Mat 16:17 Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] to you, but my Father which is in heaven.

This is one of the few verses that Christ addresses to a specific person but, as always, the lesson is for all of us. In the previous verse, Christ makes the distinction between public views and private views, infering that the public is wrong. Here Christ tells why. We don't get the truth from our relationships with other people. The truth comes only from our relationship with God, the spiritual source. Our relationships, especially our public ones, somehow conflict with the truth.

Alternative version: Good for you, Simon Barjona, for your relationships with people have not uncovered this for you but my Father who is in heaven.

"Blessed" is markarios, which means "blessed," "happy," and "prosperous."

"Flesh" is sarx, which means "flesh," "the body," and "meat."

"Blood" is haima, which means "blood," "bloodshed," and "kindship."

"Flesh and blood" are Christ's symbols for the relationship we have with others people.

"Revealed" is apokaluptô, means "uncover," "reveal," and "unmask."

Mat 16:13 Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? '
Mat 16:15 But whom do you say that I am?

This is one of the few verses in which the original Greek read so closely to the English that further examination is unnecessary. Just as rarely, Christ uses no symbolism here. The simplicity of these question makes it stand out as something special.

These two questions illustrate the conflict that Christ sees between society and the individual. When he talks about the opinions of "men" or people in general (anthropos), he never expects the crowd to be correct. On the contrary, Christ teaches that the judgments of society are always wrong. It is almost as if the opinions that we express in public and which the public finds interesting as gossip or, today, as news, have to be wrong. The truth that we can known in this world is always a personal, private matter.

Those that try to paint Christ as a social reformed have it exactly wrong. Christ taught that the only real transformation is personal and private.

Mat 16:11 How is it that you do not understand that I spoke [it] not to you concerning bread, that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

At this point in the Gospels, Christ expects us to understand the nature of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. His use of symbols in his language is very precise. Unlike human writers, he is perfectly consistent. Bread is a symbol (the main one) for the physical. Leaven is a symbol for the spiritual. The physical arises from the spirtual. Christ use leaven to describe the kingdom of heaven that changes everything by changing the spirit within it. However, the same is true of the spirit of the priest and powerful, the worldly spirit, which also mixes into everything.

This might be a good time to discuss the distinction that Christ draws between spiritual ideas and mental thoughts. Spiritual ideas or concepts exist independent of any real person or thing. The number "two,"for example, exists as an concept independent of any two things. It is perfectly real even without tangible form. Such concepts are real without form even if no one knows them. For example, the number "pi" existed even before people knew about it an used it. Spiritual ideas inspire and shape thoughts, but they are not the thoughts themselves. Once people know about "pi" the can use the idea and it can shape their actions.This is what Christ means by "spirit," the real concepts underlying reality.

Only God's concepts underly physical reality. When we get into the realm of relationships, the emotional, God's concepts contend with human concepts. Christ's role is to bring the kingdom of heaven, that is, God's concepts, back to human relationships and human society. This is his "leaven." These concepts must contend against those of organized religion and the state. He is warning the apostles that it is very easy to mix spiritual and worldly ideas.

People mix up Christ's ideas with worldly ideas to all the time. Christ, on the other hand, taught that religion and politics don't mix. Period. Religion is about your personal relationship with God not about reforming society. Christ says this a hundred different ways. If individuals embrace God through Christ's ideas, we will automatically reform society. This can only be done without the coercion of government. However, it this does not mean that people simply ignore what is wrong. It means that they confront it and challenge it on the basis of their faith.

"Understand" is from noeô, which means "to perceive with the eyes," "to perceive with the mind," and "to observe."

"Bread" is from artos, the same word translated as "loaves" in the previous verses.

"Beware" is from prosechô, which means "to hold to," "to offer," "to turn toward a thing," and "to pay attention." Only in the NT is it ever translated as "beware."

Mat 16:9 Do you not yet understand, nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?
Mat 16:10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up?

Again, the subject is bread, Christ's symbol for the physical body and physical world. Christ here points out that physical needs are taken care of by God. The apostles saw proof of this with their own eyes.

"Understand" is from noeô, which means "to perceive with the eyes," "to perceive with the mind," and "to observe."

"Remember" is from mnêmoneuô, which means to "call to mind," "to remember," and "to think of."

"Loaves" is from artos, the same word translated as "bread."

"Took up" if from lambanô, which in the previous verse was translated as "brought" but which means "to take," "to seize," "to catch," "to apprehend with the senses."

Mat 16:8 Oh you of little faith, why reason you among yourselves because you have brought no bread?

This verse have two meanings that are not apparent. Christ is telling the apostles that you cannot find the meaning of his words by debating them. He is also telling them that they are arguing among themselves because they cannot perceive what is right in front of them. "Bread" is Christ's symbol for physical reality, the theme of this chapter and the last.

A better translation: Believing little, why debate among yourselves because you brought no bread?

A symbolic translation: You little pills, why argue among yourselves because you cannot sense physical reality?

"Oh, you of little faith," is just one word, oligopistos, which is from two Greek words. Pistos means "believing," "trustful," "obedient," and "loyal." Oligos means "little," "small," and "weak." There is also a pun here because pistos also means "liquid medicine" so this is also like calling someone a "little pill."

"Reason" is from dialogizomai, which means "to calculate exactly," "to add up account," "to debate," and "to argue."

"You have brought" is from lambanô, which means "to take," "to seize," "to catch," "to apprehend with the senses."

Mat 16:6 Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

This statement confuses the apostles, but it is perfectly consistent with Christ's uses of symbols. For Christ, "bread" symbolizes the physical body, but "leaven" is the spirit that motivates the body. In his previous verse, Christ uses the Jonah analogy (another symbol for the physical world) to say that all the Pharisees and Sadducees will ever accept is physical proof. He here is warning his followers in terms that translate as relating purely to the physical world not to be infected by this spirit of materialism.

A most accurate translation: See and pay attention to the leaven of the Pharisee and Sadducees.
A symbolic translation: Look and behold the physical spirit of the priests and authorities.

"Take heed" is from horaô, which means "to see with the eyes," "to look," and "to observe."

"Beware" is from prosechô, which means "to hold to," "to offer," "to turn toward a thing," and "to pay attention." Only in the NT is it ever translated as "beware."

Mat 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Symbolically, there is a lot going on here below the surface, but it is always interesting to see how Christ describes those of whom he doesn't approve., He doesn't call them "wicked" (as it seems here), "evil," or "bad." This is his most common description, which translates more accurately as"the worthless and unfaithful sorts." These are the people who need to have everything proven and guaranteed to their satisfaction.

Symbolically, however, the key concept here is "the sign of Jonah." Jonah was the prophet who was swallowed by a fish because he didn't want to preach to Israel's enemies in order to save them. Jonah wanted them punished. A parallel is drawn between Jonah spending three nights in the belly of a fish and Christ spending three nights in the heart of the earth, but this parallel misses the contrasting symbolism. The belly and fish are symbols for the physical aspect of life. The heart and the earth are symbols for feeling and emotional relationships. The sign of Jonah refers both to Christ's resurrection and to the problems that this type of people have with anything beyond the physical.

"Wicked" is from ponêros, which is usually translated as "evil" in the NT, but which means "oppressed by toils," "worthless," and "good for nothing."

"Adulterous" is from moichalis, which is from the Greek word for "an adulterous woman." It was also a metaphor for being unfaithful to the gods.

"Generation" is from genea, which means "race," "family," "generation," "class," and "kind." It is a from of the word that we get the scientific "genus" from.

"Seeks" is from epizêteô, which means "to seek after," "to wish," "to miss," and "to request."

Mat 16:3 And in the morning, foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. Oh, you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky; but can you not [discern] the signs of the times?

When I read this in English, I thought the "time" would be aiôn, the Greek word most often used in the New Testment meaning this age, this generation, or our times. However, Christ is saying something much more specific here. The word he uses for "time" is kairos, which has the sense of a critical point in time. The word for "sky" here is, as in the last verse," the same word used for "heaven." So Christ is saying that we can distinguish the appearance of heaven, symbolically, what God wants, but we cannot see the critical junctures or decisions in our lives.

"Foul weather" is from cheimôn, which means "winter" or "wintry, stormy weather."

"Lowering" is from stugnazô, which means "to have a gloomy, lowering look."

"Discern" is from diakrinô, which means "to separate," "to discriminate," "to distinguish," and "to decide." It captures the idea of telling one thing from another. It also means "to question" or "to doubt." In the Gospels, it is most often translated as "doubt" and second most often translated as "judge."

"Face" is from prosôpon, which means "face," "front," and "facade." It generally means the appearance of things.

"Sign" is from sêmeion, which means "sign," or "signal.

"Times" is from kairos, which means "due measure," "fitness," "measure," "vital part," "exact or critical time," "opportunity," and generally, "season." There is a sense in the word of a special time or point, rather than any time or place.

Mat 16:2 When it is evening, you say, fair weather: for the sky is red.

This verse and the next are common knowledge among people who live close to nature. "Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight." There is an interesting connection here between fire and heaven. Fire is usually associated in Christianity with punishment, but reading the Greek, Christ is more often referring to the productive use of fire, the baking of bread. Here, however, he is focusing specifically on using the appearance of things and their timing to predict the future.

"Fair weather" is from eudia, which means "fair weather" and is a metaphor for tranquility and peace.

"Sky" is from ouranos, the word translated as "heaven," the dwelling place of God. It means the "vault of heaven" specifically, that arc of the sky. The same word is used to describe the ceiling of a vaulted room, the roof of the mouth, and a tent or pavilion. It is also used to mean a "lid."

"Red" is from purrazô, which means "flame colored sky." It is from purros, which means "flame-colored."

Mat 15:34 How many loaves do you have?

This chapter began with the Pharisees accusing Christ's followers of being impure for eating bread without washing. Christ goes on to explain that it is what comes out of people, not what goes into them, that makes them impure.The chapter then goes to the woman of Canaan, who begs Christ to cure her daughter, where bread is used again as a symbol. It is interesting that the chapter returns to the topic of bread again at its end, with Christ asking his apostles and us, how much bread do we have?

This final question may seem trivial. After all, it precedes the miracle of the loaves and fishes, where four thousand are fed. The starting amount hardly matters. Why then does Christ ask? I believe it is because he is asking us to focus on his use of "bread" as a symbol for physical life. In asking us how much physical life we have, he is asking a question that we cannot answer. He is pointing to the fact that we don't know exactly how many years we will get, but that it is limited. By multiplying the bread in this miracle, he is telling us that God can mulitply our physical life.

We have to understand that Christ is consistent in his symbolism. Bread stands for the physical reality, that is, the temporary nature of life. He makes this clear describing what goes into our mouth as eventually going into the sewer. He uses bread when talking to the Canaanite as a symbol for the physical health of her daughter. At the end of the chapter, the bread is needed to sustain the temporary physical condition of his audience.

As an aside, I know traditional Christianity doesn't believe in reincarnation, but there are many subtle indiciations in Christ's words that point toward the multiplication of physical life. This multiplication of the loaves is one of them.

In every part of the chapter, the word translated both as "bread" and "loaves" is the same in Greek. It is artos , which was a thin 1/2 inch thick round or loaf of wheat bread, meant to be torn into pieces and not cut.