Theophylact Bulgarian. Interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 16:20. Then Jesus forbade His disciples not to tell anyone that He is Jesus Christ.
Christ wanted to hide His glory in the shadow until the cross. If people heard before suffering that He is God, then saw Him suffering, how would they not be tempted? So, He hides Himself from many in order to be known without temptation after the resurrection, when the Spirit through miracles will smooth everything out.
Matthew 16:21. From that time on, Jesus began to reveal to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer much from the elders and high priests and scribes, and be killed, and rise again on the third day.
The Lord tells the disciples in advance about His suffering, so that when it comes unexpectedly, they will not be tempted, thinking that He did not foresee and suffered against His will. When they found out, thanks to Peter's confession that He is the Son of God, then reveals to them about His sufferings. But joins the sad and joyful, that on the third day he will awaken from death.
Matthew 16:22. And, recalling Him, Peter began to rebel against Him: be merciful to yourself, Lord! may this not be with you!
What was revealed, this Peter confessed correctly, but regarding what was not revealed, he was mistaken, so that we understand that apart from God he is not I would have spoken that great one. So, not wanting Christ to suffer, and not knowing the mystery of the resurrection, the apostle says: “Be merciful to yourself, Lord! may this not be with you. '
Matthew 16:23. But he, turning, said to Peter: Get away from Me, Satan! you are a temptation to me! because you do not think about what is God's, but what is human.
For what Peter correctly said, Christ blesses him, but for the fact that he was unreasonably afraid and wished that He would not suffer, he reproaches, saying: “Get away from Me, Satan! By 'Satan' is meant the adversary. So, “get away from Me,” that is, do not resist, but follow My will. He calls Peter so because Satan did not want Christ to suffer. He says: for human reasons, you think that suffering is indecent for Me. But you do not understand that God works through this salvation and that this is most befitting of Me.
Matthew 16:24. Then Jesus said to His disciples: if anyone wants to follow Me, deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow Me,
Then. When? When he denounced Peter. Wanting to show that Peter, keeping Him from suffering, sinned, says: You are holding Me back, but I tell you that not only that I will not suffer is harmful to you; but you also cannot be saved if you yourself do not die, like everyone else: man or woman, poor or rich. “If anyone wants ”- these words the Lord said to show that virtue is a matter of free choice, not compulsion. But Jesus is not followed by the one who only confesses Him as the Son of God, but also goes through all the horrors and endures them. “Deny yourself,” he said, meaning complete renunciation with the pretext “from”. For example, even if he has nothing to do with the body, he despises himself, as we used to say: such and such a person refuses such and such, instead of - he has neither friend nor acquaintance. So, everyone should have no love for the body in order to take up the cross, that is, choose death and diligently seek death, and a shameful death. For such was the death of the cross among the ancients. But he says, “and follow Me,” for many robbers and thieves are crucified on the cross, but those are not My disciples. So let him follow, that is, let him show every other virtue. The one who was dissolute yesterday, and today has become abstinent, rejects himself. Such was Paul, who rejected himself according to the word: “and it is no longer I who live, but lives in me
