Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 16:21

"From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up." — Matthew 16:21 (ASV)

This is not the first time Jesus alludes to his death (10:38; 12:40; cf. Jn 2:19; 3:14), but now he begins to discuss it openly with his disciples. The time for symbols and veiled language was largely over, now that they had recognized him as Messiah.

The prediction is remarkably detailed. Jesus must go to Jerusalem, though the “must” (GK 1256) of Jesus’ suffering lies not in unqualified determinism, nor in heroic determination (though some of both are present), but in willing submission to his Father’s will. At Jerusalem, the killer of prophets (23:37), he will suffer many things (more details specified in 20:19) at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law—the three groups that largely constituted the Sanhedrin . There he would be killed and rise again the third day .

How much of Jesus’ sayings about his death did the disciples understand before the event? The Gospel evidence points in two complementary directions. On the one hand, the disciples understood perfectly well; otherwise, for instance, Peter could not possibly have rebuked Jesus (v.22). On the other hand, they could not believe that Messiah would really be killed because their conceptions of the Messiah did not allow for a Suffering Servant. Therefore Peter dared to rebuke Jesus, and the disciples began to think Jesus’ predictions of his sufferings must be in some way nonliteral (Mark 9:10; see comment on Mt 17:4).