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Mt 16

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Against Seeking Signs, the Sign of Jonah
1 AND there came to him the Pharisees and Sadduccees tempting: and they asked him to shew them a sign from heaven. 2 But he answered and said to them: When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning: To day there will be a storm, for the sky is red and lowering. You know then how to discern the face of the sky: and can you not know the signs of the times? 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. And he left them, and went away.


The Leaven (Yeast) of the Pharisees
(Matt 16:5-12 Mark 8:14-21 Luke 12:1)
5 And when his disciples were come over the water, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Who said to them: Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 7 But they thought within themselves, saying: Because we have taken no bread. 8 And Jesus knowing it, said: Why do you think within yourselves, O ye of little faith, for that you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand, neither do you remember the five loaves among five thousand men, and how many baskets you took up? 10 Nor the seven loaves among four thousand men, and how many baskets you took up? 11 Why do you not understand that it was not concerning the bread I said to you: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees? 12 Then they understood that he said not that they should beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.


Peter's Confession at Caesarea Philippi
13 And Jesus came into the quarters of Cesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is? 14 But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? 16 Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. 20 Then he commanded his disciples, that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.


Jesus Foretells His Passion
(Matt 16:21-23 Mark 8:31-33 Luke 9:22)
21 From that time Jesus began to shew to his disciples, that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the ancients and scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and the third day rise again. 22 And Peter taking him, began to rebuke him, saying: Lord, be it far from thee, this shall not be unto thee. 23 Who turning, said to Peter: Go behind me, Satan, thou art a scandal unto me: because thou savourest not the things that are of God, but the things that are of men.


“If Any Man would Come after Me”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it. 26 For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul? 27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels: and then will he render to every man according to his works. 28 Amen I say to you, there are some of them that stand here, that shall not taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
 
 
 
Gospel Harmony on Matthew 16
 
 
Against Seeking Signs, the Sign of Jonah
(Matt 16:1-4; 12:38-42 Mark 8:11-12 Luke 11:16, 29-32)
Matthew continues as follows: “And He sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magedan;” and so on, down to the words, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonas.”(Mt 15:39-16:4) This has already been recorded in another connection by the same Matthew.(Mt 12:38) Hence again and again we must hold by the position that the Lord spake the same words on repeated occasions; so that when any completely irreconcilable difference appears between statements of His utterances, we are to understand the words to have been spoken twice over. In this case, indeed, Mc also keeps the same order; and after his account of the miracle of the seven loaves, subjoins the same intimation as is given us in Matthew, only with this difference, that Matthew’s expression for the locality is not Dalmanutha, as is read in certain codices, but Magedan.(Mark 8:10-12) There is no reason, however, for questioning the fact that it is the same place that is intended under both names. For most codices, even of Mark’s Gospel, give no other reading than that of Magedan. Neither should any difficulty be felt in the fact that Mc does not say, as Matthew does, that in the answer which the Lord returned to those who sought after a sign, He referred to Jonah, but mentions simply that He replied in these terms: “There shall no sign be given unto it.” For we are given to understand what kind of sign they asked—namely, one from heaven. And he has simply omitted to specify the words which Matthew has introduced regarding Jonas. (St. Augustine Harmony of the Gospels 2.51)


The Leaven (Yeast) of the Pharisees
(Matt 16:5-12 Mark 8:14-21 Luke 12:1)
Matthew proceeds: “And He left them, and departed. And when His disciples were come to the other side, they forgot to take bread. Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees;” and so forth, down to where we read, “Then understood they that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”(Mt 16:5-12)These words are recorded also by Mark, and that likewise in the same order.(Mark 8:13-21) (St. Augustine Harmony of the Gospels 2.52)


Peter's Confession at Caesarea Philippi
(Matt 16:13-20 Mark 8:27-30 Luke 9:18-21 John 6:67-71)
Matthew continues thus: “And Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi; and He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am? And they said, Some say that Thou art Jn the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets;” and so on, down to the words,” And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”(Mt 16:13-19) Mc relates this nearly in the same order. But he has brought in before it a narrative which is given by him alone, —namely, that regarding the giving of sight to that blind man who said to the Lord, “I see men as trees walking.”(Mark 8:22-29) Luke, again, also records this incident, inserting it after his account of the miracle of the five loaves;(Luke 9:18-20) and, as we have already shown above, the order of recollection which is followed in his case is not antagonistic to the order adopted by these others. Some difficulty, however, may be imagined in the circumstance that Luke’s representation bears that the Lord put this question, as to whom men held Him to be, to His disciples at a time when He was alone praying, and when His disciples were also with Him; whereas Mark, on the other hand, tells us that the question was put by Him to the disciples when they were on the way. But this will be a difficulty only to the man who has never prayed on the way.

I recollect having already stated that no one should suppose that Peter received that name for the first time on the occasion when He said to Him, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” For the time at which he did obtain this name was that referred to by John, when he mentions that he was addressed in these terms: “Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is, by interpretation, Peter.”(Jn 1:42) Hence, too, we are as little to think that Peter got this designation on the occasion to which Mc alludes, when he recounts the twelve apostles individually by name, and tells us how James and Jn were called the sons of thunder, merely on the ground that in that passage he has recorded the fact that He surnamed him Peter.(Mark 3:16-19) For that circumstance is noticed there simply because it was suggested to the writer’s recollection at that particular point, and not because it took place in actual fact at that specific time. (St. Augustine Harmony of the Gospels 2.53)



Jesus Foretells His Passion
(Matt 16:21-23 Mark 8:31-33 Luke 9:22)
Matthew proceeds in the following strain: “Then charged He His disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go into Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders, and chief priests, and scribes;” and so on, down to where we read, “Thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”(Mt 16:20-23) Mark and Luke add these passages in the same order. Only Lc says nothing about the opposition which Peter expressed to the passion of Christ. (St. Augustine Harmony of the Gospels 2.54)



“If Any Man would Come after Me”
(Matt 16:24-28 Mark 8:34-9:1 Luke 9:23-27 John 12:25)
Matthew continues thus: “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me;” and so on, down to the words, “And then He shall reward every man according to his work.”(Mt 16:24-27) This is appended also by Mark, who keeps the same order. But he does not say of the Son of man, who was to come with His angels, that He is to reward every man according to his work. Nevertheless, he mentions at the same time that the Lord spoke to this effect: “Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”(Mark 8:34-38) And this may be taken to bear the same sense as is expressed by Matthew, when he says, that “He shall reward every man according to his work.” Luke(9:25-26) also adds the same statements in the same order, slightly varying the terms indeed in which they are conveyed, but still showing a complete parallel with the others in regard to the truthful reproduction of the self-same ideas. (St. Augustine Harmony of the Gospels 2.55)

 
 
 
 
 
 
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