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Matthew 16:21-28

• Reading the Text:
  • NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
  • Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
  • The Bible Gateway: NRSV, RSV, NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
  • The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Greek text with concordance, commentaries.
  • The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary (Matthew Henry, Wesley's Notes, Geneva Notes, etc) & sermons.
• Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
  • The Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto.
  • Comparative World Scriptures from United Communities of Spirit:
    • "Cosmic Justice"
    • "Reversal and Restoration" 
    • "Self-Sacrifice" 
    • "Separation from the World"
  • "Before the Angels," "Saving One's Life," "Carrying One's Cross," The Jesus Database, an online annotated inventory of the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus. Dr. Gregory C. Jenks, FaithFutures Foundation.
  • Chapter VI, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, Ignatius of Antioch (c. 50 - 115). (Some MSS omit the quotation.)
  • Chapter XV, The First Apology of Justin Martyr. (c 150)
  • Chapter C, Dialogue With Trypho, Justin Martyr. (c 160)
  • III.XVIII.4, Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons. (c. 180)
  • IV.6, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200) (scroll down for chapter 6)
  • Chapter LV, On The Soul, Tertullian (c. 210)
  • Chapter XII, On Idolatry, Tertullian (c. 211)
  • Chapter XV, Scorpiace,  Tertullian (c. 213)
  • Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, St. Chrysostom (c. 380):
    • Homily LV - Matthew 16:24
    • Homily LVI - Matthew 16:28
  • From the Catena Aurea, Patristic Commentary by St Thomas Aquinas.
  • From the Geneva Notes.
    • "No men do more harm to themselves, than they that love themselves more than God."
  • From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
    • "A true disciple of Christ is one that does follow him in duty, and shall follow him to glory."
  • From Wesley's Notes.
    • "Should we not consider all crosses, all things grievous to flesh and blood, as what they really are, as opportunities of embracing God's will at the expense of our own?"
  • The Important Question (Matt 16:26). Sermon by John Wesley.
    • "Religion is the love of God and our neighbour; that is, every man under heaven. This love ruling the whole life, animating all our tempers and passions, directing all our thoughts, words, and actions, is 'pure religion and undefiled.'"
  • From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
    • "If a man makes the present world--in its various forms of riches, honors, pleasures, and such like--the object of supreme pursuit, be it that he gains the world; yet along with it he forfeits his own soul."
  • From The People's New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
    • "Christ saw in the words of Peter a suggestion not so much of his as of Satan's. It was a temptation to shrink from the work for which he came. It was the same temptation that called out from him the same rebuke once before."
• Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
  • "Peter," Frederick Buechner, Buechner Blog.
    • "From fisher of fish to fisher of people to keeper of the keys to shepherd. It was the Rock's final promotion, and from that day forward he never let the head office down again."
  • Commentary, Matthew 16:21-28, James Boyce, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.
    • "The kingdom is becoming present in that resurrected life of the Messiah in each of our communities where this confession and life are bound together in the responsible exercise of love and mercy for the world."
  • "Jesus Has No Part Time Disciples," Greg Carey, Matthew 16:21-28, ON Scripture, 2011. Commentary and association with current news events, links and videos. Also posted at Huffington Post Religion.
    • "It does no good for preachers to rehearse Jesus’ extreme demands while congregations sit in well-cushioned and air-conditioned sanctuaries.  Preachers must level with our congregations.  Precious few of us lay everything on the line for the gospel, but neither can we ignore its call."
  • "The Good News about Being Lost," Fr. Rick Morley, a garden path, 2011.
  • "We should steep ourselves in this passage, and mindset, until we get to the point when we’re able to turn the old evangelical question on it’s head, and ask ourselves: Are we lost?"
  • Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection, audio telling, story in episodes, graphic, audio and written commentaries. Go Tell Communications, Biblical Storytelling for the Global Village, 2011.
  • "How long to sing this song?" Unvirtuous Abbey, The Hardest Question, 2011.
  • "When everything seems so wrong, how do you speak up for what is right?"
  • "Jesus' Passion and Ours," Alyce McKenzie, Edgy Exegesis, Patheos, 2011.
  • "This is the first inkling we get of Peter's complex character and of troubled waters ahead,"
  • Holy Textures, Understanding the Bible in its own time and in ours, Matthew 16:21-28, David Ewart, 2011.
  • "Peter rebukes Jesus. Jesus rebukes Peter. Calls Peter - or at least Peter's rebuke - Satan. That is, Tempter, Snake in the Garden, Introducer of Hesitation, Mixer of Motivations, Flaunter of Red Herrings, Side-Tracker of Mission, Setter of One's Mind on Human Things. Well, fear of pain and death will do that to most people, and Peter was no exception."
  • Comentario del Evangelio por Alvin Padilla, San Mateo 16:21-28, Working Preacher, 2011.
  • Preaching Matthew 16:21-28, Anna Carter Florence, Lectionary Homiletics, 2011.
    • "Do you find it easier to talk about the cross, or to preach about it, than to show it?"
  • Commentary, Matthew 16:21-28, Clayton Schmit, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
  • Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
  • Dylan's Lectionary Blog, Proper 17. Biblical Scholar Sarah Dylan Breuer looks at readings for the coming Sunday in the lectionary of the Episcopal Church.
    • "As we follow Jesus, things will change -- us, our relationships, our world. Change means losing things as they were, but if we've caught Jesus' vision for how God is redeeming the world, we know that what we gain is of far greater value than the chains we lose."
  • "First Thoughts on Year A Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 11, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
    • "Sometimes these texts have been expounded in a way that has led people to expect that they should not value themselves and that has led to a kind of inverse hypocrisy, where one parades before oneself that one is of no value - usually a lie and certainly a denial of the gospel. The true nurture of the self is to love ourselves as God loves us."
  • "The Tension of Discipleship," Mary Hinkle, Pilgrim Preaching.
    • "Our hope for the sharing of the good news of Jesus Christ is not that Peter or the rest of us who are fishing for people will get better, clearer, louder, quieter, more trusting, or less cowardly but that God will keep revealing himself and his merciful and just rule through his Son to human beings quite apart from their goodness, clarity, trust and courage."
  • Exegetical Notes by Brian Stoffregen at CrossMarks Christian Resources.
    • "Our text is about the difficult task of following Jesus. Why do we do it? Why do we encourage others to do it?"
  • "Defining Moment," Deanna Langle, The Christian Century, 2005.
    • "The way of the cross is the way of faith -- of claiming life and truth in the face of everything that tells us not to."
  • "Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Matthew 16:21-26," Transformed for Disciple Community: Matthew in Pentecost, James L. Boyce, Word & World: Theology for Christian Ministry, Luther Northwestern Theological School, 1993.
  • "Following the Crucified Lord," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed textual notes.
  • "Live for Tomorrow," Larry Broding's Word-Sunday.Com: A Catholic Resource for This Sunday's Gospel. Adult Study, Children's Story, Family Activity, Support Materials.
    • "Why is it easier for us to focus on today than the future? Why do we make decisions for the future based upon today's needs?"
  • Sermon Preparation Thoughts and Questions by Wesley White, 2005.
    • "Our tendency is to do what we have been good at in the past -- to do it over and over again, even past its effectiveness...The call here is to recognize our tendency to back off from engaging larger thoughts that push us into what appears to be risks on behalf of a yet unfocused future."
  • Matthew in the Margins, by Brian McGowan, Anglican priest in Western Australia.
  • Wellspring of the Gospel, Ordinary 22A, Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn Turner, Weekly Wellsprings.
  • "What Will It Profit?" Jerry Goebel, One Family Outreach. "Focus on scripture from a justice perspective." Exegesis, study, and teen study and activities.
    • "Christ is inviting us to liberate ourselves from ourselves so that we might be completely free to love selflessly. It is to this freedom of humble service that Jesus calls us; the freedom that only occurs when we no longer live to take but to give; we live forgiving."
  • "The Call to Costly Obedience (Matthew 16:24-28)," John C. Purdy. Chapter 7 in Returning God's Call: The Challenge of Christian Living. At Religion Online.
    • "Jesus calls us to costly obedience. Discipleship comes with a price tag shaped in the form of a cross. To follow him is to set foot on that blazed trail that leads to the city where the powers of destruction are lodged."
  • Matthew 16:21-28, at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary's An Exegetical Study of the Common Lectionary, coordinated by Prof. John E. Alsup, features rough translation, disposition, immediate context, broader context, hermeneutical bridge, and contemporary address.
    • "People today live in a dream world. We have it entirely too easy and too good to be bothered with death, ours and/or others. We need this text’s Reality Check, regarding death and resurrection."
• Articles & Background:
  • "Second Coming," wikipedia.
• Recommended articles from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are linked below. ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices. Annotated list of "starting place" articles at ATLAS for this week's texts (includes direct links).
  • Boyce, James L., "Transformed for Disciple Community: Matthew in Pentecost," Word & World, 1993. (Section on this text begins on page 311.)
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Carter, Warren, "Matthew's Gospel: An Anti-Imperial/Imperial Reading," Currents in Theology and Mission, 2007. See entire issue of Currents in Theology and Mission 34, image focus on Matthew's gospel.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Clark, John C., "Martin Luther's View of Cross-Bearing," Bibliotheca Sacra, 2006.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Dahlberg, Bruce T., "The Typological Use of Jeremiah 1:4-19 in Matthew 13-23," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1975.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Efird, James M., "Matthew 16:21-27, Expository Article," Interpretation, 1981.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • "Homiletical Helps on LSB Series A," Concordia Journal, 2005. (Section on this text begins on page 233)
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerial
  • Krentz, Edgar, "Living Faithfully - Nevertheless," The Christian Century, 1996.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Langle, Deanna, "Defining Moment," The Christian Century, 2005.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Samra, James G., "A Biblical View of Discipleship," Bibliotheca Sacra, 2003.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
  • Stoutenburg, Dennis C., "'Out of My Sight!', 'Get Behind Me!', or 'Follow after Me!': There Is No Choice in God's Kingdom," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1993.
      EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
      EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
• Reviews:
• Sermons:
  • Bearing Our Cross With Jesus, Richard Gribble, SermonStudio.
  • "The Way to Life Goes through Death," Sigurd Grindheim, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
  • "The Good Life," the Rev. Dr. Gary Charles, Day 1, 2005.
  • "Finding Life," 15 Pentecost - 28 August 2005, Walter W. Harms, Göttinger Predigten im Internet: Every Sunday Sermons based on the RCL by a team of Lutheran theologians/ pastors.
  • "He Who Is The Christ," Paul Tillich, from The Shaking of the Foundations, 1955. At Religion Online.
  • "A Sermon on Matthew 16:24-25," Geerhardus Vos, in Kerux: The Online Journal of Biblical Theology (Reformed)
  • Father Andrew M. Greeley, "Priest, Author, Sociologist," Commentary and Homily
    • Ordinary 22, 2011
    • Ordinary 22, 2005
    • Ordinary 22, 2002
    • Ordinary 22, 1999
    • Ordinary 22, 1996
• With Children:
  • Worshiping with Children, Proper 17, Including children in the congregation's worship, using the Revised Common Lectionary, Carolyn C. Brown, 2011.
  • "Children's Literature: A Resource for Ministry," August 21 & 28 (scroll down for Aug 28), 2011, Union Presbyterian Seminary. Connections: Matthew 16:21-28 and Miss Tizzy by Libby Moore Gray and Jada Rowland.
  • Take up your cross, Leah Thompson, CSSPlus.
  • "The Whistle," Charles Kirkpatrick, Sermons4kids.com.
  • "Jesus Tells the Disciples that He Must Suffer," Sunday School Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc.
• Drama:
  • "A Costly Business," David Winfield, dramatix.
  • "Building for the Present," Tom Woodley, dramatix.
  • "Looking Out for Number One," Erina Caradus, dramatix.
• Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
  • Clip Art, Matthew 16:24, Fr. Richard Lonsdale, Resources for Catholic Educators.
  • Clip Art Images: Matthew 16:21-27, Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú.
  • Matthew 16:21-27, Matthew 16:24-28, Matthew 16:24-28, Liturgical Drawing, Maria d.c. Zamora, Claretian Resources, Philippines. ("Download and use these for free.")
  • Matthew 16:21-28, at Cerezo Barredo's weekly gospel illustration. Liberation emphasis.
  • Matthew 16:13-20, Scripture Pics - graphics relating to RCL texts, Matt Baker, Germantown UMC, Ohio.
• Hymns and Music:
  • "O God, You Love the Needy," Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, ties in this week's lectionary texts with the issue of famine in Africa. LLANGLOFFAN 7.6.7.6.D (Lead On, O King Eternal; Rejoice, Rejoice Believers).
  • "Tell Me, Dear Tree," Hymn based on John 3:14-18, Matthew 16:24-26, Mark 8:34-37, and Luke 9:23-25, Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, 2012.
  • Contemporary/Praise Song suggestions, Together to Celebrate, David MacGregor.
  • Hymnary.org, hymns, scores, media, information.
  • Hymns with Scripture Allusions: Matthew 16:24, 26, 27. The Cyber Hymnal.
  • Hymn Selections, The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship.
  • "Take up Your Cross," "The Way," Brenton Prigge, NewHymn, a new, relevant hymn set to traditional tunes.
  • At Digital Hymnal (midi files, guitar chords, karaoke files, projection text):
    • Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone
• Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
  • Crucifixion - Carrying the Cross
• Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
  • Sacrifice
  • Redemption
  • Crucifixion
• Study Links and Resources for the Book of Matthew

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