Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MATTHEW #26 - 16:1-20)
E. 16:1-12 WARNING AGAINST PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES
1. 16:1-4 THE SIGN OF JONAH FOR CARPERS
a. 16:1 JEWISH LEADERS SEEK A SIGN
Kai pro-selTHONtes hoi Pha-riSAIoi kai Sad-douKAIoi, peiRAzon-tes[3985]
And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and trying him
e-peROte-san [1905]auTON seMEIon [4592]ek tou ou-raNOU e-piDEIxai [1925]auTOIS.
asked him to show them a sign from :heaven.
b. 16:2 WEATHER FORECAST FOR EVENING
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS EIpen auTOIS, O-PSIas ge-noMEnes,
But he answered and said to them, When it is evening,
LEge-te, EuDIa [2115]: purRAzei [4449] gar ho ou-raNOS.
you say, Fair weather: for the heaven is red.
c. 16:3a And in themorning, Foul weather today: for the heaven is red and lowering.
kai proI, SEme-ron cheiMON [5494]: purRAzei gar stugNAzon [4768]ho ou-raNOS.
d. 16:3b WEATHER FORECASTING FAILS IN SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT
to men PROso-pon tou ou-raNOU giNOske-te di-aKRInein [1252];
You know how to discern the face of the heaven;
ta de seMEIa ton kaiRON [2540]ou DUnas-the.
but you cannot discern the signs of the seasons.
e. 16:4a DESIRE FOR SIGNS : INDICATION OF AN EVIL GENERATION!
ge-neA po-neRA kai moi-chaLIS [3428]seMEIon e-pi-zeTEI;
An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign;
kai seMEIon ou doTHEse-tai auTE, ei meto seMEIon IoNA.
and no sign shall be given it, but the sign of Jonah.
f. 16:4b And he left them, anddeparted. kai ka-ta-liPON [2641]auTOUS, aPELthen.
2. 16:5-12 BEWARE OF LEAVEN OF SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
a. 16:5 And the disciples came to the other side andforgot to take loaves.
Kai elTHONtes hoi ma-theTAI eis to PEran e-peLAthon-to [1950]ARtous laBEIN.
b. 16:6 JESUS WARNS DISCIPLES OF FALSE LEAVEN
ho de IeSOUS EIpen auTOIS, HoRAte [3708] kai proSEche-te [4337]
And :Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware
aPO tes ZUmes [2219] ton Pha-riSAIon kai Sad-douKAIon.
of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
c. 16:7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying [that], We took no loaves.
hoi de di-e-loGIzon-to [1260] en he-auTOIS, LEgon-tes [HOti], ARtous ouk eLAbo-men.
d. 16:8 JESUS REBUKES THEIR MISUNDERSTANDING
gnous de ho IeSOUS EIpen, Ti di-a-loGIzes-the,
And :Jesus perceiving itsaid, You of little faith,
en he-auTOIS, o-liGOpi-stoi [3640], HOti ARtous ouk Eche-te?
why do you reason among yourselves, because you have no loaves?
e. 16:9 JESUS REASONS WITH THEM
OUpo noEIte, ouDE mne-moNEUe-te [3421] tous PENte ARtous
Do you not yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves
ton pen-ta-kis-chiLIon, kai POsous koPHInous [2894] eLAbe-te?
of the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?
f. 16:10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many hampers you took up?
ouDE tous hepTA ARtous ton te-tra-kis-chiLIon, kai POsas sphuRIdas [4711] eLAbe-te?
g. 16:11a How do you not perceive that I spoke not to you concerning loaves?
pos ou noEIte HOti ou peRI ARton EIpon huMIN?
h. 16:11b But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
proSEche-te [4337]de aPO tes ZUmes ton Pha-riSAIon kai Sad-douKAIon.
h. 16:12 DISCIPLES FINALLY GET THE POINT
TOte suNEkan [4920] HOti ouk EIpen proSEchein aPO tes ZUmes
Then they understood that he bade them beware not of the leaven
ton ARton, alLA aPO tes di-daCHES [1322] ton Pha-riSAIon kai Sad-douKAIon.
of the loaves, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
F. 16:13-20 THE IDENTITY OF JESUS AND HIS PURPOSE
a. 16:13 JESUS SEEKS FROM HIS DISCIPLES HOW OTHERSIDENTIFY HIM
ElTHON de ho IeSOUS eis ta MEre Kai-saRIas tes PhiLIPpou,
Now when :Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea :Philippi,
eROta tous ma-theTAS auTOU, LEgon, TIna LEgou-sin hoi ANthro-poi EInai ton huiON tou anTHROpou?
he asked his :disciples, saying, Who do :men say that the Son of :man is?
b. 16:14 THE VARIOUS IDENTIFICATIONS MEN ATTEMPTED FOR JESUS
hoi de EIpan, Hoi men IoAnen ton bap-tisTEN; ALloi de E-LEIan;
And they said, Some sayJohn the Baptist; and some Elijah;
HEte-roi de, Ie-reMIan, e HEna ton pro-pheTON.
and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
c. 16:15 He says to them, But who do YOU say that I am?
LEgei auTOIS, HuMEIS de TIna me LEge-te EInai?
d. 16:16 And Simon Peter answered andsaid, You are the Christ, the Son of the living :God.
A-po-kriTHEIS de SImon PEtros EIpen, Su ei ho ChrisTOS, ho huiOS tou TheOU tou ZONtos [2198].
e. 16:17 JESUS REVEALS THE SOURCE OF PETER'S DISCERNMENT
a-po-kriTHEIS de ho IeSOUS EIpen auTO, MaKAri-os [3107] ei,
And :Jesus answered andsaid to him, Blessed are you,
SImon Ba-ri-oNA: HOti sarx kai HAIma ouk a-peKAluPSEN soi, all' ho paTER mou ho en tois ou-raNOIS.
Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood has not revealed itto you, but my :Father who is in the heavens.
f. 16:18 JESUS REVEALS THE FOUNDATION AND TRIUMPH OF HIS CHURCH
ka' 'GO DE soi LEgo, HOti su ei PEtros [4074],
And I also say unto you, that you are Peter,
kai ePI TAUte te PEtra [4073] oi-ko-doMEso [3618] mou ten ek-kleSIan [1577]
and upon this :rock I will build my :church
kai PUlai [4439] HAdou [86] ou ka-tiSCHUsou-sin [2729] auTES.
and thegates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
g. 16:19 THE AUTHORITY JESUS DELEGATES TO PETER AND DISCIPLES
DOso soi tas KLEIdas [2807] tes ba-si LEIas [932] ton ou-raNOn; kai ho eAN DEses [1210] ePI tes ges
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens; and whatever you shall bind on the earth
EStai de-deMEnon en tois ou-raNOIS; kai ho eAN LUses [3089]
shall be bound in the heavens; and whatever you shall loose
ePI tes ges EStai le-luMEnon en tois ou-raNOIS.
on the earth shall be loosed in the heavens.
h. 16:20 Then charged he the disciples that they should tell no one that he is the Christ.
TOte e-peTIme-sen [1291] tois ma-theTAIS HIna me-deNI EIpo-sin [2036] HOti auTOS es-tin ho ChrisTOS.
NOTE: Unbelievers like the Pharisees and Sadducees are to be avoided, especially their teaching! It is like leaven! And leaven in the Bible usually has a connotation of evil! My background was in this type of environment. I did not hear the Gospel clearly presented until afterI became a Christian! We will do well to heed Jesus' warning concerning these types of teachers. Those who take away from the Word of God (Sadducees), and those who addto God's Word (Pharisees) - theyare modern versions of such false teachers. 3 times in the Bible God warns of these latter (Deuteronomy, Proverbs and Revelation).
It is interesting to note the questions of Jesus to His disciples concerning His identity. The general answers given by His disciples did not satisfy Him. He wanted theirdirect answer as to His identity. Peter by direct revelation of the Spirit of the Father received the answer Jesus desired. He was the Christ, the Messiahto come, the Sonof the living God! What a revelation! And Jesus confirmedthat this was what He was looking for! He pronounced a blessing upon Peter in the light of this revelation.
Now 16:18 has been a verse with a number of interpretations by scholars. It seems that the majority feel that the revelation God gave Peter concerning His Son - as a confession, was the “rock” upon which Jesus would build His church.
However, the use of the two Greek words for “rock” might offer another outlook. The word Peter is “PEtros”, meaning “a little rock”. The rock upon which Jesus said He would build His church is “PEtra”, a large rock. Off the Province of Newfoundland and the great fishing banks off the shores of New England, are the “Grand Banks”, or “PEtra”. Upon it are numbers of smaller rocks, “PEtros”. Jesus Himself can be likened to the Grand Banks - “PEtra”, and we like Peter are living stones built upon Him, to form a Living Temple of Living Stones, with Jesus the Chief Corner Stone, and also the coming Capstone, the Alpha and Omega. It is true, that each living stone needs to receive Spirit revelation from the Father - but I tend to favor this latter view.
Further, not only Peter, but all true living stones receive the keys of the Kingdom. As we faithfully proclaim the Gospel as Peter did, it becomes a key to open the door to the Kingdom of God. In 16:19 the “Williams” translation of the NT is perhaps closer to the truth here than almost all others. It reads, “Whatever you shall bind on earth, must already in the mind of God have been boundin heaven (Perfect Passive Participle); and whatever you shall loose on the earth must already have been loosed(Perfect Passive Participle) in heaven.
This translation requires us to live close enough to God, that knowing His mind, we can thenboldly proclaim on earth Hisdesire, and it shallbe done. This is quite a different perspective in the use of the keys of the Kingdom. It makes usthe water-boys of God, not God ourwater-boy. I am not dogmatic on this point, but I personally favor it, and personally follow it. George Muller, Rees Howells and Oswald Chambers did also. I, like them, can be boldin my faith, when I know the mind of God. See 1 John 5:14-15 - “And thisis the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his :will, he hears us; 15and if we knowthat he hears us whateverwe ask, we knowthat we havethe petitions which we have asked of him.”Our boldnesshere comes when we ask anythingaccording to Hiswill! This fully accords with the Williams translation of Matthew 16:19.
- J.A.W.