Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 16:21
From that time forth began Jesus to show 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 raised again the third day.
21. From that time forth ] An important note of time. Now that the disciples have learned to acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah, He is able to instruct them in the true nature of the Kingdom.
elders and chief priests and scribes ]=the Sanhedrin. See ch. Mat 2:4, and Mat 26:3.
be killed ] As yet there is no mention of the Roman judge or of the death upon the cross; this truth is broken gradually, see Mat 16:24.
be raised again the third day ] How can the plainness of this intimation be reconciled with the slowness of the disciples to believe in the Resurrection? Not by supposing that obscure hints of the Passion were afterwards put into this explicit form; but rather (1) partly by the blindness of those who will not see; (2) partly by the constant use of metaphor by Jesus. “Might not,” they would argue, “this ‘death and rising again’ be a symbol of a glorious visible kingdom about to issue from our present debasement?”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
21 23. The Passion is foretold
Mar 8:31-33; Luk 9:22. St Luke omits the rebuke to Peter
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See also Mar 7:31-33; Luk 9:22. From that time forth. This was the first intimation that he gave that he was to die in this cruel manner. He had taken much pains to convince them that he was the Messiah; he saw by the confession of Peter that they were convinced, and he then began to prepare their minds for the awful event which was before him. Had he declared this when he first called them they would never have followed him. Their minds Were not prepared for it. They expected a temporal, triumphant prince as the Messiah. He first, therefore, convinced them that he was the Christ, and then, with great prudence, began to correct their apprehensions of the proper character of the Messiah.
Elders – The men of the great council or Sanhedrin. See the notes at Mat 5:7.
Chief priests and scribes – See the notes at Mat 3:7.
Mat 16:22
Then Peter took him – This may mean either that he interrupted him, or that he took him aside, or that he took him by the hand as a friend.
This latter is probably the true meaning. Peter was strongly attached to him. He could not bear to think of Jesus death. He expected, moreover, that he would be the triumphant Messiah. In his ardor, and confidence, and strong attachment, he seized him by the hand as a friend, and said, Be it far from thee. This phrase might have been translated, God be merciful to thee; this shall not be unto thee. It expressed Peters strong desire that it might not be. The word rebuke here means to admonish or earnestly to entreat, as in Luk 17:3. It does not mean that Peter assumed authority over Christ, but that he earnestly expressed his wish that it might not be so. Even this was improper. He should have been submissive, and not have interfered.
Mat 16:23
Get thee behind me, Satan – The word Satan literally means an adversary, or one who opposes us in the accomplishment of our designs.
It is applied to the devil commonly, as the opposer or adversary of man; but there is no evidence that the Lord Jesus meant to apply this term to Peter, as signifying that he was Satan or the devil, or that he used the term in anger. He may have used it in the general sense which the word bore as an adversary or opposer; and the meaning may be, that such sentiments as Peter expressed then were opposed to him and his plans. His interference was improper. His views and feelings stood in the way of the accomplishment of the Saviours designs. There was, undoubtedly, a rebuke in this language, for the conduct of Peter was improper; but the idea which is commonly attached to it, and which, perhaps, our translation conveys, implies a more severe and harsh rebuke than the Saviour intended, and than the language which he used would express.
Thou art an offence – That is, a stumbling-block. Your advice and wishes are in my way. If followed, they would prevent the very thing for which I came.
Thou savourest not – Literally, thou thinkest not upon; or your language and spirit are not such as spring from a supreme regard to the will of God, or from proper views of him, but such as spring from the common views entertained by people. You think that those things should not be done which God wishes to be done. You judge of this matter as people do who are desirous of honor; and not as God, who sees it best that I should die, to promote the great interests of mankind.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 16:21; Mat 16:23
From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples, how that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer.
Christ foretelling His death
I. Let us observe the state of mind with which Christ looked forward to his approaching sufferings. Jesus was not ignorant of the serious sufferings which were coming upon Him. It is no small part of our happiness that future calamity is partly hidden.
1. A state of unshaken constancy. We must be firm in the way of duty, having counted the cost.
2. The principle by which He was supported-faith. For we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
II. What was His conduct, in these circumstances, towards his disciples?
1. His conduct towards them showed great compassion for their infirmities.
2. His displeasure on account of the earthly mind which the apostles betrayed.
Learn:
1. How insufficient is our own wisdom or strength to preserve us in the ways of godliness.
2. How secure are they who trust entirely in the power and grace of the Lord Jesus. (J. Jowett.)
A recommendation of readiness for suffering
I. Peters unwillingness to meet Gods will in a course of suffering, evinced by his rebuke of Christ.
1. There was intimacy-Then Peter took him.
2. There was disappointment. Peter was disappointed that his Lord should not have the glory he expected.
3. There was ignorance. Peter ought to have known the Scriptures were full of Christs sufferings.
4. There was presumption.
II. Christs willingness to fulfil all Gods pleasure, evinced in his rebuke of Peter.
1. The indignation of our Lord.
2. He exposed the carnality of his views.
3. Christs love for sinners was persevering. (A. T. Burroughs.)
The suffering Saviour
I. A suffering saviour
1. The suffering was not only great, but peculiar.
2. And all this the text says was necessary. The word must is prefixed to all these clauses. We may interpret the word in three ways.
(1) There is the must of destiny-what is to be shall be, it is vain to fight against it.
(2) There is the must of prediction.
(3) There is the must of propriety and suitableness-moral fitness, for atonement trembles in the balance-Without shedding of blood, etc.
3. It is a very peculiar feature of the Saviours suffering that He had the foreknowledge of it in every detail. In this respect He stands alone among the heroes of faith. They had no foresight of the time, place, or circumstances of their sufferings. Our Lord alone lived His life under the shadow of the cross. The majesty of the character which could endure the weight of so terrible a prospect, remain calm, self-forgetting, etc., and even say in the fore-view of death by crucifixion: I have a baptism, etc.
II. The repugnance of human nature to pain and death. Human nature shrinks for itself from the touch of pain, and doubly for its loved ones. The words do not imply any want of love or reverence-it was their ver), motive. Love and reverence spoke; but ignorance and presumption spoke too. Human nature shrinks with special sensitiveness, till it is taught of God, from the idea of a suffering Saviour. The revelation of atonement by sacrifice was kept veiled from Peter. A veil is upon the heart still of multitudes-they see not why a Father should not forgive without the intervention of a Mediator, etc.
III. The reply of jesus to the rebuke of his servant. This shows the Saviour feeling this repugnance to suffering as a severe temptation, repelling the suggestion of the self-sparing as a cruel aggravation of His great life trial, and making the acceptance of suffering the very point of difference between the carnal mind and the spiritual. We have to accept Christs suffering, and we have to accept our own. (Dean Vaughan.)
St. Peters rebuke of Christ
I. How serious was the Apostles offence. In reference to religion the seeming generosity of an error is no excuse for it.
II. The causes which led to the Apostles error and sin.
1. He had misunderstood some part of what he had heard. St. Peter should have looked at the fact of Christs suffering in the light of His previous communications.
2. There was a second part of what Jesus had said which the apostle ignored altogether. He had said that He would rise from the dead on the third day.
3. The third cause of St. Peters error was his assuming that his own ideas of what was best must needs be true, or at least were actually true. St. Peter was in reality desiring the worst thing possible; our redemption could not have been accomplished without the cross.
III. Similar mistakes occur with ourselves.
1. In reference to the dispensations belonging to our personal history and fortunes. How often a part is misunderstood and left out. In the gloom of trial we overlook the resurrection.
2. In reference to the government of the world rod the course of providence generally.
3. In reference to the claims of Divine revelation generally, and especially the claims of Jesus the Christ as the sum and centre of it. Learn:
1. Be resolute in all humbleness when you think of Gods ways.
2. Loyalty to the personal Christ.
3. Accept Christs word as He gives it. (W. S. Chapman, M. A.)
The temptation arising from human
love:-How are we to explain the severity of our Lords rebuke?
I. When it was this rebuke was given. Our Lord had just entered upon the delicate task of Teacher, the bringing ,,f the minds of His disciples into familiarity with the deeper things in His life and work. In passing from ignorance to knowledge there must he a little contention. This the crucial time-I must speak of My sufferings. He enters upon the process. St. Peter spoils it. His rashness would not let him learn. Christian progress meets hindrances from two sources:
(1) From the wickedness of the wicked;
(2) from the immature goodness of the good.
II. The kingdom of God is very often hindered by that which it has itself produced. In society to-day there is a softness, a consideration for ease of life, which has grown up under Christianity, and which is its product. In old days life was hard, there was endurance and great effort. Passive duties have their opportunity in these days. We talk of Peace on earth. Our idea of peace is quietude. But war is often essential to peace; peace means labour-the sword turned into the ploughshare-that is Gods idea of peace. Religious life may become sentimental. Our Lords rebuke of Peter was severe because Peters plea was affection throwing itself across the path of duty. Have you never felt how terrible it is to have pleading affection try to hinder some great sacrifice? How much harder that form of opposition than any other. Satan now tries to hinder Christ through the blind love of Peter. Is not the Church of Christ often hindered now by pleadings of love, by those who say: This be far from thee. Save thyself. It exhibits a friendly consideration for our happiness; save thy money, health, effects. (R. Thomas.)
The temptations of love to be rejected
If the Pilgrim Fathers had yielded to home sickness and not let that vessel return empty, though she lay so long in the offing, tempting their return, there might have been an America, but it would not have been this America. If Livingstone had listened to the voices of those who thought him mad, Africa to-day would have been still a terra incognita. If prudence had prevailed over zeal seventy years ago, there would have been no foreign missions afoot to-day. But all these men who went to do the pioneer work had mothers and sisters and brothers tugging at their heart-strings, and tempting them not to go. And it is ever so. It is not always as in the case of the Rev. Dr. Norman MLeod, whom I once heard relate how his son had just gone into the ministry, and had accepted a very poor church in the highlands of Scotland, refusing several splendid offers which would have made him wealthy. But, said Dr. MLeod, I thank God for the lad; I would rather see him where he is with his 150 a year, than in the palace with 10,000 a year. It is very hard to say it; but, oh, it is necessary-be on your guard against the temptations of your friends, of your relatives, of your lovers, whose affection is precious to you. Remember that Satan now is wiser than of yore, and tempts by making rich-not making poor. Remember, specially, our Redeemers own words, He that sayeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for My sake, the same shall save it. (R. Thomas.)
Different Effects of Afflictions
Afflictions are unavoidable. To be a man, as a man to live upon earth, to stand in connection with other men, and yet to be out of reach of afflictions, that is absolutely impossible. How differently did our Lord think of them from his weak, still worldly-minded disciple, Peter!
1. The dissipated and thoughtless man looks upon the afflictions that befall him and others as the effects of chance, as inevitable misfortunes.
2. The proud man entertains such an opinion of himself, that he thinks no afflictions ought to befall him.
3. The superstitious man looks on all afflictions as punishments of sin.
4. The moralist regards them as necessary results of the original constitution of things.
5. The Christian sees them as the visitations of a wise and benign providence. (Zollikofer.)
Peter took Him.
Peters heart indeed was agitated. Strange surgings swelled within him at the mention of the gloomy ideas which had been mooted. The spray of these surgings lashed upon the picture which his imagination had been busily drawing. That picture was still fresh and madid. It was overlaid with brilliant colouring, which exhibited to the good mans fancy a bewitching minglement of glories, material and spiritual. As the broken surgings dashed upon it, there was anguish in the painters spirit. There was anger too. He was displeased. He was chagrined. He said impetuously, and unreflectingly, within himself: What! This will never do. It must not be! (J. Morrison, D. D.)
Began to rebuke Him
He began impulsively, vehemently, inconsiderately, as was too often his wont. He began, but the gracious Lord rose up in majesty and interrupted him, not allowing him to proceed far in the improper freedom he was using, and the improper feeling he was nursing. (J. Morrison, D. D.)
Satan
Christ looked for the moment through Peter, and saw behind him His old enemy, cunningly making use of the prejudices and impulsive honesty of the undeveloped apostle. It was the old temptation back again, that was now presented through Peter-the temptation to avoid suffering, persecution, bitter hate, scorn and murder; and instead, to erect a secular throne that would in pomp surmount all other thrones upon the earth. The Saviours spirit was roused when He met His old foe in such circumstances, looking from behind the battlements of the loving but disconcerted heart of the chief of the apostles. Hence He spoke decidedly and strongly. (J. Morrison, D. D.)
Satan:
Good men often do the devils work, though they know it not. (R. Baxter.)
I. Peters conduct. Characterized by.
1. Arrogant presumption.
2. Ignorance of the end of Christs sufferings.
3. Mistimed sympathy.
II. Christs rebuke. Prompt, severe, instructive. (W. H. Booth.)
The salt our of earthliness
1. Some make reason the standard.
2. The life and conversation of too many nominal disciples, as well as their errors in belief, show their savour of earthliness. (J. Gaston.)
Noble purposes to be encouraged
When your boy says to you suddenly some day, Father, I think I shall be a missionary and go abroad, and preach to the heathen, dont you put your hand upon the lads ambition, and put it down; dont throw any impediment in his way. Hear him on another occasion, encourage him to think still further of the scheme; and though the announcement of the lads idea tear your very heart-strings, because you have said, This son shall comfort me in my old age and feebleness, yet give him time to think about it, and show him the whole case as far as it reveals itself to your own mind, and rather stimulate than discourage him when his mind is set in a philanthropic and noble direction. And so when your husband proposes to give some large sum to this good institution or that, dont tell him that the half of it will do, because he will probably believe you,-it is so easy to go down, and so difficult to get up. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The failure of high spiritual mood
What a different figure is Peter now from that which he presented a few verses before. Jesus said to him, we read in the seventeenth verse, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona. At that moment Simon was lifted above the sons of men. He was the mountain peak that caught the first glance of the morning. And there he stood, king of men, first of disciples, most honoured of the sons of earth; for through him the Father had revealed the Son. What a figure does he present in the twenty-third verse! Get thee behind Me, Satan. The same man, but not the same character. The mountain is crushed, the great mountain become a plain, become a valley; the chief of the sons of men called a devil and ordered off behind. These are the experiences of some of us. We are to-day the most blessed among men, we seem to see almost into heaven. To-morrow we shall go and say some blundering thing, and we shall be found among the lowest and the vulgarest of our kind. One hour we shall speak music, and another hour our voice shall be hoarse, because we are saying offensive things against God and against man. Do not let us condemn one another because of these changes in our experience. The longer I live the more I feel this, how difficult it is to keep up a continuity of the highest spiritual life. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 21. From that time forth began Jesus, c.] Before this time our Lord had only spoken of his death in a vague and obscure manner, see Mt 12:40, because he would not afflict his disciples with this matter sooner than necessity required but now, as the time of his crucifixion drew nigh, he spoke of his sufferings and death in the most express and clear terms. Three sorts of persons, our Lord intimates, should be the cause of his death and passion: the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes. Pious Quesnel takes occasion to observe from this, that Christ is generally persecuted by these three descriptions of men: rich men, who have their portion in this life; ambitious and covetous ecclesiastics, who seek their portion in this life; and conceited scholars, who set up their wisdom against the wisdom of God, being more intent on criticising words than in providing for the salvation of their souls. The spirit of Christianity always enables a man to bear the ills of life with patience; to receive death with joy; and to expect, by faith, the resurrection of the body, and the life of the world to come.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Our Lord taught his hearers by degrees, as they were able to hear and to bear his instruction. He therefore first instructs them in the truth of his Divine nature, and bringeth them to a firm and steady assent to this proposition, That he was the Christ, the Son of God. Lest they should have this faith of theirs shaken by his sufferings and death, he begins to instruct them as to those things, that when they saw it come to pass, they might not be offended, but wait for his resurrection from the dead.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. From that time forth began Jesusto show unto his disciplesthat is, with an explicitness andfrequency He had never observed before.
how that he must go untoJerusalem and suffer many things“and be rejected,”(Mar 8:31; Luk 9:22).
of the elders and chiefpriests and scribesnot as before, merely by not receiving Him,but by formal deeds.
and be killed, and be raisedagain the third dayMark (Mr8:32) adds, that “He spake that saying openly””explicitly,”or “without disguise.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples,…. From the time that Peter made the confession concerning Jesus, as that he was the Messiah, and Son of God, and which things were clear to all the apostles, he began to teach them more expressly, and to point out to them more clearly, and plainly, his sufferings and death, than he had done before: and this he chose to do now, partly because that their faith in him was well grounded and established, so that they were the better able to bear these things he told them, which before might have been more staggering and discouraging to them; and partly, that being forewarned of them, they would not be so shocking when they came to pass: as also to destroy all their expectations of a temporal kingdom, which they might now be big with, he having so fully and freely owned himself to be the Messiah: and this also furnishes out some reasons why Jesus would not have his disciples, for the present, declare him to be the Messiah, that his death might not, by any means, be prevented, which was so necessary; since, should the princes of the world know him, they would not crucify him: and besides, seeing he was to suffer, and die, and rise again for the salvation of his people, it was proper that all this should be over before he was so publicly declared to be the Messiah, the Saviour, and Redeemer.
How that he must go to Jerusalem: the metropolis of the nation, where the great sanhedrim sat, who only could take cognizance of him, under the imputation of a false prophet, and condemn him to death, and which therefore would be in the most public manner; and though it would add to his reproach, would leave no room to be doubted of. The word “must”, not only belongs to his going to Jerusalem, but to his sufferings, death, and resurrection; all which must be because of the immutable decree of God, the council, and covenant of grace, and peace, the prophecies of the Old Testament, and the redemption and salvation of God’s elect; these required them, and made them absolutely necessary:
and suffer many things of the elders, chief priests, and Scribes: who would lie in wait for him, send persons to apprehend him, insult, reproach, and despitefully use him; load him with false charges, accusations, and calumnies, and deliver him to the Gentiles, to be mocked, scourged, and crucified: and this is aggravated as what would be done to him, not by the common people, or the dregs of them, but by the principal men of the city, by the sanhedrim, which consisted of the “elders” of the people, their senators; for this is not a name of age, but of office and dignity; and of the “chief priests”, the principal of them, those of the greatest note among them, who were chosen members of the grand council; and of “the Scribes”, a set of men in high esteem for their learning and wisdom:
and be killed; signifying, that he should not die a natural death, but that his life should be taken from him in a cruel and violent manner, without any regard to law or justice; indeed, that he should be properly murdered; but for the comfort of his disciples, and that they might not be overmuch pressed and cast down, at the hearing of these things, he adds,
and be raised again the third day according to the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and the type of Jonas.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Christ Reproves Peter. |
| |
21 From that time forth began Jesus to show 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 raised 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: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
We have here Christ’s discourse with his disciples concerning his own sufferings; in which observe,
I. Christ’s foretelling of his sufferings. Now he began to do it, and from this time he frequently spake of them. Some hints he had already given of his sufferings, as when he said, Destroy this temple: when he spake of the Son of man being lifted up, and of eating his flesh, and drinking his blood: but now he began to show it, to speak plainly and expressly of it. Hitherto he had not touched upon this, because the disciples were weak, and could not well bear the notice of a thing so very strange, and so very melancholy; but now that they were more ripe in knowledge, and strong in faith, he began to tell them this. Note, Christ reveals his mind to his people gradually, and lets in light as they can bear it, and are fit to receive it.
From that time, when they had made that full confession of Christ, that he was the Son of God, then he began to show them this. When he found them knowing in one truth, he taught them another; for to him that has, shall be given. Let them first be established in the principles of the doctrine of Christ, and then go on to perfection, Heb. vi. 1. If they had not been well grounded in the belief of Christ’s being the Son of God, it would have been a great shaking to their faith. All truths are not to be spoken to all persons at all times, but such as are proper and suitable to their present state. Now observe,
1. What he foretold concerning his sufferings, the particulars and circumstances of them, and all surprising.
(1.) The place where he should suffer. He must go to Jerusalem, the head city, the holy city, and suffer there. Though he lived most of his time in Galilee, he must die at Jerusalem; there all the sacrifices were offered, there therefore he must die, who is the great sacrifice.
(2.) The persons by whom he should suffer; the elders, and chief priests, and scribes; these made up the great sanhedrim, which sat at Jerusalem, and was had in veneration by the people. Those that should have been most forward in owning and admiring Christ, were the most bitter in persecuting him. It was strange that men of knowledge in the scripture, who professed to expect the Messiah’s coming, and pretended to have something sacred in their character, should use him thus barbarously when he did come. It was the Roman power that condemned and crucified Christ, but he lays it at the door of the chief priests and scribes, who were the first movers.
(3.) What he should suffer; he must suffer many things, and be killed. His enemies’ insatiable malice, and his own invincible patience, appear in the variety and multiplicity of his sufferings (he suffered many things) and in the extremity of them; nothing less than his death would satisfy them, he must be killed. The suffering of many things, if not unto death, is more tolerable; for while there is life, there is hope; and death, without such prefaces, would be less terrible; but he must first suffer many things, and then be killed.
(4.) What should be the happy issue of all his sufferings; he shall be raised again the third day. As the prophets, so Christ himself, when he testified beforehand his sufferings, testified withal the glory that should follow, 1 Pet. i. 11. His rising again the third day proved him to be the Son of God, notwithstanding his sufferings; and therefore he mentions that, to keep up their faith. When he spoke of the cross and the shame, he spoke in the same breath of the joy set before him, in the prospect of which he endured the cross, and despised the shame. Thus we must look upon Christ’s suffering for us, trace in it the way to his glory; and thus we must look upon our suffering for Christ, look through it to the recompence of reward. If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him.
2. Why he foretold his sufferings. (1.) To show that they were the product of an eternal counsel and consent; were agreed upon between the Father and the Son from eternity; Thus is behoved Christ to suffer. The matter was settled in the determinate counsel and foreknowledge, in pursuance of his own voluntary susception and undertaking for our salvation; his sufferings were no surprise to him, did not come upon him as a snare, but he had a distinct and certain foresight of them, which greatly magnifies his love, John xviii. 4. (2.) To rectify the mistakes which his disciples had imbibed concerning the external pomp and power of his kingdom. Believing him to be the Messiah, they counted upon nothing but dignity and authority in the world; but here Christ reads them another lesson, tells them of the cross and sufferings; nay, that the chief priests and the elders, whom, it is likely, they expected to be the supports of the Messiah’s kingdom, should be its great enemies and persecutors; this would give them quite another idea of that kingdom which they themselves had preached the approach of; and it was requisite that this mistake should be rectified. Those that follow Christ must be dealt plainly with, and warned not to expect great things in this world. (3.) It was to prepare them for the share, at least, of sorrow and fear, which they must have in his sufferings. When he suffered many things, the disciples could not but suffer some; if their Master be killed, they will be seized with terror; let them know it before, that they may provide accordingly, and, being fore-warned, may be fore-armed.
II. The offence which Peter took at this he said, Be it far from thee, Lord: probably he spake the sense of the rest of the disciples, as before, for he was chief speaker. He took him, and began to rebuke him. Perhaps Peter was a little elevated with the great things Christ had how said unto him, which made him more bold with Christ than did become him; so hard is it to keep the spirit low and humble in the midst of great advancements!
1. It did not become Peter to contradict his Master, or take upon him to advise him; he might have wished, that, if it were possible, this cup might pass away, without saying so peremptorily, This shall not be, when Christ had said, It must be. Shall any teach God knowledge? He that reproveth God, let him answer it. Note, When God’s dispensations are either intricate or cross to us, it becomes us silently to acquiesce in, and not to prescribe to, the divine will; God knows what he has to do, without our teaching. Unless we know the mind of the Lord, it is not for us to be his counsellors, Rom. xi. 34.
2. It savoured much of fleshly wisdom, for him to appear so warmly against suffering, and to startle thus at the offence of the cross. It is the corrupt part of us, that is thus solicitous to sleep in a whole skin. We are apt to look upon sufferings as they relate to this present life, to which they are uneasy; but there are other rules to measure them by, which, if duly observed, will enable us cheerfully to bear them, Rom. viii. 18. See how passionately Peter speaks: “Be it far from thee, Lord. God forbid, that thou shouldst suffer and be killed; we cannot bear the thoughts of it.” Master, spare thyself: so it might be read; hileos soi, kyrie–“Be merciful to thyself, and then no one else can be cruel to thee; pity thyself, and then this shall not be to thee.” He would have Christ to dread suffering as much as he did; but we mistake, if we measure Christ’s love and patience by our own. He intimates, likewise, the improbability of the thing, humanly speaking; “This shall not be unto thee. It is impossible that one who hath so great an interest in the people as thou hast, should be crushed by the elders, who fear the people: this can never be; we that have followed thee, will fight for thee, if occasion be; and there are thousands that will stand by us.”
III. Christ’s displeasure against Peter for this suggestion of his, v. 23. We do not read of any thing said or done by any of his disciples, at any time, that he resented so much as this, though they often offended.
Observe, 1. How he expressed his displeasure: He turned upon Peter, and (we may suppose) with a frown said, Get thee behind me, Satan. He did not so much as take time to deliberate upon it, but gave an immediate reply to the temptation, which was such as made it to appear how ill he took it. Just now, he had said, Blessed art thou, Simon, and had even laid him in his bosom; but here, Get thee behind me, Satan; and there was cause for both. Note, A good man may by a surprise of temptation soon grow very unlike himself. He answered him as he did Satan himself, ch. iv. 10. Note, (1.) It is the subtlety of Satan, to send temptations to us by the unsuspected hands of our best and dearest friends. Thus he assaulted Adam by Eve, Job by his wife, and here Christ by his beloved Peter. It concerns us therefore not to be ignorant of his devices, but to stand against his wiles and depths, by standing always upon our guard against sin, whoever moves us to it. Even the kindnesses of our friends are often abused by Satan, and made use of as temptations to us. (2.) Those who have their spiritual senses exercised, will be aware of the voice of Satan, even in a friend, a disciple, a minister, that dissuades them from their duty. We must not regard who speaks, so much as what is spoken; we should learn to know the devil’s voice when he speaks in a saint as well as when he speaks in a serpent. Whoever takes us off from that which is good, and would have us afraid of doing too much for God, speaks Satan’s language. (3.) We must be free and faithful in reproving the dearest friend we have, that saith or doth amiss, though it may be under colour of kindness to us. We must not compliment, but rebuke, mistaken courtesies. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Such smitings must be accounted kindnesses, Ps. cxli. 5. (4.) Whatever appears to be a temptation to sin, must be resisted with abhorrence, and not parleyed with.
2. What was the ground of this displeasure; why did Christ thus resent a motion that seemed not only harmless, but kind? Two reasons are given:
(1.) Thou art an offence to me—Skandalon mou ei—Thou art my hindrance (so it may be read); “thou standest in my way.” Christ was hastening on in the work of our salvation, and his heart was so much upon it, that he took it ill to be hindered, or tempted to start back from the hardest and most discouraging part of his undertaking. So strongly was he engaged for our redemption, that they who but indirectly endeavoured to divert him from it, touched him in a very tender and sensible part. Peter was not so sharply reproved for disowning and denying his Master in his sufferings as he was for dissuading him from them; though that was the defect, this the excess, of kindness. It argues a very great firmness and resolution of mind in any business, when it is an offence to be dissuaded, and a man will not endure to hear any thing to the contrary; like that of Ruth, Entreat me not to leave thee. Note, Our Lord Jesus preferred our salvation before his own ease and safety; for even Christ pleased not himself (Rom. xv. 3); he came into the world, not to spare himself, as Peter advised, but to spend himself.
See why he called Peter Satan, when he suggested this to him; because, whatever stood in the way of our salvation, he looked upon as coming from the devil, who is a sworn enemy to it. The same Satan that afterward entered into Judas, maliciously to destroy him in his undertaking, here prompted Peter plausibly to divert him from it. Thus he changes himself into an angel of light.
Thou art an offence to me. Note, [1.] Those that engage in any great good work must expect to meet with hindrance and opposition from friends and foes, from within and from without. [2.] Those that obstruct our progress in any duty must be looked upon as an offence to us. Then we do the will of God as Christ did, whose meat and drink it was to do it, when it is a trouble to us to be solicited from our duty. Those that hinder us from doing or suffering for God, when we are called to it, whatever they are in other things in that they are Satans, adversaries to us.
(2.) Thou savourest not the things that are of God, but those that are of men. Note, [1.] The things that are of God, that is, the concerns of his will and glory, often clash and interfere with the things that are of men, that is, with our own wealth, pleasure, and reputation. While we mind Christian duty as out way and work, and the divine favour as our end and portion, we savour the things of God; but if these be minded, the flesh must be denied, hazards must be run and hardships borne; and here is the trial which of the two we savour. [2.] Those that inordinately fear, and industriously decline suffering for Christ, when they are called to it, savour more of the things of man than of the things of God; they relish those things more themselves, and make it appear to others that they do so.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
From that time began ( ). It was a suitable time for the disclosure of the greatest secret of his death. It is now just a little over six months before the cross. They must know it now to be ready then. The great confession of Peter made this seem an appropriate time. He will repeat the warnings (17:22f. with mention of betrayal; 20:17-19 with the cross) which he now “began.” So the necessity (, must) of his suffering death at the hands of the Jerusalem ecclesiastics who have dogged his steps in Galilee is now plainly stated. Jesus added his resurrection “on the third day” ( ), not “on the fourth day,” please observe. Dimly the shocked disciples grasped something of what Jesus said.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
From that time began [ ] . He had not shown it to them before.
Must [] . It was necessary in fulfilment of the divine purpose. See Mt 26:54; Heb 8:3; Luk 24:26.
Suffer. This first announcement mentions this passion and death generally; the second (xvii. 22, 23), adds his betrayal into the hands of sinners; the third (xx. 17 – 19), at length expresses his stripes, cross, etc. Elders and chief priests and scribes. A circumstantial way of designating the Sanhedrim, or supreme council of the Jewish nation.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
(21) From that time forth began Jesus.The prominence given to the prediction shows that it came upon the minds of the disciples as something altogether new. They had failed to understand the mysterious hints of the future which we find in, Destroy this temple (Joh. 2:19), in the Son of Man being lifted up (Joh. 3:14), in the sign of the prophet Jonas (Mat. 12:39; Mat. 16:4). Now the veil is uplifted, and the order of events is plainly foretoldthe entry into Jerusalem, the rejection, the condemnation, the death, the resurrection. It is obvious that if we accept the record as true the prediction is one which implies a foreknowledge that is at least supernatural, and is so far evidence of a divine mission, if not also of a divine nature in the speaker. And it may well be urged that in this case the incidents which surround the predictionas, e.g., Peters protest, and the rebuke addressed to him in such striking contrast with the previous promisehave a character of originality and unexpectedness which negatives the hypothesis of its being a prophecy after the event. On the other hand, the fact that the disciples did not take in the meaning of the prediction as to His rising from the dead may, in its turn, be pleaded in bar of the assumption that the prophecy lingered in mens minds, and suggested the belief in a mythical, in the absence of a real, fulfilment.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. From that time forth The Ministry of sorrow now commences. His apostolic rocks are firm enough now to bear the full announcement of those woes which had heretofore been but obscurely intimated.
Must go unto Jerusalem Matthew’s history has, thus far, scarce once found our Lord at Jerusalem. His is almost exclusively a Galilean gospel. But though the Saviour has mostly laboured in Galilee, he must suffer at Jerusalem; and thence the preaching of his name must properly go forth. There is the site of the Old Testament theocracy. There have the sacrifices of the law, and the blood of the Old Testament atonements, shown forth his death for ages. And from there, the royal city of David, must go forth an announcement of the kingdom of the son of David to all the world.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘From that time Jesus began to show to his disciples, that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.’
Now He feels it important to make clear to His disciples the deeper truths concerning His coming, and ‘from that time’ He began to emphasise His coming suffering. Going to Jerusalem for these purposes was something that ‘it was necessary’ for Him to do. For it was in the will and purposes of God. So they must recognise once and for all that He was not here to lead them to victory against the Romans. Rather He was here to ‘suffer many things’, as the Son of man had suffered in Daniel 7 (as one with ‘the saints of the Most High’) under the depredations of the wild beasts, which represented empires like Rome, and as the Servant had suffered for the redemption of His people (Isaiah 53), and as the Psalmist king had suffered in readiness for the new dawn (Psalms 22). And this must be so because the world is such that godly people must always suffer if good is to triumph (Act 14:22). Let them consider the Psalms which consistently refer to suffering. Let them consider what had happened to the prophets. Let them consider the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah 50, 53. It was the nature of the world that those who followed God would suffer (compare Hebrews 11). And thus He, Who as the Son of Man and Servant was representative man, must also ‘suffer many things’ including scorn, rejection, tears, scourgings and death. (Compare Mat 17:22-23; Mat 20:17-19; Mat 20:28; Mat 21:39; Mat 26:2; Mat 26:12; Mat 26:24; Mat 26:28; Mat 26:31; Mar 9:12; Mar 10:45; Luk 17:25; Luk 22:15; Luk 24:7; Luk 24:26; Luk 24:46; Joh 3:14; Joh 10:15; Joh 10:17; Act 1:3; Act 3:18; Heb 2:18; Heb 5:8; Heb 9:26; Heb 13:12; 1Pe 2:21; 1Pe 2:23 ; 1Pe 3:18; 1Pe 4:1)
‘At the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes.’ The elders were the prominent lay people on the Council (Mat 21:23; Mat 26:3; Mat 26:47; Mat 26:57; Mat 26:59; Mar 11:27; Mar 14:43; Mar 14:53; Mar 15:1; Luk 7:3; Luk 20:1; Luk 22:52; Luk 22:66), the chief priests were the hierarchy who regulated Temple affairs (Mat 21:15; Mat 21:23; Mat 21:45; Mat 26:3; Mat 26:14; Mat 26:47; Mat 26:59 etc.) and the scribes were the Teachers of the Law (Mat 9:3; Mat 12:28; Mat 15:1; Mat 21:15; Matthew 23; Mat 26:3; Mat 26:57; Mat 27:41; Luk 5:21; Luk 5:30; Luk 6:7). He was already rejected by many of them and He recognised that it was to be expected that almost all of them would turn against Him (Psalms 118 (LXX 117).22), for He knew what was in man (Joh 2:25), and He was hardly ensuring His popularity by tearing down their structures and their hypocrisy. He was no different in this respect than the previous prophets. He was here to be rejected by the great Jewish religious leaders of the day, as the great prophets had always been, and necessarily must be (compare Mat 21:35-36; Mat 23:35; Mat 23:37; Mar 12:5; Luk 6:23; Luk 13:33-34; Luk 20:10-12). In His view this was inevitable. Had He not Himself declared, ‘Woe to you when all men speak well of you’? (Luk 6:26). It was of false prophets that men spoke well (Luk 6:26). They had rejected Jeremiah. Would they not do the same to Him?
We can consider here God’s complaint against the Jewish leaders in Jer 2:8, of whom He says, “the priests did not say ‘where is the Lord’ and they that handle the Law knew Me not.” They had long ago turned against God. Compare in this regard Jer 18:18 where Jeremiah too was rejected by those who handled the Law and Jer 20:1-2 where he was smitten by ‘the priest who was the chief officer in the house of the Lord’. See also Jer 26:7-8; Jer 26:11 where ‘the priests and the prophets’ sought his death. Jeremiah would be especially significant to Jesus as he too prophesied the destruction of the Temple (Jer 7:14), calling it a ‘den of robbers’ (Jer 7:11). And now a greater than Jeremiah was here saying the same things. So it would be nothing new for the religious leaders of Israel to condemn such a prophet ‘for the sake of the nation’ (Joh 18:14). This idea of the rejection by the Jewish leaders is further based on the pattern of such Scriptures as Zechariah 11 where the true shepherd who had fed the flock was rejected by the false shepherds of Judah and Israel, and was dismissed for thirty pieces of silver, the value of a slave, which he cast to the potter in the house of the Lord as a sign that the amount was rejected by him and was insufficient. Thus rejection by the elders, and chief priests and scribes must not be seen as anything unusual. It was what had always been.
‘And be killed.’ He had no doubts about what lay ahead. It is not really surprising that Jesus saw His future in terms of suffering. He had witnessed what had happened to John the Baptist (Mat 14:3-12; Luk 9:7; Luk 9:9), He knew of the growing antagonism against Him (Mat 9:11; Mat 9:34; Mat 12:1-14; Mat 12:24; Mat 15:1-2; Mat 16:1; Mar 3:6; Mar 3:22; Luk 6:11), He knew of the career of the Suffering Servant in Isa 51:4-11; Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:12, and of the Smitten Shepherd in Zec 13:7 (consider Joh 10:11). He knew of the references to the suffering of the godly in the Psalms (e.g. Psalms 22; Psa 118:10 on) and He knew that the Son of Man in Daniel as the representative of God’s people would come out of suffering into the presence of God, even while ‘the wild beasts’ were attacking the true people of God (Dan 7:13-14 with Mat 16:22 and Mat 16:25-27). He had no Messianic delusions. Unlike the disciples He knew precisely what was in store for Him. And He knew that His death was necessary so that He could be a ‘ransom for many’ (Mat 20:28; Mar 10:45)
Strictly speaking the disciples should also have been prepared for this, but like us, and like the Jews, they had the ability to make words mean what they wanted them to mean. Some of them had been disciples of John the Baptiser, and they had been shocked when he had met a violent end. And they had also been told that the Bridegroom was to be ‘snatched away’ from them (Mat 9:15; Mar 2:20; Luk 5:35), and then they would fast. It had further been inferred that the temple of His body would be destroyed, and in three days raised again (Joh 2:19). And Jesus had clearly stated that He was giving His flesh for the life of the world (Joh 6:51) and that men would ‘eat and drink’ of Him (Joh 6:56), a clear reference to His being put to death according to Old Testament passages such as Psa 14:4; Psa 53:4; Mic 3:3; Isa 49:26; Zec 9:15 LXX; compare Mat 23:30. But in the way men have they had refused to accept the unpalatable truth and had ignored it. Now they were being faced up with it in a way that could not be ignored.
Interestingly we have here an evidence of how carefully the actual words of Jesus were preserved. It would have been so easy to alter it to read ‘crucified’, especially in the light of Mat 16:24 (and see Luk 24:7) and the fact that crucifixion was the normal death under the Romans for high treason, but they did not. Compare Mat 20:19 where, by then aware that He was to be handed over to the Gentiles, He recognised the inevitability of crucifixion.
‘And the third day be raised up.’ But on the third day He would rise again. He may not have intended ‘the third day’ literally. ‘Three days’ indicated a relatively short period of time and could mean ‘within days’ (compare the ‘three days journey’, a standard phrase in the Pentateuch indicating a shortish journey compared with the longer ‘seven days journey’ – Gen 30:36; Exo 3:18; Exo 5:3; Exo 8:27; Num 10:33; Num 33:8; Jon 3:3).
This idea of a third day resurrection is found in Hos 6:1-2, and as Jesus has previously mentioned (Mat 12:39-40), in Jonah 1:29. (Matthew, like Luke, interprets the ‘three days’ of Mark as ‘the third day’ in accord with Jewish practise). And this interpreted in the light of the suffering Servant of Isaiah. Hos 6:1-2 was initially spoken of Israel, (God’s vine). But Jesus was here as in Himself representing the true Israel, the true Vine (Joh 15:1), as God’s Son called out of Egypt (Mat 2:15). As the Servant He was Israel (Isa 49:3). Thus he could apply Hos 6:1-2 to Himself.
Note the context in Hosea. God will wait ‘in His place’ until Israel acknowledge their guilt and seek His face, and in their distress seek Him and say, ‘come let us return to the Lord’. But this will not be until ‘He has torn that He may heal them, He has stricken and will bind them up’. These last words could well have been spoken looking at the Servant. For as Isaiah has made clear (Isa 53:3-5) this was what first had be played out on the One Who was to come as the representative of Israel. We have here a clear picture of the Servant as described in Isaiah 53. It is in Him finally that He has torn them, it is in Him that He has stricken them, for He has borne in their place all that they should have faced (Isa 53:3-6). And the result will be a reviving and a raising up on the third day, first for Him (Isa 53:10; Isa 53:12) and then for them. For He will have gone before them in order to be a guilt offering and make it possible for all (Isa 53:10). Indeed it could all only be because their representative had first gone through it for them that they could enjoy it.
So as the One Who saw Himself as suffering for Israel in their place, and as their representative, Jesus also saw Himself as being raised again like them, on the third day as in Hosea.
Indeed a moments thought reveals that the Servant’s task could only be fulfilled by resurrection. How else could He ‘see His offspring’, ‘prolong His days’ and receive the spoils of victory (Isa 53:10; Isa 53:12)? (Compare also Isa 52:13-15). And how else could the Son of Man come triumphantly out of the suffering and death of the true people of God (the holy ones of the Most High) into the presence of the Ancient of Days to receive the everlasting kingdom (Dan 7:13-14)? And unless He was raised how could the Holy One ‘not see corruption’ (Psa 16:10)? Resurrection was required as God’s vindication in a suffering world (Isa 26:19), and especially so for the suffering Servant. And it is also constantly implied by such statements as Luk 9:24-26. All this was clear from the Scriptures (Luk 18:31).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jesus Reveals That As The Messiah and Son of Man He Must Suffer (16:21-27).
Jesus declares that the way of suffering lies ahead for Him as the Messiah, and when Peter tries to show Him His ‘error’, He rebukes Peter and points out that all those who follow Him must choose the way of suffering. That is the way forward in order to establish His Kingly Rule over men’s lives. Contrary winds must be faced by those who would reach ‘the other side’. And then, when He returns in the glory of His Father as the Son of Man all will be judged according to their deeds. They will be examined to see whether are truly under the Kingly Rule of Heaven, whether they have truly done the will of His Father (Mat 7:21). For He is not dealing now with personal preferences but with the Kingly Rule of Heaven, and what it requires of men and women in a world which is in opposition to God.
a From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples, that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up (Mat 16:21).
b And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Be it far from you, Lord, this will never happen to you” (Mat 16:22).
c But He turned, and said to Peter, “Get you behind me, Satan, You are a stumbling-block to me, for you do not mind the things of God, but the things of men” (Mat 16:23).
d Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mat 16:24).
c “For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it” (Mat 16:25).
b “For what will a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?” (Mat 16:26).
a “For the Son of man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then will He render to every man according to his deeds” (Mat 16:27).
Note that in ‘a’ Jesus will be judged by men according to what He has done, and in the parallel He will judge men according to what they have done. In ‘b’ Peter seeks to dissuade Him from suffering, and in the parallel those who avoid suffering will lose their very life. In ‘c’ Jesus rebukes Peter because he has sought to persuade Him to go against the will of God and avoid losing His life, and in the parallel He points out that the one who seeks to save his life will lose it. Centrally in ‘d’ is the central theme of discipleship.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Revelation of the Cost of the Atonement and of Discipleship In Mat 16:21-28 Jesus reveals the cost that He must pay for the atonement of mankind and the cost His disciples must pay in order to partake of that atonement. The cost of the atonement was the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ (Mat 16:21-23), and the cost of partaking of this atonement was to lose one’s life for His sake (Mat 16:24-28).
Here is a proposed outline:
1. Jesus Begins to Foretell His Death & Resurrection Mat 16:21-23
2. The Cost of Discipleship Mat 16:24-28
Mat 16:21-23 Jesus Begins to Foretell His Death and Resurrection ( Mar 8:31 to Mar 9:1 , Luk 9:22-27 ) We find the first mention of Jesus’ Crucifixion in Mat 16:21-23. Peter has just made his public confession in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The importance of this confession is that when Jesus saw that His disciples had received the divine revelation of who He was, His focus was immediately turned to the Cross (note Mat 16:21). Since the Church is built upon the foundational doctrine of the deity of Jesus, Peter’s confession is the first establishment of the Church upon the earth. Once this foundation was laid, Jesus had no more need to stay any longer upon the earth. His need was to complete the work of redemption on Calvary’s Cross and return to Heaven so that He could send the Holy Spirit to strength Peter and those who were in agreement with his confession. This deeper revelation of Jesus Christ’ pending Crucifixion was not revealed to His disciples until they believed that He was the promised Messiah. We can see Satan fighting against this great revelation and its results as Peter is immediately tempted by Satan to rebuke Jesus (Mat 16:22-23).
Mat 16:21 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 raised again the third day.
Mat 16:21
Jesus Moves to Public and Private Ministry Mat 4:17; Mat 6:21 share the common Greek phrase (from that time forth Jesus began). While some scholars have inferred that the Gospel of Matthew has a three-fold structure based upon these two verses, they actually introduce a major narrative movement in which Jesus enters His public ministry (Mat 4:17) and later narrows His focus to private ministry to the Twelve (Mat 16:21). [487]
[487] Christopher R. Smith, “Literary Evidences of a FiveFold Structure in the Gospel of Matthew,” in New Testament Studies 43 (1997): 550.
Mat 4:17, “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Mat 16:21, “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 raised again the third day.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Revelation of the Atonement of Jesus Christ With the Jewish leaders having rejected the doctrine of Jesus Christ and of John the Baptist, of the Holy Scriptures (Mat 15:1-39), and of His miracles (Mat 16:1-20), Jesus now begins to reveal various aspects of His atonement to those disciples who have faithfully followed Him (Mat 16:21 to Mat 17:27). This passage of Scripture is structured as a triplicate set of revelations followed by explanations. In other words, Jesus will offer a revelation of Himself followed by an explanation of the requirements of discipleship in light of His Atonement.
Here is a proposed outline:
1. The Revelation of Cost of the Atonement and Discipleship Mat 16:21-28
2. The Revelation of Divine Authority of Jesus & Church Mat 17:1-21
3. The Revelation of the Divine Provisions Mat 17:22-27
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Christ’s First Prophecy Concerning His Passion.
v. 21. From that time forth began Jesus to show 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 raised again the third day. The disciples had made a splendid confession of their faith, proving conclusively that they had the right, saving knowledge concerning Jesus, their Redeemer. Christ therefore thought it the appropriate time to prepare them gradually for the great climax, the culmination of His work. They should now be able to bear the news. He began to show them, to give them explicit and detailed information. A very significant word: He must go to Jerusalem; a divine obligation was resting upon Him, it was a necessity which He had taken upon Himself to fulfill the will of His heavenly Father by His death for all mankind, Psa 40:8. The elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, twenty-four of each class of these forming the great Sanhedrin, or chief council of the Jews. That these enemies of His would succeed in putting Him to death, but that He would be raised on the third day: that was the sum and substance that Jesus attempted to make clear to the disciples from the Scriptures of the Old Testament.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 16:21. From that time forth began Jesus, &c. Though all the circumstances mentioned in this verse were marks of the Messiah, yet, says a commentator, how little they were understood by the Apostles, or suited to their expectation of the Messiah, appears from the manner in which they were received by Peter, Mat 16:22. Peter had twice before acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah, and yet here he cannot bear the thought that he should suffer, and be put to death, and be raised again: whereby we may perceive how little Jesus had at this time explained to the Apostles what personally concerned himself. They had been a good while witnesses of his life and miracles, and thereby being grown into a belief that he was the Messiah, were in some degree prepared to receive the particulars which were to fill up the character, and answer the prophesies concerning him. This from henceforth he began to open to them, though in a way out of which the Jews could not form an accusation; the time of the accomplishment of all, in his sufferings, death, and resurrection, now drawing on, (for this was in the last year of his life,) he being to meet the Jews at Jerusalem but once more at the passover, and then they were to have their will upon him; wherefore he might now begin to be a little more open concerning himself, though yet so as to keep himself out of the reach of any accusation, which might appear just or weighty to the Roman deputy.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 16:21 . ] Comp. Mat 4:17 ; a note of time marking an important epoch. “Antea non ostenderat,” Bengel. To announce His future sufferings [460] to His disciples, and that immediately after their decided confession, Mat 16:16 , was highly opportune, both as regards their capability and their need their capability to stand so trying an intimation, and their need of beginning to relinquish their false hopes, and of attaining to a true and exalted conception of what constitutes the work of the Messiah. Mar 8:31 likewise introduces the beginning of the announcement of the future sufferings somewhat prominently after Peter’s confession, whereas Luk 9:21 f. omits it altogether.
] Necessity in accordance with a divine purpose, Mat 26:54 ; Luk 24:26 ; Joh 3:14 .
.] because connected with . . . , does not forbid the idea of previous visits to Jerusalem mentioned by John (in answer to Hilgenfeld, Evang . p. 89); comp. Mat 23:37 .
] at the hands of ; comp. note on Mat 11:19 .
. . . . .] This circumstantial way of designating the Sanhedrim (comp. note on Mat 2:4 ) has here something of a solemn character.
.] further detail (though with Mat 16:24 already in view) reserved for Mat 20:19 . What Jesus contemplates is not being stoned to death by the people (Hausrath), but judicial murder through the decision of a court of justice.
. ] With so clear and distinct a prediction of the resurrection, it is impossible to reconcile the fact that, utterly disheartened by the death of their Lord, the disciples should have had no expectation whatever that He would come to life again, that they consequently embalmed the body, and that even on the Sunday morning the women wanted to anoint it; that they should have placed a heavy stone at the mouth of the grave, and afterwards are utterly at a loss to account for the empty sepulchre, and treat the statement that He has risen and appeared again as simply incredible, some of them even doubting His identity when they do see Him; and further, that the risen Jesus appeals, indeed, to an Old Testament prediction (Luk 24:25 ), but not to His own; just as John, in like manner, accounts for Peter and himself not believing in the resurrection till they had actually seen the empty grave, merely from their having hitherto failed to understand the scripture (Joh 20:9 ). All this is not to be disposed of by simply saying that the disciples had not understood the prediction of Jesus (Mar 9:22 ); for had it been so plainly and directly uttered, they could not have failed to understand it, especially as, in the course of His own ministry, cases had occurred of the dead being restored to life, and as the Messianic hopes of the disciples must have disposed them to give a ready reception to tidings of a resurrection. Then, again, the fulfilment would necessarily have had the effect of awakening both their memory and their understanding, and that all the more that precisely then light was being shed upon the mysterious saying regarding the temple of the body (Joh 2:21 f.). We must therefore suppose that Jesus had made certain dark, indefinite allusions to His resurrection, which as yet had not been apprehended in their true meaning, and that it was only ex eventu that they assumed, in the course of tradition, the clear and definite form of a prediction such as is now before us. It is only such faint, obscure hints that are as yet to be met with in Joh 2:19 ; Joh 10:17 f., and see observation on Mat 12:40 . Comp. besides, Hasert, b. d. Vorhersag. Jesu von s. Tode u. s. Auferst . 1839, Neander, de Wette, Ammon. Other expositors (Paulus, Hase, Scholten, Schenkel, Volkmar), arbitrarily ignoring those traces of a dim prophetic hint of the resurrection, have contended that, originally, nothing more was meant than a symbolical allusion, an allusion, that is, to the new impetus that would be given to the cause of Jesus , while some of them have denied that any announcement of the death ever took place at all (Strauss; see, on the other hand, Ebrard). But the arguments of Sskind (in Flatt’s Magaz . VII. p. 181 ff.), Heydenreich (in Hffel’s Zeitschr . II. p. 7 ff.), Kuinoel, Ebrard, and others in favour of the perfect authenticity of the definite and literal predictions of the resurrection, are not conclusive, and, to some extent, move in a circle.
[460] Whoever supposes that it was only somewhere about this time that the thought of His impending sufferings and death first began to dawn upon Jesus (Hase, Weizscker, Keim, Wittichen), can do so only by ignoring previous statements on the part of the Lord, which already point with sufficient clearness to His painful end (see especially Mat 9:15 , Mat 10:38 , Mat 12:40 ) statements the testimony of which is to be set aside only by explaining away and rejecting them by the artifice of mixing up together dates of different times, and the like, and thus depriving them of validity, a course which is decidedly opposed to the Gospel of John (comp. Joh 1:29 ,Joh 2:19 , Joh 3:14 , Joh 6:51 ff.) so long as its authenticity is recognised!
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
B. The Church as bearing the Cross of Christ, in contrast to that worldly fear of the Cross by which the Lord is assailed.
Mat 16:21-28
(Mar 8:31 to Mar 9:1; Luk 9:21-28)
21From that time forth37 began Jesus to show unto [to] his disciples, how38 that he must go unto [to] Jerusalem, and suffer many things of [from] the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed [put to death], and be raised again [rise]39 the third day. 22Then Peter took him,40 and began41 to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23But he turned,42 and said unto [to] Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan;43 thou art an offence unto me [my offence]:44 for thou savourest 24[mindest] not the things that be [are] of God, but those that be [are] of men.45 Then said Jesus unto [to] his disciples, If any man [one] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will [may] lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26For what is a man profited [will a man be profited],46 if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own47 soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. 28Verily I say unto you, There be [are] some standing here48 which [who] shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Mat 16:21. From that time.From the first Jesus had given obscure intimations of the sorrows which were before Him: Joh 2:4, etc. Now, however, He made a distinct announcement of the precise form of His sufferings; 1. because the disciples were strong enough in faith to bear this intelligence; 2. because their faith in the Messiah would thereby be effectually guarded from the admixture of carnal Jewish notions; 3. because the Lord could not conceal from His disciples what awaited them, and would have none but voluntary followers on His path of suffering. But Christ not only announced His impending sufferings; He also explained and showed their necessityit was a , although interrupted by the remonstrance of the disciples.
Of the elders.The detailed enumeration of these parties proves that there was a general conspiracy on the part of all the Jewish authorities, and hence indicates the rupture of the whole outward theocracy with Christianity.
And rise again the third day.Even Meyer considers it impossible to reconcile so clear and distinct a prediction of the resurrection with the circumstance that the disciples were so much disheartened by the Lords death, as not to expect His restoration to life, and that they did not know what to think of the empty sepulchre, etc. Accordingly, this critic assumes, with Hasert, Neander, de Wette, and others, that Christ had on this occasion indicated His resurrection in a much more indefinite manner than in the text, and that this intimation had assumed the shape of a distinct prediction only ex eventu, and from tradition. Ssskind, Heydenreich, Kuinoel, Ebrard, and others, regard, on the other hand, the narrative in the text as an accurate account of what took place at the time. (See also Leben Jesu, ii. 2, p. 894.) Nor can we see any difficulty in regard to the later conduct of the disciples. As they evidently did not receive Christs announcement of His impending death, we cannot wonder at their failing to apprehend and remember what He had said of His resurrection. Besides, until the day of Pentecost, they were very doubtful expositors of the words of Jesus; the figurative and symbolical language employed often leaving them uncertain what to take in a literal and what in a symbolical sense. Hence they frequently explained figurative expressions literally, Mat 16:7; Joh 4:33; Joh 11:12; while, on the other hand, they understood literal expressions figuratively, Joh 6:70; Mat 15:16-17. Accordingly, in this instance also the disciples seem to have remained in doubt in what sense the Lord uttered this solemn and mysterious saying, and that even after He had repeated it a second time, Mar 9:10. Their uncertainty was all the greater from the state of their minds, which assumed an attitude of opposition whenever the Lord made such disclosures. Hence, we conceive that the of the Lord (He began to show them, etc.) was interrupted by the vehement remonstrance of Peter, just as Peters attempted rebuke was interrupted by the Lords reproof. In all these instances, we must not picture to ourselves the Lord as delivering lectures ex cathedr to His disciples, but as making disclosures and revelations which caused intense commotion. Besides, the statement that the disciples gave way to despair after the death of Jesus, is quite contrary to the account of the Evangelists. The honorable interment, the anointing of the corpse (which must not be regarded as identical with the Egyptian practice of embalming), their meetings, and their going to the grave, sufficiently show that there were gleams of light in their darkest hours. On the other hand, their doubts in regard to the resurrectioneven after they had been informed of itare explained by the prodigious greatness both of the anticipation and of the reality. (The idea, that the language of Jesus was symbolical, and referred to a fresh impulse to be given to His cause, scarcely requires refutation.)
Mat 16:22. Then Peter took Him; .He laid his hand upon Him, or seized Him from behind, as if he would have moved Him by main force to alter His purpose. He stopped the Master in this manner for the purpose of remonstrating with Him. Grotius explains it: he embraced Him; Euthymius Zigabenus and Meyer: he took Him aside, . The account says nothing of either. When Jesus turned round, He addressed Himself not only to Peter, but also to the other disciples; for, as in his confession, so at this time, Peter represented the general feeling. Meyer rightly infers from the expression , that Jesus did not allow Peter to finish his address. But we see no reason to conclude that He turned His back upon Peter; the expression, , or (as in Mark), being rather against this supposition. Jesus turned round to Peter and the other disciples; and the command, , referred to the fact, that in a spiritual sense Peter was attempting to obstruct His path.
Be it far from Thee.This shall not happen to thee, , a proverbial expression, being understood: Propitius sit tibi Deus, God be merciful to thee, God preserve thee!equivalent to the Hebrew (2Sa 20:20; 2Sa 23:17; lxx). [The sudden change in Peter from a bold confessor of Christ and rock of His Church, to an adversary and stumbling-block of His Master, although unaccountable on the mythical or legendary fiction-theory of Strauss or Renan, is nevertheless true to life, and easily explained and understood in view of the sanguine, impulsive, and ardent temper of Peter, and in view of the high praise and lofty promise just bestowed upon him, which was a strong temptation to his natural vanity and ambition. The experience of believers confirms the frequent occurrence of the same sudden transition, As there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, from the tragical to the comical, so also in spiritual life opposite extremes often meet, and Satan is most busy to seduce us, when we are most highly exalted and favored by Christ.P. S.]
Mat 16:23. Get thee [lit.: go, begone] behind Me [out of My sight, away from Me], Satan. . See Mat 4:10; Luk 4:8, where Christ uses the same words to Satan in the wilderness. The expression Satan is here used in a more general sense, denoting an Adversary, or Tempter, with an allusion to the satanic element which was unconsciously at work in Peter, and tempted the Saviour away from His true calling and path of duty. The meaning therefore is: What, is Satan come again to tempt Me, as he did of old? Get thee hence, thou Tempter! It is scarcely necessary to say that it was not meant as a term of reproach or as a mere expression of abhorrence or contempt. Most Roman Catholic critics adopt the suggestion of Hilary, and maintain that only the first words (Go out of My sight) were addressed to Peter, and the rest (from Satan) to the personal Devil.49 Maldonatus takes the term Satan in the general sense of adversarius, which may he admitted, provided we keep in mind that there was an allusion to Satan himself. As Judas afterward became permanently and consciously, so Peter now became momentarily and unconsciously, a representative of the cause of Satan, who would fain have banished the cross and the kingdom of Christ. In opposition to this, Christ chose the cross as conformable to the divine purpose, as the manifestation of His righteousness, and as the basis of His redemption.
Thou art an offence unto Me.According to the better reading: My offence, or My stumbling block,50 , which is stronger than (a stumbling-block to Me). The word a later form of , a trap-stick; hence a snare, or generally, an obstruction in the way, especially in a metaphorical sense.
Thou mindest (carest for) the things of God, .The things of God as represented by the will of Christ The antithesis to this: the things of men, . It deserves notice that human depravity is always expressed by the plural, and not the singular. If the singular is used, the epithet is added to . The reason is obvious. Human nature is not represented as in itself opposed to God, but only in its present state. The general meaning of the passage is: On this occasion thou thinkest not of what is conformable to the holy counsel of God, but to the sinful inclination of men. Its special application is: Thou rejectest the counsel of Him who has determined to make the cross and its sufferings the ground of salvation, and payest homage to the carnal views and expectations of the Jews concerning a secular kingdom of the Messiah.
Mat 16:24. If any man will come after Me.This declaration throws light both upon the statement of Christ and the counter-statement of Peter. The impending sufferings of Christ would certainly involve the disciples in similar persecutions and trials, though perhaps not immediately or outwardly. Hence they were unfit to follow Him; nor could He employ them, unless they were ready and willing wholly to surrender themselves to Him, and to suffer for His sake. To follow Jesus requires both inward self-renunciation and an outward manifestation of it, in willing submission to whatever sufferings may befall us as disciples. This renunciation must amount to self-denial, that is, it must become complete abnegation and surrender of our selfish nature and of our self-will. The expression deny himself forms a solemn prophetic contrast to Peters later denial of his Lord. Taking up the cross was a proverbial expression; but in this connection referred to readiness to endure even the most painful and ignominious death in following Christ. At the same time, it also alluded to the Lords crucifixion, and may be taken as a typical expression for the later death on the cross of Peter himself. See Mat 10:38; John 21.
Here, as at an earlier period of His history, when the first signs of persecution and of popular defection appeared, the Lord left it to the free choice of His disciples whether or not they would continue to follow Him.
Mat 16:25. For whosoever will save his life.Comp. Mat 10:39 (p. 198). Words these of the deepest import, embodying the fundamental principle both of the hidden and mystical, as well as of the outward and temporal life of a Christian. The fear of death subjects to the bondage of death, Heb 2:15; while readiness to suffer a holy death for Christs sake opens up before us true life. This is our watchword in baptism, Romans 4; and, indeed, in all our Christianity.
Mat 16:26. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose (forfeit, ) his own soul?If his soul be forfeited by this bargain. The explanation, and damage, or injure, his own soul,51 falls entirely short of the meaning of the expression. The following four propositions are implied in the statement of the text, which is intended to show that a man will lose his life except he follows Christ: 1. Whoever seeks to save his life by ungodly means, wishes for a portion of worldly gain. 2. But to gain the world (as such) in a selfish and sinful manner, implies the loss of the soul. 3. This loss is infinitely greater than even the gain of the whole world, assuming that such were possible. 4. In truth, whoever has lost his own soul for the world has gained even the world only in appearance, but lost it in reality.
Or what shall a man give In exchange [lit.: as an exchange] for his soul ( ).A proof that the loss of the soul is perpetual and irreparable. If a man loses his soul, he can find no equivalent for it within the whole range of the apparent possessions of this world, by which to ransom it from its bondage unto death. , properly counter-price. The price which a man gives is the ; the counter-price which a man receives is the . Hence the expression, giving an (not taking it), must imply the idea: if the bargain should be broken off. This is, indeed, possible in secular transactions, but not when a man has bartered his soul for the world; since, in point of fact, he has gained only an illusory demoniacal image or likeness of the world, not the world itself (see Leben Jesu, ii. 2, p. 899).52The Lord here shows that the desire and endeavor of gaining the world really lay at the root of the carnal Messianic hopes of the Jews, as, indeed, had already appeared in the third temptation by which He was assailed at the commencement of His course, Matthew 4. A caricature this of the real .
The next verse shows that the Lord referred not merely to a negative damage, but also to a positive punishment.
Mat 16:27. For it shall come to pass that the Son of Man shall come.. [Emphatically placed at the beginning of the sentence.] Not a simple future, but meaning: the event is impending that He shall come, He is about to come. On this second advent, see Mat 24:25; 2 Thessalonians 2; Revelation 19, 20, etc.In the glory of His Father.Not merely as the representative of the Father in the judgment which is to be executed, but as the Founder of a new world, the Centre and Author of the new creation (). He will reward every man according to his work, , or the total outward manifestation of his inner life as a believer or unbeliever. This reference to the second advent is specially intended to prove the former statement: Whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.
Mat 16:28. There are some of those standing hare.[The twelve then present, and immediately addressed, and the crowd referred to, Mar 8:34.] Various explanations of this difficult passage have been offered. 1. Chrysostom and many others hold that the limit, until they see the Son of Man coming, etc., refers to the history of the Transfiguration, immediately following. 2. Grotius, Capellus, Wetstein, Ebrard, [Alford, Owen], etc., apply it to the destruction of Jerusalem and the founding of the Church. 3. Dorner interprets it of the conquests and progress of the gospel 4. Meyer and others apply the expression to the proximity of the second advent itself, and assume that the disciples understood in a literal sense, and hence misunderstood, Christs figurative statements about His ideal advent. 5. De Wette seems in the main to agree with the opinions of Grotius, Wetstein, sub (2): According to Mark and Luke, Christ merely predicted the advent of His kingdom. But we question whether Mar 9:1 can be separated from Mar 8:38, or Luk 9:27 from Luk 16:26. 6. In our opinion, it is necessary to distinguish between the advent of Christ in the glory of His kingdom within the circle of His disciples, and that same advent as applying to the world generally and for judgment. The latter is what is generally understood by the second advent; the former took place when the Saviour rose from the dead and revealed Himself in the midst of His disciples. Hence the meaning of the words of Jesus is: The moment is close at hand when your hearts shall be set at rest by the manifestation of My glory; nor will it be the lot of all who stand here to die during the interval. The Lord might have said that only two of that circle would die till then, viz., Himself and Judas. But in His wisdom He chose the expression, some standing here shall not taste of death, to give them exactly that measure of hope and earnest expectation which they needed.53
Taste of death. , a rabbinical, Syriac, and Arabic mode of expression; death being represented under the figure of a bitter cup or goblet.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. See the preceding Exegetical Notes.
2. The prediction of Christs death.Two points here require to be kept in view: 1. The difference of the times when, and 2. the difference of the persons to whom, Jesus spoke. The more obscure intimations took place at an earlier period, and were made to a wider circle of Christs hearers. Hence also they are more frequently recorded under these circumstances in the Gospel of John. But, after the last decisive events, Jesus made the most full and clear disclosures on this subject within the circle of His disciples. Nor could He have concealed His impending death from the disciples, when the Pharisees had so manifestly laid snares for Him over the whole land.
3. The prospect of the resurrection on the third day.The progressive clearness with which it was announced, was closely connected with the prophecies of the Old Testament. It is a mere sophism on the part of certain critics to maintain that Jesus should at once have derived full knowledge of it either from the Old Testament or from His own supernatural consciousness. Christ was conscious of embodying in His person the fulfilment of the Old Testament. In its pages He found everywhere indications of the progressive experience of His life, or of His humiliation and exaltation. In the most general manner this principle was embodied in the history of the covenant-people itself. But the curve of humiliation and exaltation seemed always to become stronger, the more exalted the life of those who occupied prominent places in the theocracy. With these saints of old, it seemed to descend into ever lower and more awful depths, and again equally to rise into more glorious heights. This contrast, which appeared distinctly even in the history of Abraham, came out more fully in his successorsin Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and Elijah. But Christ would not only discover this fundamental principle in the history of the Jewish people and its most prominent representatives, but also trace it in numberless features of Old Testament history: in the Book of Psalms, in the types of the law, and in the utterances of the prophets. It seemed as if this curve were the distinguishing characteristic of things great and small. Thus every page of the Old Testament would convey to the Lord not only the certainty of His death, but also the assurance of His resurrection; just as the fundamental idea of the pointed arch may be traced in every part of a Gothic cathedral. But how could Jesus predict that He would rise on the third day? Hasert (on the Predictions of Christ concerning His death and resurrection) replies: According to the regular course of nature, in the process of the separation between soul and body, the absence of all traces of life during three days, is regarded as an evidence of death. But Christ was assured in the Spirit that He should not see corruption (Psalms 16; Act 2:27; Act 2:31). Thus He drew from the depth of His thean-thropic consciousness evidence, explanation, and assurance of the types and predictions of the Old Testamentall these being sealed, as it were, by the administration of His Father in the experiences of His life.(On the remarks of Strauss against the predictions of Jesus, see Ebrard, p. 540.)
4. When the Lord informed His disciples about His approaching sufferings, He at the same time announced to them His return in glory. In doing this, He might well set before them His approaching advent in the resurrection in the full glory of His final advent at the end of the world, since to believers His resurrection implied His final advent, being the principle of His full glory. Comp. the concluding discourses of Jesus in the Gospel according to John; and Php 2:6-11. We also observe a distinct gradation in these revelations: Mat 16:21; Mat 17:22-23; Mat 20:18-19; Mat 26:2.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
How the Lord purifies the enthusiasm of His disciples for the approaching kingdom of the Messiah, by directing their thoughts to His path of suffering.From the knowledge of the Divine Messiah to that of the suffering Saviour is a great step.Connection between confession and the path of the cross.The New Testament Church and the preaching of the cross commenced at the same moment.Peter the first confessor of Jesus, and His first tempter on the path of suffering.How the Spirit of Christ is reflected in His disclosures respecting His impending sufferings: 1. His divine clearness of vision, surveying the whole way. 2. His wisdom: hitherto a sparing indication; now disclosures adapted to the knowledge of His disciples. 3. His faithfulness: they are to follow Him freely and voluntarily. 4. His certainty of victory: on the third day.Why the disciples had not rightly received the saying about the resurrection.Only that man can believe in the resurrection who is willing to believe in the cross of Christ.The quick relapse of Peter from divine power into human weakness.Still, despite all his relapses, he was Peter.The spurious imitation of Peter during the progress of the history of the Church: 1. Seizing the Lord; obstructing His path; abounding in protestations; simulating love. 2. Shunning the cross; loving the world.Peter set by the Lord before the Church as a warning example.How Peter anticipated his destiny.He wished to bind the Lord Himself, but to loose the world.How he shut himself out, while seizing in a carnal spirit the keys of the kingdom of heaven.The leading element in Peters mistaken advice: 1. It was the device of men, in opposition to the good pleasure of God; 2. love to the human Messiah instead of faith in the Son of God; 3. attachment to life, in opposition to the right way of life; 4. hoping for the inheritance of the world, in opposition to the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven.The address to the disciples with which the Lord entered on His path of suffering: 1. Its divine clearness: the whole path is traced out. 2. Its heavenly decision: whoever obstructed His path was a Satan. 3. Its holy summons: If any man will come after Me. 4. The foundation and ground of this call: What shall it profit a man? 5. The promises connected with it: the Son of man in the glory of His Father. 6. The gracious comfort: There are some standing here.Self-denial the preliminary condition of following Jesus.Following the Lord on the path of suffering: 1. Its commencement: confession of Jesus; denial of self. 2. Its course: looking up to the Lord, who goeth before; taking up the cross. 3. Its goal: transitory sufferings with Jesus; eternal glory with Him.If in life we die with Christ, we shall in dying live with Him.Whoever in life partakes of the cup of Christs death, will in death drink abundantly of the cup of His life.
Starke:Zeisius: Christ the pattern of Christian teachers, as gradually and carefully progressing from the easier to the more difficult lessons.Hedinger: Christ must suffer, and thus enter into glory, Luk 24:26.The doctrines of Christs sufferings and resurrection must always be conjoined.A mere good opinion is not sufficient.Canstein; Our best friends, so far as this world is concerned, are often our greatest enemies in spiritual and heavenly matters.To the carnal men of the world, the crucified Saviour is still either a stumbling-block, or else foolishness, 1Co 1:23; 2Co 10:4-5.Hedinger: Be not lifted up by knowledge or prosperity: how easily mayest thou fall, and from an angel become a Satan!Zeisius: All carnal wisdom which opposeth itself to the word and will of God, is only devilish, however great or plausible it may appear.Majus: If the truth is at stake, we must not spare our dearest friends.If we do not deny ourselves, we cannot bear the cross.It is the duty of believers to die unto self and to five unto Christ.Majus; What appears to us to be gain, must be regarded as loss for Christs sake, Php 3:7-8.Quesnel: The loss of the soul can never be repaired.If thou sufferest injustice at a human tribunal, wait with confidence for the future righteous judgment of Christ.
Lisco:After death, the resurrection. Through death to life; through shame to glory; by the cross to the crown; through defeat to victory! Thus Christ, and thus His people.Suffering is inseparable from following Christ.To take up the cross denotes our readiness to suffer.Fear of suffering is fatal.Glorious reward of grace which will follow suffering.
Gerlach:Confession and suffering must go together.
Heubner:Human wisdom would dissuade us from making sacrifices for the sake of duty.Jesus regarded and treated every one as Satan who wished to turn Him aside from His heavenly mission.To dissuade from duty is not friendship, but seduction.Luther: What is the Papacy at the present day, but the carnal kingdom which the Jews expect from the Messiah!As with Christ, so with His followers, the path to exaltation is through humiliation.Christs frankness in announcing the fate of His disciples.The Christians mode of calculation.The loss of what is eternal cannot be compensated by the gain of earthly possessions.The future is no illusion.
[On the infinite value and possible loss of the soul, Mat 16:26.M. Henry: 1. Every man has a soul of his own; 2. it is possible for the soul to be lost, and there is danger of it; 3. if the soul is lost, it is the sinners own losing, and his blood is on his own head; 4. one soul is more worth than all the world; so the winning of the world is often the losing of the soul; 6. the loss of the soul cannot be made up by the gain of the whole world; 7. if the soul be once lost, it is lost forever, and the loss can never be repaired or retrieved.P. S.]
Footnotes:
[37] Mat 16:21.[Forth is unnecessary and may be omitted. The Greek is .P. S.]
[38] Mat 16:21.[Better: that, , without how, which dates from Tyndale.P. S.]
[39] Mat 16:21.[The Vulgate correctly translates resurgere; Luther, Ewald, and Lange: auferstehen, rise; taking in the middle sense, as In Mat 8:15; Mat 8:26 (, she arose); 9:6 (arise); 17:7 (arise); 25:7 (arose); 26:46; 27:52, 64, etc Wiclif, Tyndale, and the Genevan Bible had it correctly: to rise again; but Cranmer changed It into the passive, and this was retained In King Jamess version, although the intervening Bishops Bible (ed. 1583) followed the older rendering.P. S.]
[40] Mat 16:22.[ may be rendered: taking hold of him (English Vers, and Lange), or taking him aside, to himself, apart from others (Euthym. Zigab., Ewald, Meyer, Conant). The first is stronger. See the Exeg. Note. P. S.]
[41] Mat 16:22.. The difference of readings is hero Important Cod. B. omits and reads: . Cod. D. and others: . Similarly the text. rec. [Cod. Sinait reads, like the text, rec.: . So also Tischendorf and Lachmann (except that the latter places before ; while Alford here follows the reading of Cod. Vaticanus, omitting . This verb Implies that the Lord Interrupted Peter and prevented him from finishing the rebuke.P. S]
[42] Mat 16:23.[Or, turned round, , as Lange reads, following D., K., L., etc., instead of the lect. rec. .P. S.]
[43] Mat 16:23.[Satan is the proper translation of the Vulgate (satana), and nearly all the English and German versions, and is not to be weakened into the more general adversary. The word occurs 34 times in the N. T. (generally with the art, sometimes without it), and is always the Hebrew proper name for the Devil, , the Prince of evil. See Exeg. Note.P. S.]
[44] Mat 16:23.[So Lange: du bist mein Aergerniss, literally according to the reading of the text. rec.: (Tischendorf), or (Lachmann following Cod. Vaticanus, with which here, as very often, Cod. Sinaiticus agrees). and the Lat. Vulgate: scndalum es mihi, is more mild and looks like a later modification. Lachmanns text here () is the same in sense with the received text ().P. S.]
[45] Mat 16:23[ , , thou art not [illegible]mex ded like God but like men, or thou art not of the mind of God. but of men. or thou mindest not the things of God, but of men. Lange: du denkest nicht auf das was Gottes ist, etc.; Ewald; du sinnest nicht was Gottes, sondern was der [illegible] All English versions from Wiclif to James have savorest. This is a Latinism from sapere and the Vulgate rendering: non sapisea qu, Dei sunt, and must nut be taken in the usual sense of the transitive verb to savor, i.e., to relish, to delight in. Campbell makes it too strong by translating: relishest.P. S.]
[46] Mat 16:26 The future is strongly attested by Codd. B., L., al., against , but may be conformed to the following . [ is also sustained by Cod. Sinait., and adopted by Tischendorf Lachmann, Tregelles, and Alford.P. S.]
[47] Mat 16:26.[Own is an unnecessary addition, and implies a contrast to another mans soul.P. S.]
[48] Mat 16:28 , warranted by B., C., D., etc.
[49][Maldonatus, who dwells at great length on Mat 16:18-19 (pp. 217224), disposes of Mat 16:23 very briefly. He refers the term Satan correctly to Peter, bat in a wider sense, and accounts for the severity by the importance of the subject, not by the guilt of Peter: At cur tam acriter reprehendit? non tam quod Petri culpa, si qua tamen fuit, quam quod rei. de qua agebatur, magnitudo merebatur. Schegg, one of the latest Roman Catholic commentators (Die heil. Evang., Munich, 1857, vol. ii. p. 376) admits in strong language the awful severity of the rebuke, one of the severest ever uttered, but gets over the difficulty by three considerations: (1) that the rebuke was intended for all the apostles, whom Peter presented in their aversion to Christs suffering, as before in his faith (which is correct): (2) that the primacy promised in Mat 16:18 was not yet actually conferred on him (which admits the force of the rebuke); (3) that the transfer of the primacy does not create a new man (which admits the possibility of the popes falling under the same condemnation as Peter). Bengel, in his Gnomon, warns Rome: Videat Petra romana, ne cadat sub censuram versus 23. P. S.]
[50][Or stumbling-stone, which would be in keeping with the metaphorical Petros, a foundation-stone. Compare a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence, as Peter himself calls Christ for those who are disobedient, while to them who believe He is the chief corner stone, elect and precious. 1Pe 2:7.P. S.]
[51][As Lather has it in his version: Schaden nehmen or leiden an seiner Seele, instead of seine Seele einbssen, or ihrer verlustig werden, anim detrimentum pati (Vulg.), to suffer the loss of his soul (or his higher life), to forfeit it, as a penalty for a fault or a crime. This is the true force of , which should be translated forfeit, to distinguish It from the more general term , Mat 16:25. Comp. the parallel passage, Luk 9:25 : , having lost or forfeited himself, i.e., his whole being. in this connection, of course, does not mean, as in Mat 16:25, the perishing life of the body (which a man can not lose and at the same time gain the whole world), but the true eternal life of the soul, which begins in this world by faith in Christ and will be fully developed in the world to come. The word has the double meaning life and soul, for which there is no corresponding term in English or German.P. S.]
[52][Comp. J. A. Alexander in loc.: The Lord pursues the awful supposition farther, to the verge of paradox and contradiction, but with terrible advantage to the force of this transcendent argument….A man may lose his present life and yet lire on and have a better life in lieu of It; but when he loses his eternal life, he is himself lost, lost forever, and the thought of compensation or recovery involves a contradiction.P. S.]
[53][A Barnes refers the passage to the day of Pentecost and the founding of the church. J. A. Alexander gives it a more general and indefinite application to the gradual and progressive establishment of Ch lists kingdom, especially the effusion of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and the destruction of Jerusalem, as the two salient points, between which, as those of its inception and consummation, lies the lingering death of the Mosaic dispensation, and the gradual erection of Messiahs kingdom. This is the last passage of Scripture on which the lamented Dr. Jos. Addison Alexander of Princeton commented in full. Of the remaining chapters of the Gospel of Matthew he left, a few days before his death in 1860, merely a meagre analysis, as though he anticipated the approaching interruption of his earthly laborsP. S.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 1375
PETERS MISTAKEN TENDERNESS REPROVED
Mat 16:21-23. 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 raised again the third dag. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou sarourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
IN nothing is divine wisdom more necessary than in judging what regard is to be had to times and circumstances: for, if we will not exert ourselves till every difficulty is removed, we shall scarcely ever act at all: and, on the other hand, if we precipitately attempt to effect at once all that may appear desirable, we shall often defeat our best intentions. Our blessed Lord intended to reveal himself fully to his Disciples; but he would not do it at first, because they were not able to bear it: and when he had acknowledged himself to them to be the Messiah, he forbade them to divulge it; because he saw, that the knowledge of it would lead the people to proclaim him king, and thereby stir up all the power of the Romans to destroy him. Nor were the Apostles themselves sufficiently instructed yet awhile to represent that truth to others. They still thought of nothing but a temporal Messiah: and therefore, when our Lord began to predict his own sufferings and death, Peter would not hear of any such things; but presumptuously told his Master, that such events neither could, nor should, take place.
I.
The rebuke which this brought upon him, will be a profitable subject for our consideration
His offence was certainly heinous
[Our Lord had now spoken plainly and openly of his approaching death and resurrection. He had done so on purpose to counteract the erroneous expectations of his Disciples, and at the same time to prepare their minds for the approaching events. We grant that such predictions must have staggered them exceedingly, considering what their views and expectations were: but did it become Peter to contradict him, and to declare that such events should never come to pass? He had but that instant before confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. Why then did he not believe his assertions? Why did he presume to set up his own wisdom against that of his Divine Master? We give him credit indeed for expressing himself with tenderness and affection [Note: , taking him kindly and affectionately by the hand. Compare Rom 14:1.]: but it became him to learn, not to teach; to submit, and not to dictate.]
In the reproof the peculiar enormity of it was pointed out
[Two things in particular our Lord specified as deserving the severest reprehension. One was, that he was casting a stumbling-block in his Masters way. Jesus Christ had come from the bosom of his Father to redeem mankind by his own precious blood. But Peter, through false tenderness, would have had him spare himself, and prefer his own personal ease to the salvation of a ruined world: he would have persuaded Jesus to set aside all the counsels of the Father, to violate his own covenant engagements, to rescind all his own gracious purposes, and to leave mankind to perish in their sins, rather than submit to those sufferings which were necessary for the accomplishment of the great scheme of redemption. What could Satan himself wish for more than this? Hence our Lord was filled with indignation against him, and addressed him in the very terms in which he had once addressed the tempter in the wilderness: Get thee behind me, Satan: however much I respect thee in general, I regard thee in this matter, not as a friend, but as an adversary [Note: This is the meaning of the word Satan.]: not as an Apostle, but as Satan himself, speaking in and by thee: the tendency of thy speech is to put a stumbling-block in my way: thou art an offence unto me [Note: ].
The other tiling which our Lord condemned him for was, that he manifested a carnal and worldly spirit. God expects that his creatures should seek only his glory: and that personal considerations should be of no weight with them in comparison of that. But men prefer their own ease and honour, and are content to glorify God only so far as they can do it consistently with their own temporal comfort. Now, says our Lord, you are not savouring of the things of God, but of those that are of men; and are wishing me to act upon these low and carnal principles, instead of on those high principles which become my work and office. In this view therefore, as well as in the former, thou deservest no other name than that of Satan. It is his great aim to banish from the world that supreme regard for God which men ought universally to feel; and thou, in the advice thou hast given, hast shewn thyself to be under his influence, and hast, to the utmost of thy power, been furthering his designs. I would have thee therefore, and all my other disciples, know that I am greatly displeased with thee on this occasion [Note: Our Lord, previous to his reply, turned about, and looked in a very significant way on all his other disciples. Mar 8:33.].]
Without dwelling longer on the occurrence itself, we shall proceed to observe, that,
II.
The instruction to be gathered from it is also peculiarly worthy of our attention
And here there is much that comes home to the business and bosoms of mankind. We may see in this little history,
1.
How to estimate the love of Christ
[The sufferings which awaited Jesus were such as no finite creature could have borne: yet when entreated to shun them, he not only refused to listen to the advice, but reproved it with a severity that he never used on any other occasion. What! Spare myself? Avoid the sufferings that are necessary to expiate the guilt of men, and to satisfy the demands of law and justice? How can I leave mankind to perish in their sins? I cannot endure the thought: and I account him who suggests it to me as no better than Satan himself: yes, even the highly favoured Peter appears to me in the light of that malignant fiend, when he would damp the ardour of my love to man, or discourage the execution of my plans for his redemption.
View the answer in this light, and say, whether his love was not such as many waters could not quench, neither could floods drown it? Towards those who inflicted his sufferings we behold nothing but kindness. To the man that betrayed him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? To those who came to apprehend him, Whom seek ye? To Peter, when denying him with oaths and curses, he spoke not a word, but gave him a look of pity and compassion. To his blood-thirsty murderers he also meekly submitted, praying and apologizing for them: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And, after all ranks and orders of men in Jerusalem had satiated their malice in destroying him, he commanded his Gospel to be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. But when he was entreated to avoid those sufferings, his indignation was extreme; nor were any terms too strong to express it. Well indeed might it be said of his love, that it passeth knowledge. We admire the firmness with which St. Paul resolved to meet the sufferings that awaited him [Note: Act 21:11-13.]: but this was nothing in comparison of Christs love to us.]
2.
How to requite his love
[On this our Lord insisted with peculiar emphasis. In the words following the text it is said, Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, &c. But another Evangelist informs us, that he called the people to him on this occasion, that they, together with his disciples, might hear what was so highly interesting, so universally obligatory, and so unquestionably right and reasonable [Note: Mar 8:34.]. He expatiated on the duties he required of all his followers, and declared, that all who would approve themselves to him, must deny themselves after his example, and be willing to lay down their lives for him [Note: Mar 8:35-38.]. This at first perhaps sounds harsh: but if Jesus laid down his life for us, and was so intent upon it that he resented in the highest degree any suggestion that could be made against it, what does he not deserve at our hands? If he did that for us who were his enemies, what should not we be ready to do for him, our Lord and Saviour? Truly, if we had a thousand lives, we might well sacrifice them all for him Let us not then be ashamed to confess him, or afraid to suffer for him: but let us follow him without the camp, bearing his reproach, and esteem the reproach of Christ greater treasures than all the riches of the world.]
3.
How to act towards those who offer us their friendly advice
[We have before shewn how we are to act when menaced by the avowed enemies of Christ. But how are we to act towards those who profess themselves his friends? I answer, Try their counsel, and examine carefully whether it savour of the things of God or of man. Bring it to the test of Scripture, even though they should be apostles, or even angels, that offer it. That persons in their general habits are pious, is no reason that we should implicitly follow their advice in every thing; for the best of men are fallible, and liable to be biassed by their interests or passions: and if Satan can gain over them to his interests, he will make especial use of them for assaulting the holiest of men. By Eve he assaulted Adam; and Job also by his wife; and our Lord himself by his favourite Apostle, Peter. I say then, Whatever advice be given you, try it by the touchstone of Gods word: if it savour of carnal ease and worldly prudence, beware how you follow it: if, on the contrary, it evidently have the glory of God in view, beware how you reject it. The direction of God himself is, Try the spirits, whether they are of God: To the word and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, there is no light in them: Prove all things and hold fast that which is good. We grant that, in many cases, it may not be easy to discern between good and evil: and the affection of the adviser may blind our eyes to the sinfulness of the advice. But if we ourselves are habitually savouring the things of God, we shall have a spiritual discernment, which, like the senses of taste and smell, will enable us to perceive the noxious qualities of things, which in their outward appearance are good and wholesome. But it is the privilege of all to have God himself for their guide: look therefore to him, and he will direct your paths: He will guide you by his counsel, till at last he bring you to glory.
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
“From that time forth began Jesus to show 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 raised 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: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”
Observe with what tenderness the Lord Jesus begins to prepare the minds of his disciples for the great event coming. Oh! the love of Jesus! But observe the mistaken views of Peter upon the occasion. No doubt it was love in Peter to the person of his Lord; which could not bear the thought of his dear Lord’s sufferings. But alas! Peter what would have become of Christ’s Church, if Jesus had not died to redeem it? I have often paused over the passage. Think what Christ said to his dear servant; get thee behind me Satan! Is this Peter, who, but a little before, Jesus, the Son of God, declared to be blessed? Never did the Lord Jesus use such language, and that to a child of God, and one of his own redeemed ones. But, Reader! while you and I consider, as in the instance of Peter, how a soul may be made blessed in the abundance of revelations, yet what temptations the same may fall into, when the Lord remits but a moment his teachings: and while we learn this from the character of this Apostle, let us yet abundantly more look unto the Lord Jesus in this instance, and see how his zeal for his Father’s glory, and an holy love: to his body, the Church, made him long for the hour, when, by his sufferings and death, he should accomplish redemption for his people. Oh! thou precious Lord Jesus! with what earnestness didst thou enter on this baptism of sufferings, and how wast thou straitened until it was accomplished!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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 raised again the third day.
Ver. 21. How that he must go to Jerusalem ] He must, necessitate non simplici, sed ex supposito. It being supposed that God had decreed this way (and no other) to glorify himself in man’s salvation by the death of his dear Son (wherein the naked bowels of his love were laid open to us, as in an anatomy), it was necessary that Christ should be killed and raised again at the third day. Voluntas Dei, necessitas rei.
And be killed and raised again ] That we might live and reign with him for ever, who else had been killed with death, as the phrase is, Rev 2:23 ; that is, had come under the power of the second death. David wished he might have died for Absalom, such was his love to him. Arsinoe interposed herself between the murderer’s weapons, sent by Ptolemy, her brother, to kill her children. The pelican not only feeds the young with her own blood, but with invincible constancy abides the flames of fire for their preservation. Christ is that good shepherd, who gave his life for his sheep: he is that true pelican, who saw the wrath of God burning about his young ones, and cast himself into the midst thereof, that he might quench it. He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification, which began in his death, but was perfected by his resurrection,Rom 4:25Rom 4:25 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
21 28. ] OUR LORD ANNOUNCES HIS APPROACHING DEATH AND RESURRECTION. REBUKE OF PETER. Mar 8:31-38 ; Mar 9:1 .Luk 9:22-27Luk 9:22-27 . See note on Mat 16:13 . Obscure intimations had before been given of our Lord’s future sufferings, see ch. Mat 10:38 : Joh 3:14 , and of His resurrection, Joh 2:19 ( Mat 10:17-18 ?), but never yet plainly, as now. With Mark’s usual precise note of circumstances, he adds, .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
21. ] On , which is common to the three Evangelists, see Luk 24:26 ; Joh 3:14 , and ch. Mat 26:54 .
= in Mark and Luke. These were afterwards explicitly mentioned, ch. Mat 20:18 : Luk 18:31-32 .
. . . . . ] The various classes of members of the Sanhedrim: see note on ch. Mat 2:4 .
On the prophecy of the resurrection , some have objected that the disciples and friends of our Lord appear not to have expected it (see Joh 20:2 ; Luk 24:12 ). But we have it directly asserted (Mar 9:10 ; Mar 9:32 ) that they did not understand the saying, and therefore were not likely to make it a ground of expectation. Certainly enough was known of such a prophecy to make the Jews set a watch over the grave ( Mat 27:63 ), which of itself answers the objection. Meyer in loc. reasons about the state of the disciples after the crucifixion just as if they had not suffered any remarkable overthrow of their hopes and reliances, and maintains that they must have remembered this precise prophecy if it had been given by the Lord. But on the other hand we must remember how slow despondency is to take up hope, and how many of the Lord’s sayings must have been completely veiled from their eyes, owing to their non-apprehension of His sufferings and triumph as a whole . He Himself reproaches them with this very slowness of belief after His resurrection. It is in the highest degree improbable that the precision should have been given to this prophecy after the event , as Meyer supposes: both from the character of the Gospel History in general (see Prolegomena), and because of the carefulness and precision in the words added by Mark; see above.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 16:21-28 . Announcement of the Passion with relative conversation (Mar 8:31 to Mar 9:1 ; Luk 9:22-27 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mat 16:21 . ( vide Mat 4:17 ) marks pointedly a new departure in the form of explicit intimation of an approaching final and fatal crisis. Time suitable. Disciples could now bear it, it could not be much longer delayed. Jesus could now face the crisis with composure, having been satisfied by Peter’s confession that His labour was not going to be in vain. He then began to show, etc., for this was only the first of several communications of the same kind. after in [100] [101] is an intrinsically probable reading, as suiting the solemnity of the occasion and greatly enhancing the impressiveness of the announcement. Jesus, the Christ , to be crucified! But one would have expected the article before . , the general fact. , the three constituent parts of the Sanhedrim elders, priests, scribes. : one hard special fact, be killed . : this added to make the other fact not altogether intolerable.
[100] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.
[101] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 16:21-23
21From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. 22Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” 23But He turned and said to Peter, ” Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
Mat 16:21 “must” This was the word “dei” which meant moral necessity (Jesus came to die, Mar 8:31; Mar 10:45; Joh 3:14; Joh 3:16). Jesus knew there was a divine plan for His life and ministry (cf. Mat 12:15-21; Luk 22:22; Act 2:23; Act 3:18; Act 4:28; Act 10:42; Act 17:31). He knew at the age of twelve (cf. Luk 2:41-49)!
“and suffer many things” John had implied this by calling Jesus “the Lamb of God” (cf. Joh 1:29), but the disciples were not prepared for this truth. It was not in their first century Jewish notions about the Messiah. The rabbis emphasized the coming of the Messiah as an act of judgment and military triumph (cf. Rev 19:11-16). They were not wrong in this assessment but they failed to recognize His first coming as the suffering servant (cf. Isaiah 53), the humble one on the colt of a donkey (cf. Zec 9:5), both of which seem to follow Gen 3:15. See Special Topic: YHWH’s ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN at Mat 27:66.
This revelation of His suffering was so shocking that Jesus had to repeat it several times (cf. Mat 17:9; Mat 17:12; Mat 17:22-23; Mat 20:18-19). He did this so that when it happened the disciples, after their initial grief and confusion, would realize that Jesus was in control of His own destiny. This would embolden them for their called mission (cf. Mat 28:18-20; Luk 24:46-47; Act 1:8).
“the elders, and chief priests, and scribes” This was the phrase used to describe the Sanhedrin. It was the ruling body of the Jews made up of 70 leaders from the Jerusalem area. In Jesus’ day it had been corrupted by Roman politics because the High Priesthood had become a purchased position.
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE SANHEDRIN
“on the third day” Jesus specifically mentioned this time element several times, Mat 12:40; Mat 16:4, where it was related to the prophet Jonah and as a sign of His Messiahship. Paul implied in 1Co 15:4 that it was predicted in the OT. The only two possibilities are Hos 6:2 and Jon 1:16. In the context of Jesus’ usage it must relate to Jonah.
However, it was not a full 72 hours but only about 36-40. The Jews counted partial days as full days. Their days started at twilight. Jesus died at 3 p.m. on Friday and was buried before 6 p.m. This was counted as one day. He remained in Hades all of the Sabbath, 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday. Then sometime before sunrise on Sunday He arose (see Special Topic: Resurrection at Mat 27:63), thereby, three Jewish days.
Mat 16:22 “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him” Peter overstepped his bounds. Jesus used the term “rebuke” in several other strong contexts (cf. Mat 8:26; Mat 12:10; Mat 16:20). Peter’s personal feelings for Jesus were superceding God’s plan of redemption.
“This shall never happen to you” This is literally ” mercy on you” which implied “May God have mercy on you so this never happens.” This is a strong double negative used for emphasis.
Mat 16:23 “Get behind Me, Satan” Peter, who moments before spoke a revelation from God, now speaks temptation from Satan. This was the same temptation Jesus faced in the wilderness, to bypass the cross (cf. Matt. Mat 4:1-11). In this context, Peter was Satan’s spokesman!
“stumbling block” This referred literally to a baited trap-stick trigger on an animal trap. The word was used metaphorically of an obstacle.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
From that time, &c. This commences the third period of the Lord’s ministry, the subject of which is the rejection of Messiah. See App-119.
began, &c. This is stated four times (here, Mat 17:22; Mat 20:17; Mat 20:28). See the Structure above; each time with an additional feature.
must. Note the necessity (Luk 24:26).
be raised again. Omit “again”. Not the same word as in Mat 17:9, but the same as in Mat 17:23.
the third day. The first occurrence of this expression (canonically). See App-148.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
21-28.] OUR LORD ANNOUNCES HIS APPROACHING DEATH AND RESURRECTION. REBUKE OF PETER. Mar 8:31-38; Mar 9:1. Luk 9:22-27. See note on Mat 16:13. Obscure intimations had before been given of our Lords future sufferings, see ch. Mat 10:38 : Joh 3:14, and of His resurrection, Joh 2:19 (Mat 10:17-18?), but never yet plainly, as now. With Marks usual precise note of circumstances, he adds, .
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 16:21. 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 raised again the third day.
He had previously spoken somewhat darkly concerning his death; but it was so sad and so strange a revelation to his disciples that they could not think he really meant quite what he said. But now he began definitely and plainly to tell them about the future, and even to enter into details concerning his death and resurrection. He knew all that the work of redemption would involve for him; he had counted the cost; but
When the Saviour knew The price of pardon was his blood,
His pity neer withdrew.
It must have been very saddening, but, at the same time, very profitable to the minds of the apostles to be led by their Lord in this direction.
Mat 16:22. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
The margin reads, Pity thyself, Lord, as though Peter meant to say, God grant, of his infinite mercy, that this may not be true! How can it be that such an one as thou art should die? He probably thought that Christs death would be the end of his kingdom, the ruin of all his peoples hopes, the quenching of the light of Israel; so, in his zeal for his Masters cause, he cried, This shall not be unto thee.
Mat 16:23. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Notice the contrast between the 18th verse and the 23rd. In the 18th verse, Christ had said, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church; and here he is saying, Get thee behind me, Satan. I do not understand our Lord to have called Peter Satan, but to have looked right through Peter, and to have seen Satan standing behind him, and making use of the apostle to be his spokesman. The best of men may sometimes serve the devils turn better than a bad man would. He may speak, through those who love the Lord, words which are clean contrary to the mind of Christ. So Christ sees Satan lurking, as in an entrenchment, behind Peter, and he says, Get thee behind me: thou art an offence unto me. The idea of pitying himselfthe thought of shirking the task upon which he had enteredwas offensive to him. There was a savor about it of the things of men,of self and of self-saving, instead of self-denial, and generous, disinterested, Godlike self-sacrifice. Oh, that we would always speak, as Christ did on this occasion, whenever anything is proposed to us by which we should avoid the cross that he intends us to carry! When anyone wants us to moderate our zeal, or to tone down our opinions, less we should have to suffer for our faithfulness, let us reply, Get thee behind me, Satan. What has a soldier of the cross to do with avoiding the battle with evil? He should be ever ready for the good fight of faith. What has an heir of heaven to do with the saving of himself? Let him say, with the apostle Paul, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.
This exposition consisted of readings from Isaiah 40.; and Mat 16:21-23.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Mat 16:21. , at that time and thenceforward-, …, began, etc.) It is clear, therefore, that He had not shown it them before.[755] The Gospel may be divided into two parts, from which the Divine plan of Jesus shines forth. The first proposition is, Jesus is the Christ; the second, Christ must suffer, die, and rise again (cf. Joh 16:30-32), or more briefly, Christ by death will enter into glory. Jesus first convinced His disciples of the first proposition (de subjecto):[756] in consequence of which they were bound to believe Him concerning the second (de prdicato), even before His passion. After His ascension, the people first learnt the second proposition (prdicatum), and thence were convinced of the first (de subjecto); see Act 17:3. As soon as Jesus had persuaded His disciples of the first proposition (Mat 16:16), He added the second.[757] Afterwards He led them to the mountain of Transfiguration.[758] The order of the evangelic harmony is of great importance with regard to the observing of these things. Men frequently teach all things at once: Divine wisdom acts far otherwise.-, to show), i.e. openly.- , that He must go) and at the same time relinquish that mode of living to which the disciples had become habituated.-, to suffer) When aught of glory accrued to Jesus, as in this instance by the confession of Peter, then He was especially wont to make mention of His approaching passion. This first announcement mentions His passion and death generally; the second, in ch. Mat 17:22-23, adds His being betrayed into the hands of sinners; the third, in ch. Mat 20:17-19, at length expresses His stripes, cross, etc. The first was nearer in point of time to the second, than the second to the third.-, , , elders-chief priests-scribes) Three classes of those who ought to have led the people to the Messiah; corresponding nearly to the Council of Justice, the Consistory, and the Theological Faculty of modern times.-, to be raised) He adds nothing yet of His ascension. By degrees, all further and later particulars are disclosed; see Mat 16:27.
[755] Except in covert [enigmatical] words.-V. g.
[756] De subjecto, de prdicato, lit. of the subject, of the prdicate. I have ventured to render the passage in language more generally intelligible.-(I. B.)
[757] Viz., In Mat 16:21, etc., as to His suffering, death, and resurrection.-ED.
[758] Where the same voice sounded from heaven, as before His baptism, This is my Beloved Son; there being added the Epiphonema, or appended exhortation, Hear Him. To wit, He was to be heard, or given heed to, especially in regard to those things which had constituted the main subject of the conversation very recently held on the mountain (between the Lord and Moses and Elias, Luk 9:31), concerning his approaching decease at Jerusalem-concerning His Passion, I say, His Death and His Resurrection.-Harm., p. 370.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mat 16:21-28
20. THE CROSS FORETOLD
Mat 16:21-28
21 From that time began Jesus to show.-After the confession the ministry of sorrow now begins. Jesus began now to disclose to his apostles his approaching death; heretofore they had not sufficient faith to appreciate this teaching, but now they have attained some degree of firmness and faithfulness that Jesus reveals to them further the great sacrifice that he must make. The idea is gradually unfolded to them and yet they did not fully appreciate the tragedy that awaited Jesus. Their faith now is sufficient for him to prepare and fortify their minds for his crucifixion. The language of Jesus is simple enough; they could have understood it had not their conception of an earthly kingdom blinded them to his truth. He reveals that he must go to Jerusalem and there “suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.” Matthew gives but little of the ministry of Jesus in Jerusalem and Judea; his record is almost exclusively confined to Galilee. Jesus had delayed the prediction of his death until his disciples might be better able to bear it and comprehend its full significance. He knew that their conception of the Messiah gave no place for the cross, but they must be prepared for it.
22, 23 Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.-We are astonished at the boldness of Peter so soon after his confession that Jesus is the “Son of the living God,” yet he does not hesitate to “rebuke him.” “Peter took him” means that he either took him to one side from the other apostles or that he took him by the hand and expostulated with him. The prediction that Jesus had just given was so foreign to the impetuous Peter’s conception of the Messiah that he would not admit that Jesus had spoken the truth. Peter was in earnest; his love for the Master, and his courage and determination, with his misconception of the nature of the kingdom of God, would not let him accept such a program for Jesus. So he bluntly said, “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee.” “Be it far from thee” was an expression used in the Old Testament as a prayer against an evil. (Gen 18:25.) Jesus had just been talking about a kingdom, and had committed to Peter the keys of the kingdom; now he speaks of death and the cross. Peter would not admit that these things should be.
Get thee behind me, Satan.-This is the reply that Jesus made to Peter’s rebuke. The word “Satan” is from the Hebrew, and means an adversary, an offense or impediment, an opposer; because of his prominence in evil this name is applied to the devil. David used the same word with reference to the “sons of Zeruiah.” (2Sa 19:22.) Jesus does not call Peter “a devil,” or an evil-minded tempter, but simply rebukes his misguided zeal which made it more difficult for Jesus to teach the doctrine of the cross. He added in reply to Peter, “Thou art a stumbling-block unto me.” Peter instead of being a help to him was a hindrance. By urging Jesus in this manner he was doing that which he did not know. Jesus came to die for the sins of the world and Peter, if he carried out his wish, would thwart the very purpose for which Jesus came to earth; hence he was a stumbling block to him. Jesus added, “Thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men.” Peter did not understand God’s will in the matter; he was following his own judgment and feelings. He was acting and feeling as men do, and not as God wills. Peter did not know just what he was doing; he was deeply agitated, and his words gushed out of a zealous, loving heart, almost without thought.
24-28 If any man would come after me.-A record of this is also found in Mar 8:24-38 and Luk 9:23-27. Here Jesus presents the doctrine of the cross; the terms of discipleship are expressed here. If the disciple follows the Master, he must endure what his Master endures; he must travel the same road and bear the same burdens. The cost of discipleship is self-denial. In order to be the disciple of Jesus one must do two things, namely, “deny himself” and “take up his cross” and follow him. The self-denial which one must practice to follow Jesus is to deny oneself of all earthly comforts and conveniences, to quit all temporal interests and enjoyments, even life itself if need be. The disciples of Jesus do not not take up the cross of Jesus, but they must take their own crosses and bear them. As each one must deny himself, so each one must take up his own cross. No one is to make trouble for himself or deny himself of the natural blessings which are his, but one must use these blessings for the good of others. In prosperity a disciple of Jesus must be humble and willing to submit, praying for strength when the day of trial comes; he must be willing to take the cross that may come his way. With horror Peter had recoiled from the thought that Jesus should make his life a sacrifice for men, but Jesus presses the point further; not only must Jesus die upon the cross, but those who would be his disciples must suffer with him; they must make the sacrifice of self-denial and bear the burdens in order to follow Jesus. We have no expression from Peter as to what he thought of this doctrine.
Whosoever would save his life shall lose it.-These words are taken from the period of bitter persecution, when Christians were brought before cruel pagan governors or mobs, not knowing what fate would befall them. If one, under such circumstances, should deny Jesus, or announce the faith of a Christian, in order to save his life, that one was not worthy of Jesus; he might save his temporal life by so doing, but he would lose spiritual life and life eternal; but the one who in steadfastness of faith remained loyal to Jesus might lose his physical life, but would gain spiritual and eternal life. Jesus then calls to their minds the figure of a balance, or scales, and puts the life or soul on one side 2nd all temporal things on the other; by this figure he shows that the soul of spirit of man is worth more than all things else. This point is put forcibly by the two questions: “What shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?” If Peter and the Jews should gain a temporal kingdom, yet lose their soul, what profit would it be to them? The truth that Jesus had taught said that it would be folly to give the whole world in exchange for a soul; that is, a soul is worth more than all temporal things. Jesus wanted them to so understand him. In Joh 11:25-26 Jesus teaches a similar truth with respect to living and dying. The loss of the present life is temporal death: the loss of the future life is death eternal.
[One who would follow Jesus and so become like him and share his glories must deny himself, his fleshly lusts, and the gratification of his appetites and passions, and bear whatever cross this life of self-denial requires, that he may follow the steps and grow into the likeness of Jesus. In this way he becomes a partaker of the divine nature, and in being a partaker of the divine nature he becomes like Christ. (2Pe 1:3-4.) Through the lusts of the flesh, its passions, ambitions, and wordly desires, corruption, the desire to do wrong for selfish gratification and gain spreads among men, and it makes us delight in doing the wrong and rebelling against the true and the good. God’s nature is free from all desire or sympathy with evil. We can free ourselves from this controlling desire by participating in the divine nature through laying aside the evils and corruptions that come through our lusts. The reign and rule of lust hinders obedience to God and makes it difficult to walk in the way that has been plainly marked out by God for us to purify ourselves and to fit us to live in heaven where no corruption or ill will entice us.]
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels.-This seems to refer to the second advent of Christ; then he shall come “in the glory of his Father with his angels.” The supernatural brightness which surrounds and beams forth from God shall accompany Jesus and the angels when he comes again. This same glory is called the glory of Christ. (Mat 25:31; Joh 17:5.) Jesus sought to turn their eyes from the earth to heaven, and give them glimpses, as they could bear it, of the glorious doctrine which is now so familiar to us. He is coming again and at that time “shall he render unto every man according to his deeds.” He will reward the righteous for their faithful service to him, and punish the wicked, when he comes. For every suffering that his disciples endure there will be a compensation; in view of this reward at the judgment day, his disciples may toil and suffer and rejoice in the suffering. All will be judged according to the works that they have done and by the word of God.
There are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.-There seems to be two comings mentioned here. The first coming (verse 27) has reference to the final coming as he will come in the glory of the Father, and with the holy angels, and will reward all according to their works. The coming in verse twenty-eight has reference to his “coming in his kingdom,” or when his kingdom was fully established on earth. Though he should suffer and die and be buried, yet he would be raised from the dead and through the Holy Spirit would come on the day of Pentecost and would establish his kingdom. Hence, he would come in his kingdom during the lifetime of some of his apostles. We know that only Judas died before the kingdom was estabished.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Bear the Cross for Jesus
Mat 16:21-28
The gospel has two parts: Jesus is the Christ; and the Christ must suffer, if He shall enter His glory. Our Lord made sure of the first, before He held to the second. There had been veiled hints of His death before, as in Joh 2:19; Mat 9:15; Mat 12:40; but henceforth it was taught without a veil. The Cross had always cast its shadow over our Lords path. He did not die as the martyr on whom death comes unexpectedly, but He stepped from the throne and became incarnate that He might die. Notice that solemn must, Mat 16:21.
How soon Peter fell from his high estate! Beware! The voice that bids us spare ourselves is Satans. Self-pleasing ends in destruction. Self-denial and self-sacrifice are the divine path to life. Let us be more eager to lose ourselves than to find ourselves; more set on the cross than on the glory; more eager to promote the well-being of others than our own. We do not choose or make our cross; Christ gives each a little bit of His true Cross to bear as He pleases.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Chapter 42
Get thee Behind Me, Satan
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 raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
(Mat 16:21-28)
In this passage of Holy Scripture there are some deep mysteries and profound spiritual truths that need to be both carefully studied and laid to heart. Here we see the eternal God talking about a death he must die, a faithful disciple of Christ rebuking his Master, the Lord Jesus calling one of his beloved servants Satan, the necessity of self-denial and commitment to Christ, the incomparable value of our souls, the second advent of our Lord and the judgment that shall accompany it, and the spiritual reign and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without question, in these verses there are some things hard to be understood. May God the Holy Spirit, who inspired Matthew to write these things, be our teacher as we study them.
He Must
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 raised again the third day (Mat 16:21). First, we see that as a Man, as our Mediator and Substitute, as Jehovahs Servant, there are some things that the Lord Jesus Christ must do.
As God, it could never be written, He must. But as the Surety of the covenant, in order to fulfil the terms of the covenant, because he is Jehovahs voluntary Servant, there are some things that the Scriptures declare the Lord Jesus Christ must do. He told his parents that he must be about his Fathers business (Luk 2:49). He said, I come to do thy will, O my God. He said to his disciples, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me. He told a chosen sinner, at the appointed time of mercy, I must abide at thy house (Luk 19:5). He must do so because the time had come when that chosen sinner must be called and saved by his omnipotent grace (Psa 110:3; Joh 10:16). We read in Joh 4:4 that he must needs go through Samaria, because there was another chosen sinner there for whom the time of love had come.
Here our Lord told his disciples that he must go up to Jerusalem, suffer, and die, and rise again, the third day. Why must he? It was because the Father ordained it, the prophets revealed it, the types portrayed it, Gods justice demanded it, and the time appointed for it had come.
We cannot imagine how shocking this was to the disciples. Like the rest of the Jews, they were not anticipating a Messiah who would suffer and die. They looked for a political Messiah. It seems that all of the disciples were confused about our Lords teaching regarding his death until it actually happened, all except for the woman who anointed him for his burial. This is what led to Peters error.
True, but Weak
Second, we are once again taught that a man can be a true disciple and yet be a weak disciple, ignorant about many things.
Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. (Mat 16:22-23).
The issue of great importance is not what do you know, but who? It is not doctrine that saves, but Christ. I do not suggest for a moment that a person can be saved trusting a false Christ. But the Scriptures do show us, by numerous examples, that people who truly trust Christ are ignorant of many, many things.
Peter was, without a doubt, born again and a true believer (Mat 16:16-19). He was a man taught of God (Mat 16:17). Who can read the conversation between Christ and Peter in the preceding verses and imagine that Peter was not yet converted? Such an idea is too ludicrous to mention. Yet, there are some who, attempting to defend an erroneous system of doctrine, dogmatically assert that neither Peter, nor any of the other apostles and disciples of Christ, were converted until after the Lords resurrection!
This faithful and gracious man behaved very foolishly and ignorantly. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. Peter actually rebuked the Lord Jesus and sought, like Satan, to hinder him from doing what he did come to do! This man, who was so faithful in so many, many things, became an instrument of Satan in his time of weakness.
Because he had become an instrument of Satan, the Lord Jesus rebuked his disciple as Satan. He turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. He spoke to Peter as though he were himself Satan, because he had become Satans instrument. He said, Thou art an offence unto me, a stumbling block. Thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Peter was looking at things, judging things, and acting from a purely human, carnal, and emotional point of view. His flesh was in the way. His flesh kept him from seeing, at the time, the blessed necessity for our Saviors death.
Is this Peter? Is this the same man that our Savior had just declared blessed of God? Yes, he is the same man. Yet, to this man, beloved of God, chosen, redeemed, and called by grace, to this man so highly favored and blessed of God, the Lord Jesus spoke as he never spoke to any other. Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Let us lay this to heart. If the Lord God is pleased to leave us, even momentarily to ourselves and to our own judgment, we are sure to fall into great and grievous evil.
Perhaps, it is for just this reason that the Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to record both our Saviors great love for us and Peters terrible, inexcusable weakness at the same time. So great is our need and so great is the determination of his love for our souls that the Lord Jesus Christ zealously longed for the hour when, by his sufferings and death upon the cursed tree, he would accomplish redemption for us. He was, as he put it, straitened until it was finished.
Substitution
Third, this exchange between Peter and the Master teaches us that there is no doctrine in the Bible so important as the doctrine of Christs sin-atoning death as our Substitute. That man who denies the doctrine of Christs effectual atonement, who deny the merit and efficacy of Christs death as our Substitute, no matter what else they say that is true, do not savor the things that be of God. C. H. Spurgeon wrote, He knows not the taste, the aroma, the essence of spiritual things; and however much he may honor Jesus in words, he is an enemy, a real Satan towards the true Christ. The death of Christ is, as J. C. Ryle stated, the central truth of Christianity. Right views of his vicarious death and the benefits resulting from it, lie at the very foundation of Bible-religion. If we are wrong here, we are ruined forever. Error on many points is only a skin disease. Error about Christs death is a disease at the heart.
Whatever we think about the death of Christ, let us always remember four things about it: (1.) Our Saviors death was accomplished by his own sovereign will and purpose (Joh 10:17-18). (2.) The Lord Jesus Christ died as the Substitute for his elect (2Co 5:21; Joh 10:11; Joh 10:15). (3.) When he died for us, bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, being made sin and a curse for us, the Son of God fully satisfied all the demands of divine justice for us (Isa 53:10-11). And (4.) he was completely successful in his work redemption (Isa 42:4; Gal 3:13; Mat 1:21). Whatever he intended to accomplish, he accomplished. All he intended to redeem, he redeemed.
Self-denial
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it (Mat 16:24-25).
Fourth, the Lord Jesus teaches us that true, saving faith involves deliberate and persevering, self-denial and consecration. Matthew Henry wrote, The first lesson in Christs school is self-denial. Those who deny themselves here for Christ shall enjoy themselves in Christ forever. Grace is free; but it is not cheap. Faith in Christ involves the total surrender of myself to him, to his dominion as my Lord and Savior, my Priest and King. That is what it is to take up your cross and follow Christ.
Christianity, true Christianity, true saving faith involves a total surrender to Christ the Lord. Either you will be a servant under the dominion of King Jesus, voluntarily giving up all to his claims, or you will go to hell. You may not have to give up anything in actuality. But surrender to Christ must be just as real and complete in your heart as if you had actually given up everything, even down to life itself. Our Lord Jesus Christ requires total and unreserved surrender to himself. Christ will be Lord of all, or he will not be Lord at all. Is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, your Lord? Is he truly your Lord?
But we must never imagine that this is a matter dealt with only in the initial experience of grace and in the initial act of faith. Here our Lord Jesus addresses these words to men who had been his faithful disciple for a long time. How graciously he warns us and teaches us to guard against the terrible tendency of our sinful flesh to rebel against his rule and his will. How much evil we bring upon ourselves by our carnal misapprehensions! We are all, like Peter, inclined to judge things by our emotions and personal desires. We must not. Rather, we must seek grace to know and bow to the will of God our Savior in all things. Oh! for grace to savor the things which are of God, and not those which are of men!
His Own Soul
Fifth, we are again taught that there is nothing so precious and valuable as your soul. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (v.26) Here is a question so well known and so often repeated that I fear that few take it to heart. It ought to sound in our ears like a trumpet, whenever we are tempted to neglect our eternal interests. There is nothing the world can offer, nothing money can buy, nothing a man can give, nothing to be named in comparison with our souls. We live in a world where everything is temporal. We are going to a world where everything is eternal. Let us count nothing here more valuable than we shall when we have to leave it forever!
Our Reward
Sixth, in Mat 16:27, our Savior, having declared the value of our souls, assures his disciples and us that our reward is yet to come. For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. In the day of judgment, every man will get exactly the reward that he deserves, according to the books, the ledgers of heaven. The wicked shall be judged according to their own works. The righteous shall be judged according to their own works, too, the works of Christ imputed to us in free justification.
The Connection
Seventh, in Mat 16:28 the Lord Jesus shows the connection between his death, his resurrection, and his kingdom, or his spiritual reign as King. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. This text has caused much controversy among those visionaries who think they can predict or have figured out what they call Gods prophetic time table. This is not talking about the second coming and a millennial reign, or the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The only thing that this text can possibly refer to is Christs spiritual kingdom, into which he entered when he ascended up to heaven, which was signified by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Act 2:32-36; Gal 3:13-14). Have you entered into Christs Kingdom? Have you come under the rule of the Son of God?
Yet, our Lord seems to blend into one his glorious second coming (Mat 16:27), and his coming in grace (Mat 16:28). The fact is all his works are one. And every coming of Christ is glorious, both when he first comes in grace to awaken our souls and in all the visits of his grace that follow, until he finally comes to take us home to glory. As Simeon of old could not die until he had seen the Lord Jesus and held him in his arms, so there are some (a great multitude that no man can number) who shall not taste death until Christ is revealed to them and embraced in their arms of faith. And just as this prophecy was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, it is fulfilled every time a chosen, redeemed sinner is called to life and faith in Christ.
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
began: Mat 17:22, Mat 17:23, Mat 20:17-19, Mat 20:28, Mat 26:2, Mar 8:31, Mar 9:31, Mar 9:32, Mar 10:32-34, Luk 9:22, Luk 9:31, Luk 9:44, Luk 9:45, Luk 18:31-34, Luk 24:6, Luk 24:7, Luk 24:26, Luk 24:27, Luk 24:46, 1Co 15:3, 1Co 15:4
chief priests: Mat 26:47, Mat 27:12, 1Ch 24:1-19, Neh 12:7
and be: Mat 27:63, Joh 2:19-21, Act 2:23-32
Reciprocal: Lev 16:7 – General 2Sa 1:2 – the third 1Ki 22:2 – in the third Mat 12:40 – so Mat 17:9 – until Mat 17:12 – Likewise Mat 20:18 – and the Mat 20:19 – the third Mat 26:32 – I am Mat 28:6 – as Mar 9:9 – till Mar 10:33 – and the Son Mar 14:28 – General Luk 2:46 – after Luk 17:25 – must Luk 24:44 – These Joh 11:8 – the Jews Joh 11:53 – from Joh 18:4 – knowing Joh 20:9 – they Joh 21:19 – Follow Act 21:12 – besought Rom 1:30 – disobedient Heb 12:2 – endured
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
PRESUMPTION REBUKED
From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto His disciples those that be of men.
Mat 16:21-23
Christ now commenced to unveil the future more distinctly. (1) Because their faith had been fortified. (2) To guard against the growth of carnal views of His kingdom. (3) To secure voluntary and spiritually-minded disciples. God always gives faith before severe discipline, and seldom imparts faith without testing it. Notice here:
I. Peters conduct.It was characterised by
(a) Arrogant presumption. Had just been commended and rewarded by Christ. Exaltation proved too strong for his incipient faith. This always more dangerous than adversity. He interrupted the Saviours discourse, and assumed the position of censor; took Him aside and presumed to counsel his Divine Master. All need to pray, Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins.
(b) Ignorance of the end of Christs sufferings. He would dissuade the Saviour from the very work which he had come to accomplish.
(c) Mistimed sympathy. His heart right, his judgment at fault. This sympathy was of the nature of temptation, suggesting personal ease before painful duty, therefore rejected by Christ.
II. Christs rebuke.Get thee behind Me, Satan.
(a) It was prompt. Without a moments delay He arrests Peters remonstrance. This one secret of success in dealing with temptation.
(b) It was severe. Not too severe. He recognises the work of Satan behind the word of Peter, and addresses the fiend through his instrument.
(c) It was instructive, first to His disciples, never to interpose a stumbling-stone in the way of His mediatorial purpose; and then to us, teaching that every stumbling-block is a Satan (an adversary) to be cast behind us, and that those whose love is human merely and not spiritual are dangerous friends.
Prebendary Gordon Calthrop.
Illustration
An offence unto Me. The word signifies a snare or stumbling-block in the path. The use of this expressive term in many places is very interesting (see St. Mat 5:29; Mat 11:6; Mat 13:21; Mat 13:41; Mat 18:6-7; Mat 26:31; Mat 26:33; St. Joh 6:61; Rom 9:32-33; Rom 11:9; Rom 16:17; 1Co 1:23; 1Co 8:13; Gal 5:11; and the passages parallel to these). Our Lords application of the word to St. Peter shows that his fitness to be a foundation-stone was not natural, but of grace; left to himself, he would become a stumbling-stone. It is remarkable that St. Peter in his 1st Epistle (Mat 2:6-8) applies both these terms to Christ Himself. He is the chosen foundation-stone (Isa 28:16), made the head of the corner, although rejected by the builders; and yet He is a stumbling-stone (Isa 8:14) to those who believe not.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
6:21
See the remarks of the preceding paragraph about the progress of the ministry of Jesus. Since it was in that stage, it was time to begin preparing the minds of the apostles for the tragic events not far ahead, including the death and resurrection of their Lord with whom they had been so closely associated in the work.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 16:21. From that time began Jesus. The confession prepared them for the revelation. We infer that He spoke often and familiarly on this topic, to prepare them for their own trials, and to impress upon them the truth they deemed so strange. (Comp. chap. Mat 17:22-23; Mat 20:17-19, and the parallel passages in Mark and Luke).
He must go. The necessity of His sufferings was revealed: not in all its bearings, since after His resurrection He must still ask: Ought not Christ to have suffered, etc. (Luk 24:26.)
Unto Jerusalem, Peculiar to Matthew; in keeping with the character of his Gospel.
Suffer many things. His sufferings included more than the outward persecutions.
Of the elders, etc. These classes represented the whole Jewish nation. Christ did not reject the covenant people; they rejected Him.
And be killed. A startling announcement to the disciples, and yet Daniel (Dan 9:26) and Isaiah (Isa 53:4-10) had foretold it The cross is the necessary climax of His sufferings.
The third day be raised up.According to the Scriptures. (1Co 15:4.) Despite this plain announcement, they were full of doubt and despondency after His death.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe, 1. The wisdom of our Saviour, in acquainting his disciples with the near approach of his death and sufferings. This he did for several reasons:
1. To let them understand that he was really God, (as they had just before confessed him to be) by his foreknowing, and foretelling things to come.
2. To convince them of their error, in apprehending that his kingdom was of this world, and that he was to reign here as a temporal prince.
3. To prevent their being offended at his sufferings, and to prepare them for their own, that they might not shrink at them, nor sink under them.
Observe, 2. The persons foretold by Christ, that should be the bloody actors in the tragedy of his death; namely, the rulers and chief priests; it was the poor that received Christ, and embraced the gospel; it was the great ones of the world that rejected him, and set him at nought; and the rulers both in church and state condemned and crucified him.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 16:21. From that time forth When they had made that full confession of Christ that he was the Messiah, the Son of God; began Jesus to show unto his disciples Another most important point, namely, that he must suffer and be put to death, as a malefactor. If they had not been well grounded in their belief of Christs being the Son of God, it would have been a great shock to their faith to be informed that he must suffer and die. Some hints, indeed, our Lord had already given of his sufferings, as when he said, Destroy this temple, and spoke of the Son of man being lifted up, and of eating his flesh and drinking his blood; but hitherto he had not spoken plainly and expressly of the subject, because the disciples were weak, and could not have borne the notice of a thing so very strange and so very melancholy. But now, as they were more advanced in knowledge and stronger in faith, he began to reveal this to them: for he declares his mind to his people gradually, and lets in light as they can bear it, and are prepared to receive it. How that he must go unto Jerusalem The holy city, the royal city, and suffer there. Though he had lived most of his time in Galilee, he must die at Jerusalem; there all the sacrifices were offered; and there, therefore, He must die who was to be the great sacrifice. Thither he was to go within the short space of a few months, this declaration being made in the last year of his life: and instead of being owned, under the royal character he bore, and submitted to by the princes and people, must suffer many things from the elders The most honourable and experienced men; from the chief priests Accounted the most religious, and the scribes The most learned body of men in the nation. These made up the great sanhedrim, which sat at Jerusalem, and was had in veneration by the people: and these one would have expected to have been the very first to receive him. But instead of this, they were the most bitter in persecuting him! Strange, indeed, that men of knowledge in the Scriptures, who professed to expect the Messiahs coming, and sustained a sacred character, should use him with such contumely and cruelty when he came! It was the Roman power, indeed, that condemned and crucified Christ; but the principal share of the guilt of the whole business lies at the door of the chief priests and scribes, who were the first and principal movers in it. From them he suffered many things, things which manifested their insatiable malice, and his invincible patience, and in the issue was killed: for nothing short of his death would either satisfy the malice of his enemies, or render him a proper sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Our Lord, however, while he brought to his disciples these melancholy tidings, added, for their support and encouragement under this gloomy prospect, that in the third day he should be raised again. And thus, as all the prophets had done, when he testified beforehand his sufferings, he bore witness likewise to the glory that should follow, 1Pe 1:11. His rising again the third day proved him to be the Son of God, notwithstanding his sufferings, and therefore he mentions it in order that the faith of the disciples might not fail.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
LXX.
THIRD WITHDRAWAL FROM HEROD’S TERRITORY.
Subdivision C.
PASSION FORETOLD. PETER REBUKED.
aMATT. XVI. 21-28; bMARK VIII. 31-38; IX. 1; cLUKE IX. 22-27.
a21 From that time [i. e., from the time of Peter’s confession, and about three-quarters of a year before the crucifixion] began Jesus to show unto his disciples, b31 And to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things [Since the apostles, by the mouth of Peter, had just confessed Jesus as Christ, it was necessary that their crude Messianic conceptions should be corrected and that the true Christhood–the Christhood of the atonement and the resurrection–should be revealed to them. In discourse and parable Jesus had explained the principles and the nature of the kingdom, and now, from this time forth, he taught the [414] apostles about himself, the priestly King], athat he must go up to Jerusalem, band be rejected by aand suffer many things of the elders, and bthe chief priests, and the scribes [The Jewish Sanhedrin was generally designated by thus naming the three constituent parts. See Joh 2:19-22, Joh 3:14, Mat 12:38-40), but these had not been understood by either friend or foe. Now that he thus spoke plainly, we may see by Peter’s conduct that they comprehended and were deeply moved by the dark and more sorrowful portion of his revelation, and failed to grasp the accompanying promise of a resurrection.] a22 And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee. [Evidently Peter regarded Jesus as overcome by a fit of despondency, and felt that such talk would utterly dishearten the disciples if it were persisted in. His love, therefore, prompted him to lead Jesus to one side and deal plainly with him. In so doing, Peter overstepped the laws of discipleship and assumed that he knew better than the Master what course to pursue. In his feelings he was the forerunner of those modern wiseacres who confess themselves constrained to reject the doctrine of a suffering Messiah.] b33 But he turning about, and seeing his disciples. aturned, brebuked Peter, and saith, {asaid} unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things that be of men. [Jesus withdrew from Peter and turned back to his disciples. By the confession of the truth Simon had just won his promised name of Peter, which allied him to Christ, the [415] foundation. But when he now turned aside to speak the language of the tempter, Peter receives the name Satan, as if he were the very devil himself. Peter presented the same temptation with which the devil once called forth a similar rebuke from Christ ( Mat 4:10). He was unconsciously trying to dissuade Jesus from the death on which the salvation of the world depended, and this was working into Satan’s hand. Peter did not mind or think about the Messiah’s kingdom as divinely conceived and revealed in the Scriptures.] b34 And he called unto him the multitude with his disciples, a24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, c23 And he said unto all [despite the efforts of Jesus to seek privacy, the people were still near enough at hand to be called and addressed], If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily [comp. Rom 8:36, 1Co 15:31] and follow me [For comment, see Luk 12:9, 2Ti 1:8, 2Ti 1:12, 2Ti 2:12] in this adulterous and sinful generation [see pp. 305, 306], the Son of man also shall be ashamed of him cwhen he cometh in his own glory, and the glory of the {bhis} cFather, and of {bwith} the holy angels. [Peter had just been ashamed of the words in which Christ pictured himself as undergoing his humiliation. Jesus warns him and all others of the dangers of such shame.] a27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall render unto every man according to his deed. [The Father’s glory, the angels, and the rendering of universal judgment form a threefold indication that Jesus here speaks of his final coming to judge the world.] b1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, c27 But I tell you of a truth, aThere are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. ctill they see the kingdom of God. bcome with power. [The mention of his final coming suggested one nearer at hand which was to be accomplished during the life of most of those present, since none but Jesus himself and Judas were to die previous to that time. The kingdom was to come and likewise the King. The former coming was literal, the latter spiritual. Those who refer this expression to the transfiguration certainly err, for no visible kingdom was established at that time. The expression refers to the kingdom which was organized and set in motion on the Pentecost which followed the resurrection of Jesus. It was set up with power, because three thousand souls were converted the first day, and many other gospel triumphs speedily followed.] [417]
[FFG 414-417]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
HIS DEATH & RESURRECTION
Mat 16:21-23; Mar 8:31-33; Luk 9:22. Matthew: From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that it behooved Him to depart to Jerusalem, and to suffer many things from The elders, the chief priests, and scribes, and to be put to death, and to rise the third day. And Peter, taking Him to him, began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not be to Thee. And turning, He said to Peter, Get behind Me, adversary; thou art My stumblingblock, because thou dost not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Our Lord is still up at Caesarea-Philippi, with His disciples, teaching and revealing the deeper things of His kingdom, not only to their edification, but their astonishment. It was the misfortune of the Jews so to mix up the prophecies appertaining to the first and second coming of Christ, that they ran into much bewilderment for the want of the necessary discrimination and division of Gods Word; while Isaiah and others had vividly revealed His humiliation, as a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; as a Root out of dry ground, without form or comeliness, and none desiring Him; Led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep dumb before His shearers, opened not His mouth; In His humiliation, His judgment was taken away i.e., He had no fair trial, but was mobbed, contrary to both Jewish and Roman law. These gloomy prophecies, descriptive of His humiliation in His first advent, were by no means enjoyable themes with the Jews, who leaned the more to those grand and glorious cognomens portraying Him as the Prince of peace, the government on His shoulders; and Dan 7:14, not only describing Him as a triumphant and glorious King, but certifying positively that to His kingdom there shall be no end, but He shall reign King of kings and Lord of lords forever. Now, for the first time, He comes out and positively reveals to His disciples His coming arrest, condemnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. Peter, robust, stout, and naturally brave as a lion, immediately conceiving the view that His enemies are going to combine against Him, take Him, and kill Him, leaps to the conclusion, That is a game at which two can play. We will fight in His defense till we die, and the thousands and myriads who have been blessed with bodily healing, demoniacal ejectruents, and the multitudes endeared to Him on account of their friends thus wonderfully saved, soul and body, will rally and help us and will make it hot for them. Consequently, both Peter takes Him by the arm, or His vesture, and pulls Him up to Him; looking Him in the face, says, They cant do that; we will be on hand, rally Your multitude of friends, and protect You to the last moment. Satan, in the E.V., is too strong, the word not appearing here as a proper name, when it is applied to the devil, but simply in its original meaning, adversary or opposer, as Peter was innocently antagonizing the Divine economy relative to His death and resurrection, which he did not understand; and Jesus said, Thou art My stumbling-block; i.e., You are throwing yourself in the way of the very work I came to do i.e., to suffer, die, and redeem the world from sin, death, and hell. Thou dost not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men; i.e., You are not thinking on the Divine side of this great transaction, you have not yet received light and entered into it understandingly, but you are considering My Messiahship from a human standpoint.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
16:21 {8} From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the {p} elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
(8) The minds of men are at this time to be prepared and made ready against the stumbling block of persecution.
(p) It was a name of dignity and not of age: and it is used for those who were the judges, whom the Hebrews call the Sanhedrin.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Revelation about Jesus’ death and resurrection 16:21-27
This is the second aspect of His program that Jesus proceeded to explain to His believing disciples, the first being His creation of the church. He told them about His coming passion and then about His resurrection.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Jesus’ passion 16:21-23 (cf. Mar 8:31-33; Luk 9:22)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
This is only the second time in his Gospel that Matthew used the phrase apo tote erxato, "from that time" (cf. Mat 26:16). The first time was in Mat 4:17, where Jesus began to present Himself to Israel as her Messiah. Here it announces Jesus’ preparation of His disciples for the Cross because of Israel’s rejection and His disciples’ acceptance of Him as the divine Messiah. Thus the evangelist signaled a significant turning point in Jesus’ ministry.
Jesus had hinted at His death earlier (Mat 9:15; Mat 10:38; Mat 12:40). However this is the first time He discussed it with His disciples. He began "to show" or "to explain" (Gr. deikeyo) these things with His actions as well as His words, not just "to teach" (Gr. didasko) them.
Jesus said that He "must" (Gr. dei) go to Jerusalem. He had to do this because it was God’s will for Messiah to suffer and die as well as to experience resurrection. [Note: Lenski, p. 634.] He had to do these things to fulfill prophecy (Isaiah 53; cf. Act 2:22-36). Jerusalem had been the site of the martyrdom of numerous Old Testament prophets (cf. Mat 23:37).
". . . Jesus reveals to his disciples, in all he says and in all he does beginning with Mat 16:21, that God has ordained that he should go to Jerusalem to suffer, and that his way of suffering is a summons to them also to go the way of suffering (i.e., the way of servanthood) (cf. Mat 20:28). In other words, Matthew alerts the reader through the key passages Mat 16:21 and Mat 16:24 that suffering, defined as servanthood, is the essence of discipleship and that Jesus will show the disciples in what he says and does that this is in fact the case." [Note: Kingsbury, Matthew as . . ., p. 140.]
Jesus identified three groups that would be responsible for His sufferings and death there: the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes (cf. Mat 27:41). Together these groups constituted the Sanhedrin, Israel’s supreme religious body. One definite article describes all three groups and binds them together in a single entity in the Greek text (cf. Mat 16:1; Mat 16:6). This would be Israel’s final and formal official rejection of her Messiah. [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 208.] Jesus’ announcement implied that a trial would take place. [Note: M’Neile, p. 244.] However, Jesus also announced that He would arise from the dead on the third day (cf. Mat 12:40; Psa 16:10-11; Psa 118:17-18; Psa 118:22; Isa 52:13-15; Isa 53:10-12).
Here, as in the following two announcements of Jesus’ death (Mat 17:22-23; Mat 20:18-19), the accompanying announcement of Jesus’ resurrection made no impression on the disciples. Apparently the thought of His dying so upset them that they did not hear the rest of what He had to say to them.
Mat 16:21 "prepares the reader already for the resolution of Jesus’ conflict with Israel in at least two respects: (a) It underscores the fact that there are three principals involved in Jesus’ passion, namely, God (dei: ’it is necessary’), Jesus, and the religious leaders. And (b) it reminds the reader that while all three desire the death of Jesus, the objective the leaders pursue is destructive (Mat 12:14), whereas that intended by God and Jesus is to save (Mat 1:21)." [Note: Kingsbury, Matthew as . . ., p. 77.]