The Macrostructure of Matthew’s Gospel 191 what Jesus says to Peter in 16,17-18 and his statement in 16,23 (31). The passage as a whole is framed by the two references to the Son of Man (an inclusio). What then is the function of 16,13-28? Matera sees this part as a “kernel”, in which, for the first time, the journey of the Messiah to Jerusalem is mentioned; this journey is entered into in more detail in the satellite texts that follow (17,1–20,34). In my opinion, 16,13-28 extends much further than this: this passage points ahead to 17,1–25,46, because it is not until 26,2 that there is a signal that the recurring announcement of Jesus’ death actually becomes reality. Matera does not mention that 16,13-28 at the same time offers a recapitulation of the material from 4,18–16,12. As a result of this double direction of focus, I consider 16,13-28 not so much as a “kernel”, but as a hinge within the whole corpus. The hinge function of 16,13-28 appears from a number of textual phenomena. The first topographical pattern (to withdraw) ends in this passage, whilst the second pattern (to and in Jerusalem) starts in the very same part. Further, the connections with 4,18–16,12 are clearly obvious: the question put by Jesus to his disciples with regard to his identity is related to John’s question of whether he is the one that was to come (11,2); that, according to some, he was John the Baptist is an echo of the opinion expressed in 14,2 by Herod Antipas; Peter’s answer (“you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”) links with the disciples’ confession in 14,33; that the knowledge of Jesus’ identity can only result from divine revelation is also expressed in 11,27. Apart from recapitulations of the preceding text, 16,13-28 also anticipates later parts: the word “church” is also used in 18,17 (and is not further mentioned in Matthew); the role assigned to Peter (to bind and unbind) is linked with the role mentioned in 18,18 of the local church; the combination of an announcement of the passion with the instructions to the disciples on the implications of being followers (16,21-28) is repeated in 20,17-28. f) The structure of 4,18–16,12 The first part of the corpus (4,18–16,12) is again made up of two sections (4,18–11,1 and 12,1–16,12), that are connected to one another by means of a hinge text (11,2-30). In a schematic overview: (31) First of all, Peter is praised as the receiver of God’s revelation; then Jesus reproaches him for his thoughts not being those of God; first he is indicated as being a rock and then as a stumbling block.