Verse by Verse

18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

I will build (v.18) — based on the tense, this could be translated “I shall continue to build”

church (v.18) = a chosen or called-out assembly — not referring to the Body of Christ but to believing Israel

The word ecclesia was a very familiar word in our Lord’s time, and it had a Hebrew and a Greek use. The Hebrews spoke of the ecclesia. They had two words very much alike in their intention, and yet separated in use — synagogue, and ecclesia. They marked the facts in which the Hebrew people were different from other nations. Synagogue meant the assembling together of God’s people in worship. Jesus did not say, My synagogue. He said, My ecclesia. The Hebrew use of the word ecclesia marked the Hebrew people as a selected people, as a Theocracy. That was the great thought in the word, a God-governed people, not governed by policy or by human kings. That was the underlying thought in the Hebrew mind. Ecclesia was also in common use in Greek cities at the time. In one of the later chapters of the book of Acts we find that the whole ecclesia came together to discuss their affairs. It does not mean the Church of God. It was the town meeting, an assemblage of free men. — Morgan, page 212.

whatever you bind … (v.19) — given to all the apostles in Matthew 18:18

keys of the kingdom (v.19) — perhaps referring to the fact that it was Peter who first offered the kingdom in Acts 2:14-40 — to Israel only.

The key was a badge of authority, for the servant who had the key to his master’s storehouse had authority over all the goods that were in the storehouse. Authority was here conferred on Peter and the rest of the Twelve to administer in His name, to proclaim His truth, to declare salvation to people, and to assure those who believe that they are recipients of eternal life. 

It was not the declaration of the apostles that established the fact. This is made clear by a literal rendering of the words of Christ: “Whatever you bind on earth shall be that which has already been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be that which has already been loosed in heaven.” This rendering reveals that it is God who frees from an obligation or imposes an obligation on people. But the apostles could make an authoritative declaration as Christ’s representatives as to the true state of affairs because of response to their preaching. — Pentecost, page 252

bind (v.19) — used in Jewish legal terminology to mean “declare forbidden”

loose (v.19) — used in Jewish legal terminology to mean “declare allowed”

These phrases were perfectly familiar to the Jew, we find them in the literature of the time. They said, Shammai binds this, but Hillel looses; which simply meant, Shammai makes this obligatory, but Hillel leaves it optional. Binding simply meant an authoritative declaration concerning what must be done, or what must not be done. Loosing meant permission given to men to do or not to do. It was purely and simply a Hebrew method of describing ethical authority. — Morgan, page 215.

__________

The Hebrew prophets were said to do what they were commissioned to announce (Jeremiah 1:10). Simon Peter was a Hebrew prophet, and so similar language was addressed to him (v.19); and his companions being Hebrew prophets a corresponding commission was given to them (Matthew 18:18); and all the disciples, including women, becoming thereby Hebrew prophets, the commission was enlarged to include them all (John 20:21-13). — Williams, page 715.

Peter (v.18) = petros — small stone, one that could be thrown

rock (v.18) = petra — immovable mass of rock

Remember, He was talking to Hebrews. If we trace the figurative use of the word rock through the Hebrew Scriptures, we find that it is never used symbolically of man, but always of God. So here at Caesarea Philippi. — Morgan, page 211.

gates of Hades (v.18) — power of death, referring to the resurrection

That this isn’t referring to the Body of Christ can be further seen by the fact that after Acts 2, we only hear of Peter and John (and the death of James) and that even they confined their ministry to Jews (Galatians 2:9).

So what was the Lord saying here? This is my understanding — Peter had just proclaimed Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God (v.16). The Lord responded by calling Peter blessed because He had gained this understanding from God.

Jesus then goes on with a play on words. Peter is a small stone, but on the massive rock of Christ and who He is and what He was about to do as Messiah, He would establish the assembly of believing Jews that would enter the kingdom. Not even His death, which He begins to speak of in the very next verses, can stop His purpose. The apostles will be His spokesmen of this message and will announce it and explain it (as Peter himself did at Pentecost — AND they will be sitting on the twelve thrones over Israel during the kingdom— Matthew 19:28).

There is nothing here, including the use of the word “church,” that indicates anything other than the Jewish kingdom.

13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

This account also appears in Mark 8:27-30 and Luke 9:18-21.

Caesarea Philippi (v.13) — a town in the northwest corner of Galilee, near the source of the Jordan River

It was clear to everyone that Jesus was someone out of the ordinary, someone who had to be explained supernaturally.

John the Baptist (v.14) — Herod thought this was who Christ was (Matthew 14:2)

Elijah (v.14) — his coming is prophesied in Malachi 4:5

Jeremiah (v.14) — he is sometimes thought to be the prophet in Deuteronomy 18:15. Some thought Jeremiah 11:19 pointed at that prophet as the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:7.

Peter was a Hebrew, a child of the Hebrew race. He was born in its midst, and had been nurtured upon its thinking. Every fiber of his personality was affected by its conceptions, and it was as a Hebrew that he said to the Man who styled Himself “the Son of Man,” “Thou are the Christ,” the Messiah. That is, Thou are the fulfiller of all the expectations of the Hebrew people, the One by whom our hopes are to be realized, the One by in whom the economy culminates, the One from whom there is to break the dawn of a new day and a new era …

Peter’s confession was a very definite one, and yet one that recognized his consciousness of the mystic element in this Man, beyond the things the age had seen. The age had caught the comprehensiveness of the prophetic note. The age had recognized more — the supernaturalness of this Teacher. Peter, recognizing all this, defined it, and went beyond the age, and said; “Thou are the Messiah;” more than John the forerunner, more than Elijah the foreteller, more than Jeremiah the watcher and the one who waited; Thou art the One toward whom they all looked. There is manifested in all Thy doing, and in all Thy teaching something that differentiates Thee from all other teachers and men. Son of Man, but Son of the living God, the Messiah — Morgan, pages 209-210

5 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”

7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”

8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?

9 Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?

10 Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?

11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

take heed (v.6) = lit. “stare at it” — discern

beware (v.6) = lit. “hold yourself against it”

leaven (v.6) — throughout Scripture, a symbol of permeating evil

O you of little faith (v.8) — Compare “great is thy faith (Matthew 15:28). The heathen woman, who only met Christ once, understood His figurative language and said: “I am a dog.” The disciples, after two years teaching, failed to understand the figurative word “leaven.” Her faith was consequently great and theirs was little. — Williams, page 715

remember (v.9) — On two occasions, the Lord had provided bread for large numbers of people, with much left over. The disciples had witnessed this and should have remembered that they had no reason to worry about physical bread in His presence. They were concerned with material things and relying on their own reasoning. This is why the Lord rebuked them.

The leaven of the Pharisees is explained in Luke 12:1 as hypocrisy. With this was coupled self-righteousness. The leaven of the Sadducees was false doctrine: they denied the authority of all the Old Testament except the books of Moses, and they did not believe in spiritual realities. Such evil teachings work like leaven, spreading throughout any company beginning to tolerate them; hence the warning of the Lord to beware of them. — Ironside, pages 202-203

1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.

2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’;

3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.

Pharisees and Sadducees — it must have been startling to those who knew them to see these men together at all, and together on a matter of religious principle, and on a mission to a religious teacher.

The Pharisees were the traditionalists of their day. They believed in God, they believed in the work of the Holy Spirit. They believed in the essential purity and holiness of God. They believed in the fundamental things. They believed in angels; they believed in resurrection; they held all the spiritual verities; but they hid them from the people whom they were supposed to teach and lead … under the grave-clothes of ritualism and tradition. 

The Sadducees were the rationalists of their day. They did not believe in spirits, they did not believe in angels, they did not believe in resurrection. They denied all supernatural elements in religion. They made religion a mere ethical code. 

The Pharisee had no dealings with the Sadducee; the Sadducee looked with supreme contempt on the Pharisee. The Sadducees had left Jesus alone up to this point.

Men absolutely divided as between themselves were united on this occasion … The Pharisees would say, This thing can be, there can be signs out of heaven, but He cannot produce them; therefore let us ask Him to do it. The Sadducees would say, There could be no sign out of heaven, so you are safe in asking Him to do it. We have two opposing ideas, but united in their opposition to Him. And so in a common hostility to Him, a common desire to see His defeat, these men came to Him.

Jesus Christ did not say these men were wrong. They came to criticize Him, but they went away criticized; they came to measure Him, but they went away measured. — Morgan, pages 204-206.

testing Him (v.1) — they did not believe He could do what they asked

the sign of the prophet Jonah (v.4) — Christ’s death and resurrection (Matthew 12:38-40; John 2:18-22)

adulterous (v.4) = faithless, treacherous

Being familiar with the prophets they knew that certain signs had been indicated therein which were to take place before the manifestation of the Messiah; so they came to Jesus, without any desire to know the truth, but simply as tempting or testing Him, asking that He show them a sign from heaven. They meant a sign indicating that the Messianic age was a hand. Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief. They were quite able to read the signs of the heavens in regard to matters of weather or climatic conditions, but they were absolutely unable to discern the signs of the times. Had their eyes been opened they would have realized that all the miraculous works of Jesus were in themselves the signs of the age to come and told of the presence of the King. Messiah was in their midst. No other sign would be given to them until the sign of the prophet Jonah. — Ironsides, pages 200-201

29 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.

30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them.

31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

33 Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”

34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”

35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 

37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.

38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

39 And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.

This is a separate occasion from that recorded in Matthew 14:13-21 — See Matthew 16:9-10.

Mark 7:31 states that Jesus traveled through Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. Many Gentiles lived in this region, which has led many to the conclusion that the multitude was, largely or in part, Gentile. This may be, but the Bible doesn’t say one way or another. There were Jews living there too, so there’s no reason to conclude that Jesus’s ministry wasn’t to Jews. Some of my commentaries say that the disciples didn’t understand why Jesus would feed Gentiles, which explains their question (v.33) about where they would get the food. This part of their explanation makes no sense to me because 1) that wasn’t what they asked, and 2) if, in fact, Jesus had just spent three days healing Gentiles, I doubt they would have questioned why He would feed them.

His destination was further to the south, in the borders of Decapolis, the territory of the ten allied Greek free cities. This region lay to the east of the Jordan and extended possibly from Damascus on the north to the river Jabbok, which was the border of Perea to the south. The ten cities were occupied by heathen people, the Jews never having recovered them after the Babylonian captivity. The reception accorded to Jesus on arrival in this semi-pagan district seems to have been favorable. Christ apparently was avoiding the territory over which Herod Antipas ruled because the Jews were seeking Herod’s help in order to destroy Him. — Pentecost, page 245.

came (v.30) = a great rush, a hurrying

He healed them (v.30) — this went on for three days (v.32)

baskets (v.37) = hampers or market-baskets, much larger containers than those mentioned in Matthew 14:20

Magadan (v.39) — or Magdala, a small town outside Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee (where Mary Magdalene was from)

21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, 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, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Tyre and Sidon (v.21) — Along the coast northwest of the Sea of Galilee — outside Herod’s jurisdiction. This is the only recorded instance during His ministry when the Lord left Palestine.

woman of Canaan (v.22) — Mark 7:26 says she was Greek (meaning Gentile), a Syro-Phoenician by birth.

send her away (v.23) — Based on the way Jesus responds (in v.24), it is probable that the disciples were urging Him to give her what she wanted so she would go away.

dogs (v.26) = little dogs, pets

Most of my commentaries explain this passage with some ideas that make sense to me, but none of them paint the whole picture, so I’ll summarized in my own words.

Jesus came as the Messiah of Israel. His ministry was only to the Jews. When this Gentile woman approached Him as the Son of David, she had no claim on Him. She was one of those who were … without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12). On this basis, He said nothing.

When the disciples asked Him (probably) to give her what she wanted so they could be rid of her, He explained, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (v.24). 

She asked Him again to help her daughter, this time dropping her claim. He again explained the higher position of Israel, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs” (v.26).

She then asked a third time, and this time she worded her request in such a way that Jesus could grant her request. “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

The word “masters'” is plural. She wasn’t referring to Him as her master but to those who were fed at the table — the Jews. She had come to the understanding that her blessing could only come through Israel.

This is where my commentaries miss the point, in my opinion. This experience wasn’t given to us to show that salvation was about to be taken from Israel and given to the Gentiles. The Lord was still teaching the kingdom message. A major point of that kingdom message is that the nations will be blessed through Israel. This passage underlines that point exactly.

10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand:

11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.

14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

15 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

16 So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding?

17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?

18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

defiles (v.11) = makes profane

let them alone (v.14) = take no notice

is eliminated (v.17) = lit. “into the latrine”

blasphemies (v.19) = injurious speech — criticism, libel, etc.

Christ used this confrontation as an opportunity to teach them what constituted uncleanness in the sight of God. The Pharisees considered themselves to be clean within and therefore wholly acceptable to God. According to their thinking, only that which touched them from outside could render them unclean and defiled in the sight of God. Christ repudiated this erroneous doctrine and taught that the seat of uncleanness and defilement is not external but internal (Mark 7:15). This concept was so strange to even the Twelve that when they were alone with Christ, they asked him to interpret this saying. Christ explained very clearly that it is not that which touches a man from without that defiles what was clean, but rather the uncleanness comes from within. — Pentecost, page 243.

1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,

2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

4 For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’

5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”—

6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.

7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.

9 And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

tradition of the elders (v.2) — The Jews of our Lord’s time believed that, in addition to the written law of Moses, there was an oral law given to Moses on Sinai and passed down from him by word of mouth till it reached the Great Synagogue or Council of Elders which succeeded Ezra after the return from the exile. This council lasted until 291 B.C. and seems to have been the source of the many accretions to the law of God which have been found in Judaism. — KJV Commentary, page 1204.

wash (v.2) — They were concerned with the ritual, not with cleanliness.

Mark refers to the traditional custom of the Pharisees, which had become general among the people, not to eat without diligently washing their hands. Indeed these ablutions had grown to be exceedingly numerous and very binding. Before and after every meal and whenever they came from the marketplace or town square, they had to wash or take a bath according to certain ceremonial restrictions. All cups, pots, and brazen vessels as well as tables and perhaps dining couches must be thoroughly cleansed. The Pharisees carried their ablutions to such an extent, as to completely overshadow with their ritual the fundamental moral principles of the Scriptures.

The Pharisees claimed that these oral traditions had been handed down in part from Moses, consisted partly of decisions made by the judges from time to time and partly of explanations and opinions of eminent teachers. The body of these traditions continued to accumulate until after the time of Christ, when they were codified in the Mishna and its commentaries. Traditional rites and restrictions stood higher in the esteem of the Jews than their Scriptures. Where Scripture and tradition seemed opposed, the latter was treated as the higher authority. — Pentecost, page 240

honor (v.4) — provide for

Honor your father and your mother (v.4) — Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16

He who curses … (v.4) — Exodus 21:17

Isaiah (v.7) — Isaiah 29:13

Christ replied in Matthew 15:8-9 to the question of the leaders by referring them to the Scriptures. He quoted Isaiah 29:13 where the prophet revealed that God would not accept the worship of the nation because they were concerned with external observations and did not worship Him with the heart …

Christ now proceeded to show how the Pharisees had very cleverly used their traditions to find ways of circumventing the stringent requirements of the law. He quoted the law of Moses, which required a son to support an indigent parent. This put a financial responsibility on the son. The Pharisees by their tradition had found a way to circumvent the law and absolve themselves of this responsibility. They ceremonially dedicated all that they had to God by pronouncing the word Corban over and over (Mark 7:11) …

It must not be thought that the pronunciation of the votive word “Corban,” although meaning “a gift,” or “given to God,” necessarily dedicated a thing to the Temple. The meaning might simply be, and generally was, that it was to be regarded like Corban — that is, in regard to the person or persons named, the thing termed was to be considered as if it were Corban, laid on the altar, and put entirely out of their reach. Pentecost, pages 242-243.

28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

34 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret.

35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick,

36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.

Gennesaret (v.34) — on the plain northwest of the Sea of Galilee between Capernaum and Tiberias

Christ explained the reason that Peter began to sink. Peter had obeyed the command of Christ. He had begun the walk by faith. But the fact that he began his walk by exercising faith did not mean that he could stop walking by faith. When Peter ceased to walk by faith, even though in the will of God and in the presence of Christ, he began to sink. Christ brought Peter to the boat, and it was then that “the wind died down” (Matthew 14:32). Those in the boat had seen Christ walk on the water. They had seen Peter walk on the water, and they had seen Christ rescue and restore Peter when he failed in his walk by faith. Now their response was to cry out, “Truly you are the Son of God” (v.33). — Pentecost, page 235

22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.

23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.

24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

Also found in Mark 6:47-52 and John 6:16-21.

made (v.22) = compelled, by threat, entreaty, force or persuasion

evening (v.23) — probably around 6:00 pm

in the middle (v.24) — The Sea of Galilee is about six miles wide at this point. (It’s eight miles at its widest and 13 miles at its longest.)

fourth watch (v.25) — between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m.

The Sea of Galilee is tucked between hills and is subject to violent storms. Several of the disciples were fishermen who knew boats well. In at least nine hours, they had only managed between three and four miles of rowing. It would have been easier, I imagine, for them to turn the boat around and run before the wind. But their loyalty to Christ, who said to meet Him on the other side, or His compelling them to go — or probably both — kept them rowing.