Matthew 15.1-11

Even out here in North Carolina, news of Webb City’s football State Championship reached me.  I’m sure that some college coaches and scouts heard too, and they headed to some Webb City games to check out the latest crop of Cardinals players.  They needed to see the talent firsthand.

In a similar way, news of Jesus’ workings, miracles, and followers had spread from Galilee to Jerusalem, even reaching the ears of some influential Pharisees and teachers of the Law.  Naturally they were curious as to what exactly Jesus was doing and teaching, and wanted to see firsthand if he lined up with what they considered to be good teachings and deeds of a Jew.  So they made the trip from Jerusalem to Galilee to check him out, and it’s at this encounter that we pick up Matthew’s Gospel today.  We’ll break down their interaction in a play-by-play fashion since we’re in the football spirit already.

Matthew 15:1-2

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

This isn’t the first time that Jesus and some Pharisees have had issues (12:1-14).  This time they accuse Jesus and the disciples of breaking the “tradition of the elders,” which refers to the oral traditions that famous rabbis had developed as they interpreted and applied the written Old Testament scriptures.  These were central to the Pharisees’ understanding of living a holy life, so breaking them was evidently equal in their eyes to breaking the Law itself.  They were specifically upset that Jesus and the disciples didn’t wash their hands before they ate.  The Pharisees had elaborate traditions about how, when, and why to wash their hands.

Matthew 15:3-6

³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ ⁶ he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

Jesus counter attacks, and goes straight at the heart of the matter.  Their traditions actually caused them to break the command of God.

Jesus gives a specific example.  The Ten Commandments clearly command people to honor their father and mother and that failing to do so can result in death.  However, the Pharisees had a tradition called Corban (Mark 7:11).  With this tradition, a person could designate a sum of money, possession (plow, cart, bowl, etc.), or even a house or property as a Corban.  Once it was Corban, the item was promised to God upon death of the owner or sooner.  It could only be used by the owner and not given to anyone else for any other reason.

Do you see the problem?  Once it was Corban, it was off limits to you but not to me.  So the Pharisees would take a Corban vow with a possession or money so that they wouldn’t have to use it to take care of their aging parents.  Thus, they nullified the word of God for the sake of their tradition. 

When tradition becomes more important than the Word of God, the Scriptures lose their authority. 

Matthew 15:7-9

⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 

⁸ “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, 

but their hearts are far from me. 

⁹ They worship me in vain; 

their teachings are but rules taught by men.’” 

Jesus then calls out the Pharisees for the hypocrisy.  They’re just pretending; “play-acting” is what the word hypocrite literally means.  They just put the pious show on the outside without their heart belonging to God.  Their worship is in vain because of their heart issue and their teachings aren’t from God but from man.

Matthew 15:10-11

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’ ”

Jesus now turns to the crowd to make sure they get this straight:  the real issues are in the condition of a person’s heart.  He’ll explain this more fully in 15:16-20, so we’ll leave that for another day.

I think the application for us is pretty clear.  We need to constantly ask if our interpretations and traditions stemming from Scriptures have usurped the authority of the Word in our lives.  It’s easy with study Bibles, commentaries, Pod-casts, and even blogs like this one for traditions and human teachings to spread and become authoritative.  Jesus’ charge against the Pharisees is real for us today too.

 What traditions and human teachings from the Word have nullified the Scriptures’ authority in our lives?  Maybe we need to repent and trust the Word as our guide.

Jeremy Hyde

Matthew 14.22-36

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 

 ²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 

Sometimes Jesus fascinates us, sometimes He amazes us, and sometimes He scares us.

In your study of Scripture—in this study of Matthew—have you ever stopped reading and thought, “Huh, Jesus is weird…”?  Or have you ever just let your jaw drop, shook your head, and said, “Wow”?  Has anything Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew scared you?  I think, if we let Him, Jesus will do all of those things to us.  And I definitely think that in these verses, Jesus is fascinating, amazing, and terrifying.

Let me explain…

Look back at verse 23.  Jesus went away, alone, to pray.  Think about that for a second…and then scratch your head with me.  Jesus, who was God, went off to pray…to God.  Jesus, who came to seek and to save what was lost, went away to be alone.  You can’t look for people and be alone at the same time.  Jesus, who was perfect and powerful, prayed—an act which essentially says He was dependent on someone else.  Jesus was dependent?  Really?  Oh, and did I mention that He was dependent on God?  And did I also mention that He was God?

Yeah.  Weird.

But let’s try to get over all the weirdness of it, past the semantics of God Himself praying to God, and the fact that He was neglecting other people to spend some time alone.  Get past that, and take it for just what it is: Jesus carved time into His schedule to pray.  Probably for a couple of hours.  Even Jesus prayed.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  He doesn’t have to pray.  I don’t know if He “needed” to, and I don’t know what He said, but I know He prayed.  That’s fascinating.

Ready for something even better?  Read verse 25.

Wow.

Do you ever forget that Jesus did things that are actually impossible?  I can’t walk on water.  You can’t either.  Jesus did.

Here’s one of the dangers of being a Christian for a while: Somewhere along the path, you can stop being amazed.  It’s really easy to get used to Jesus’ miracles and to read over them like you read the subtitles on your TV when the volume is on—it’s all stuff you’ve heard before.  And before you know it, Jesus isn’t amazing anymore.  Something I do sometimes is write the word “Wow!” in the margin of my Bible when Jesus does a miracle.  The next time I read that passage, it helps me to not forget that it’s…well, miraculous.

In verse 26, the disciples are terrified.  Now, we need to remember the “Wow” of what just happened because it’s easy for us to start picking on the disciples right here.  “Why are they scared?  They just watched Him feed 5,000 people!”  “Don’t they get it?!”  “Where is their faith?”  But what Jesus is doing is not normal, and that scares the disciples.  And I, for one, don’t blame them.

If I was on a boat in the middle of a storm in the middle of the night and someone came strolling out to me I would be scared, too.  Because Jesus was doing something that had never been done before, appearing in a way the disciples had never seen before.  He made them think about possibilities that were impossible before.  That’s scary.

When was the last time you were fascinated by Jesus?

When was the last time He amazed you?

Has He ever scared you?

Have you ever wondered why He does things the way He does?  Does it make you curious when someone can read the same passage of Scripture as you and have a completely different reaction?  Do you ever scratch your head when someone you don’t think you know very well tells you how much you mean to them?  Is it interesting to you that you can listen to a sermon at a church and feel like the preacher is talking directly to you?  It doesn’t have to be that way.  Jesus could do things differently.  There are other things that might make more sense.  But Jesus is fascinating.

Have you ever heard those stories of people who were told by doctors that they had no chance to live, but they do anyway?  Have you spent some time reading about missionaries who have had encounters with local authorities and come out unscathed with no explanation but the miraculous?  Have you ever been there to hear the testimony of the drug addict who turned their life around and is now ministering to people whose lives are in shambles?  Do you know what it’s like to see your budget for the month and know that you don’t have enough income to cover the expenses only to reach the end of the month somehow in the black?  That’s not normal.  That’s not how life is supposed to work.  I can’t do that; you can’t do that.  Jesus does that.  And that’s amazing.

Have you ever felt called to be generous beyond what you thought you could afford?  Has a conference or church camp ever inspired you to move overseas to a place your family thought was too dangerous?  Do you feel led to adopt a child?  Does the Bible seem to demand things of your moral life that would make you leave a group of friends or a relationship?  Does your being a Christian make your family angry or disappointed with you?  That’s not fair.  That’s not fun.  That’s not possible.  That’s impractical.  That’s illogical.  That’s scary.

And that’s Jesus.

Ben Cross

Matthew 14.13-21

Today we're looking at one of Jesus' most famous miracles: the feeding of the five thousand. In fact, an account of this miracle is found in every one of the four gospels, and when something shows up on all four, we can generally assume it's pretty important. Here's Matthew's account from Matthew 14:13-21:

13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."

16 Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."

17 "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered.

18 "Bring them here to me," he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Chances are that you've probably heard this story before at some point in your life. But instead of just looking at it as a pretty neat-o miracle (which it is!), let's try to see what other significance Jesus' actions here might have. The feeding of the 5000 is about more than just making sure people have lunch. When we see Jesus standing in front of the crowds and breaking bread, we see him forming a people.

Are there other times in the Bible when people were miraculously provided with food? There are several, in fact, but in the case of the feeding of the 5000, it's hard not so see some similarities with the Israelites being provided with manna when they were wandering in the desert after leaving slavery in Egypt. Every morning the Israelites would go outside and pick up the bread that had appeared there. This was how their hunger was satisfied and they were provided for on their way to the promised land.

In Matthew's gospel, there are a number of a parallels that seem to be drawn between Jesus and Moses/Israel during the exodus. In Matthew, we read about a king having infants killed, about Jesus coming out of Egypt, and about Jesus spending forty days in the wilderness. These facts all correspond to elements of the exodus story. And now, Jesus is giving the people bread, just as the Israelites were given bread. What is especially interesting is that the feeding of the five thousand takes place near the time of Passover, when the Jews would have celebrated and remembered how they had come out of Egypt and had become a nation (Jn. 6:4).

In feeding the five thousand, Jesus looks like a new Moses. Moses was the leader of Israel when they became a people. And Jesus forms a new people--the people of the kingdom of heaven. This is something that the crowds in Matthew 14 didn't miss. In John's account, the people hope to make Jesus king after this miracle (Jn. 6:15). They understand that Jesus is forming a new community, but they don't understand how that works. They don't understand that Jesus isn't there to kick the Romans out and take his place on an earthly throne in Jerusalem. They don't understand that that the kingdom of heaven is bigger than that.

That's why it's so important for us to study Matthew's gospel. In Matthew, we learn a lot about the nature of the kingdom of God, and we learn about what it means to be a member of that kingdom. We are part of the people formed by Jesus. We are in this new community that he creates. So pay close attention to what Jesus is saying in this gospel, because we need these words if we are going to be the kind of disciples that the king calls us to be.

David Heffren

Matthew 14.1-12

Hope you had a great feast yesterday for Thanksgiving. I know that I am going to be reveling in a win by the Dallas Cowboys over the Miami Dolphins. Hopefully you all enjoyed the game as much as I did.

Today, we are entering into Jesus training his disciples, preparing them for his death. And who do we start out with? John the Baptist. It seems like a random story, but Matthew inserts it in this section of his book for a very important purpose. Let's look at the passage:

 ¹ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, ² and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
 ³ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet.
 ⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much ⁷ that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰ and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹² John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.


Matthew consistently uses John the Baptist to advance the story of Jesus along. In Matthew 3, John the Baptist foreshadows Jesus' ministry, his revelation of himself as King and his sermon about his kingdom by calling people to "Repent, for the KINGDOM of HEAVEN is near." This was John's message in Matthew 3, it is also Jesus' message in chapter 4. In Matthew 11, Matthew is beginning his section of his book with Jesus' teachings on what it means to be the people of God, and it starts with John asking Jesus what kind of person he was. John's doubts and warped expectations about Jesus foreshadow Jesus correcting the doubts and warped expectations of the Pharisees and his disciples. 


And now we come to Matthew 14. Jesus is getting ready to start training his disciples, preparing them for his death, but first John foreshadows the ultimate rejection of Jesus, crucifixion on a cross, by himself being rejected and killed. 


Remember what happened in Matthew 13.23-28, Jesus' hometown was confused about who he was. They didn't get it right. The same happened to Herod in Matthew 14. 


¹ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, ² and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”


This verse connects the previous section, the false ideas of who Jesus is, with the new section, Herod's false ideas about who Jesus is. 


Next, we see how what happens to John foreshadows what is going to happen to Jesus. 

 ³ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet.

 ⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much ⁷ that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰ and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 

What did John do that deserved death?

NOTHING!!!

He was killed unjustly. 

Matthew is saying, by using this story here, that just as John the Baptist was killed unjustly, so also Jesus is going to be killed unjustly. 

Remember, Jesus is training his disciples, getting them ready for his own death. And a key element to that is this, people don't like those who are a part of God's kingdom. 

That is why John the Baptist was killed, he spoke out for what is right, and that is also why Jesus was killed, he wanted to right the wrongs, which is what God's kingdom does. 

And Matthew ends this passage by connecting John the Baptist with Jesus. Check it out. 

¹² John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.


John's followers finally went to Jesus. And this death foreshadows Jesus' death. 


When we follow Jesus, we are supposed to do what he did, which is undo evil, correct the wrongs of the world. So when we do this, we have to understand that we will be treated as he was treated. We will suffer injustices in the world. 


2 Timothy 4.12 says, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."


Are you being persecuted? 


If not, maybe it's because you aren't living as Jesus lived. 


This question haunts me day in and day out. 

Intro into Training of Disciples

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! We have come a long way since August, So let's review what we have covered real quick.

Jesus has come to establish a kingdom to change the world. Matthew is showing his audience what kind of King Jesus is and what kind of kingdom he is bringing.

Let's take a look at the outline of what we have covered so far:

1. Matthew 5-7--The sermon on the proclamation of a king, and the upside-down nature of his kingdom. 

1. Matthew 1-4 was all about the presentation of a king, now we see what this king has to say about his kingdom

1. Matthew 10--The sermon on the ministry of the King.

1. Matthew 8-9 is all about the King's ministry which is two fold: 1. healing the sick and 2. discipling the disciples. This is what his message is about in Matthew 10. 

1. Matthew 13--The sermon on the what Kingdom life is like (in parables)

1. Matthew 11-12 is filled with Jesus training the disciples what it means to be the people of God. 
2. The Pharisees and religious leaders of the day had a different idea of what it means to be the people of God, so there is a lot of conflict involved in this section. 
3. Jesus clarifies it all with his sermon in Matthew 13. 

Now we come to Matthew 14, and this section of narrative, Matthew 14-17, is all about Jesus training his disciples, getting them ready for his death. It culminates in Matthew 18, the sermon in which Jesus teaches his disciples what the life of Discipleship looks like. This is the section we are moving into. If you want, I posted Matthew 14-17 below so that you can read it all at once, just to get an idea of what the section consists of as a whole. 

Matthew 14

John the Baptist Beheaded

 ¹ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, ² and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” ³ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet.
 ⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much ⁷ that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰ and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹² John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

 ¹³ When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
 ¹⁶ Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
 ¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
   ¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

 ²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴ but the boat was already a considerable distance^[a] from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. ²⁵ During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
 ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
 ²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
   ²⁹ “Come,” he said.
   Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
 ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
 ³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
 ³⁴ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him ³⁶ and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

Matthew 15

Clean and Unclean

 ¹ Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” ³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[b] and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’^[c] 5 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ ⁶ he is not to ‘honor his father^[d]’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
   ⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me.
⁹ They worship me in vain;
   their teachings are but rules taught by men.’^[e]”
 ¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’”
 ¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
 ¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides.^[f] If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
 ¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
   ¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.²⁰ These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’”

The Faith of the Canaanite Woman

 ²¹ Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” ²³ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
 ²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
 ²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
 ²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”
 ²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
 ²⁸ Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

 ²⁹ Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. ³⁰ Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. ³¹ The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. ³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
 ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”
   ³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
   “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
 ³⁵ He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ³⁸ The number of those who ate was four thousand, besides women and children. ³⁹ After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

Matthew 16

The Demand for a Sign

 ¹ The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. ² He replied,^[g] “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ ³ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. ⁴ A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

 ⁵ When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. ⁶ “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”
 ⁸ Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹ Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹¹ How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

 ¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
   ¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
 ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ,^[h] the Son of the living God.”
 ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter,^[i] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades^[j] will not overcome it.^[k] 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[l] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[m] loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

Jesus Predicts His Death

 ²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. ²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
 ²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
 ²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life^[n] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. ²⁸ I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Matthew 17

The Transfiguration

 ¹ After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. ³ Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. ⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
 ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
 ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,”he said. “Don’t be afraid.” ⁸ When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
 ⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
 ¹⁰ The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
 ¹¹ Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. ¹² But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

The Healing of a Boy With a Demon

 ¹⁴ When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. ¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”   ¹⁷ “O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
 ¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
 ²⁰ He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.^[o]”
 ²² When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.²³ They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

The Temple Tax

 ²⁴ After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax^[p]?” ²⁵ “Yes, he does,” he replied.
   When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own sons or from others?”
 ²⁶ “From others,” Peter answered.
   “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him. ²⁷ “But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”