Matt. 16:1-4 – Some people came to Jesus one day and asked Him for a sign(note: in Matthew, a sign is often synonymous with a miracle) from heaven. He responded that a wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, and He refused to give them one. Many people today say that they would be able to believe in Jesus if they could just see a miracle/sign. But Jesus here calls that wicked(meaning evil) and adulterous(not physically, but spiritually, meaning that they are “cheating” if you will, on God). People were/are supposed to believe in Jesus based on the testimony about Him. Demanding a sign in order to believe is clearly contrary to what Jesus was teaching. We need to be careful.

Matt. 16:5-12 – Jesus told His disciples to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They misunderstood what He meant. His response was to berate them, stating that they had little faith. That might not seem very “nice,” but that is what He said to them. Remember, these are some of His closest followers, and He is insulting their lack of faith. Why? Because they should have understood what He was saying. Eventually, He was able to get them to understand what He meant, but His derisive tone is something that would likely shock most people today. He was not infinitely patient. He expected His followers to understand the lessons He was teaching. And when they did not, He could be abrasive.

Matt. 16:13-20 – Jesus asks His disciples who people think He is. He then asks them who they think He is. Peter famously identifies Jesus as the Christ(aka Messiah or Anointed One) and the Son of God. This is one of Peter’s higher moments. Jesus then stated that He would build His church on what Peter had just said, that Jesus was the Christ and the Son of God. Jesus also stated that He would give to His disciples the keys of the kingdom(i.e. instruction on how you can get into His kingdom).

Matt. 16:21-28 – Jesus told His disciples that He was going to be killed, but that He would then be raised from the dead on the third day. Jesus did not come to this world, intending to set up His kingdom, but then people killed Him, and as a result He failed. Jesus knew He was going to be killed; that was part of the plan. Some people think that Jesus failed to set up His kingdom because He was crucified, but nothing could be further from the truth. In Mark 9:1, Jesus said that there were people standing in front of Him who would not die before they saw the kingdom. Killing Jesus would not stop or even slow God’s plan. It was expected. It was known. Isaiah(53:8) told people over 700 years before it happened that the Messiah would be led away after an unjust trial and be cut off from the land of the living. Jesus did not fail. God never fails.

Matt. 17:1-13 – At one point, Jesus told Peter, James and John with Him. Jesus’ appearance was changed in front of them, then Moses and Elijah appeared in front of them as well. Peter thought this was great, elevating Jesus to the status of Moses and Elijah, who were respectively representative of the Law and the Prophets. However, a voice from heaven told them to listen to Jesus . . . even more than Moses or Elijah. God was not saying that we should ignore Moses and Elijah(effectively what we would call the Old Testament), but rather that what Jesus had to say was even more important.

Matt. 17:14-21 – Jesus spoke harshly to His disciples again, when a man brought his son to Jesus, stating that Jesus’ disciples were not able to cast out a demon from his son. At this, Jesus was clearly upset. He referred to them as an unbelieving and perverse generation. No doubt exasperated, He lamented how much longer He would have to be with them, how much longer He would have to endure them. This does not sound like the loving Jesus that most people think of, but He is one and the same. He got frustrated with people. Yes, God gets frustrated with people. And this was just one example of a time that Jesus expressed that frustration. And this is not directed toward the religious elite(e.g. Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, scribes, etc.). This is squarely directed toward His closest disciples.

Matt. 17:22-23 – Just like He did earlier in the chapter, Jesus again tells people that He is going to be killed, but He will also be raised from the dead on the third day. Those events were not His failure and some backup plan. They were things that He knew would happen; they were part of God’s plan.

Matt. 18:1-9 – Some of Jesus’ followers wanted to know who would be the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus responded by saying that they needed to humble themselves like a small child to enter the kingdom. He wasn’t just responding to their question about who would be the greatest. Before they could even think about being the greatest in the kingdom, they needed to make sure they would enter the kingdom. And thinking about being the greatest was going to keep them out of the kingdom. Instead of searching for “greatest” they needed to humble themselves, or they would miss out on the kingdom entirely. He then went one step further by stating that it would be better to die than if they caused just one person to sin. Causing others to sin is horrible, according to Jesus. Lastly, He tells them that if something is causing you to sin, like an eye or a hand or a foot, it is better to cut that off so that you will not go to hell. He is using hyperbole, but His point is that we need to remove anything from our lives that causes us to sin. This could be entertain, people, a job, a hobby or anything else that causes us to sin. Why? Because sin results in our being separated from God, which is why Jesus says it is better to get rid of these things than sinning and being thrown into a fiery hell. Jesus cares about sin in our lives . . . a lot.

Matt. 19:10-14 – Jesus asks people if they had 100 sheep but lost one, if they would go looking for that lost one. Of course, they would. And they would rejoice upon finding it. Jesus says that God does not want anyone to be lost, either.

Matt. 19:15-35 – Many people think that Jesus does not want people to judge others or point out sin in their lives. This is clearly not the case. He tells people that if their brother(another Christian, not your physical brother) sins, you should go and show him the error of his way(i.e. his sin). Confrontation of any sort is never fun, but Jesus says it is necessary. If someone is sinning(in this case, a fellow Christian is sinning), we need to tell them that they are sinning. And if they do not listen, we need to bring more people. And if they still don’t listen, we need to bring the whole congregation into this. This is a whole lot of confrontation, but the sole purpose of this confrontation is to bring this person back to God. In the end, that is what matters . . . a person’s relationship with God. And if this person refuses to listen, then he is to be treated as a heathen(older term) or a tax collector. These are references to people who are not following Jesus. This does not mean that you ignore them, but rather you understand that their relationship with God is broken and needs to be fixed. Peter also asks Jesus how many times he should forgive a brother(i.e. fellow disciple of Jesus). Peter asks if he should be willing to forgive someone as many as seven times. Peter probably thought that was a lot. Jesus said he should be forgiving up to seventy times seven, or seventy-seven times, depending on your translation. The exact number is immaterial, as Jesus’s point is that Peter should always be willing to forgive a brother. There is no last time Peter can be forgiving. Remember, God will only be willing to forgive us as we are willing to forgive others(Matt. 6:14-15). In Matt. 19:23-35, Jesus tells a parable about an unforgiving slave. The point of the parable is the same. If we do not forgive our brother, God will not forgive us of our sins(Matt. 19:35).

We have seen more and more examples of things Jesus said or did that seem to go against the more widely accepted views that people have about Jesus. But the truth is far more complicated. Was Jesus loving? Yes, of course. Did Jesus get exasperated with people, even His closest followers? Yes. Did Jesus teach being forgiving? Yes. But He also taught His followers to confront others who were guilty of sin. I realize that there are four gospels, but we will be finishing up this series of articles when we get to the end of Matthew. As presented in the beginning, this series is not about covering everything Jesus said, but rather just a sampling of what He said and did. Let’s take these things and use them as a spring board. . . . to learn more about what He really did say and do . . . to read more about Him. And let’s keep reading, over and over, as we can absorb more and more. Each time we read, we can learn more about Him. But learning isn’t the end; it’s only the beginning. We then need to apply what we learn to our lives. And lastly, we need to help others learn about Jesus. Most are lost. Most will be lost. Our job is to try to help those we can. We won’t be able to help everyone. We just need to help someone . . . anyone. So let’s do that.