Chapter 16

¹The Pharisees and Sadducees came up and to test him asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ²He answered,

⁴“It is a wicked and faithless age that insists on a sign, and no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah.”

And he left them and went away.

⁵When the disciples went across the lake, they forgot to take any bread. ⁶And Jesus said to them,

“Look out, and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

⁷But they were discussing something with one another, and saying,

“We have not brought any bread!”

⁸Jesus noticed it and said,

“Why are you discussing with one another your being without bread? You have so little faith! ⁹Do you not understand yet? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets full you gathered up? ¹⁰Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets full you gathered up? ¹¹Why do you not see that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

¹²Then they understood that he was warning them not against yeast but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³When Jesus reached the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They said,

“Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵He said to them,

“But who do you say that I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered,

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”

¹⁷Jesus answered,

“Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for human nature has not disclosed this to you, but my Father in heaven! ¹⁸But I tell you, your name is Peter, a rock, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not subdue it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you forbid on earth will be held in heaven to be forbidden, and whatever you permit on earth will be held in heaven to be permitted.”

²⁰Then he warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

²¹It was then that Jesus Christ for the first time explained to his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and endure great suffering there at the hands of the elders, high priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised to life on the third day. ²²And Peter took him aside and began to reprove him for it, saying,

“God bless you, Master! that can never happen to you!”

²³But he turned and said to Peter,

“Get out of my sight, you Satan! You hinder me, for you do not side with God, but with men!”

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples,

“If anyone wants to go with me, he must disregard himself and take his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever wants to preserve his own life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for me will find it. ²⁶For what good will it do a man if he gains the whole world but parts with his life? What can a man give to buy back his life? ²⁷For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone for what he has done. ²⁸I tell you, some of you who stand here will certainly live to see the Son of Man come to reign!”