Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
From: MATTHEW #27 - 16:21-17:20)
XV. 16:21-17:20 THE PATH TO SPIRITUAL POWER
A. 16:21-28 LIFE OF DISCIPLES: TRIBULATION TO GLORY!
1. 16:21-23 JESUS FORETELLS DEATH AND REBUKES PETER
a. 16:21 JESUS FORETELLS HIS COMING PASSION
A-PO TOte ERxa-to IeSOUS ChrisTOS deikNUein [1166] tois ma-theTAIS auTOU,
From then on Jesus Christ began to show his :disciples,
HOti dei auTON eis Ie-roSOlu-ma a-pelTHEIN, kai polLA paTHEIN
that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things
aPO ton pres-buTEron [4245] kai ar-chi-eREon kai gram-maTEon,
of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
kai a-pok-tanTHEnai [615], kai te TRIte heMEra e-gerTHEnai [1453].
and be killed, and the third day be raised.
b. 16:22 PETER REBUKES JESUS
kai pros-laBOme-nos [4355] auTON ho PEtros, ERxa-to e-pi-tiMAN [2008] auTO,
And :Peter took him, andbegan to rebuke him,
LEgon HIleOS [2436] soi, KUri-e: ou me EStai soi TOUto.
saying Mercy on you, Lord: this shall in nowise be to you.
c. 16:23 JESUS REVEALS THE SPIRIT OF PETER
ho de straPHEIS, EIpen to PEtro, HUpa-ge oPIso mou, Sa-taNA [4567]: SKANda-lon [4625] ei eMOU:
But he turned, and said to :Peter, Get behind me, Satan: you are a stumbling unto me:
HOti ou phroNEIS [5426] ta tou TheOU, alLA ta ton anTHROpon.
for you mind not the things of :God, but the things of :men.
2. 16:24-28 JESUS CONTRASTS DISCIPLESHIP AND SELFISHNESS
a. 16:24 THE HIGH COST OF DISCIPLESHIP
TOte ho IeSOUS EIpen tois ma-theTAIS auTOU, EI tis THElei oPIso mou elTHEIN,
Then :Jesus said to his disciples, If any would come after me,
a-par-neSAStho [533] he-auTON, kai aRAto [142] ton stauRON [4716] auTOU, kai a-ko-louTHEIto [190] moi.
let him deny himself, and take up his :cross, and follow me.
b. 16:25 THE ALTERNATIVES THAT FLOW FROM OUR ATTITUDE TO OUR LIFE
hos gar eAN THEle ten psuCHEN [5590] auTOU SOsai [4982] a-poLEsei [622] auTEN:
For whoever would save his :life shall lose it:
hos d' AN a-poLEse ten psuCHEN auTOU HEne-ken eMOU heuREsei [2147] auTEN.
and whoever shall lose his :life for my sake shall find it.
c. 16:26 THE HIGH COST OF SELFISHNESS
ti gar o-phe-leTHEse-tai[5623] ANthroPOS,
For what shall a man be profited,
eAN ton KOSmon HOlon kerDEse [2770], ten psuCHEN auTOU ze-mi-oTHE [2270]?
if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his :life?
eti DOsei ANthro-pos anTALlag-ma [465]tes psuCHES auTOU?
or what shall a man give in exchange for his :life?
d. 16:27 JESUS WILL REWARD EACH MAN ACCORDING TO HIS CHOICE
MELlei gar ho huiOS tou anTHROpou ERches-thai en te DOxe [1391]
For the Son of :man is about to come in the glory
tou paTROS auTOU meTA ton agGElon auTOU;
of his :Father with his :angels;
kai TOte a-poDOsei [591] heKAsto kaTA ten PRAxin [4234] auTOU.
and then shall he render unto each according to his doing.
e. 16:28 JESUS PROPHESIES A PREVIEW OF KINGDOM GLORY
aMEN LEgo huMIN [HOti], eiSIN ti-nes ton HOde heSTOton,
Amen I say unto you [that], Thereare some of those standing here,
HOIti-nes ou me GEUson-tai [1089] thaNAtou [2288],
who shall in nowise taste of death,
HEos an Ido-sin [1492] ton huiON tou anTHROpou erCHOme-non [2064] en te ba-siLEIa [932] auTOU.
till they see the Son of :man coming in his :kingdom.
B. 17:1-13 THE TRANSFIGURATION
a. 17:1-2 JESUS TRANSFIGURED BEFORE THREE DISCIPLES
Kai meth' heMEras hex pa-ra-lamBAnei [3880] ho IeSOUS ton PEtron,
And after six days :Jesus takes with him:Peter,
kai IAko-bon, kai IoAnen ton a-delPHON auTOU,
and James, and John his :brother,
kai a-naPHErei [399] auTOUS eis HOros [3725] hu-pseLON [5308] kat' iDIan:
and brings them up into a high mountain apart:
kai me-te-morPHOthe [3339] EMpros-then auTON;
2and he was transfigured before them;
kai Elam-psen to PROso-pon auTOU hos ho HEli-os, ta de hiMAti-a auTOU eGEne-to leuKA hos to phos.
and his :face did shine as the sun, and his :garments became white as the light.
b. 17:3 And lo, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.
kai iDOU, OPHthe[3700] auTOIS Mo-uSES auTOIS kai E-LEIas, sun-laLOUNtes [4814]met' auTOU.
c. 17:4 PETER'S CONFUSED SUGGESTION
a-po-kriTHEIS de ho PEtros, EIpen to IeSOU, KUri-e, kaLON es-tin heMAS HOde EInai:
And :Peter answered, andsaid to :Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here:
ei THEleis, poiEso HOde treis skeNAS [4633]; soi MIan, kai Mo-uSEI MIan, kai E-LEIa MIan.
if you will, I will make here three tents; one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
d. 17:5 THE WITNESS OF THE FATHER
Eti auTOU laLOUNtos, iDOU, nePHEle [3507] pho-tiNE [5460] e-peSKIa-sen [1982] auTOUS:
While he was yet speaking, lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them:
kai iDOU, phoNE ek tes nePHEles, LEgou-sa, HOU-TOS es-tin ho huiOS mou
and lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my :Son
ho a-ga-peTOS [27] en ho euDOke-sa [2106]; aKOUe-te [191] auTOU.
the beloved in whom I am well pleased; hear him.
e. 17:6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
kai aKOUsan-tes hoi ma-theTAI, Epe-san ePI PROso-pon auTON, kai e-phoBEthe-san [5399]SPHOdra.
f. 17:7 And :Jesus came and touched them andsaid, Arise, and be not afraid.
kai proSELthen ho IeSOUS kai haPSAme-nos [680]auTON EIpen, E-GERthe-te [1453], kai mephoBEISthe.
g. 17:8 And lifting up their :eyes, they saw no one, save only Jesus himself.
ePAran-tes [1869]de tous oph-thalMOUS auTON, ouDEna EIdon, ei meauTON IeSOUN MOnon.
h. 17:9 THE COMMAND OF JESUS
Kai ka-ta-baiNONton [2597] auTON ek tou Orous,
And as they were coming down from the mountain,
e-neTEIla-to [1781] auTOIS ho IeSOUS, LEgon, Me-deNI EIpe-te to HOra-ma [3705],
:Jesus commanded them, saying, Tell the vision to no one,
HEos hou ho huiOS tou anTHROpou ek neKRON e-gerTHE.
until the Son of :man be raised from thedead.
i. 17:10 QUESTION
kai e-peROte-san [1905] auTON hoi ma-theTAI, LEgon-tes,
And the disciples asked him, saying,
Ti oun hoi gram-maTEIS LEgou-sin HOti E-LEIan dei elTHEIN PROton?
Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come?
j. 17:11-12a JESUS CLARIFIES ELIJAH AND JOHN THE BAPTIST
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS EIpen, E-LEIas men ERche-tai,
And he answered and said, Elijah indeed comes,
kai a-po-ka-taSTEsei [608] PANta: LEgo de huMIN,
and shall restore all things: 12abut I say unto you,
HOti E-LEIas Ede ELthen, kai ouk ePEGno-san [1921] auTON,
that an Elijah is come already, and they knew him not,
alLA ePOIe-san en auTO HOsa eTHEle-san.
but did unto him whatever they would.
k. 17:12b Thus also is the Son of :man about to suffer of them.
HOUtos kai ho huiOS tou anTHROpou MELlei PASchein [3958]hup' auTON.
l. 17:13 Then understood the disciples that he spoke to them of John the Baptist.
TOte suNEkan [4920]hoi ma-theTAI HOti peRI IoAnou tou bap-tisTOU [910]EIpen auTOIS.
C. 17:14-20 FAITH: KEY TO HEALING OF THE PARALYTIC
a. 17:14-15 A FATHER'S REQUEST
Kai elTHONton pros ton OCHlon, proSELthen auTO ANthro-pos,
And when they came to the crowd, a man came unto him,
go-nu-peTON [1120] auTON, kai LEgon, KUri-e, eLEeSON [1653] mou ton huiON:
kneeling to him, and saying, 15Lord, have mercy on my :son:
HOti se-le-niAze-tai [4583], kai kaKOS Echei; polLAkis gar PIPtei eis to pur, kai polLAkis eis to HUdor.
because he is epileptic, and fares badly; for oft he falls into the fire, and oft into the water.
b. 17:16 And I brought him unto your :disciples, and they could not cure him.
kai proSEneg-ka auTON tois ma-theTAIS sou, kai ouk e-duNEthe-san auTON the-raPEUsai [2323].
c. 17:17 JESUS DISAPPOINTED IN HIS DISCIPLES
a-po-kriTHEIS de ho IeSOUS EIpen,
And :Jesus answered andsaid,
Oge-neA Api-stos [571]kai di-e-stramMEne[1294], HEos POte meth' huMON Eso-mai?
O faithless generation and perverse, how long shall I be with you?
HEos POte aNExo-mai [430] huMON? PHEreTE moi auTON HOde.
how long shall I bear with you? bring him here to me.
d. 17:18 JESUS CASTS OUT THE DEMON
kai e-peTIme-sen [2008] auTO ho IeSOUS; kai eXELthen [1831] ap' auTOU to daiMOni-on [1140]:
And :Jesus rebuked him; and the demon went out of him:
kai e-the-raPEUthe ho pais aPO tes HOras eKEInes.
and the boy was cured from that :hour.
e. 17:19 QUESTION
TOte pro-selTHONtes hoi ma-theTAI to IeSOU kat' iDIan, EIpan,
Then came the disciples to :Jesus apart, andsaid,
DiA ti heMEIS ouk e-duNEthe-men [1410] ek-baLEIN [1544] auTO?
Why could not we cast out?
f. 17:20 JESUS' ANSWER
ho de LEgei auTOIS, DiA ten o-li-go-piSTIan [3680] huMON:
And he says to them, Because of your :little faith:
aMEN gar LEgo huMIN, eAN Eche-te PIstin hos KOKkon [2748] siNApe-os [4615],
for Amen I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed,
eREIte to Orei TOUto, MeTAba [3327] ENthen eKEI;
you shall say to this :mountain, Remove hence to yonder;
kai me-taBEse-tai; kai ouDEN a-du-naTEsei [101] huMIN.
and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.
NOTE: Peter previously was commendedby Jesus for the revelation he received from the Fatherconcerning Jesus, God's beloved Son. Now perhaps pride entered Peter, and in the light of the Lord's commendation, he feels he has the right to rebuke His Lord for the prophecy of His soon-coming death and resurrection. But instead of the Spirit of the Father giving him a revelation - it is nowthe spirit of Satan speaking through him! And just as Jesus commended him for the first revelation, He noworders Satan as one with Peter to get behind Him!
And what application for us can we take from this? Take heed when we stand, lest we fall! Though we are redeemed, it is true - yet it is onlywhen we consciously strive to let Jesus by the Spirit have pre-eminence in our lives at alltimes - that we can live victoriously - and yet notus, but Christin us (Galatians 2:20).
We must constantly remember Paul's word in Romans 7:18, “For I knowthat in me, that is, in my :flesh, dwells nogood.” And in Philippians 3:3 - “for weare the circumcision, who worship by God's Spirit, and gloryin Christ Jesus, and have no confidencein flesh.”
There is nogoodness in me! My onlygoodness is Christ by His Spirit living out His life in and through me! And this is only too true for each one of us! Thank God the Holy Spirit had Matthew write up these twodifferent manifestations through the life of Peter. Peter much later missed once again in the church of Antioch, and had to be rebuked this time by the apostle Paul (Galatians 2:6-14).
So - no matter how long or how far we have walked in God - except we maintain a regular, intimate, personal, passionate devotion to Jesus, we like Peter can become a tool of Satan! So again - let us all take heed when we stand - lest we fall!
One might ask, “Aren't you by this train of thought bringing fear and doubt into our lives who read this?” Yes, and with definite, enlightened purpose! For too many believers like Peter can become careless and prideful, not realizing that it is onlythrough a momentary walk with Jesus that we are safe. Not understanding this, and slipping back into a self-walk, which is in flesh - then we like Peter will be open to a rebuke by Jesus and Paul, for you and I can surelyslip! Forewarned is to be fore-armed!
Read again the lives of George Muller, Oswald Chambers and Rees Howells. These men didn't trust themselves as far as one could throw them! With thistype of understanding, they could then carefully and prayerfully walk blamelessbefore the Lord. Thisis the kind of walk I want for myself, and for allof my friends and fellow-believers!
The rest of this reading is tremendous! Let us read it aloud on our knees; pray over it; meditate upon it. Our Teacher the Holy Spirit will open it up to each one of us, and ensure that we will be the richer! J.A.W.