Matthew 16:20

Mat 16:20. Then charged he his disciples — Greek, διεστειλατο, he strictly charged them: (Luke says, επιτιμησας αυτοις, παρηγγειλε, having severely charged, or charged with threats, he commanded to tell this to no one:) that he was Jesus the Christ — The word Jesus is omitted here in many MSS., some of which are of great authority and great antiquity, and in several ancient versions, and the omission is approved of by some eminent critics. Certainly the insertion of it is superfluous, and apparently improper: for the context shows, that what our Lord forbade them to tell was simply that he was the Christ, that is, the Messiah, or, as Luke expresses it, the Christ of God. This truth, however important to be known and believed, the disciples were not to announce to the people till the grand proof of it was given, namely, his resurrection. Then they were by office to be his witnesses, and to declare openly and publicly that he was the Christ, because then they could do it, not only without suspicion of confederacy, but with greater advantage and better success, as Christ would then be no longer subject to those humbling circumstances and sufferings, and that death, which could not fail to be a great obstruction to men’s receiving him as the Messiah, as well as a great stumbling-block in the way of his disciples, but would have taken possession of his kingdom, and given evidence of it, by sending down upon his followers the Holy Ghost, in his extraordinary gifts and operations, to enable them to confirm this testimony. Whereas, had his own disciples publicly declared him to be the Messiah, the king of the Jews, and the Son of God, while he was on earth, as this would have looked like a confederacy between them and their Master, so, on the one hand, it would have encouraged the attempt of a part of the Jews to come and take him by force to make him a king, Joh 6:15, and, on the other, would have provoked both the Jewish rulers and the Roman government. “Certainly,” says Mr. Locke, “the Romans would not have suffered him, if he had gone about preaching that he was the king whom the Jews expected; and such an accusation would have been forwardly brought against him by the Jews, if they could have heard it out of his own mouth, and if that had been his public doctrine to his followers, which was openly preached by his apostles after his death. For though the magistrates of this world paid no great regard to the talk of a king who had suffered death, and appeared no longer anywhere; yet if our Lord had openly declared this of himself in his lifetime, with a train of disciples and followers, everywhere owning and crying him up for their king, the Roman governors of Judea could not have forborne to take notice of it, and to make use of their force against it. The Jews well understood this, and therefore they made use of it, as the strongest accusation, and likeliest to prevail with Pilate against him for the taking away his life, it being treason, and an unpardonable offence, which could not escape death from a Roman deputy, without the forfeiture of his own life.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ 74. — Predictions Of His Own Sufferings And Ultimate Coming To Judge The World, Mat_16:20-28.

20. Tell no man… the Christ — At this difficult juncture none but himself could properly preach the Messiahship. See note on Mat_17:9.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES

Mat_16:20. Tell no man.—Jesus had not, even to His Apostles, said that He was the Christ, but He left it that they might discover it themselves from the testimony of facts. It was not suitable, therefore, that that should be openly told by the Apostles to others before His resurrection which was to corroborate the whole testimony to the fact of His being the Christ. For he who injudiciously propounds a mystery to those who do not comprehend it, injures both himself and others. Had they done so, those who believed in any way that Jesus was the Christ might have sought for an earthly kingdom with seditious uproar; whilst the rest, and by far the greater number, might have rejected such a Messiah at that time more vehemently, and have been guilty of greater sin in crucifying Him, so as to have the door of repentance less open to them for the future. Afterwards the Apostles openly bore witness to this truth (Bengel).

Mat_16:21. From that time forth.—An important note of time. Now that the disciples have learned to acknowledge Jesus to be the Messiah, He is able to instruct them in the true nature of His kingdom (Carr).

Mat_16:22. Then.—And (R.V.). We should do injustice to the reality, were we to imagine that in a moment or two after Peter’s noble confession, our Lord abruptly said all He had to say about the tragedy that was looming in the distance; and that in a moment or two later, Peter acted the part that is now about to be narrated. It is the salient points of many, and perhaps of lengthened, conversations, that alone jut up into view in the narrative of the Evangelist (Morison). Took Him.—I.e. aside. Began.—But the gracious Lord rose up in majesty and interrupted him. Be it far from Thee.—God forbid! (Doddridge).

Mat_16:23. He turned.—See Mar_8:33. Get thee behind Me, Satan.—If the words of the tempter are in Peter’s mouth he is addressed as the tempter; when he speaks the words of truth he is the foundation-stone of the church (Carr). An offence.—Literally, My stumbling-block; by suggesting visions of earthly pride (ibid.). Thou savourest.—Mindest (R.V.). Thou art carried away by human views of the way of setting up Messiah’s kingdom, quite contrary to those of God (Brown).

Mat_16:24. Take up his cross.—These words, which the disciples had heard before (Mat_10:38), were now clothed with a new meaning.

Mat_16:25. Whosoever will save his life, etc.—See note on Mat_10:39.

Mat_16:27. Works.—Doing (R.V. marg.). The word is put in the singular, for the whole life of man is one “doing” (Bengel). The total outward manifestation of his inner life as a believer or unbeliever (Lange).

Mat_16:28. There be some standing here, etc.—The expression is referred to:

1. The Transfiguration.

2. The Day of Pentecost.

3. The Fall of Jerusalem. The last best fulfils the conditions of interpretation—a judicial coming—a signal and visible event, and one that would happen in the lifetime of some, but not all, who were present (Carr). Our Saviour refers, though in an indefinite way, to the establishment and extension of His kingdom, and the manifestation of Himself as the victorious King, that took place when Jerusalem and Judaism—both thoroughly corrupted to the core—were overturned (Morison).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mat_16:20-28

A sudden descent.—Most unexpected must have been the opening words of this passage to those who heard them first. One of their number had just openly confessed Jesus as Christ; and had been just as openly commended for doing so; and been encouraged also, in consequence, by many promises with regard to the future (Mat_16:16-19). Yet now, on the other hand, with regard to the future—to the immediate future at any rate, if not to anything more—they are all solemnly admonished, and even “charged” to do nothing of the kind. Do not confess Me before men. So Mat_16:20, in effect. Some of the reasons for this unexpected injunction are what come next in the story; and are such as appear to turn first, on what was about to be true of Jesus Himself, and, secondly, on what was about be true of His disciples.

I. About the Saviour Himself.—This, for example, was true of Him, on the one hand, viz., that He would have to suffer and die. In various ways before now He had obscurely hinted at this (Joh_2:19; Mat_12:40). Now He plainly “shows” it to them (Mat_16:21) in so many words. In what place; by whose hands; in how many ways; and to how extreme a length He was thus to “suffer” is “shown” (Mat_16:21). Also how, in a certain sense, these were things that “must” be. Of one mitigation only, and that of a most mysterious kind (end of Mat_16:21) does He make mention. All else here foretold of Him was of the gloomiest possible kind. They must prepare themselves “from that time” to think of Him as an eminently suffering Man. On the other hand, it was true about Him, also, that He meant to accept this to the full. This resolution of His is brought out in a highly noteworthy manner. When that forward disciple who had just before stood out from the rest to confess Him as Christ, hears this (as it clearly was to him) most extraordinary announcement, He cannot receive it fit all. On the contrary, it is something which seems to him as “far” as possible from what is fitting. What can the Master be thinking of to speak in that way? He even takes upon himself to “chide” Him (ἐπιτιμᾷν) for what He has said. Why speak in this way? Why talk thus about “must?” Surely there is some other and less painful way of doing Thy work? Such appears to have been the inward spirit of this most unbecoming reproof. Apparently, if we may say so, it touched the Saviour in a very sensitive part. Once before, the great adversary had approached Him in a virtually similar way. Only worship me, he had said, and Thou shalt be at once, and with ease, all thou deservest to be to mankind (Mat_4:8-9). Once again, therefore, and with the same vehemence as previously (Mat_4:10), He bids the adversary begone—even going so far as to address Peter himself by that name, and speaking now of that chosen “stone” as a rock of “offence,” and declaring of that once God-instructed witness (end of Mat_16:17) that he was now taught from below (Mat_16:23). So resolved is the Saviour to let nothing stand between His appointed “sufferings” and Himself.

II. About the Saviour’s disciples.—That they must be prepared, first, on their part, for a similar kind of experience. A similar experience, not necessarily—not possibly, indeed, in some respects—of the very same kind. This was true of all those who would be His disciples indeed. If “any man” makes up his mind to “come after Me,” he must make up his mind also to meet the kind of things which I meet with Myself (Mat_16:24). He must be as resolved in his way as I am in Mine. He must “deny himself and take up his cross” as you see Me taking up Mine. Only so can he “follow Me” and walk in My steps. That they will find it, next, well worth while to do so. To see this let them consider, in the first place, the nature of the alternative before them. Not thus to deny themselves in some things would be, in effect, to lose all—to lose one’s “life,” which is more than all else—to lose that for which there is no possible compensation. Better never have such a gift at all than thus to have and to lose it. Let them consider, next, the certainty of this statement. For who is to decide this in the end save He who is speaking? In whose awful name, also, and with what holy assessors, will this be done on His part? (Mat_16:27). And on what principles, finally, in that day of days will the issue be made to depend? Is it not, in fact, on that very principle of which He has assured them just now, viz., that as a man sows so shall he reap? (end Mat_16:27). Better, therefore, give up anything than be on the wrong side on that day. Also, let them understand—so, perhaps, in conclusion—that that most momentous of days was nearer in some ways than many persons imagined. At any rate, there were some standing there at that moment, who, before the little span of their lives should come to its close, would see that which might be regarded as such a second “coming” of Christ (Mat_16:28; see also 2Pe_1:16-18).

The passage thus treated shows us:—

1. How much these disciples had to be taught.—Their Master was destined and resolved to endure what they, at that time, could hardly endure to hear mentioned. Things were to become realities both about Him and themselves which had no place as yet in their dreams. How wise of the Saviour, therefore, and how considerate, thus to teach them these things beforehand (cf. Luk_14:28). Even with all He did in this way from this present “beginning” of doing so (Mat_16:21), how all but fatal to the faith of some of them were the things foretold when they came (see Luk_24:21, “we trusted”—we used to trust—that He should redeem Israel). What a key there is in all this, therefore, to the constancy, and continuity, and earnestness with which the Saviour from this time forth begins to show forth His death. Not until they had learned very much more both about Him and themselves would they be either fit or able to confess Him before men.

2. How very unlikely that many of the Saviour’s present disciples should know much about the future.—At any rate in regard to anything more than its more conspicuous and ultimate features. We may judge this from what we see here of these personal disciples of Jesus. Also from what ought to be evident to us of the nature of the case. God’s plans are too wide, His purposes are too deep, our experience is too scanty, and even the light He has given us is too partial (1Co_13:12) and mysterious to allow of any but directly inspired men being safe guides on such points. Not improbably, the most unfitted of all for such semi-prophetical work are those who suppose themselves the most fit. Certainly this experience of St. Peter rather points in that line.

HOMILIES ON THE VERSES

Mat_16:21. Christ foretelling His death and resurrection.—

1. Our Lord was not ignorant of what He was to suffer ere it came, nor ignorant of the outgate appointed for Him, how He should be killed and raised again.

2. Whose would look rightly on Christ’s sufferings must also look unto His outgate and victory over the same—he must look on His raising as well as His killing.—David Dickson.

Christ’s sufferings.—

I. The scene.—Jerusalem.

II. The instruments.—The rulers of the ration.

III. The climax.—Death.

IV. The issue.—His resurrection.—A. Maclaren, D.D.

Why Christ suffered.—

I. The Divine necessity, as expressed in that solemn “must.”

II. Christ’s willing acceptance of that necessity.—“Go.” The necessity was no external compulsion, driving Him to an unwelcome sacrifice, but one imposed alike by filial obedience and by brotherly love. He must die because He would save.—Ibid.

Mat_16:22-23. Mistaken views of good men.—Founded upon:—

I. Error of Judgment.

II. Lack of knowledge.—Why should the innocent Jesus suffer?

III. Misguided affection.—Far from Thee, etc. Men often are biassed in their views of the sins, sufferings, and future of others by their affections.—J. C. Gray.

Mat_16:23. Christ’s reproof of Peter.—

1. Our Lord so loved to work out our redemption that He could not endure to be any way hindered; therefore, saith He, “Get thee behind Me.”

2. What Satan cannot do immediately, he will essay to do by instruments. Christ findeth him out here, saying, “Get thee behind Me, Satan.”

3. Naturally a man savoureth not things spiritual, neither knoweth them, nor loveth them, if they be told him.

4. We should, in temptations beware of Satan, whoever be the instrument, and the more impudently we be tempted unto sin, we should the more stoutly and peremptorily resist, as Christ did, saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan.”

5. After a man hath been much lifted up in consolation, he may readily miscarry, and fall in some offence, as Peter’s case is here, compared with Mat_16:16.

6. A man may be a stumbling-block unto others, albeit he do not intend it, for to Peter it is said, “Thou art an offence.”

7. Apparent good counsel from a carnal friend may readily carry some temptation in the bosom of it, as Peter’s counsel here doth; and sin will serve Satan’s turn, wherever he find it, whether in the godly or wicked, for Peter’s corruption here is Satan’s instrument fit enough for the time.—David Dickson.

Mat_16:24. Self-denial.—Self-denial is the foundation of godliness; and if this be not well laid the whole building will fall. Self-denial is the thread which must run along the whole work of religion. To deny signifies to lay aside, to put off, to annihilate one’s self. Beza renders it, let him renounce himself. “Self” is taken four ways.

1. Worldly self, i.e. his estate (Mat_19:27).

2. Relative self, i.e. his dearest relations if God calls (Luk_14:26).

3. Natural self; he must be willing to become a sacrifice, and make Christ’s crown flourish, though it be in his ashes (Rev_12:11).

4. Carnal self. This I take to be the chief sense of the text.

I. He must deny self-ease (2Ti_2:3).

II. He must deny self-opinion.

III. He must deny self-confidence.—Peter’s self-confidence undid him (Mat_26:33-34).

IV. He must deny self-wisdom (2Co_1:12; Jas_3:17).

V. He must deny self-will (2Pe_2:10).

VI. He must deny self-reasonings.—Consider:

1. Whatever you deny for Christ, you shall find again in Christ (Mat_19:29).

2. ’Tis but equity that you should deny yourselves for Christ; did not Jesus Christ deny Himself for you?

3. Self-denial is the highest sign of a thorough-paced Christian. I have read of a holy man who was once tempted by Satan. “Why takest thou all this pains,” saith he; “thou watchest, and fastest, and abstainest from sin; O man, what doest thou more than I? Art thou no drunkard, no adulterer? No more am I. Dost thou watch? Let me tell thee, I never slept. Dost thou fast? I never eat. What doest thou more than I?” “Why,” saith the good man, “I will tell thee, Satan; I pray, I serve the Lord, nay, more than all, I deny myself.” “Nay then,” saith Satan, “thou goest beyond me, for I exalt myself,” and so vanished.

4. To deny yourself is what others have done before you (Heb_11:8; Heb_11:25).

5. If you do not deny the world for Christ, the world will deny you, and, what is worse, Christ will deny you (Mat_10:33).—Thomas Watson.

Self-denial.—

I. Inquire what self-denial is.—

1. It is not to deny what a man is or has, what he truly is, and what he really has, for that would be a falsehood; in this sense “God cannot deny Himself” (2Ti_2:13); not His nature, and the perfections of it; or do, or affirm anything contrary thereunto. So a man ought not to deny himself as a man, nor the rational powers which he is possessed of. If God has bestowed internal endowments on men, gifts and talents, qualified for public service and usefulness, some way or another, they are to own them and use them; and not to wrap them in a napkin or hide them in the earth, which is interpretatively to deny that they have them. Nor should a truly good and gracious man deny what he is and has, but acknowledge it, and how by grace he came by it.

2. To deny a man’s self is not to refuse favours conferred on him in a course of Providence, nor to neglect a lawful use of them, nor to take care of himself and of his affairs.

3. Self-denial does not require that a man should refuse temporal honours and riches bestowed on him in a Providential way.

4. Nor are the creatures of God, and the use of them, to be rejected (1Ti_4:4).

5. Nor should a man be careless of his life, and health, and family, though he should not be anxiously careful for life, nor food and raiment, to support and secure it.

6. There is a self-love which is not criminal, nor contrary to the grace of self-denial (Eph_5:29).

7. Nor is it self-denial, or any part of it, to abuse the body in any respect; not even on religious accounts. Self-denial lies in a man’s renouncing, foregoing, and postponing all his pleasures, profits, relations, interests, and whatever he enjoys, which may be in competition with Christ, from love to Him, and to be given up at His command. A self-denying Christian is made willing to part:

1. With natural and civil self, with things relative both to soul and body, of which a man’s self consists.

2. Another branch of self-denial lies in denying sinful self; this lesson not nature but grace teaches, even to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, which includes all kinds of sin; internal lusts and external actions of sin; sins of heart, lip, and life; everything that is contrary to God and His righteous law.

3. Another branch of self-denial is to deny righteous self, which is not to refuse to do works of righteousness for necessary uses, to glorify God, to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour; but to deny righteous self is to renounce all trust in and dependence on a man’s own righteousness for justification before God, and acceptance with Him, and to submit to the righteousness of Christ, and depend upon that for such purposes (Php_3:6-9).

II. The arguments or motives to excite to the exercise of this grace of self-denial, in the several branches of it.

1. It is an injunction of Christ on His disciples, even all of them.

2. Christ has not only commanded it, but! He has set an example of it Himself (Php_2:5-8).

3. The examples of saints in all ages may serve to excite and encourage to it.

4. If a man do not deny himself, as required of God, he sets up himself for God; makes a God for himself, lives to himself and not to God.

5. The loss and gain of not denying, and of denying self, should be considered.—Anon.

The imitation of Christ.—The command which the text contains is based upon the great principle of the imitation of Christ. Unlike all other legislators, His life is the law of His people. If we would gain the root of the matter, then we must contemplate suffering as manifested in Christ Himself.

I. The great primary fact, upon which all the essential peculiarities of our religion are founded, is that God became strangely, inconceivably connected with pain; that this Being, whose nature is inherent happiness, by some mysterious process entered the regions of suffering, crossed the whole diameter of existence, to find Himself with His own opposite; bore, though incapable of moral pollution, the dark shadow of pollution, even anguish unspeakable; and though unsubdued by the master, Sin, exhibited Himself, to the wonder of the universe, clad in the weeds of the servant, Death. The main reason of this fact is to be found in the necessity of atonement. But the Divine Person also visited the regions of pain in such a sense as to be our Example; for so the text presents Him.

II. Must we not think that there is something in the sorrow, thus cordially and perpetually chosen by our Master, that is eminently adapted to elevate and purify our being?—Must there not be something Divinely excellent in that which was deliberately chosen by a Divine nature as its peculiar tabernacle out of all the world afforded, the sad but awful cloud above the mercy-seat in which, while among us, His glory was to dwell? This special excellence is not hard to discover. Humbleness of spirit, the most pervading and universal of all graces, is in the Christian code the very essence of perfection, and sorrow borne with resignation has a direct tendency to produce it. Now, because our Redeemer knew, what it is so hard to persuade even His avowed followers, that in this direction lies the true perfection of man—that a gentle, unmurmuring submission is his truest, brightest heroism—therefore did He, in His own person, adopt the way that leads to it. He daily suffered, because suffering subdues the pride of human hearts, and He would teach us to accomplish that conquest.—W. Archer Butler, D.D.

Self-denial is the first law of grace.—A number of ministers were once dining together after an ordination, and when one of them seemed unduly attentive to the good things before him, he met with the approval of the host, who said, “That’s right! To take care of self is the first law of nature.” “Yes, sir,” said an old minister sitting near, in reply; “but to deny self is the first law of grace!”

The cross.—Every high mission means the cross.—W. S. Lilley.

Mat_16:25. Gaining life by losing it.—It is true that with respect to the work man has to do outside himself, the way to do it is to keep it directly in view, aim consciously at it. But the moment you come to the operations of mind or life in man himself, not merely in this higher life Christ speaks of, but in almost any part of his nature, in man himself, the opposite principle comes in—this very principle which seems so paradoxical, the principle that losing the life, letting it go, not thinking of it, is the surest way of saving it. This is not only true with regard to coming to the best for one’s soul, it is true of coming to the best even in the commonest faculties and qualities of life. Did you ever try to cross a stream by some rather awkward stepping-stones, or by a rather narrow plank? Or have you tried to walk at some dangerous height? or, in fact, anything requiring a particularly clear, steady head? If you have, you know that it is to be done exactly by not thinking about it. If you begin looking down at the stepping-stones, or at the water, or at the depth beneath you, and thinking about it, and about how you shall go through with it, you are lost. Whereas, if you are so occupied, thinking about something else, that you hardly notice the stepping-stones; if you are on some errand in which you are so eager that you are not thinking of yourself—that losing yourself is your safety; you may go perfectly safely over places and heights that afterwards, when you do come to think about them, will make you dizzy to look at. There, too, life is safest by not thinking about saving it. Take another matter, the preservation of health. One condition of keeping in good health is not to think about your health, but to be wholesomely occupied with quite other thoughts. Think about your health, begin feeling your pulse, watching your symptoms, considering all the things which might possibly be the matter with you, and you may think yourself into an illness. Why do physicians so often order “change of scene” and “something to distract the mind,” but that the patient may be led to lose himself and so find the health which he could not gain while anxiously thinking of himself? And so, when there is some epidemic about, how true you constantly see it that “he that will save his life shall lose it.” The most dangerous thing of all is to be constantly thinking and scheming how to escape infection. Take reasonable precautions, indeed—especially such precautions as are demanded for the general safety—and then go straight forward. Think of others, not of self.—Brooke Herford.

Mat_16:26. The preciousness of the soul.—

I. The soul is very precious.

1. The soul has an intrinsical worth, which appears in—

(1) Its spirituality. It is spiritual in its essence (Gen_2:7), a sparkle lighted by the breath of God; in its object, it contemplates God and heaven; in its operation, it doth not depend upon the body in its working.

(2) Its immortality.

2. The soul has an estimative worth.—

(1) Jesus Christ hath set a high value and estimate upon the soul. He made it, He bought it, therefore He best knows the price of it.

(2) Satan doth value souls.

II. The soul is more precious than a world.—The world is of a coarser make.

1. If the soul is so precious, see what the worship is that God doth expect and accept, viz., that which comes from the soul (Psa_25:1).

2. If the soul is so precious, then of what precious account should ordinances and ministers be.

3. Take heed of abusing your souls.—Socrates exhorted young men that they should look at their faces in a glass, and if they saw they were fair, they should have a care to do nothing unworthy of their beauty. Christians, God hath given you souls that sparkle with Divine beauty; oh, do nothing unworthy of these souls! They abuse their souls:

(1) That degrade their souls, (a) Panting after the dust of earth (Amo_2:7). (b) Making their souls lackeys to their bodies.

(2) That sell their souls. (a) The covetous person sells his soul for money. (b) The ambitious person sells his soul for honour. (c) The voluptuous person sells his soul for pleasure.

(3) That poison their souls.

(4) That starve their souls.

4. Take heed you do not lose your souls.—

(1) It is a foolish loss, because: (a) There is a possibility of saving the soul, (b) Because we lose the soul for things of no value. (c) Because the man hath himself a hand in the loss.

(2) It is a fatal loss (a) Unparalleled, because so much is lost with it, Christ, the Comforter, heaven, etc. (b) Irreparable, (c) Eternal.

5. Do what you can to save these precious souls.—Thos. Watson.

Profit and loss (To young men).—You are resolved to gain the world, and I want you to abandon your resolution:—

I. On the ground of probable failure.—That the pleasures of the world are agreeable I admit; and that its honours are attractive I admit also; and that its riches are desirable I admit besides. But you may not be able to get them for your own. Have you never heard of competition? You may find yourselves outstripped. By untoward circumstances you may find yourselves baffled. By bodily sickness you may find yourselves unmanned. By mental malady you may find yourselves prostrate in the dust. You are embarking, therefore, upon an absolute uncertainty.

II. On the ground of impending unsatisfactoriness.—Let our supposition be that you have actually gained, in the particular forms most pleasant to yourselves, the world’s pleasures, and the world’s honours, and the world’s wealth. You have gained the world, but it does not fit you, and by the want of fitness you are vexed; it does not solace you, and by its want of solace you are irritated; it does not assure and reassure you of the future, especially of that future away beyond the grave; and by its want of assurance you are aggrieved.

III. On the ground of inevitable ruin.—That old Book tells you that you cannot go in for the world without losing your soul.—W. Brock, D.D.

A terrible mistake.—I. Let us look at the profit side of the account. “If he gain the whole world.”

1. What a world of meaning there is in that little word “if”! It suggests the fact that few, perhaps not one in ten thousand, does gain that portion of the world on which he sets his heart. We see this in the struggle for all kinds of prizes on which men set their hearts.

2. But let us come now and consider the question as if the man were successful. Suppose a man should gain the whole world, what then? Where is the profit? Let us not be unreal enough to make light of worldly prosperity, of happiness, of friendship, of learning, of wealth, of place or power. It is surely well to be above want, to have no undue pressure from without. Who again does not know how the burden of life is lightened by family ties and friendships? And if we think of the blessings of learning, surely no one will dare to despise the man to whom knowledge has unfolded her ample page, rich with the spoils of time! And is there nothing noble in the warrior’s or the statesman’s career?

3. But now comes the grand question. What is the exact profit to the fortunate possessor of all that the world can give of wealth and wisdom, of honour and friendship, and material comfort? Does the possession of wealth add to human happiness? Was David the king happier in his palace with all Israel at his bidding than he was when, as a shepherd boy, he solaced his nights of watchfulness with his harp? Was he not more “a man after God’s own heart” in that pure, strong youth, than when his soul was led astray by the vanities and vices which became the bane of his later years? But surely wisdom, the pursuit of knowledge, is free from drawbacks. Surely there is deep delight in knowing, yet what saith the wisest of men? “In much wisdom is much grief,” and “he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” Well then, you may say, you will spare us our last sanctuary on earth—the warm light of home, and the love of friends? Surely a father’s care, a mother’s love, a wife’s devotion, a child’s trust, a friend’s proved fidelity—surely these things are all gain? Yes; but do these things endure? Is not decay written on them all?

II. This brings us to consider the loss side of the account. What is it to lose one’s own soul? What is the worth of a human soul? Doubtless some souls are of more intrinsic value than others. But to every man his own soul, whatever its value in the estimation of others, is of infinite value to himself. The man who loses his own soul loses “himself.” The account stands thus: Eternal ages of loss against seventy years of all that the world can give. If duration alone were to be taken into account the mere worldling makes a poor bargain; but the loss will be still more apparent if you consider the nature of the loss sustained. Verily, the soul is lost when its faculties are degraded. Man has been created with a soul capable of pure desires, of holy effort, of loving sacrifice, and therefore capable of communion with the Father of Spirits, who is pure and holy, just and true and loving. If any man degrades his soul till it is dead to love, to truth and purity, what remains? Has he not slain his soul?—J. W. King, M.A.

Mat_16:27. The final advent of Christ.—Our attention is here directed to:—

I. The Son of man.—As the Promised One. As the Manifested One. As the Ascended One.

II. His reappearance on earth.—It is predicted. It is possible. It is necessary.

III. His superhuman glory.—His herald is glorious. His Person is glorious. His retinue is glorious.

III. His important work.—To raise the dead. To change the living. To judge all. To reward each. To resign the reins of government into His Father’s hands.—A. Macfarlane.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 16:20. Μηδενὶ, to no one) Jesus had not, even to His apostles, said that He was the Christ, but He left it that they might discover it themselves from the testimony of facts. It was not suitable, therefore, that that should be openly told by the apostles to others before His resurrection, which was to corroborate the whole testimony to the fact of His being the Christ.[753] For he who injudiciously propounds a mystery to those who do not comprehend it, injures both himself and others. Had they done so, those who believed in any way that Jesus was the Christ might have sought for an earthly kingdom with seditious uproar; whilst the rest, and by far the greater number, might have rejected such a Messiah at that time more vehemently, and have been guilty of greater sin in crucifying Him, so as to have had the door of repentance less open to them for the future. Afterwards,[754] the apostles openly bore witness to this truth.—ὁ Χριστὸς, the Christ) Soon after the disciples had acknowledged and confessed that Jesus was the Christ, He exhibited to them His transfiguration (ch. Mat 17:1-5), and openly spoke of Himself among them as the Christ; see Mar 9:41, and Joh 17:3.

[753] Inasmuch as even Peter himself could hardly have reconciled the doctrine concerning the Son of GOD with that of His Passion.—Harm., p. 369.

[754] And that, too, after the lapse of but a few intervening weeks,—Harm., p. 369.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_16:20. Διεστείλατο] He appointed, strictly enjoined. Comp. Plat. Rep. p. 535 B; Aristot. Polit. ii. 5; Jdt_11:12; 2Ma_14:28; Mar_5:43; Act_15:24; Heb_12:20.

ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Χ.] that He Himself is the Messiah. This αὐτός points back to Mat_16:14, according to which some one else was looked for as the Messiah, while Jesus was only regarded as His forerunner. The reason of this prohibition is not that He wanted to anticipate any offence that might afterwards arise in consequence of His sufferings (Chrysostom, Euth. Zigabenus), for Jesus quite foresaw His resurrection and δόξα, and the effect which these would have upon His followers (Joh_12:32); but (see note on Mat_8:4) its explanation is to be found in His uniform desire to avoid awakening and fostering sanguine Messianic hopes among the people.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 16:20 . διεστείλατο (T. R.), “charged” (A. V [97] ) not necessarily with any special emphasis = graviter interdicere , but = monuit (Loesner and Fritzsche). Cf. Heb 12:20 , where a stronger sense seems required. For ἐπετίμησε in [98] [99] here and in Mk. Euthy. gives κατησφαλίσατο = to make sure by injunction. τοῖς μαθηταῖς : all the disciples are supposed to say amen to Peter’s confession, thinking of God and of Jesus as he thought, though possibly not with equal emphasis of conviction. ἵνα … ὁ Χριστός : no desire to multiply hastily recruits for the new community, supreme regard to quality. Jesus wanted no man to call Him Christ till he knew what he was saying: no hearsay or echoed confession of any value in His eyes. αὐτός , the same concerning whom current opinions have just been reported (Mat 16:14 ). It was hardly necessary to take pains to prevent the faith in His Messiahship from spreading prematurely in a crude form. Few would call such an one as Jesus Christ, save by the Holy Ghost. The one temptation thereto lay in the generous beneficence of Jesus.

[97] Authorised Version.

[98] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[99] Codex Bezae

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Men must first learn and then teach.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ--Now that He had been so explicit, they might naturally think the time come for giving it out openly; but here they are told it had not.

Announcement of His Approaching Death and Rebuke of Peter (Mat 16:21-28).

The occasion here is evidently the same.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 20. Then charged he his disciples] διεστειλατο, he strictly charged them. Some very good MSS. have επετιμησεν, he severely charged-comminatus est,-he threatened. These are the readings of the Cod. Bezae, both in the Greek and Latin.

The Christ.] The common text has Jesus the Christ; but the word Jesus is omitted by fifty-four MSS., some of which are not only of the greatest authority, but also of the greatest antiquity. It is omitted also by the Syriac, later Persic, later Arabic, Slavonic, six copies of the Itala, and several of the fathers. The most eminent critics approve of this omission, and Griesbach has left it out of the text in both his editions. I believe the insertion of it here to be wholly superfluous and improper; for the question is, Who is this Jesus? Peter answers, He is, ὁ ΧριϚος, the Messiah. The word Jesus is obviously improper. What our Lord says here refers to Peter's testimony in Mt 16:16: Thou art the Christ - Jesus here says, Tell no man that I am the Christ, i.e. the MESSIAH; as the time for his full manifestation was not yet come; and he was not willing to provoke the Jewish malice, or the Roman envy, by permitting his disciples to announce him as the Saviour of a lost world. He chose rather to wait, till his resurrection and ascension had set this truth in the clearest light, and beyond the power of successful contradiction.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(20) Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man.—We may venture to analyse what we may reverently call the motives of this reticence. Had the disciples gone about, not only as proclaiming the kingdom and as preachers of repentance, but sounding the watchword that the Christ had come, it might not have been difficult for them to gather round Him the homage of excited crowds. It was not such homage, however, that He sought, but that which had its root in a deeper faith. It tended to present a false aspect of His kingdom to the minds of men; it tended also to prevent the consummation to which He was now directing the thoughts of His disciples as the necessary condition of His entering on the glory of His kingdom. The zeal of the multitude to make him a king after their own fashion (Joh_6:15) was what He deprecated and shunned.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ] Lest the Galilæan enthusiasm should endeavour to make Him a king.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples,.... From the time that Peter made the confession concerning Jesus, as that he was the Messiah, and Son of God, and which things were clear to all the apostles, he began to teach them more expressly, and to point out to them more clearly, and plainly, his sufferings and death, than he had done before: and this he chose to do now, partly because that their faith in him was well grounded and established, so that they were the better able to bear these things he told them, which before might have been more staggering and discouraging to them; and partly, that being forewarned of them, they would not be so shocking when they came to pass: as also to destroy all their expectations of a temporal kingdom, which they might now be big with, he having so fully and freely owned himself to be the Messiah: and this also furnishes out some reasons why Jesus would not have his disciples, for the present, declare him to be the Messiah, that his death might not, by any means, be prevented, which was so necessary; since, should the princes of the world know him, they would not crucify him: and besides, seeing he was to suffer, and die, and rise again for the salvation of his people, it was proper that all this should be over before he was so publicly declared to be the Messiah, the Saviour, and Redeemer.

How that he must go to Jerusalem: the metropolis of the nation, where the great sanhedrim sat, who only could take cognizance of him, under the imputation of a false prophet, and condemn him to death, and which therefore would be in the most public manner; and though it would add to his reproach, would leave no room to be doubted of. The word "must", not only belongs to his going to Jerusalem, but to his sufferings, death, and resurrection; all which must be because of the immutable decree of God, the council, and covenant of grace, and peace, the prophecies of the Old Testament, and the redemption and salvation of God's elect; these required them, and made them absolutely necessary:

and suffer many things of the elders, chief priests, and Scribes: who would lie in wait for him, send persons to apprehend him, insult, reproach, and despitefully use him; load him with false charges, accusations, and calumnies, and deliver him to the Gentiles, to be mocked, scourged, and crucified: and this is aggravated as what would be done to him, not by the common people, or the dregs of them, but by the principal men of the city, by the sanhedrim, which consisted of the "elders" of the people, their senators; for this is not a name of age, but of office and dignity; and of the "chief priests", the principal of them, those of the greatest note among them, who were chosen members of the grand council; and of "the Scribes", a set of men in high esteem for their learning and wisdom:

and be killed; signifying, that he should not die a natural death, but that his life should be taken from him in a cruel and violent manner, without any regard to law or justice; indeed, that he should be properly murdered; but for the comfort of his disciples, and that they might not be overmuch pressed and cast down, at the hearing of these things, he adds,

and be raised again the third day according to the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and the type of Jonas.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

Ver. 20. That they should tell no man] viz. Till the due time. Everything is beautiful in its season, saith Solomon, Ecc 3:11. Silence in some cases is a virtue, as here. The disciples might preach that Christ the Son of David was come to save the world; though they might not particularly point him out as the Son of the living God: which when Pilate himself heard he was afraid, saith the text, and sought to deliver him.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tell no one that he was Jesus, the Christ. In some manuscripts both Greek and Latin, the name Jesus is not here found, and many interpreters think it superfluous in this place. The Greek expressly says the Christ adjoining the article, which the Latin tongue does not express. (Bible de Vence) --- "In a preceding part of Scripture, Jesus sending his apostles, commanded them to publish his coming; but here he seems to give a contrary mandate, tell no one, &c. but in my opinion it is one thing to preach the Christ, and another to preach Christ Jesus; for Christ is a name of dignity, but Jesus is the particular name of the Redeemer." (St. Jerome) --- He did not forbid them to teach that there was a Messias a Redeemer, but to declare then that he was the person; 2d. the disciples (Matthew x,) are not sent to preach the gospel, strictly speaking, but only to prepare the minds and hearts of the people for the coming of the Messias, as is evident from Matthew x. 23. See Mark xiv. 61. and 62. John v. 18. and viii. 58. and x. 30. and xi. 27. But why did he lay this injunction? To avoid the envy of the Scribes, and not to appear to raise his own glory. He wished the people to be induced to own him for their Messias, not from the testimony of his retainers, but from his miracles and doctrines; and lastly, because as his time was not yet come, the apostles were not yet fit to deliver, nor the people to receive, this grand tenet. (Mat. Polus.) --- It might moreover have proved a hinderance to his death.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

We met with some charges of this nature before, given to those whom he had miraculously cured, that they should tell no man of it, Mat 8:4; 9:30; but this seemeth to differ from them. There he only forbade the publication of his miracles; here he forbids them preaching that Jesus was the Christ, a doctrine necessary to be believed in order to people’s salvation. We are not able to give an account of all our Saviour’s particular actions.

1. We are sure this was a precept but of a temporary force and obligation, for we know that afterward they did sufficiently publish this abroad, only for a time he would not have it published by his disciples. We cannot certainly determine whether he forbade them;

a) Because they were not as yet fit to publish so great a truth. Or;

b) Because the time was not yet come for the publication of it. Or;

c) He would not have it published till he rose again from the dead, having triumphed over death, lest people, hearing of it before, should have had their faith shaken by his death; which seemeth very probable, because in the next words he begins to speak of his death.

d) That he might hereby (as much as might be) avoid the odium and envy of the Pharisees. Or;

e) That himself might publish first this great truth of the gospel, and confirm it by his miracles.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Then charged he his disciples. Immediately after Peter"s confession and Jesus" promise. St. Matthew"s word "charged" (diesteilato) becomes more emphatic in the other synoptists (epetimhsen), implying a command with a rebuke attached to it on its infringement; Vulgate, comminatus est. (Mar_8:30) That they should tell no man that he (autov) was Jesus the Christ. The received text inserts the word "Jesus," but very many good manuscripts omit it; and it seems to have been received by inadvertence, the point being that he was Messiah. The injunction to tell no man (with which comp. Mat_8:4) was necessary at this time for many reasons. The time was not ripe for the declaration which might have led to tumult and disorder among an excited populace. Any ambitious ideas which the apostles might have formed from what had just passed were here nipped in the bud. They were not sufficiently familiar with the true notion of the Messiah, especially a suffering Messiah, to be competent to preach him to others. This we see by Peter"s inconsiderate remonstrance in ver. 22. Till they received the Holy Ghost after Christ"s ascension, they could not rightly and profitably preach of Christ"s nature, office, and kingdom. Jesus may have looked forward to their desertion of him in his hour of trial, and prevented them from proclaiming his real character, which, in the face of such desertion, would have proved a stumbling block to the faith of believers. Some of these reasons we may reverently believe were those which led Christ to lay this severe restriction on the enthusiasm of his followers. (see on Mat_17:9)

Vers. 20-28. The cross.

I THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF COMING SUFFERING.

1. Lord. Two figures come prominently into contrast the Lord and Peter: the Lord looking forwards with sweet and holy calmness to agony and shame and death; Peter, eager and impetuous, burning with zeal for what seemed to him his Master"s honour. The Lord bade the apostles tell no man that he was the Christ. The people were not ready for the announcement; if they accepted it, they would in their present temper misunderstand it; they would again try to take him by force to make him a King. Let us learn of our dear Lord to be indifferent to titles, not to care to make known things that may bring us earthly honour. The Lord had received, as his due, the homage of St. Peter; he was the Christ, the Son of the living God. But while he accepted, as his by right, those loftiest of all conceivable titles, he prophesied the near approach of the extremest humiliation. He must go to Jerusalem; he must suffer many things; he must be killed. It must be, he said; it was necessary for the fulfilment of the Divine purpose, for the remission of sin, for the salvation of mankind. He must rise again the third day. He could not be holden of death, for he hath life in himself; he is the Life. The apostles did not understand him; (Mar_9:10, 32) they could not think that he was speaking literally; they could not believe that the Divine Messiah would suffer what seemed to them such utter degradation. And when it had come to pass, their misery and despondency were so great that they found no comfort in the prophecy of the resurrection; their horror and distress drove it quite out of their hearts. The Lord was graciously and tenderly preparing them for the coming trial. Let us prepare in the time of health and strength for what must come, sickness and pain and death; so by his grace may we be ready.

2. Peter. He was impulsive, impetuous, as always. He took the Lord, caught him by the dress or hand; he ventured to rebuke him, as if he was wiser than the Christ. The Lord interrupted him; he would not allow him to proceed in his thoughtless talk; he sternly checked his improper freedom. "Get thee behind me, Satan," he said to the apostle whom not long before he had pronounced "blessed," to whom he had committed the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The Lord had used those same strong words once before. The evil spirit, whom he had foiled in the wilderness, was now tempting him again through the agency of Peter. Again the Lord repelled the temptation. It was the old temptation, the last of Satan"s approaches in the wilderness, (Mat_4:8, Mat_4:9) the temptation to wear the crown without bearing the cross; to take the kingdom which was his by right, but to take it without treading the path of suffering, the way ordained by God. Peter was a stumbling block now. Years afterwards, in his First Epistle, (1Pe_2:8) he described "the chief Cornerstone" (with a manifest allusion to this conversation) as being to the disobedient and unbelieving "a Rock of offence (petra skandalou)." He was now making himself a stumbling block to Christ; he was minding, not the things of God, but the things of men. Men set their affections on earthly things, ease, comfort, honour, riches; these are not always good for us. Affliction, meekly borne, is better; it worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Peter acted the tempter"s part. Our kindest friends sometimes unwittingly do the like, when they dissuade us from enduring hardness, from making sacrifices for Christ"s sake. Peter loved the Lord fervently, but his love was not wise. He was presumptuous, forward, even in some degree irreverent. Perhaps he was exalted above measure by the Lord"s commendation, as St. Paul thought he himself might have been through the abundance of the revelations. (2Co_12:7) There is no safety without humility; the nearer we draw to Christ, the more we need to learn of him that most precious grace.

II THE DISCIPLE MUST FOLLOW THE MASTER"S STEPS.

1. The daily cross of self-denial. The Lord had told the apostles of his own coming sufferings; now he warns them that those sufferings must, in some sense, repeat themselves in all his faithful followers, he speaks to all. If any man willeth to come after me," he said. There must be the wish first. There is no perseverance in religion without desire, without longing, without love. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness." They who do not hunger are not filled. Again, the true Christian wish is to come after Christ. All men wish, more or less earnestly, more or less languidly, to get to heaven at last. That wish is, as many entertain it, utterly selfish. The Christian wishes to come after Christ, and, following Christ here, to be at last with him there. To come after Christ, then, is the central wish of the Christian life, and the means by which that wish is realized is self-denial. Christ pleased not himself; his disciples must follow him. The true self is the conscience; but the lower part of our nature, the appetites and affections which we share with the rest of the animal creation, are so noisy and turbulent, fill so large a part of our conscious existence (in many men, alas! almost the whole), that they seem to be the self, and usurp the name of self, which properly belongs to the higher self, the conscience and the reason. It is the lower self which we must deny. When appetite says, "This is pleasant," but conscience answers, "It is wrong," then we must take part with conscience, which bears in itself the evidence of authority, and deny that lower self which would disturb the harmony of our nature by usurping the position of command which does not belong to it. The precept is one of paramount importance. The Lord repeats it, translating it now into the distinctive language of Christianity, "Let him take up his cross." He had used those words once already. (Mat_10:38) It was long, probably, before the apostles understood them. We know their meaning now. The cross was a thing of horror once; but the exceeding great love of our Master and only Saviour Jesus Christ has shed a halo of resplendent light around the tree of shame. The word has changed its meaning; it has become a name for the noblest self-denial, the most Divine self-sacrifice. Not all acts of self-denial are a bearing of the cross, but only those which spring out of faith in Christ, and radiate from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He taketh up his cross who denies himself daily in the faith of Christ, and for the sake of Christ, seeking only to please him and to be made more and more like unto him. Such acts of holy self-denial are taken up, so to speak, into the one great act of holiest self sacrifice, and become parts of it, (Col_1:24) and derive their beauty and glory from the reflected glory of the Saviour"s cross. Such faithful Christians, whom the strong wish to come after Christ urges with ever growing earnestness to take up their cross daily, will follow him who bore the cross for them along the narrow way till they appear, sealed with the seal of the living God upon their foreheads, before the glory throne.

2. The true life. The wish which is centred in this present life is opposed to the Christian wish to come after Christ. When the heart is set upon the things of this life, comfort, station, wealth, and such like, it loses sight of Christ, who is the Life of men. Therefore he who willeth, whose set purpose is, to save this life, with all its treasures, must lose the true Life, which is Christ. For the Lord died upon the cross. His first followers shrank not from the death of martyrdom for his sake. All true Christians must have the martyr spirit; they must be martyrs in will; they must be willing, if need be, to lose all earthly things, even life itself, for Christ"s sake. The Lord gave himself for us. He asks for our whole self in return. We must keep nothing back, or we shall lose the true life, which is the life in Christ eternal life, Christ himself. And if this is lost, all is lost. Nothing can compensate a man for the loss of the true life. No gain, not even the gain of the whole world, if it were possible, can balance that tremendous loss. For the loss is real, but the gain illusory. A man may seem to gain all that the world prizes; but if with that gain the true life is lost, there is no true joy, no brightness, no abiding gladness. And all that was gained, though it seemed like all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, must vanish in a moment when the years come to an end as it were a tale that is told. Then what shall a man give in exchange for his life, when the true life is lost, and only that life, which is living death, remains? What shall a man give then, when he hath naught to give; when his riches, and his knowledge, and his strength, and his earthly rank, and the time given him for working out his own salvation, and all his opportunities of serving God and doing the work which God had given him to do, have passed away forever; when all these things have fallen away from him and left him all desolate and alone, a poor soul, helpless and destitute, realizing, when it is too late, the bitter truth that it is in the sight of God wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked what shall a man give then? Let him learn to give now to give his heart, and, with his heart, his time, his labour, his prayers, his earthly goods. It is a poor gift at the best; but if it is given in faith and love, it is lent unto the Lord, and the Lord will repay with large increase in the great day of account. We are unprofitable servants; the best of us only do what is our bounden duty; we only give him what is his own. But he is pleased in his gracious condescension to accept this poor service of ours, and to give us in return that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, that eternal life which is the gift of God.

3. The end. "The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels." He is the Son of man in virtue of his incarnation; but in his essential Being he is God, equal with the Father as touching his Godhead. The Father"s glory is his; the angels of God are his angels, for "all things that the Father hath are mine". (Joh_16:15) Then he shall reward every man according to his work, his work as a whole. The award will be proportioned to the whole scope and meaning of each man"s earthly life in infinite justice, and, blessed be his holy Name, in infinite mercy. He bids us to look ever forward to the coming of that great day, and to estimate things in reference to the coming judgment. The glory of the world seems now, to our short-sighted eyes, very great and magnificent and overpowering. But look at it in the fierce light that streams from the judgment throne; then it shrinks into nothingness. Its brightness is like the poor little candle in the effulgent radiance of the noontide sun; you see that its beauty is marred with the traces of decay, rottenness, death. "The world passeth away... but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." Let us not lose that eternal life for the sake of this fleeting, dying world. For the Son of man cometh in his kingdom. There were some, the Lord said, standing there who should see that kingdom before they died. Three of them soon saw the transfigured Saviour in his glory. All, save one, saw the risen Lord, victorious over death, manifested as the Lord of life, the everlasting King, to whom all power in heaven and in earth is given. Some of them, we know not how many, saw the manifestation of his power in the destruction of Jerusalem; when the old dispensation made way for the kingdom of heaven, the one Catholic Church over which Christ shall reign as King until the end cometh; then, on the ruins of the old theocracy, was established that spiritual kingdom which shall reach its consummation in the day of the Lord. In each of these great events the Lord"s prediction was in some sense fulfilled. If we cannot define its meaning to our complete satisfaction, let us remember what he said of the last survivor of the apostles, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

LESSONS.

1. The cross is the very emblem of our religion; he is no true Christian who beareth not the cross.

2. The whole world is worth nothing to him whose soul is lost. No price can redeem the lost soul. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

3. The judgment is at hand. Think of this life in the light of the judgment. "Love not the world.

Vers. 20-28. Necessity of the cross.

Peter"s words pierced like a sharp thorn into the very heart of Christ, and roused as keen an indignation as his previous words had awakened gratitude. For the horror which our Lord saw in Peter"s face as he announced the near approach of death reflected the horror he himself had passed through during those past days in which he had been making up his mind to die; the incapacity of Peter to understand that death should be the necessary step to glory tended to upset the balance of his own mind as well as to disclose to him the extreme difficulty there would be in persuading the world at large that a crucified King could be a King at all. Peter seemed for the moment to be the very embodiment of temptation, to be inspired by that very spirit of evil which had assailed him in the wilderness. Instead of a rock on which to found the Church, he had become a rock of offence. The words of reprimand were severe, but in the circumstances intelligible. Seeing, then, the unwillingness of the disciples to think of a Messiah who should not come with armed followers and all the pomp and circumstance of war, our Lord from this time forward spends much time in an endeavour to demonstrate the necessity of his death, and to fix in their minds that in following him to Jerusalem they were going to see him die. Again and again we find him solemnly assuring them that he must be taken and put to death, and that he would rise again. And yet when he was crucified they were entirely disheartened, and had no expectation of his rising again. Our wonder at the small impression made by our Lord"s words is lessened when we consider the originality of his conception of the Messiah"s glory. Only by Divine illumination, he said, could Peter have known him to be the Christ, but even a higher Divine illumination was needed to teach him the doctrine of the cross. So clean counter to natural human belief is this law that the truest glory is in humiliation for others, that even now each one has to discover this law for himself, and, when he discovers it, thinks he alone has had it revealed to him. So difficult is it for us to comprehend that, what the world needs for its regeneration more than the strong hand of a wise Ruler is the entrance into it, and the diffusion throughout it, of a meek and lowly spirit, of a righteous and God-fearing life. But our Lord assures us that not only for the Leader, but for the follower, this law holds good; these who would be with him in his glory must take his own path to it. The man who means to keep near Christ must not only deny himself one or two enjoyments or sinful indulgences, but must absolutely deny himself, must renounce self as an object in life, must give himself up as the enthusiastic physician gives himself up, regardless of all consequences to self, to the relief of his patients or to the advancement of science. You may say that the physician who does so does not deny himself, but gives expression to his highest and best self, and that is what our Lord means when he adds as his first proof of the truth of his law, "For whosoever wilt save his life shall lose it: and whosoever wilt lose his life for my sake shall find it." So long as you make self your object, your end, and your centre, you are losing your life and your self; but when you are enabled to abandon self and to live for righteousness, for God, for Christ, for the community, you emerge into life eternal, you find your truest self. "And what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" This is one of those truths that need no demonstration, and yet are very difficult to act upon. To gain even a very small part of the world is so appreciable a gain, whereas the loss of the soul is so inappreciable often in the process, and it seems so easy to regain it, that we are tempted to act as if it were a very small matter. A third ground on which our Lord rests his injunction to follow him is laid down in the twenty-seventh verse. All permanent happiness is so bound up with character that he can only make men happy in proportion to their growth. The reward chiefly desired by every one who loves him is an increase of that love and a truer likeness to himself, and in eternity, as on earth, Christ and all who are like him, will find their glory in works of self-sacrificing compassion and helpful mercy. Vers. 27, 28: As far as can be gathered from the abbreviated form we have in the text, our Lord meant to say that the man who spent his life on self, and so lost his truest life, would find his mistake in the day when at Christ"s second coming things are forever arranged according to the principles he himself laid down and lived on in his first coming, and then, as if to answer the doubt whether such a day of true judgment should ever come, he goes on to say that the kingdom of heaven would, even in the lifetime of some standing there, be sufficiently manifested to make his Divine power clear to them. D.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then charged he his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. Jesus himself had not said it expressly even to his apostles, but left them to infer it from his doctrine and miracles. Neither was it proper the apostles should say this openly, before that grand proof of it, his resurrection. If they had, they who believed them would the more earnestly have sought to take and make him a king: and they who did not believe them would the more vehemently have rejected and opposed such a Messiah.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

charged

The disciples had been proclaiming Jesus as the Christ, i.e. the covenanted King of a kingdom promised to the Jews, and "at hand." The church, on the contrary, must be built upon testimony to Him as crucified, risen from the dead, ascended, and made "Head over all things to the church." Eph 1:20-23. The former testimony was ended, the new testimony was not yet ready, because the blood of the new covenant had not yet been shed, but our Lord begins to speak of His death and resurrection Mat 16:21. It is a turning- point of immense significance:

Jesus Omit "Jesus."

For Another Point of View: See Topic 301192

Additional Factors to Consider See Topic 301207

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, till after his resurrection. It may seem strange, that our Saviour should charge his disciples to tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ, seeing the knowledge of it was so necessary. The reason is conceived to be:

1. Because the glory of his godhead was not to be fully manifested till after his resurrection, and then to be published by himself, and confirmed by his own miracles.

2. Lest the knowledge of it should have hindered his death; for had the rulers known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.

Learn, That Christ has his own fit times and proper season, in which he reveals his own mysteries to the world.

3. That Christ was so intent upon his laying down his life for sinners, that he would not have his death hindered by an untimely declaration of his being truly and really God; after his death it was, that he declared himself to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. Ἰησοῦς, though found in some important MSS. (not in אBL), is rightly omitted, the internal evidence against it is strong, and the insertion might easily be made by a mistake in transcription.

20. ἵνα μηδενὶ εἴπωσιν ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός. Lest the Galilæan enthusiasm should endeavour to make Him a king.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20.] See note on ch. 8:4.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. Then He charged the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.] Mk. has: “And He charge d them that they should speak to no man about Him.”—τότε] see on 2:7.—διεστείλατο] Mk. here has ἐπετίμησεν, but διεστείλατο in 5:48, 7:36, 9:9. The verb occurs only here in Mt. B.* D S1 S2 have ἐπετίμησεν.—τοῖς μαθηταῖς] Mk. has αὐτοῖς, but the insertion of vv. 17-19 makes the explicit reference to the disciples necessary.—ὃτι αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός] for Mk.’s περὶ αὐτοῦ. For similar explanatory glosses, see v. 22, 26:67, 73.

(M)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.