Matthew 16–17

The Demand for a Miracle

16^*Some Pharisees and Sadducees who came to Jesus wanted to trap him, so they asked him to perform a miracle for them, to show that God approved of him. ²But Jesus answered, “When the sun is setting, you say, ‘We are going to have fine weather, because the sky is red.’ ³And early in the morning you say, ‘It is going to rain, because the sky is red and dark.’ You can predict the weather by looking at the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs concerning these times!^{n 4*}How evil and godless are the people of this day! You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of Jonah.”

So he left them and went away.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵When the disciples crossed over to the other side of the lake, they forgot to take any bread. ^6*Jesus said to them, “Take care; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷They started discussing among themselves, “He says this because we didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸Jesus knew what they were saying, so he asked them, “Why are you discussing among yourselves about not having any bread? How little faith you have! ^9*Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand men? How many baskets did you fill? ^10*And what about the seven loaves for the four thousand men? How many baskets did you fill? ¹¹How is it that you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? Guard yourselves from the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

¹²Then the disciples understood that he was not warning them to guard themselves from the yeast used in bread but from the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

¹³Jesus went to the territory near the town of Caesarea Philippi, where he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

^14*“Some say John the Baptist,” they answered. “Others say Elijah, while others say Jeremiah or some other prophet.”

¹⁵“What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?” ^16*Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷“Good for you, Simon son of John!” answered Jesus. “For this truth did not come to you from any human being, but it was given to you directly by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. ^19*I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”

²⁰Then Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Jesus Speaks about His Suffering and Death

²¹From that time on Jesus began to say plainly to his disciples, “I must go to Jerusalem and suffer much from the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. I will be put to death, but three days later I will be raised to life.”

²²Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “God forbid it, Lord!” he said. “That must never happen to you!”

²³Jesus turned around and said to Peter, “Get away from me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my way, because these thoughts of yours don’t come from God, but from human nature.”

^24*Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come with me, he must forget self, carry his cross, and follow me. ^25*For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶Will people gain anything if they win the whole world but lose their life? Of course not! There is nothing they can give to regain their life. ^27*For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each one according to his deeds. ²⁸I assure you that there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Son of Man come as King.”

The Transfiguration

17^*Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. ^2*As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white. ^3*Then the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. ^4*So Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, “Lord, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

^5*While he was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased—listen to him!”

⁶When the disciples heard the voice, they were so terrified that they threw themselves face downwards on the ground. ⁷Jesus came to them and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid!” ⁸So they looked up and saw no one there but Jesus.

⁹As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Don’t tell anyone about this vision you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from death.”

^10*Then the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?”

¹¹“Elijah is indeed coming first,” answered Jesus, “and he will get everything ready. ^12*But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also ill-treat the Son of Man.”

¹³Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon

¹⁴

When they returned to the crowd, a man came to Jesus, knelt before him, ¹⁵and said, “Sir, have mercy on my son! He is an epileptic and has such terrible fits that he often falls in the fire or into water. ¹⁶I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” ¹⁷Jesus answered, “How unbelieving and wrong you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy here to me!” ¹⁸Jesus gave a command to the demon, and it went out of the boy, and at that very moment he was healed.

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked him, “Why couldn’t we drive the demon out?”

^20*“It was because you haven’t enough faith,” answered Jesus. “I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, ‘Go from here to there!’ and it will go. You could do anything!”^o

Jesus Speaks Again about His Death

²²When the disciples all came together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be handed over to people ²³who will kill him; but three days later he will be raised to life.”

The disciples became very sad.

Payment of the Temple-Tax

^24*When Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your teacher pay the temple tax?”

²⁵“Of course,” Peter answered.

When Peter went into the house, Jesus spoke up first, “Simon, what is your opinion? Who pays duties or taxes to the kings of this world? The citizens of the country or the foreigners?”

²⁶“The foreigners,” answered Peter.

“Well, then,” replied Jesus, “that means that the citizens don’t have to pay. ²⁷But we don’t want to offend these people. So go to the lake and drop in a line. Pull up the first fish you hook, and in its mouth you will find a coin worth enough for my temple tax and yours. Take it and pay them our taxes.”