Read the text.

1
Matthew 1615-23 He said to them, But who do you
say that I am? Simon Peter answered, You are
the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And
Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon son
of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell
you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of Hades will not
prevail against it. I will give you the keys of
the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he
sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone
that he was the Messiah. From that time on, Jesus
began to show his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the
hands of the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be
raised. And Peter took him aside and began to
rebuke him, saying, God forbid it, Lord! This
must never happen to you. But he turned and said
to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling stone to me for you are setting your
mind not on divine things but on human things.

• Read the text.
• Reflect (prayerfully or otherwise) on what youve
  read for a while.
• Pay attention to whatever comes to mind from your
  reading and reflection.
• Pay attention to any prior expectations you may
  have about the meaning of this text, and open
  them to whatever the text seems to say this time.

2
Matthew 1615-23 He said to them, But who do you
say that I am? Simon Peter answered, You are
the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And
Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon son
of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell
you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of Hades will not
prevail against it. I will give you the keys of
the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he
sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone
that he was the Messiah. From that time on, Jesus
began to show his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the
hands of the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be
raised. And Peter took him aside and began to
rebuke him, saying, God forbid it, Lord! This
must never happen to you. But he turned and said
to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling stone to me for you are setting your
mind not on divine things but on human things.

• Now read the text again.
• Pay attention to what might have appealed to you.
• Pay attention to what might have surprised,
  puzzled or bothered you.
• Be honest about what you find, even if you dont
  know how to put it all together.
• Discuss what youre beginning to see with others,
  and listen to what they are beginning to see.

3

• Now read the text again.
• Pay attention to its setting as part of a larger
  text or collection of texts.

Mark 829-33 He asked them, But who do you say
that I am? Peter answered him, You are the
Messiah. And he sternly ordered them not to tell
anyone about him. Then he began to teach them
that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering,
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests,
and the scribes, and be killed, and after three
days rise again. He said all this quite openly.
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
But turning and looking at his disciples, he
rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan!
For you are setting your mind not on divine
things but on human things.
Luke 920-22 He said to them, But who do you say
that I am? Peter answered, The Messiah of God.
He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell
anyone, saying, The Son of Man must undergo
great suffering, and be rejected by the elders,
chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on
the third day be raised.
Matthew 1615-23 He said to them, But who do you
say that I am? Simon Peter answered, You are
the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And
Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon son
of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell
you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of Hades will not
prevail against it. I will give you the keys of
the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he
sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone
that he was the Messiah. From that time on, Jesus
began to show his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the
hands of the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be
raised. And Peter took him aside and began to
rebuke him, saying, God forbid it, Lord! This
must never happen to you. But he turned and said
to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling stone to me for you are setting your
mind not on divine things but on human things.
4
Matthew 1617-19 And Jesus answered him, Blessed
are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood
has not revealed this to you, but my Father in
heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on
this rock I will build my church, and the gates
of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give
you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven.
Matthew 1815-22 If another member of the church
sins against you, go and point out the fault when
the two of you are alone. If the member listens
to you, you have regained that one. But if you
are not listened to, take one or two others along
with you, so that every word may be confirmed by
the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the
member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the
church and if the offender refuses to listen
even to the church, let such a one be to you as a
Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you,
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two
of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it
will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For
where two or three are gathered in my name, I am
there among them. Then Peter came and said to
him, Lord, if another member of the church sins
against me, how often should I forgive? As many
as seven times? Jesus said to him, Not seven
times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
Green Matthew only, but repeated
John 2022-23 When he had said this, he breathed
on them and said to them, Receive the Holy
Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them if you retain the sins of any,
they are retained. Is this an echo of
Matthew? Or does it reflect a common source of
Jesus sayings earlier than Matthew and John?
5
Matthew 1613-26 Now when Jesus came into the
district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man
is? And they said, Some say John the Baptist,
but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or
one of the prophets. He said to them, But who
do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, You
are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
White Matthew, Mark and Luke And Jesus
answered him, Blessed are you, Simon son of
Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this
to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you,
you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail
against it. I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth
will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth will be loosed in heaven. Orange
Matthew only Then he sternly ordered the
disciples not to tell anyone that he was the
Messiah. From that time on, Jesus began to show
his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and
undergo great suffering at the hands of the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter
took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying,
God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to
you. But he turned and said to Peter, Get
behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to
me for you are setting your mind not on divine
things but on human things. Yellow Matthew and
Mark Then Jesus told his disciples, If any want
to become my followers, let them deny themselves
and take up their cross and follow me. For those
who want to save their life will lose it, and
those who lose their life for my sake will find
it. For what will it profit them if they gain the
whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will
they give in return for their life?
6
Matthew 1615-23 He said to them, But who do you
say that I am? Simon Peter answered, You are
the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And
Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon son
of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell
you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of Hades will not
prevail against it. I will give you the keys of
the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he
sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone
that he was the Messiah. From that time on, Jesus
began to show his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the
hands of the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be
raised. And Peter took him aside and began to
rebuke him, saying, God forbid it, Lord! This
must never happen to you. But he turned and said
to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling stone to me for you are setting your
mind not on divine things but on human things.

• Now read the text again.
• Pay attention to its setting as part of a larger
  text or collection of texts.
• Imagine what the original setting for this text
  might have been.
• Imagine how it might have been received by
  different people at different times.
• Explore how different settings might affect how
  you read this text.
• Discuss what youre beginning to see with others,
  and listen to what they are beginning to see.

7
Matthew 1615-23 He said to them, But who do you
say that I am? Simon Peter answered, You are
the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And
Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon son
of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell
you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of Hades will not
prevail against it. I will give you the keys of
the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he
sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone
that he was the Messiah. From that time on, Jesus
began to show his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the
hands of the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be
raised. And Peter took him aside and began to
rebuke him, saying, God forbid it, Lord! This
must never happen to you. But he turned and said
to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling stone to me for you are setting your
mind not on divine things but on human things.

• Now read the text again.
• Pay attention to any new insights (sometimes they
  are old insights renewed).
• Start consulting what other reputed experts have
  said about this text, its original and later
  settings, etc. www.therevdrcharleswallen.com/0828
  05srm.doc
• (Its OK if you already knew a bit about this
  beforehand, but dont focus on any of this before
  youve gotten to this stage.)
• How does this affect your reading?
• Discuss what youre beginning to see with others,
  and listen to what they are beginning to see.

8
Reading a Text for Insight Final Reminders

• Personal At every stage, keep asking yourself
  how the world of the text intersects with your
  world
• What assumptions about reality do you bring to
  your reading?
• Are there other viable (to you) assumptions that
  would make a difference?
• How, if at all, does reading this text affect how
  you might live, and how you might view your life
  and the lives of others?
• Does it challenge your assumptions about reality,
  or does it confirm them?
• With Others When differences arise, see if they
  can be reconciled if not, try these options
• Maybe the meaning of the text is too engaging for
  just one approach.
• Maybe some people are just honestly mistaken
  (could I be one of them?).
• Maybe some people are not fully honest (could I
  be one of them?).
• Repeat these stages as often as seems helpful.