16:1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came along to test Jesus, so they asked him to show them a miraculous sign from heaven.

16:2 But instead he said, “If the sky is red in the evening, you say that the weather will be nice the next day.

16:3 And if it’s red in the morning, you say that the weather will be foul. But why can’t you interpret the signs of the times?

16:4 An evil and adulterous generation looks for signs, but none will be given except the sign of Jonah.” And with that, he went off and left them behind.

16:5 When his disciples arrived at the other side of the lake, they realized they had forgotten to get bread.

16:6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

16:7 But they talked it over among themselves and concluded, “It’s because we forgot to get bread.”

16:8 But Jesus knew what they were talking about so he said, “Why are you talking about not having bread, you skeptics?

16:9 Don’t you understand or remember what happened with the five loaves and the five thousand, and how many baskets full of leftovers you picked up?

16:10 Or what about the seven loaves and the four thousand, and all the leftovers?

16:11 So how can you possibly think that I was talking about bread when I said, ‘Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees’?”

16:12 Then it finally dawned on them that he wasn’t referring to literal yeast in bread but to the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

16:13 When Jesus reached the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Human is?”

16:14 “Some say John the Immerser,” they replied. “Others say Elijah, or maybe Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

16:15 “But who do you say I am?” Jesus asked.

16:16 And Peter spoke up, “You are the Anointed, the son of the living God.”

16:17 “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah,” Jesus replied. “For this was not revealed to you by ordinary means, but by my Father in the heavens.

16:18 I hereby declare that you are Peter, and it is upon this rock that I will build my Congregation, which will withstand all the assaults of Hades.

16:19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of the heavens, so whatever you restrain on earth will also be restrained in the heavens, and whatever you let loose on earth will also be let loose in the heavens.”

16:20 Then he told his disciples not to say a word about his being the Anointed.

16:21 And from then on, he began to tell his disciples that he would have to go into Jerusalem to suffer many things at the hands of the elders, ruling priests, and scripture scholars. Then he would be killed yet arise the third day.

16:22 But Peter scolded him and said, “Master, this will never happen to you!”

16:23 Jesus turned around to Peter and exclaimed, “Get out of my face, Adversary! You are setting a trap for me, because you are thinking like people instead of God.”

16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow me, they must completely renounce themselves, pick up their cross, and follow me.

16:25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life on my account will find it.

16:26 After all, what good is it to gain the whole world but forfeit one’s own life? Or what would a person give in exchange for their life?

16:27 The Human is going to come with his Messengers in the majesty of his Father, and he will reward each one according to what they have done.

16:28 And I can assure you that some standing here today will not experience death until they first see the Human coming in his kingdom.”