New Testament Commentary - Matthew 16

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 16 Jesus warns against the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees—Peter testifies that Jesus is the Christ, and is promised the keys of the kingdom—Jesus foretells his death and resurrection.
1 THE Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from ^aheaven. 2 He ^aanswered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and ^alowring, O ye ^bhypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the ^csigns of the ^dtimes?		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
4 A wicked and ^aadulterous generation seeketh after a ^bsign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the ^csign of the prophet ^dJonas. And he left them, and departed. 5 And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
6 ¶ Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the ^aleaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 8 ^aWhich when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the ^adoctrine of the Pharisees and of the ^bSadducees.
13 ¶ When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?^a 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, ^aElias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.	13^a Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? Certainly this has been the question for the ages. What spurred this contemplation upon the part of the Lord? Was it the name of Caesarea and that a Bishop of that other Caesarea would come to find himself in the heat of the development of the Nicene Creed, which would determine Christ not separate and a part from his Father? Certainly those men did not understand the true nature of Christ. They would not have been able to answer the question correctly. As Peter does testify, Jesus Christ was literally the Son of God, separate and distinct.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ^aye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the ^aChrist, the ^bSon of the ^cliving God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon ^aBar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not ^brevealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this ^arock I will build my ^bchurch; and the gates of ^chell shall not ^dprevail against it. 19 And I will ^agive unto thee the ^bkeys of the ^ckingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt ^dbind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the ^aChrist.
21 ¶ From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be ^araised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan^a: thou art an offence unto me: for thou ^asavourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.	23^a Get thee behind me, Satan Some teach that the Lord was tempted but three times by Satan in the wilderness, upon a high mountain, and physical desire, desire power and riches over the things of the world and by the matter of pride, being more important and better that others. But here is an obvious separate temptation. The temptation to not to suffer the pains of the world required for the fulfillment of the atonement. Was this a real temptation? In the Garden the Lord would as if the cup might be removed but he also set forth that the will of the Father be done over that desire. Certainly it is a common and even a healthly human desire not to suffer pain and destruction of the physical being unto death. But the temptation was to forego the suffering at the expense of the atonment. To this consideration the Savior tells Satan to get behind him or to depart.
24 ¶ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him ^adeny himself, and take up his ^bcross, and ^cfollow ^dme. 25 ^aFor whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will ^blose his life for my sake shall ^cfind it. 26 For what is a man ^aprofited, if he shall ^bgain the whole ^cworld, and ^dlose his own ^esoul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the ^aSon of man shall come in the ^bglory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall ^creward every man according to his ^dworks. 28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of ^adeath^a, till they see the Son of man coming in his ^bkingdom.	:28^a There be some standing here, which shall not tast of death Now who besides the Apostle John we know not. But there appears to have been others of the disciples of Christ who would, like John, live until the Second Coming that the coming of the kingdom of the Lord. Tradition has all of the other Apostles dying, could it have been othe than an Apostle to whom this was granted to be so translated and not taste of death until the kingdom would come on earth? Certainly Enoch and his city and likely the people of Melchizedek would be such, but they were not of the disciples of Christ in his day. Just how 'general' was this group of translated beings of the then disciples of the Lord to be?