Matthew 16:1-23 | Psalm 71:1-3
This passage from Matthew is packed. It begins with religious groups testing Jesus and ends with Jesus calling Peter “Satan.” In between, Jesus has warnings for his disciples and then some frustration at their lack of understanding. Healings and warm, fuzzy teachings are fading.
But in the middle, we also have a quick, but important picture: on behalf of all the disciples, Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah, the King who was to come. While these words might pull us back a couple of months to Christmas, soon enough, they will push us forward to Good Friday.
Hang on.
Matthew 16:1-23
The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus. In order to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.
But he replied, “At evening you say, ‘It will be nice weather because the sky is bright red.’ And in the morning you say, ‘There will be bad weather today because the sky is cloudy.’ You know how to make sense of the sky’s appearance. But you are unable to recognize the signs that point to what the time is. An evil and unfaithful generation searches for a sign. But it won’t receive any sign except Jonah’s sign.” Then he left them and went away.
When the disciples arrived on the other side of the lake, they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus said to them, “Watch out and be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
They discussed this among themselves and said, “We didn’t bring any bread.”
Jesus knew what they were discussing and said, “You people of weak faith! Why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves that fed the five thousand and how many baskets of leftovers you gathered? And the seven loaves that fed the four thousand and how many large baskets of leftovers you gathered? Don’t you know that I wasn’t talking about bread? But be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he wasn’t telling them to be on their guard for yeast used in making bread. No, he was telling them to watch out for the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Now when Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Human One is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
He said, “And what about you? Who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Then Jesus replied, “Happy are you, Simon son of Jonah, because no human has shown this to you. Rather my Father who is in heaven has shown you. I tell you that you are Peter. And I’ll build my church on this rock. The gates of the underworld won’t be able to stand against it. I’ll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Anything you fasten on earth will be fastened in heaven. Anything you loosen on earth will be loosened in heaven.” Then he ordered the disciples not to tell anybody that he was the Christ.
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and legal experts, and that he had to be killed and raised on the third day. Then Peter took hold of Jesus and, scolding him, began to correct him: “God forbid, Lord! This won’t happen to you.” But he turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are a stone that could make me stumble, for you are not thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts.”
Psalm 71:1-3
I’ve taken refuge in you, Lord.
Don’t let me ever be put to shame!
Deliver me and rescue me by your righteousness!
Bend your ear toward me and save me!
Be my rock of refuge
where I can always escape.
You commanded that my life be saved
because you are my rock and my fortress.
Prayer
God,
It really is amazing that you can see all that is happening in the world and keep it together. News comes faster to us today than ever, and yet it’s still slow to come. Another mass shooting, an on-going war, religious extremists killed, the on-going fallout from a major earthquake, a preventable environmental disaster from a train wreck…it’s a lot. And this doesn’t even count the millions of little situations behind closed doors that only you and they know about.
Are we meant to care for it all, God? I don’t mean to be ignorant or lacking compassion, but with what capacity did you create us? At least give me the capacity to respond to the needs around me - my own, my household’s, my neighbors’, my community’s.
Then there’s this revival of sorts everyone’s talking about in Kentucky. Lord, I do not want to deny your Spirit. I welcome your movement in my life. So help me connect such an out-pouring with the rest of what’s happening in the world, or at least the little world right around me.
By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.