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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 16

1 Now when the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He said, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather because the sky is red,’⁠ 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today because the sky is red and darkening.’ You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times.⁠ 4 A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away. 5 When the disciples went to the other side, they forgot to take bread. 6 “Watch out,” Jesus said to them, “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 So they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “It is because we brought no bread.” 8 When Jesus learned of this, he said, “You who have such little faith! Why are you arguing among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the 5,000, and how many baskets you took up? 10 Or the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many baskets you took up? 11 How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” 12 Then they understood that he had not told them to be on guard against the yeast in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 13 When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”⁠ 14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others 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, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”⁠ 17 And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.⁠ 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.⁠ Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.”⁠ 20 Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. 21 From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed and on the third day be raised. 22 So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.” 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.⁠ 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. 26 For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life?⁠ Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?⁠ 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.⁠ 28 I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Matthew 16:28 and 4 Ezra 6:26

New Testament · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Matthew 16, Jesus’ claim that some would not experience death before seeing the Son of Man’s kingdom parallels a similar saying in 4 Ezra, both texts likely reflecting the language of Jewish apocalyptic traditions.

Passages

Matthew 16:28

New Testament
26 For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

4 Ezra 6:26

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · 2 Esdras
24 At that time friends will make war against one another like enemies. The earth will stand in fear with those who dwell in it. The springs of the fountains will stand still, so that for three hours they won’t flow. 25 “It will be that whoever remains after all these things that I have told you of, he will be saved and will see my salvation, and the end of my world. 26 They will see the men who have been taken up, who have not tasted death from their birth. The heart of the inhabitants will be changed and turned into a different spirit. 27 For evil will be blotted out and deceit will be quenched. 28 Faith will flourish. Corruption will be overcome, and the truth, which has been so long without fruit, will be declared.”
70–132 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4 Ezra

References

"... In every case where the phrase “taste death” is used in the New Testament (compare Mark 9:1; Matt 16:28; Luke 9:27; Hebrews 2:9; also Sibylline Oracles 1.82), “death” follows “taste” so that we might say this word order is simply more likely than not, although as P. Oxy. 654 and perhaps 4 Ezra 6:26 show, it is not a necessary word order (for Greek retroversion of 4 Ezra, see Schlatter, Johannes, 218). Moreover, in the two other cases of seeing death in the New Testament (Luke 2:26; Hebrews 11:5), “death” follows “see”, unlike in John. In both cases, the phrase has the sense of literal, physical death ..."
Jeffrey Michael Tripp, “Remember the Word That I Told You: Direct Internal Quotation in the Gospel of John” (diss., Loyola University Chicago, 2016), 83.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Matthew 16:28 and 4 Ezra 6:26

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