Matthew 16

Some Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus in order to investigate him. They said to him, “We want you to perform a miracle that shows that God sent you.”

He answered them, “[When it is evening and the sky looks red, you know that there will be good weather {the next day}. \*

When it is morning and the sky looks red and cloudy, {you know that} there will be storms that day. So, you realize what it means when the sky looks a certain way. However, you do not {realize} what God is doing right now.]

You people who are alive right now are wicked and faithless. You want me to do a miracle {that proves that God sent me}. However, the only miracle you will see is a miracle like the one that happened to {the prophet} Jonah.” Then Jesus {and his apprentices} departed from the Pharisees and Sadducees. \*

They sailed to the other side {of the Sea of Galilee}. Then, the apprentices realized that they had not remembered to take any bread with them.

At that point, Jesus said to them, “Be alert and watch out for the yeast that the Pharisees and Sadducees use.”

Then the apprentices told each other, “{He must have said that} because we did not take any bread with us.”

Jesus realized {what they were saying to each other}. He told them, “You should not be telling each other that you do not have bread. You should trust God more than you do! \*

You should already remember and understand how I fed 5, 000 men with just five loaves of bread. Then you gathered the food that was left into {12} large containers.

{You should also remember and understand} how I fed 4, 000 men with just seven loaves of bread. Then you gathered the food that was left into {seven} large containers. \*

I want you to understand that I am speaking about bread in a figurative way. So {I say again}, watch out for the yeast that the Pharisees and Sadducees use.”

After {Jesus said that}, the apprentices realized that {he was telling them to watch out for} what the Pharisees and Sadducees were teaching. He was not telling them to watch out for the yeast that people use to make bread. \*

Sometime later, Jesus {and his apprentices} arrived in the area near the city of Caesarea Philippi. Then Jesus asked his apprentices, “Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, really am?”

The apprentices replied, “People say that you are one of the prophets {who has come back to life}. {More specifically,} some people say that you are John the Baptizer. Other people say that you are the prophet Elijah. Other people say that you are the prophet Jeremiah.”

Jesus asked, “As for you, who do you say that I really am?”

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Messiah! You are the Son of the only real God.” \*

Jesus responded, “Simon, descendant of Jonah, God my Father, who rules from heaven, has blessed you. He has made known to you what you said. In fact, no human could have made it known to you.

I also want you to know that I will make you become like your name, Peter, which means ‘rock.’ I will make you like a foundation stone on which I will construct a building, which represents everyone who believes in me. Even when those people die, that will not destroy them. \*

I will commission you to oversee God’s heavenly kingdom. When you confirm something here on earth, God will confirm it in heaven. When you nullify something here on earth, God will nullify it in heaven.”

After that, Jesus ordered the apprentices not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. \*

From then on, Jesus the Messiah began to teach his apprentices that he had to travel to the city of Jerusalem. There, the Jewish leaders, the ruling priests, and the teachers of the Jewish law would hurt him very much and have people kill him. During the third day after he died, God would make him alive again.

Then Peter spoke to Jesus privately. He began to scold Jesus, “My Lord, do not say those things! What you have spoken about will never happen to you.”

Then Jesus faced Peter. He said, “Do not try to stop me. You are behaving as Satan does! You are thinking about what humans care about instead of thinking about what God cares about. Because of that, you are trying to make me do what is wrong.” \*

Next, Jesus said to all his apprentices, “People who want to come with me and be my apprentices must refuse to do what they want to do. They must be willing to suffer or die, as if they were carrying their own crosses, when they come with me as my apprentices.

{That is} because people who are willing to do anything to stay alive will not truly live. However, people who are willing to die because they are my apprentices will truly live.

Suppose that some people acquire everything they could possibly want. However, they can no longer truly live. That is not worth it! People cannot acquire anything that is as valuable as truly living. \*

{That is important} because I, the Son of Man, will soon return with my angels. I will be as glorious as God my Father. At that time, I will {justly} reward or punish people for whatever they have done.

Some of you who are here with me will definitely see me, the Son of Man, ruling over my kingdom before you die. What I have said is true.” \*