Matthew 14–17 is widely recognized as a section of the Gospel that is hard for readers to hold together. Matthew 1–13 is clearly structured, but what is going on in chapters 14–17? Here’s the main point of this post: The core textual unit in chapters 14–17 is Matthew 14:13–16:12. The concluding scene, Matthew 16:1–12, makes clear that 14:13–16:12 is the core textual unit.

The Core Textual Unit

I know that speaking about Matthew 14:13–16:12 as a textual unit is awkward, but the stories before and after 14:13–16:12 are metastructural scenes. By “metastructural,” I mean that the stories before and after 14:13–16:12 connect to high-level themes that run from the beginning to the end of Matthew. Once you see the metastructural bookends around 14:13–16:12, you are in a better position to see how the food miracles—the feeding the 5,000 and the feeding the 4,000—serve as their own bookends inside of 14:13–16:12.

This is where Matthew 16:1–12 comes in: It’s the concluding scene that reveals what the disciples should take away from the food miracles: They must recognize who Jesus is, which is made plain by the food miracles, and they must not let their expectations of what the Messiah “should be” cloud their vision, as the religious leaders do.

The Interpretive Key in Context

Here’s an overview of the stories in chapters 14–17. Chapter 14 opens with a story that foreshadows Jesus’s coming death and resurrection. Herod hears about Jesus and thinks that John has risen from the dead. By recounting Herod’s murder of John and subsequent fear that John has risen from the dead, the reader is prompted to remember that John and Jesus stories are related. The recollections of Herod’s deeds and his fear bring together for the reader the stories of John and Jesus. This is one of several stories where the character of John the Baptist, even after his death, foreshadows what is to come in the Gospel of Matthew (3:1–12; 11:1–19; 14:1–12; 17:1–13; 21:23–32)

14:13–23	Revelation 1: Feeding 5,000
14:24–33	Revelation 2: Walking on water
14:34–36	Revelation 3: “Healing in his wings”
15:1–11	Conflict-Separation 1a: Pharisees and Scribes at Gennesaret
15:12–20	Conflict-Revelation 1b: Explanation for his disciples
15:21–28	Revelation 4: “Son of David” among Tyre and Sidon
15:29–31	Revelation 5: “God of Israel” glorified in Galilee
15:32–39	Revelation 6: Feeding 4,000
16:1–12	Concluding Scene
	Conflict-Separation 2a: Pharisees and Sadducees at Magadan (16:1–4)
	Conflict-Revelation 2b: Explanation for his disciples (16:5–12)

Immediately after 14:13–16:12, the scenes of conflict reaches a climactic moment. This time the conflict isn’t between Jesus and the religious leaders; it’s between Jesus and Peter. Peter just proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, but as soon as Jesus takes the opportunity to begin telling his disciples plainly that he must suffer, die, and rise, Peter rebukes Jesus. According to Jesus, Peter is acting like Satan. Satan tried to get Jesus to choose an easier life (4:1–10), and Peter is doing the same thing here (Matt 16:21–23).

This conflict leads to the key moment of revelation that the entire story has been building to since the beginning of chapter 14, the Transfiguration (17:1–8). The Transfiguration is an apocalypse that reveals Jesus’s divine identity. For the first time, within the story world itself, Peter, James, and John hear the Father himself declare Jesus to be the divine Son. In this apocalypse, Jesus stands in the spot of Yahweh: Just as Moses and Elijah talked to Yahweh at the top of Sinai in the Old Testament, so also here Moses and Elijah talk to Jesus at the top of a high mountain. I could explain more about how I see the Transfiguration as a metastructural scene in Matthew, but I’ll save that for another day. Suffice it to say that once you realize 14:1–12 and 17:1–13 are metastructural, you are in a position to see how 14:13–16:12 forms a textual unit in between these bookends.

In what follows, I’ll explain how 16:1–12 makes clear that 14:13–16:12 is indeed a textual unit that is united by these four themes/motifs: (1) conflict that results in (2) separation or (3) revelation, which features (4) the motif of food.

The Parts of the Story

16:1–12 has two main parts: Matthew 16:1–4, which is marked by conflict, and Matthew 16:5–12, which is marked by revelation. There’s an embedded, chainlink section that unites these two parts of the story: verses 5–7.

In 16:1–4, Jesus experiences conflict with the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the issue is twofold: (1) the religious leaders evasively seek a sign and (2) they refuse to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. In 16:5–12, Jesus makes clear to his disciples what they should learn from the conflict: They should be careful not to make the same mistake as the Pharisees. They must not let their preconceived notions of messiahship cause them to suppress what Jesus is revealing to them through is miracles: He is indeed the Messiah (and more). The chain link between the conflict and the revelation is verses 5–7, and this is where the issue of food arises.

The Chainlink

16:5–7 link together the scenes of conflict and revelation. As Jesus and the disciples leave the conflict with the Pharisees and Sadducees, the disciples forgot to bring along food (16:5). When Jesus warns them not to be like the religious leaders—“Watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”—they cannot hear what Jesus is saying because the are preoccupied with food (16:6–7). This is ironic because Jesus just did two massive food miracles that should, at the very least, make clear to the disciples that packing lunch is the least of their concerns.

The Food Motif

Notice how Matthew resurfaces the food miracles. Matthew doesn’t leave the reader to remember that there were two food miracles in the previous chapters (14:13–23; 15:32–39). In the story, Jesus himself points the disciples (and the reader) back to what I have labeled above as revelation 1 and 6—the feeding of the 5,000 and 4,000. Matthew is highlighting these major, epiphanic miracles as bookends around the core textual unit.

Why are you, little-faith people, discussing that you don’t have food? Do you not yet understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand? How many baskets were taken up? Don’t you remember the seven loaves for the four thousand? How many containers did you take up? How do you not understand that I didn’t speak about food? (Matt 16:8–11a)

This paragraph makes clear that Jesus’s food miracles are revelatory. They should show the disciples something about Jesus that will make clear his warning about the religious leaders. Jesus can multiply food in the wilderness, like Yahweh, why would he then point the disciples to take special care to pack lunches? Now, he gives them another chance to understand:

But watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matt 16:11b)

This time, they get it:

Then they understood that he did not mean watch out for the leaven of food, but watch out for the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matt 16:12)

So in this little paragraph (Matt 16:1–12), Jesus provides for his disciples revelation that explains the significance of the major food miracles. His disciples must see and accept Jesus for who he is, despite their expectations and assumptions about who the Messiah should be. This idea—the character of the Messiah—is precisely the focus of the rest of chapter 16.

Conclusion

Matthew 16:1–12 highlights four themes/motifs: conflict, separation, revelation, and food, which plays such a prominent role in the epiphanic food miracles that serve as bookends around 14:13–16:12. By pulling together and highlighting these theme/motifs, Matthew 16:1–12 provides a fitting concluding paragraph to 14:13–16:12, making clear that 14:13–16:12 is the textual core of chapters 14–17.