Matthew 16
CHAPTER 16
Matthew 16:1-12 . A SIGN FROM HEAVEN SOUGHT AND REFUSED--CAUTION AGAINST THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES.
Matthew 16:13-28 . PETER'S NOBLE CONFESSION OF CHRIST AND THE BENEDICTION PRONOUNCED UPON HIM--CHRIST'S FIRST EXPLICIT ANNOUNCEMENT OF HIS APPROACHING SUFFERINGS, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION--HIS REBUKE OF PETER AND WARNING TO ALL THE TWELVE. ( = mark 1:1 8:27 , 9:1 , Luke 9:18-27 ).
The time of this section--which is beyond doubt, and will presently be mentioned--is of immense importance, and throws a touching interest around the incidents which it records.
Peter's Confession, and the Benediction Pronounced upon Him. ( Matthew 16:13-20 ).
13. When Jesus came into the coasts--"the parts," that is, the territory or region. In Mark ( Mark 8:27 ) it is "the towns" or "villages."
of Cæsarea Philippi--It lay at the foot of Mount Lebanon, near the sources of the Jordan, in the territory of Dan, and at the northeast extremity of Palestine. It was originally called Panium (from a cavern in its neighborhood dedicated to the god Pan) and Paneas. Philip, the tetrarch, the only good son of Herod the Great, in whose dominions Paneas lay, having beautified and enlarged it, changed its name to Cæsarea, in honor of the Roman emperor, and added Philippi after his own name, to distinguish it from the other Cæsarea ( Acts 10:1 ) on the northeast coast of the Mediterranean Sea. [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 15.10,3; 18.2,1]. This quiet and distant retreat Jesus appears to have sought with the view of talking over with the Twelve the fruit of His past labors, and breaking to them for the first time the sad intelligence of His approaching death.
he asked his disciples--"by the way," says Mark ( Mark 8:27 ), and "as He was alone praying," says Luke ( Luke 9:18 ).
saying, Whom--or more grammatically, "Who"
do men say that I the Son of man am?--(or, "that the Son of man is"--the recent editors omitting here the me of Mark and Luke [ 8:27 , Luke 9:18 ]; though the evidence seems pretty nearly balanced)--that is, "What are the views generally entertained of Me, the Son of man, after going up and down among them so long?" He had now closed the first great stage of His ministry, and was just entering on the last dark one. His spirit, burdened, sought relief in retirement, not only from the multitude, but even for a season from the Twelve. He retreated into "the secret place of the Most High," pouring out His soul "in supplications and prayers, with strong crying and tears" ( Hebrews 5:7 ). On rejoining His disciples, and as they were pursuing their quiet journey, He asked them this question.
14. And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist--risen from the dead. So that Herod Antipas was not singular in his surmise ( Matthew 14:1 Matthew 14:2 ).
some, Elias--(Compare Mark 6:15 ).
and others, Jeremias--Was this theory suggested by a supposed resemblance between the "Man of Sorrows" and "the weeping prophet?"
or one of the prophets--or, as Luke ( Luke 9:8 ) expresses it, "that one of the old prophets is risen again." In another report of the popular opinions which Mark ( Mark 6:15 ) gives us, it is thus expressed, "That it is a prophet [or], as one of the prophets": in other words, That He was a prophetical person, resembling those of old.
15. He saith unto them, But whom--rather, "who."
say ye that I am?--He had never put this question before, but the crisis He was reaching made it fitting that He should now have it from them. We may suppose this to be one of those moments of which the prophet says, in His name, "Then I said, I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain" ( Isaiah 49:4 ): Lo, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree; and what is it? As the result of all, I am taken for John the Baptist, for Elias, for Jeremias, for one of the prophets. Yet some there are that have beheld My glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, and I shall hear their voice, for it is sweet.