16: 13-17. Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah (bar-iona)! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.
Context: Jesus left Galilee walking west to the district of Tyre and Sidon, but he found no rest there. So, Jesus returned east to the shores of the Sea of Galilee, but the crowds gathered and once again Jesus felt compassion and fed this multitude of 4000 men. Jesus went further north up the coast, but the snoops from Jerusalem found him and pestered him for a validating sign from heaven. Jesus performs miracles out of compassion, not on demand.
Text: Now we have the first sentence here: “Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi….” Jesus has left the building, that is, Jesus left the district of Galilee where Herod Antipas was the ruler and where the relentless interrogators from Jerusalem could trace him. Jesus entered a territory that is ruled by a Roman governor, not a Jewish official. Now he was free to speak. So, he asked the ultimate identity question: “Who do people say that I am?”
The disciples reported some of the rumors that have been going around. We have heard the John the Baptist conspiracy theory before (14:1-2). Interestingly, Jesus has already explained that the prophecy about Elijah was fulfilled by John who came in the spirit of Elijah (11:14; 17:10-12).
What is new here is the report that some think Jesus is more like Jeremiah. We have not seen this before; though there are two places where the prophecy of Jeremiah is said to be fulfilled: 2:17 and 27:9. Why would anyone think that there might be a connection to Jeremiah? Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet.” Indeed, the Book of Lamentations is also his work. Jeremiah prophesied before and during the Exile of the Jews to Babylon and the destruction of the temple. He pleaded with the people to repent and renew their covenant with God, but the warning fell on deaf ears. Perhaps there was more ‘fire and brimstone’ in Jesus’ preaching than we imagine.
No matter how much it seemed, Jesus was not Jeremiah. Jeremiah preached repentance and forgiveness, and promised a new covenant. Jesus made forgiveness possible and embodied the new covenant. In a flash of revelation from God, Peter saw the difference.
Jesus would not suffer and go into hiding in Egypt like Jeremiah did. Jesus would carry out God’s mission to bring salvation, even if it meant death. Jesus was not only the expected Messiah, but also actually God in the flesh. This is a high point in the training of the disciples, and the next chapter will seal it. As such, then, it is a significant turning point in Matthew’s gospel story. Things will be different after this episode.
16: 18-20. And I tell you, you are Petros and on this rock (petra) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah (the Christ).
In this phase of Jesus’ public preaching and healing, he was also carrying on the ministry of teaching the disciples. The disciples already thought of Jesus as the Messiah, so Peter’s confession reflects a further step of faith. The voice of God at Jesus’ baptism came as a blast from the past: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Peter sees this. In Jesus’ response, some see a special vocation conferred on Peter. However, just a few chapters later, Jesus confers the same authority on all of the disciples (18:18-20). Later yet, all the apostles are called ‘pillars’ of the church (Galatians 2:9; Ephesians 2:20) with Jesus as the foundation cornerstone. Finally, note that Simon's new nickname is a masculine gender noun (petros) while Simon's new faith statement that the church is built on is a feminine gender noun (petra).
‘The gates of Hades’ was a nearby location. In Caesarea Philippi, there is a stream that flows out of a cave, which in local tradition was a door to the underworld. Locally, the stream was identified as the river Styx across which the dead had to pass (Witherington, page 317-318). So, these gates were more like the gates of death, and Jesus may be saying that not even death will stop his ekklesia.
To translate ekklesia as ‘church’ is a little premature; after all Jesus is still in ministry and many events crucial to the formation of the church are yet to come; things like the crucifixion, the resurrection, the Ascension, and Pentecost. So, perhaps it would be better to translate the word as ‘community’, and in ‘the community of the King’.
16: 21-23. From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance (stumbling block) to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
Notice the segue: “From that time on….” It confirms what we have been saying. These events, the confession of Peter, the new teaching that reveals the suffering to come, and then (in the next chapter) the transfiguration of Jesus; these events in quick succession are a turning point in Jesus’ ministry and Matthew’s gospel story.
Just when we were beginning to think better of Peter, his rise took a stumble. Peter’s story represents for all of us a journey of faith occasionally detoured by doubt. Down the road we will read about Peter’s heroic stand in the Garden of Gethsemane when the authorities come to arrest Jesus, but soon after that comes Peter’s denial that he even knows Jesus.
Here, at this part of the story, Jesus’ rebuke seems harsh. In a matter of a few verses, Peter goes from God-inspired to Satan-inspired, from a rock solid to a rock of offense (Tasker, page 161). Perhaps it is not so much Peter as the issue of the inevitability of suffering and death. Isn’t there another way for Jesus to carry out his mission on earth?
Well, we have heard that deception before, haven’t we? And so has Jesus when the Devil tempted him in the wilderness; “God will command his angels concerning you, … so that you will not dash your foot against a stone” (4:1-11). Now the temptation comes from Peter’s lips: “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” There is a third such incident, when Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane: “My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me….” (26:39). That is why Jesus is so serious in his rebuke of Peter.
16: 24-26. Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
If Peter is deceived about the overall mission of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, then probably the rest of the disciples are too. Perhaps their reluctance to come to that conclusion arises from the looming realization that, if the teacher suffers, then the students are also in danger of suffering. After all, haven’t they seen victories in Jesus’ debates with the authorities? And, don’t they crave power, as all men do? More than once they had discussions about who among them was the greatest (Matthew 18:1-5, Matthew 20:20-28; Luke 9:46-48). Like all of us, their ego has gotten the best of them, and they have delusions of grandeur.
So, Jesus’ teaching here about the necessity of suffering is not lost on us either. Notice in the previous paragraph that “Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering….” The verb ‘must’ is a small word in Greek and English, but it implies a ‘divine necessity’ (Witherington, page 319) putting his insistence on going to Jerusalem and his subsequent suffering in a larger frame of reference. God requires it.
God requires it not only of Jesus, but of Jesus’ disciples too; and that leads to us. Anyone who wants to follow Jesus must take up his cross and follow his path. This message is in all the gospels (Mark 8:34-38, Luke 9:23-27; John 12:23-26). Those who want to inherit the victory and sidestep the suffering are misguided. Peter’s denial resonates with ‘Christian Nationalism’ where Christians are victorious and other people suffer. Jesus’ rebuke is to the point; God’s plan of salvation means suffering on behalf of others, not making others suffer.
16: 27-28. “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
If God’s plan sounds unfair, be sure that there is a final judgment. Suffering in God’s service produces a great harvest of souls, but not everyone is sympathetic to God’s ways. After all who respond have come, there remains only the final judgment, the separating of the sheep and the goats.
The verses above are not as clear as they could be. It seems that the Son of Man coming in glory is the same as the Son of Man coming in his kingdom; but this is an unfortunate juxtaposition. The first verse talks about the end, while the second verse talks about the beginning. Jesus must come in his kingdom, and kingdom work must be done (evangelism and healing), before Jesus returns in glory.
So, what does Jesus mean that “some of those standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom”? Surely, Matthew who is writing this gospel in the late 70s, knows that most of the disciples, including Peter and Paul, are no longer alive. So, what does “coming in his kingdom mean”? We will see next week.