Matthew 16
Matthew 16:1
The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven.
Matthew 16:2
But he answered them, When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.
Matthew 16:3
In the morning, It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you cant discern the signs of the times!
Matthew 16:4
An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
He left them, and departed.
Matthew 16:5
The disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread.
Matthew 16:6
Yeshua said to them, Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Matthew 16:7
They reasoned among themselves, saying, We brought no bread.
Matthew 16:8
Yeshua, perceiving it, said, Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, because you have brought no bread?
Matthew 16:9
Dont you yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?
Matthew 16:10
Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up?
Matthew 16:11
How is it that you dont perceive that I didnt speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Matthew 16:12
Then they understood that he didnt tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Matthew 16:13
Now when Yeshua came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?
Matthew 16:14
They said, Some say Yochanan the Immerser, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
Matthew 16:15
He said to them, But who do you say that I am?
Matthew 16:16
Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
Matthew 16:17
Yeshua answered him, Blessed are you, Shimon Bar Yonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 16:18
I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Sheol will not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:19
I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.
The terms “binding” and loosing” are Rabbinic technical terms meaning to prohibit and permit. The earliest reference to this phrase is found in Josephus,
“These are a certain sect of the Jews that appear more religious than others, and seem to interpret the laws more accurately. low Alexandra hearkened to them to an extraordinary degree, as being herself a woman of great piety towards God. But these Pharisees artfully insinuated themselves into her favor by little and little, and became themselves the real administrators of the public affairs: they banished and reduced whom they pleased; they bound and loosed [men] at their pleasure.”
Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 1.5.2
The Talmud says,
“…get yourself a perceptive heart to understand the words of those who pronounce unclean and the words of those who pronounce clean, the words of those who prohibit and the words of those who permit, the words of those who disqualify and the words of those who declare fit.”
Chagigah 3b, Soncino Press Edition
The Zohar says,
“The king has brought me into his chambers (Song of Songs 1:4) – into all those chambers of the Elder, the one with the countenance of the Holy Youth. Their keys delivered into his hands, all arrayed for you…”
Sitrei Torah 1:90a, Zohar Pritzker Edition, translated by Joel Hecker, Stanford University Press, pg. 666
Pritzker Edition Commentary:
“…Metatron ages yet is continually rejuvenated – and so he has two visages, one youthful and one old. Here, Rabbi El’azar is granted the keys bequeathed to Metatron, and he in turn is told he can share them with his visitors….On possessing keys as a feature of mediating between God and the world, see Matthew 16:19 in which Jesus says to Peter: “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 loosed in heaven.” See BT Ta’anit 23a, Tanchuma, Vayetse 16; Midrash Tehillim 78:5; Eliyahu Zuta 8…”
Matthew 16:20
Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Yeshua the Messiah.
“The Rebbe traveled with the utmost simplicity. Though he was a well-known Chassidic leader, he traveled like the simple folk, without any pomp or ceremony. He emphatically warned his attendants not to reveal his identity.”
Rebbe Nachman’s Wisdom, Reb Noson of Nemirov, translated and annotated by R’ Aryeh Kaplan, Breslov Research Institute, pg. 47
Matthew 16:21
From that time, Yeshua began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
Matthew 16:22
Peter took him aside, and began to rebuke him, saying, Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you.
Matthew 16:23
But 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 the things of God, but on the things of men.
Matthew 16:24
Then Yeshua said to his disciples, If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Matthew 16:25
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 16:26
For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?
Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds.
