Matthew 16
Pharisees and Sadducees Demand a Sign
Normally the Pharisees and Sadducees opposed each other, but in today’s passage they united in an effort to silence Jesus (v. 1). The Pharisees were the traditionalists of their day, and the Sadducees were the liberals. For the fourth time these religious leaders were asking for a sign more …
Peter’s Confession
Jesus traveled to the region of Caesarea Philippi (v. 13) where Baal and Augustus Caesar were worshipped as gods. Jesus used questions to teach His disciples. On this occasion, He asked, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Jesus has no interest in dispassionate, hypothetical views …
Christ’s Transfiguration
Discipleship involves a cost (vv. 24-26). Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (v.24). To deny self does not necessarily mean to give up things but to give yourself wholly to Christ and identify in His shame and death …