Matthew 16:21-28

First Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

16:21 From that time on ¹  Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem ²  and suffer ³  many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, ⁴  and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 16:22 So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: ⁵  “God forbid, ⁶  Lord! This must not happen to you!” 16:23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.” ⁷  16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ⁸  he must deny ⁹  himself, take up his cross, ¹⁰  and follow me. 16:25 For whoever wants to save his life ¹¹  will lose it, ¹²  but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 16:26 For what does it benefit a person ¹³  if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life? 16:27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. ¹⁴  16:28 I tell you the truth, ¹⁵  there are some standing here who will not ¹⁶  experience ¹⁷  death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” ¹⁸ 

[16:21]  ¹ tn Grk “From then.”

[16:21]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[16:21]  ³ sn The necessity that the Son of Man suffer is the particular point that needed emphasis since for many 1st century Jews the Messiah was a glorious and powerful figure, not a suffering one.

[16:21]  ⁴ tn Or “and scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[16:22]  ⁵ tn Grk “began to rebuke him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[16:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “Merciful to you.” A highly elliptical expression: “May God be merciful to you in sparing you from having to undergo [some experience]” (L&N 88.78). A contemporary English equivalent is “God forbid!”

[16:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “people.”

[16:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “to come after me.”

[16:24]  ⁹ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[16:24]  ¹⁰ sn To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[16:25]  ¹¹ tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 25-26).

[16:25]  ¹² sn The point of the saying whoever wants to save his life will lose it is that if one comes to Jesus then rejection by many will certainly follow. If self-protection is a key motivation, then one will not respond to Jesus and will not be saved. One who is willing to risk rejection will respond and find true life.

[16:26]  ¹³ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[16:27]  ¹⁴ sn An allusion to Pss 28:4; 62:12; cf. Prov 24:12.

[16:28]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[16:28]  ¹⁶ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[16:28]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[16:28]  ¹⁸ sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the Son of Man coming in his kingdom: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Christ’s role in the Church; (5) the destruction of Jerusalem; (6) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to six days later in 17:1 seems to indicate that Matthew had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration would be a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (in vv. 21-23), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.