this rock demonstrated that he could be a stumbling stone
instead - when Peter chose to have his own earthly thinking, instead of God’s mind on things.

Not that Peter’s thoughts would cause Jesus to stumble. We see that Jesus immediately ordered the stone to
remove itself - for Peter to get out of His way - the way of His Father - the way of suffering, and death - but
then, glory.

Meanwhile, the confrontation and stinging rebuke by Jesus would help Peter - and the other disciples - to
reconsider what their Master was telling them - what must be. We will see Jesus repeat and elaborate on
His crucial mission four more times with His disciples, in Matthew’s gospel. Jesus was seeking to prepare
His disciples, for what lay ahead.

And it wasn’t just what was ahead, for Jesus - but for all of them - if they were following Him.

16:24-26 This is the second time that Jesus has uttered words, to this effect. I want to recall with you the
first time.

Turn to Matthew chapter 10. Jesus had called twelve of His disciples to be His apostles, and then
empowered them for their first short-term mission, in Galilee. He spoke of opposition they would
encounter, with His words ranging ahead to the time after His death, when they would be sent out into all
the world, preaching the gospel.

The gospel of Christ would cause the enmity of the world to rise up against the followers of Jesus - enmity
that would come even from within their own families. But Jesus let His disciples know that they must put
Him first - that anyone who loved a family member more than Him was not worthy of Jesus. Then Jesus
made this statement, starting in verse 38.

[Matthew 10:38-39] This statement is quite similar to what we read in chapter 16 - with the added thought
that if a man is unwilling to take up his cross and follow after Jesus, He is not worthy to be a disciple of
Jesus. They have no real attachment to Jesus; they are undeserving of Him.

[Return to Matthew 16]

So once again, Jesus spoke to His disciples about each one taking up his cross, and following Him. - In
Mark’s gospel, we learn that Jesus also spoke this to people who were nearby (Mk 8:34). This was the cost,
if one was to be a true follower, of Jesus.
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Does this imply that Jesus would also be bearing a cross? Yes; the disciple is following in the footsteps of
His Master. So the crucifixion of Jesus is implied, as it was before; but Jesus didn’t state it directly then, or
now; that would come at a future time. Of course, the disciples could piece it together, since Jesus said He
would be killed, but we shouldn’t be surprised if their minds didn’t go there, yet; they could hardly think
even of Jesus dying.

To die on the cross was something more, than just dying. Without going into the detail again that we
covered previously in chapter 10 (# 45), death on the cross was an excruciating death, of the most intense
and prolonged suffering. But the suffering began long before the actual crucifixion; it began with the taking
up of the cross, and the bearing of it to the place of death.

With the Romans, this was done publicly; through the streets of the cities. Since crucifixion was a criminal
death, the man’s parade through the streets enabled the populace to heap scorn and insults upon him, in
order to magnify his disgrace - all the while as he struggled to bear the crossbeam, to his site of execution.

So the cross became the ultimate emblem of the day of suffering - suffering and shame. And anyone who
wanted to be a disciple of Jesus must be willing to bear this great suffering and shame. Why? Because
Jesus must suffer, and He must be killed. The world is at enmity with God, and His Anointed One. The
world will persecute Him; and therefore, it will persecute His followers (Jn 15:20).

Jesus leaves no room for fair-weather followers; for those who are unwilling to suffer, for His sake - even
to the point of death. Those who follow Jesus must give Him their absolute loyalty.

Now, the disciple’s cross is not the cross of Jesus; no one could bear that cross, but Jesus alone. But the
disciple’s cross will always entail suffering and shame, just as His does. And that hasn’t changed in the
2000 years since Jesus bore His cross, to Calvary.

In verse 25-26, Jesus went on to explain what He had just said - showing why someone should choose to
follow Him, and bear this great suffering and shame. The word “life” and “soul” is the same word, in the
Greek - psuche - the soul of spirit-being; the real “you” - the part that goes on forever.

Jesus had said that a true disciple of His must be willing to deny himself - that means, to disown himself -
to relinquish the possession of his soul, in this life - giving it into the Lord’s possession.

This is the one who is willing to lose his life for the sake of Jesus - his body may be put to death in this
world, but he will find his soul in the next world - the heavenly world - in a glorified body, of spirit-life.

Conversely, the one who tries to save his soul, in this life - by not following Jesus - even if he gains the
whole world - he will lose his soul, in the end. How so? When he dies, everything of this world will have
to be left behind - and meanwhile, his soul will have no habitation, to fit him for heaven (2 Cor 5:2). His
soul will be forever lost, in the Lake of Fire - eternally separated, from the Lord.

The last rhetorical question of Jesus sums it up - What will a man give in exchange for his own soul? The
soul is of infinite value; nothing a man can possess even approaches its worth.

The point that Jesus is making here is the loss of the body is nothing compared to the loss of the soul. And
the soul can only be made secure by relinquishing it to Jesus. Following Jesus, therefore, is the only
reasonable thing a man can do, in this life - and then, with the soul secure, the persecutions that will
inevitably come from following Jesus can be borne.
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Jesus directed these words at all the people who had gathered. His words would have been especially
pertinent to His immediate disciples, those who had already chosen to follow Him - as preparation for what
would come, to them.

The disciples would gradually receive that preparation - including Peter - bearing the reproach of the world,
as they brought the good news of Jesus to the world of men. One day, Peter would write, “If you are
reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Pet
4:14).

But Jesus wanted those who would follow Him to know that they had done more than secure their souls;
they have secured an eternal reward.

16:27-28 This is a case where Jesus uses the title “Son of Man” in its distinctive sense from a prophecy of
Daniel. Turn to Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel prophesied of the time of judgment following the Tribulation. The judgment is in heaven; the
execution of the judgment is on earth.

[Daniel 7:13-14] The Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven - the angelic host. This will be the
Messiah, returning to the earth, to judge it. He is given dominion over the earth, by the Ancient of Days -
God the Father - for an everlasting Kingdom.

[Return to Matthew 16]

This is the imagery that Jesus is drawing upon as He describes the time that He will come in glory - which
we know will be His Second Coming, to the earth, as its judge. The idea is that He will reward - that is,
recompense - each man according to His works - whether good or evil.

The question will be, have they done the one good work - to believe in Jesus, and follow Him? Jesus is and
has always been the standard. Persevering faith is what determines whether a soul is lost - or is found to be
in Him - to receive the reward of a glorified body of spirit-life.

The last thing that Jesus says in verse 28 to His disciples - and to those gathered - seems rather cryptic.
Jesus had not yet come into His kingdom. That is still future to our day. So how could Jesus say that some
standing there that day would die before seeing this? I guess you’ll have to come back next week to find
out!

Reading: Mt 17:1-13, Mk 9:2-13, Lk 9:28-36, 2 Pet 1:16-18, Mal 4:5-6