Tell the Story
The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs
16 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them,1 “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
5 When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 11 How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock2 I will build my church, and the gates of hell3 shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed4 in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
21 From 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 on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord!5 This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance6 to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life7 will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Footnotes
[1] 16:2
[2] 16:18
[3] 16:18
[4] 16:19
[5] 16:22
[6] 16:23
[7] 16:25
Have you ever noticed there are a lot of questions in life? (And I just added one more!)
What did you do on summer vacation? What do you want for breakfast? Did you clean your room? Are you mad at me? Why are you upset? Did you hurt your little brother? Is your homework done? What’s your favorite color? What kind of ice cream do you want? What do you want to be when you grow up? How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? So many questions!
Of all the questions you might ever be asked, this may be the most important one: Who is Jesus?
One time Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people think that I am?”
The disciples gave lots of answers. “Well, some people think you are John the Baptist come back from the dead. Other people think you are another Elijah or Jeremiah. Or they think you might be one of the other prophets.”
Most everyone could see that Jesus was someone special, but they weren’t quite sure which special person he seemed to be or how amazingly special he was.
So Jesus asked another question of the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”
How would you answer that question? Was Jesus just a nice man? Or a good teacher? Or a miracle worker? Or another one of God’s servants like Abraham or Moses or David?
Peter jumped in, like he often did, and spoke up. “You are the Christ! The Messiah! The anointed one! The one we’ve been waiting for! You are the Son of the living God!”
Jesus was very pleased with Peter’s response. “Congratulations, Simon Peter, my Father has given you the right answer!”
Peter had the right words, but he still didn’t understand what they all meant. He thought Jesus was going to be an earthly king. He thought Jesus would make their lives better right away. Peter certainly didn’t think God’s Son was going to die.
Later, Jesus got upset with Peter for thinking that God’s Son could do God’s work without suffering. “Get behind me, Satan,” Jesus said to him. “You are thinking like a man. You are not thinking for God.”
God had shown Peter that Jesus was the Christ. But Peter still needed God’s help to know what sort of Christ Jesus would be. Jesus was a suffering servant. He knew he had to die. That would surprise Peter.
But Jesus also knew he would come back to life. That would be an even better surprise for Peter, and for all of us.
