The Gospel of Matthew
Overview: Mt 6,13-17,13
This passage begins as we have seen with the arrival of Jesus and his disciples in Caesara Philippi, 16,13. Jesus then continues to be with his disciples until 17,13 and then they join the crowds in 17,14. That's the change of audience which provides a new beginning.
This means that we are looking at 16,13-17,13 as our passage.
We can then note that the passage begins and ends with both Elijah and John the Baptist (16,14 and 17,10-13). The comment about John in 17,13 is unique to Matthew, an addition to Mark, Mk 9,13. The naming of the two men at the beginning and end therefore provides a bracket around the passage. The significance of the final scene 17,9-13 we will consider in due course.
Within the passage, we can discover three markers based on time and place:
"from that time" in 16,21
"six days later...up a high mountain" in 17,1
"coming down the mountain" in 17,9
That gives us four scenes within this passage:
- 16,13-20: Jesus and Peter
- 16,21-28: Jesus' fate, Peter's reaction, the cross
- 17,1-8: The Transfiguration
- 17,9-13: Elijah and John the Baptist
We now have this central episode of the Gospel as a whole in four parts, 16,13-17,13. A key to my reading is that Matthew's editing means that the whole passage is about Jesus and the disciples. Mark by contrast brings in the crowd to be the audience for Jesus' teaching about the cross (Mk 8,34).
Reading
We will now read the first two scenes, 16,13-28, as our second page for chapter 16.
We can then read the second two, 17,1-13, as our first page for chapter 17.
Yet we need to keep in mind the overall unity of the section, 6,13-7,13..
The phrase "From that time" in verse 21 has been added by Matthew to Mark, Mk 8,31. Some commentators see this phrase as beginning a major new section in the Gospel. Even though Matthew adds a comment about Jesus going to Jerusalem, I think the phrase is too weak for this purpose, that it is really a minor link.
More important as we will see is that we do not separate "You are the Christ" in 16,16 from "Get behind me, Satan" in 16,23. We need to see how quickly the rock becomes a stumbling block.
Return now to the main page to brgin our reading of the chapter.