Now ^athe ^bPharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus to get something to use against Him, they ^casked Him to show them a sign from heaven which would support His divine authority. 2 But He replied to them, “^1aWhen it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and has a threatening look.’ ^aYou know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but cannot interpret the signs of the times? 4 ^aAn evil and morally unfaithful generation craves a miraculous sign; but no sign will be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Then He left them and went away. Jon 3:4, 5

5 When the disciples reached the other side of the sea, they realized that they had forgotten to bring bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “Watch out and ^abe on your guard against the ¹leaven of the ^bPharisees and Sadducees.” 7 They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “^aYou men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you have no bread? 9 Do you still not understand or remember ^athe five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up? 10 Or ^athe seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up? 11 How is it that you fail to understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But ^abeware of the leaven of the ^bPharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the false teaching of the ^aPharisees and Sadducees.

13 ^aNow when Jesus went into the ¹region of ^bCaesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that ^cthe Son of Man is?” Mark 8:27-29; Luke 9:18-20 14 And they answered, “Some say ^aJohn the Baptist; others, ^bElijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or just one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are ^athe Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) , ^bthe Son of ^cthe living God.” 17 Then Jesus answered him, “Blessed happy, spiritually secure, favored by God are you, ^aSimon son of Jonah, because ^bflesh and blood (mortal man) did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I say to you that you are ^1aPeter, and on this ²rock I will build My church; and the ³gates of ^bHades (death) will not overpower it by preventing the resurrection of the Christ. Eph 1:22; 4:15; 5:23; Col 1:18 19 I will give you ^athe keys (authority) of the kingdom of heaven; and ^bwhatever you bind forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful on earth ¹will have already been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose permit, declare lawful on earth ²will have already been loosed in heaven.” Is 22:22; Matt 18:18 20 ^aThen He gave the disciples strict orders to tell no one that He was ^bthe Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) .

21 ^1aFrom that time on Jesus began to show His disciples clearly that He must go to Jerusalem, and ^bendure many things at the hands of the elders and the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) , and be killed, and be raised from death to life on the third day. Mark 8:31-9:1; Luke 9:22-27 22 Peter took Him aside to speak to Him privately and began to reprimand Him, saying, “May God forbid it! This will never happen to You.” 23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^aSatan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on things of man.”

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me as My disciple, he must deny himself set aside selfish interests, and ^atake up his cross expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come and follow Me believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me. 25 For ^awhoever wishes to save his life in this world will eventually lose it through death, but whoever loses his life in this world for My sake will find it that is, life with Me for all eternity. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world wealth, fame, success, but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the ^aSon of Man ^bis going to come in the glory and majesty of His Father with His angels, and ^cTHEN HE WILL REPAY EACH ONE IN ACCORDANCE WITH WHAT HE HAS DONE. Ps 62:12

28 “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there are some of ¹those standing here who will not taste death before they see the ^aSon of Man ^bcoming in His kingdom.”