Matthew
The Pharisees and Sadducees came up to Jesus to test him, demanding
that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven.
He answered, “When it is evening you
say, ‘It will be a fine day tomorrow, because the sky is red,’
while in the morning you say, ‘It will be bad weather today, because the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to predict the weather, but you cannot recognize the signs of the times.
An evil and unfaithful society wants a miraculous sign, and no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah.” He left them and went away.
Going to the other side of the lake, the disciples forgot to bring bread.
“Watch out and be careful of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees,”
Jesus said to them.
Blessed are the merciful,
because they will be shown mercy.
Knowing what they were saying, Jesus said to them, “You who have so little faith, why are you discussing among
yourselves about not having any bread?
Do you not understand yet? Do you
not remember the five loaves that fed five thousand, and how many baskets
of left-overs you collected?
Or the seven loaves that fed the four thousand,and how many baskets of left-overs you collected?
How is it that you havenot understood yet that I was not talking to you about bread? Watch out for
the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”
Then they realized that he was
not warning them about yeast for bread, but about the teachings of the
Pharisees and Sadducees.
When Jesus arrived in the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or another one of the prophets.”
He asked them, “But what about you — who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus responded, “You are really blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because human flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my
Father who is in heaven!
I also tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock
I
intend to build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you ban on earth will have been banned in heaven, and whatever you allow on earth will
have been allowed in heaven.”
Then he warned his disciples not to tell
anyone that he was the Messiah.
From then on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem, and suffer greatly at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and
religious teachers; and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
Peter
took Jesus aside and started to reprimand him, saying, “God forbid, lord!
This will never happen to you!”
Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away
from me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are thinking
not about God’s interests, but man’s!”
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If
anyone wants to be my follower, they must deny themselves, and pick up their
cross and follow me.
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, and
whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
What does it benefit anyone
to gain the whole world, and lose their life? What would anyone give in
exchange for their life?
For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of
his Father with his angels. Then he will give to everyone what they deserve
for what they have done.
I am telling you the truth: there are some people
standing here who will not die until they see the Son of Man coming in his
Kingdom.”
Matthew