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Week 12 — Day 1
21 And Jesus went from there and withdrew into the parts of 1Tyre and Sidon.
22 And behold, a 1Canaanite woman came out from those borders and cried out, saying, Have mercy on me, 2Lord, Son of David! My daughter suffers terribly from demon possession.
24 But He answered and said, I was not 1sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 But she came and worshipped Him, saying, 1Lord, help me!
26 But He answered and said, It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.
27 And she said, Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you as you wish. And her daughter was healed from that hour.
211 The further troubling by the rejecting religionists caused the heavenly King to depart farther from them, even into the districts of Tyre and Sidon, into a Gentile land.
221 Because of the rejection by the religious Jews, the opportunity to contact the heavenly King came to the Gentiles, even to a weak Gentile woman.
222 The title Lord implies Christ’s divinity, and the title Son of David, His humanity. It was proper for this woman, a Gentile, to address Christ as “Lord.” However, she had no right to call Him “Son of David”; only the children of Israel were privileged to do so.
241 The Lord was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. However, at this time He came to a Gentile region, thus affording the Gentiles an opportunity to participate in His grace. This bears dispensational significance, showing that Christ came to the Jews first and that because of their unbelief, His salvation turned to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46; Rom. 11:11).
251 This second time she addressed Christ only as “Lord,” not as “Son of David,” because she realized that she was not a child of Israel but a heathen.
Here [in verse 26] another opportunity was created for [the heavenly King] to reveal Himself, this time as the children’s bread. The Canaanite woman considered Him the Lord — a divine person — and the Son of David — a royal descendant, great and high in His reign. But He unveiled Himself to her as small pieces of bread, good for food. This implies that as the heavenly King, He rules over His people by feeding them with Himself as bread. We can be the proper people in His kingdom only by being nourished with Him as our food. To eat Christ as our supply is the way to be the kingdom people in the reality of the kingdom.
The Lord said that the children’s bread should not be thrown to the dogs. This indicates that in the eyes of the Lord all the heathen are dogs, which are unclean in the eyes of God (Lev. 11:27).
The Canaanite woman, not offended by the Lord’s word but admitting that she was a heathen dog, considered that at that time Christ, after being rejected by the children, the Jews, became crumbs under the table as a portion to the Gentiles. The holy land of Israel was the table on which Christ, the heavenly bread, had come as a portion to the children of Israel. But they threw Him off the table to the ground, the Gentile land, so that He became broken crumbs as a portion to the Gentiles. What a realization this Gentile woman had at that time! No wonder the heavenly King admired her faith (v. 28). (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 547-549)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 543-554; Hymns: #1145, #1146
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 12 — Day 2
1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked Him to show them a sign out of heaven.
4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.…
5 And when the disciples came to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
6 And Jesus said to them, Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
7 But they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we did not take bread.
11 How is it that you do not understand that it was not about bread that I spoke to you? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the 1teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
In 16:1-12 what is crucial is not the temptation presented by the Pharisees and Sadducees, but the leaven. Hidden within this temptation of the Lord Jesus, there was leaven.…When we eat bread, we may not realize that we are also eating leaven, for leaven is hidden in the bread and thus is invisible. Although no one could see the leaven hidden in the temptation presented by the Pharisees and Sadducees, it was nonetheless concealed within it.
As we have seen, chapter fifteen deals with the matter of eating. From 15:1 through 16:12, Matthew’s record is very much concerned with eating. Eating unclean things may defile us (15:1-20). What we need is not the outward washing, but the inward eating. Eating is the way to partake of Christ (15:21-28), and eating causes Gentile dogs to become children of God, even proper men. By eating we feed on the unlimited and inexhaustibly rich supply of Christ (15:32-39). Matthew 15 concludes with the record of corporate eating. However, we must beware of eating leaven (16:5-12), especially the religious leaven hidden within religious people, such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees were the ancient fundamentalists, and the Sadducees were the ancient modernists. I am thankful that the Bible mentions them both. In today’s religion there are also fundamentalists and modernists. The first group, the fundamentalists, have sound, scriptural beliefs. The second group, the Sadducees, deny what the Bible says.
In Christianity religious people…always have some leaven. Under the cloak of religion, they bring in certain matters that corrupt and damage the things of God. Therefore, we must learn to beware of leaven as we are enjoying Christ as our heavenly bread.…We need to realize that leaven may often be concealed under the cloak of religious teachings.… [Moreover], those who bring in leaven desire to see signs, miracles.…In 16:1-12 the two key words are sign and leaven. The Pharisees and Sadducees…asked…[the Lord Jesus] to show them a sign from heaven. [But] in speaking of the sign of Jonah [v. 4], the Lord seemed to be saying, “You…do not need miracles.…You need to…repent…and…believe that I will die for your sins and be resurrected to impart Myself into you as life. This is the sign for this generation. No other sign will be given. I am the sign to you, the sign of the crucified and resurrected Christ.…”…Every miracle, every sign, must be based upon the principle of the crucifixion and the resurrection.…Otherwise, the miracles will simply be a type of leaven. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 555-561)
121 Referring to the things taught. The teaching of the Pharisees was hypocritical (23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29), and the teaching of the Sadducees, which denied the resurrection, angels, and spirits (Acts 23:8), was like today’s modernism. Hence, both the teaching of the Pharisees and the teaching of the Sadducees were impure and evil and were likened to leaven, which was not to be seen among God’s people (Exo. 13:7).
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 555-561; Hymns: #541
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 12 — Day 3
13 Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of Man is?
14 And they said, Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
15 He said to them, But you, who do you say that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the 1Christ, the 1Son of the 2living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in the heavens.
In 16:13-20 we come to a section of the Gospel of Matthew concerned with the revelation of Christ and the church. Before we consider the details of this section, we need to consider the connection between it and the foregoing section, verses 1-12.
Verse 13 says that the Lord Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi with His disciples and there asked them, “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” It seems that this is not related to the matter of leaven. Caesarea Philippi is in the northern part of the Holy Land, close to the border, at the foot of Mount Hermon, on which the Lord was transfigured (17:1-2). It was far from the holy city and the holy temple, where the atmosphere of the old Jewish religion filled every man’s thought, leaving no room for Christ, the new King. The Lord brought His disciples purposely to such a place with its clear atmosphere that their thought might be released from the effects of the religious surroundings in the holy city and holy temple and that He might reveal to them something new concerning Himself and the church, which are the pulse of His heavenly kingdom. It was in Caesarea Philippi that the vision concerning Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, came to Peter (16:16-17). It was there also that the church was revealed and mentioned for the first time as the means of bringing in the kingdom of the heavens (vv. 18-19).
The connection between these two portions of the Word…is that if we are still under the influence of religious leaven, we will never be clear about Christ or the church.…If we still hold the concept that there is nothing wrong with Christmas or with the denominations, it is an indication that our understanding is saturated with hidden religious leaven.…Many of us have been leavened from the time we were born.…To you, the church was a bungalow with a high tower and bell.…Therefore, we need to leave the religious center and go far to the north, to the region of Caesarea Philippi, where the sky is clear. Also, we need to say to the Lord inwardly, “Lord Jesus, purify me of every kind of leaven. I don’t want there to be fog without or mist within. I want to be a clear person under a clear sky.” (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 561-564)
161 The Christ refers to the One concerning whom God prophesied in the Old Testament through the prophets and whom His saints through the ages looked for (John 1:41, 45; Luke 2:25-26; 3:15), the One who would come to accomplish the will of God (Heb. 10:5-7).
The Christ, referring to the anointed One of God, speaks of the Lord’s commission, whereas the Son of the living God, referring to the Second of the Triune God, speaks of His person. His commission is to accomplish God’s eternal purpose through His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and second coming, whereas His person embodies the Father and consummates in the Spirit for a full expression of the Triune God.
162 The living God is in contrast to dead religion. The Lord is the embodiment of the living God, having nothing to do with dead religion.
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 561-566; Hymns: #552
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 12 — Day 4
18 And I 1also say to you that you are 2Peter, and upon 3this rock I will 4build My 5church, and the 6gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
19 I will give to you the 1keys of the 2kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you 3bind on the earth shall 4have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you 3loose on the earth shall 4have been loosed in the heavens.
20 Then He charged the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.
181 The Father’s revelation concerning Christ is only the first half of the great mystery, which is Christ and the church (Eph. 5:32). Hence, the Lord needed to reveal to Peter the second half also, which concerns the church.
182 Or, a stone; material for God’s building (1 Pet. 2:5).
183 This rock refers not only to Christ but also to this revelation concerning Christ, a revelation that Peter received from the Father. The church is built on Christ and on this revelation concerning Christ.
184 The Lord’s building of His church began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 41-42). Yet the Lord’s prophecy here still has not been fulfilled, even up to the twentieth century. The Lord is not building His church in Christendom, which is composed of the apostate Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations. This prophecy is being fulfilled through the Lord’s recovery, in which the building of the genuine church is being accomplished.
185 Gk. ekklesia, meaning an out-calling. This word is used in reference to a called-out congregation. My church indicates that the church is of the Lord, not of any other person or thing; it is not like the denominations, which are denominated according to some person’s name or according to some matter.
186 Gates of Hades refers to Satan’s authority or power of darkness (Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18), which cannot prevail against the genuine church built by Christ upon this revelation concerning Him as the rock, with stones such as Peter, a transformed human being. This word of the Lord’s indicates also that Satan’s power of darkness will attack the church. Hence, there is spiritual warfare between Satan’s power, which is his kingdom, and the church, which is God’s kingdom.
191 According to history there were two keys. Peter used one on the day of Pentecost to open the gate so that the Jewish believers could enter the kingdom of the heavens (Acts 2:38-42), and he used the other in the house of Cornelius to open the gate so that the Gentile believers could enter (Acts 10:34-48).
192 Kingdom of the heavens is used here interchangeably for church, which is used in the previous verse. This is a strong proof that the genuine church is the kingdom of the heavens in this age. This is confirmed by Rom. 14:17, in which the kingdom of God is mentioned in obvious reference to the proper church life.
193 This Gospel is concerned with the kingdom of the heavens, which is a matter of authority. The church revealed in this book represents the kingdom with its reign. Hence, the authority to bind and to loose was given not only to Peter, the apostle for the church here, but also to the church itself (18:17-18).
194 Whatever the church people bind or loose on earth must be something that has already been bound or loosed in the heavens. We can bind or loose only what has already been bound or loosed in the heavens.
The church that is built upon the revelation concerning Christ is the genuine church, and it is not sectarian.…If we see this, we will be saved from division.…Any group that is built upon doctrines, views, practices, or concepts is not the church built upon the revelation concerning Christ. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 567-568)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 566-570; Hymns: #824
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 12 — Day 5
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.
22 And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by 1no means happen to You!
23 But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, 1Satan! 2You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are 3not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.
The last station of the pathway to glory [is] the way of the cross.…Christ was the Pioneer, the Forerunner, in taking the way of the cross. This is the unique way for Christ to be released, and it is also the unique way for the church to be built with Christ and upon Christ.
After the revelation of the great mystery concerning Christ and the church, the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ were unveiled. In order for Christ to build His church, He had to go to the religious center, pass through crucifixion, and enter into resurrection. In verse 21 the Lord first revealed to His disciples His crucifixion and resurrection. Before this time, He had not mentioned anything about these things. Following the revelation of Christ and the church, the Lord Jesus revealed to His enlightened disciples His crucifixion and resurrection. This is very meaningful. After we see Christ and the church, we must be prepared to take the way of the cross. You may be wondering what the way of the cross is. To take the way of the cross is not to reserve anything of the self. No matter how good, right, or profitable you may be, you need to be crucified. For the enjoyment of Christ and for the building of the church, we must be crucified. Nothing of our being should be reserved.
In verse 21 the Lord Jesus spoke both of His crucifixion and His resurrection. The disciples, however, picked up the matter of crucifixion, but neglected the matter of resurrection. The disciples heard that the Lord was to be killed, but it seems that they did not hear that He would be resurrected. Nevertheless, the Lord did say that He would be raised on the third day. They did not grasp this part of the Lord’s word because they had no concept of resurrection.…It is the same with us today. We immediately take in whatever corresponds to our concept. But if a certain thing does not correspond to what is already within us, we do not take it in.…Again I say that although the Lord Jesus spoke of two matters, crucifixion and resurrection, the disciples grasped the first, but not the second.
Without Peter, we would not have so many revelations, for through his boldness in making mistakes a number of revelations were given. Here [in verse 22] Peter was bold enough to rebuke the Lord. As Peter was rebuking the Lord, his expression might have been that of Satan. Peter’s words — “God be merciful to You, Lord” — sound very nice, but they were actually a rebuke. Peter had been offended by the Lord’s word about being killed. Because he was fully in himself, he actually rebuked the Lord Jesus. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 571-573)
221 The natural man is never willing to take the cross.
231 Christ perceived that it was not Peter but Satan who was frustrating Him from taking the cross. This reveals that our natural man, which is not willing to take the cross, is one with Satan.
232 Or, You are a snare to Me.
233 When we are setting our mind not on the things of God but on the things of men, we become Satan, a stumbling block to the Lord on His way to fulfill God’s purpose.
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 571-574; Hymns: #593
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 12 — Day 6
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him 1deny 2himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
25 For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever 1loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.
26 For what shall a man be profited if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his 1soul-life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul-life?
27 For the Son of Man is to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will repay each man according to his doings.
241 To deny our self is to forfeit our soul-life, the natural life (v. 26; Luke 9:25).
242 Three terms in vv. 23-25 are related to one another: mind, himself, and soul-life. Our mind is the expression of our self, and our self is the embodiment of our soul-life. Our soul-life is embodied in and lived out by our self, and our self is expressed through our mind, our thought, our concept, our opinion. When we set our mind not on the things of God but on the things of men, our mind grasps the opportunity to act and express itself. This was what happened with Peter. Hence, the Lord’s subsequent word indicated that Peter had to deny himself, i.e., not save his soul-life but lose it. Losing the soul-life is the reality of denying the self. This is to take up the cross.
251 To find the soul-life is to allow the soul to have its enjoyment and to escape suffering. To lose the soul-life is to cause the soul to lose its enjoyment and thereby to suffer. If the heavenly King’s followers allow their soul to have its enjoyment in this age, they will cause their soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment in the coming kingdom age. If they allow their soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment in this age for the King’s sake, they will enable their soul to have its enjoyment in the coming kingdom age, that is, to share the King’s joy in ruling over the earth (25:21, 23).
261 In Luke 9:24-25 soul-life is replaced with himself, indicating that our soul-life is our self.
I have learned to be afraid of my opinions. During the years, I have been enlightened to see that the natural opinion or concept is the incarnation of Satan. If this were not so, how could the Lord Jesus have rebuked Peter and called him Satan? The first time I read this in the Bible, I was shocked. In verse 23 Peter and Satan had become one in Peter’s selfish opinion. Peter’s opinion was Satan.
Nothing damages your Christian life more than your opinions.
The cross is not merely a suffering; it is also a killing. It kills and terminates the criminal. Christ first bore the cross and then was crucified. We, His believers, first were crucified with Him and now bear the cross. To us, to bear the cross is to remain under the killing of the death of Christ for the terminating of our self, our natural life, and our old man. In so doing we deny our self that we may follow the Lord.…Ultimately, the pathway to glory is a matter of being terminated.…Resurrection follows termination. When we keep ourselves under Christ’s termination, spontaneously there will be a reaction in our spirit. This reaction is resurrection.…Before the Lord’s crucifixion the disciples followed Him in an outward way. But now, after His resurrection, we follow Him in an inward way. Because in resurrection He has become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) dwelling in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), we follow Him in our spirit (Gal. 5:16-25).
The word “For” at the beginning of [Matt. 16:27] indicates that the Lord’s rewarding of His followers at His coming back…will be according to whether they lose or save their soul, as mentioned in verses 25 and 26. The reward will be given according to how we have borne the cross. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 575-576, 578-580)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 574-582; Hymns: #622
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 12 — Prophecy
IV. The King’s being rejected (12:1—27:66)
C. The increase of rejection (13:53—16:12)
7. The faith of a Gentile woman (15:21-28)
8. Healing for the glorification of God (15:29-31)
9. The miracle of feeding four thousand (15:32-39)
10. Temptation by the fundamentalists and the modernists (16:1-12)
D. The path of rejection (16:13—23:39)
1. Before going to Judea (16:13—18:35)
а. The revelation of Christ and the church (16:13-20)
b. The first unveiling of the crucifixion and resurrection (16:21-27)
In chapter fifteen, immediately after the dispute regarding the washing of hands (vv. 1-20), there is a record of feeding on Jesus (vv. 21-28). By this Matthew shows that what the Lord wants is not the washing of hands but the eating of Him, the taking in of Him as food. The question is how we can be inwardly cleansed. In order to be cleansed from within, something must get into us, and the only way this can take place is by eating. As the nourishing food, the Lord Jesus is the best cleansing element.
When it comes to the matter of eating, we must be careful not to eat any leaven. In 16:1-12 what is crucial is not the temptation presented by the Pharisees and Sadducees, but the leaven. The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees was their teaching (v. 12). God is endeavoring to put Christ, the bread of heaven, into His people, and the enemy is working to put in leaven as God’s children are taking in Christ. Those testing the Lord asked Him to show them a sign out of heaven (v. 1). Those who bring in leaven desire to see signs, miracles. But the Lord Jesus refused to show them such a sign. The pure bread, the pure Christ, does not perform signs. He Himself is the unique sign. The sign of Jonah (v. 4), the sign of the crucified and resurrected Christ, was the only sign to be given. Every miracle, every sign, must be based upon the principle of the crucifixion and the resurrection.
In 16:13-20 the Lord Jesus brought His disciples to Caesarea Philippi in the northern part of the Holy Land that their thought might be released from the foggy religious atmosphere of Jerusalem and the Jewish religion. It was in Caesarea Philippi that the vision concerning Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, came to Peter (vv. 16-17). It was there also that the church was revealed and mentioned for the first time as the means of bringing in the kingdom of the heavens (vv. 18-19). The revelation concerning Christ is the rock upon which the Lord Jesus is building His church, and against this church the gates of Hades, the power of darkness (Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18) cannot prevail. The church revealed in Matthew represents the kingdom with its reign. Hence, the authority to bind and to loose was given not only to Peter, the apostle for the church here, but also to the church itself (Matt. 18:17-18).
Following the revelation of Christ and the church, the Lord Jesus revealed to His disciples His crucifixion and resurrection for the first time (16:21-27). The concept of bearing the cross in Matthew 16 is not that of suffering but of keeping the self under the termination of death. To remain there is to deny the self, bear the cross, and lose the soul-life (that is, lose the enjoyment of the soul in this age that we might gain it in the coming kingdom age). Resurrection follows termination. When we keep ourselves under Christ’s termination, spontaneously there will be a reaction in our spirit. This reaction is resurrection.
Composition for prophecy with main point and sub-points:
