Matthew 16:21-28 At the very beginning of his public ministry, when John
was baptizing at the Jordan River, Jesus came to be baptized. The sinless Son of God stepped down into
those baptismal waters filled with the sins of the people and he publicly
identified himself with sin and sinners.
John said, “Behold, the Lamb of
God who takes away the sins of the world.”
And God the Father spoke from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
There was never any question about who Jesus was—there
was never any question about what he had come to do. Jesus was God’s Son who came to take away our
sins. Almost immediately his identity
and mission were under satanic attack.
“If you are really God’s Son…” the devil said, “then
prove it”. In other words, “Cast aside
your Father’s testimony and claim, reject your Father’s Word and demand that he
do some miracle that will testify to your sonship.” “If you are really God’s Son, then your
Father wants you to have all the things the world has to offer. There is no need to go to the cross—there is
no need to die. You can have it all
right now.”
The devil continues to tempt us in the same way. God claimed us as his own precious children
in the waters of Holy Baptism. He is
well pleased with us on account of Christ.
But the devil is right there, telling us to reject God’s claim and doubt
his Word and insist that God do some great thing, give us some great blessing,
to prove our identity as his children.
The devil says to us, “If you are really God’s child
then your heavenly Father must want you to have every earthly blessing, he
cannot intend that you would suffer in some way. He wouldn’t withhold some pleasure from
you. I will give you the desires of your
heart.” And we are tempted. And we fall.
What good news it is for us that Jesus never
did. Not when tempted by the devil, not
when tempted by his friends--but again and again, Jesus rejected the temptation
to avoid the cross.
Jesus knew who he was—that he was the Christ, the Son
of the living God--and he knew what he had come to do: to suffer and die and rise again for our
salvation. The Bible says that:
From that time Jesus began to show his
disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
With
every miracle the disciples witnessed—with every victory they celebrated—with
every sick person that was restored—the disciples must have thought that they
were on the cusp of a new day when sorrow and suffering were at an end.
When they heard Peter’s confession, that Jesus was
the Christ, the Son of God and Jesus’ affirmation that, yes, that was true—they
must have thought the day was at hand when the lion will lay down with the lamb
and the weapons of war would become the instruments of peace.
But Jesus’
affirmation that he was the Christ and the Son of God led to a very different
place than earthly peace and prosperity.
He would not go to Jerusalem to defeat the Romans. He would go there to suffer. He would not be recognized by the powers of
the day as the one true king. They would
reject him. He would not slay his
enemies. They would kill him.
And these events were not just one possibility among
many. It had to be this way. This is what Jesus had to do. This was the price that had to be paid. This was the Father’s plan for our salvation. There would be life—rich, new, abundant
eternal life—but it would only come through the cross. The Bible says that at these words:
Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke
him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
All of us
can identify with Peter. We don’t want
those we love to be in pain. We don’t
want them to suffer rejection. We don’t
want them to die. We want those we love
to enjoy the earthly blessings of peace and prosperity.
Which one of us wouldn’t have put our arm around the
Lord’s shoulder and try to convince him that it didn’t have to be this
way! Who among us wouldn’t have done the
same? It is a completely natural,
normal, human thing to do. It’s the
caring, compassionate thing to do. Which
is why Jesus’ response is so shocking:
“Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance
to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the
things of man.”
The first
lesson that God wants us to learn today is that we must not and indeed we
cannot separate Jesus from the cross. It
is not just mistaken—it is satanic! The
devil tempted Jesus with that very idea in the wilderness and here Jesus faced
it again—this time from a friend.
Just a few moments earlier, Peter was the great
hero. He confessed the truth about who
Jesus was—the Son of God and Savior of the world. This confession would be the foundation of
the church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.
But that
Jesus was the Messiah—that he was the
Son of God—that he was the Savior of
the World—meant just one thing: that he
came not to be an earthly ruler, not to live a life of ease, not to go from one
mountain top experience to another—but to suffer and die for our sins. There would be life—new, abundant,
overflowing eternal life-but that life would take root in a grave. This was God’s way.
Peter and the disciples and those who followed Jesus
didn’t understand that. They wanted a never-ending
stream of earthly blessings. They wanted what Satan offered Jesus in the
wilderness.
I wonder, are we any different? We’re glad enough to be forgiven. We can check that off and go on to things
that really matter—things to do with this life and what I want. But the way to life goes through the
cross—for Jesus and for us. The Bible
says that:
Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For
whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my
sake will find it.
These
words are the call to discipleship to everyone who claims Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior. And so dear Christian friend,
if that is true of you—that Jesus Christ is your Lord, that he is your Savior--hear
again what Jesus has to say to you this morning: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow
me.
Here is the second lesson God wants us to learn
today, the way of the cross was not just true of Jesus—but of his disciples as
well.
To deny ourselves means that we say “no” to our flesh
and the devil’s temptations. It means
that we put the needs of others before our own.
It means that our chief concern is not about being served but about
serving those around us—not about being first but being last—not about getting
more stuff but realizing that life does not consist in the abundance of our
goods. None of this comes naturally to
us. None of it is easy. Much of it is painful.
That’s what Jesus is talking about when he says that if
we confess him as Lord and Savior and we follow him as a disciple--we must take
up our cross. The cross is an implement
of death. Jesus would not be deterred
from it and neither must we.
In his
vocation as Savior, Jesus died a real death on a real cross. In our
daily vocation, in ways that are unique to us, we are called to die to self and
accept the hardships, difficulties and pain that come from following him as a
disciple.
Our cross may be rejection by those we love in our
families or among our circle of friends.
It may be ridicule by the world around us. It may be the loss of earthly blessings. It may be the sacrifice of some
activity. But whatever form it takes, to
be a follower of Jesus is to bear a cross.
When we realize that this is what following
Jesus is, that this was the path he took and the path he asks us to take—it
becomes easier to understand the temptation to avoid it altogether—to try and
make some uneasy alliance with the world and the devil where we can have God’s
blessings apart from the cross. But that
is an eternally fatal mistake. Jesus
asks all who would follow him to count the cost of making that demonic deal:
What will it profit a man if he gains the
whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his
life?
The answer to both of these questions is: nothing.
All of the wealth we could ever possess—all of the success we could
have—all of the pleasure we could ever enjoy still do not equal up to life
itself. The richest, most powerful man
who has ever lived cannot purchase or demand one extra second of life beyond
what God has appointed for him-- to say nothing of a life that extends beyond
the grave.
And yet God in his mercy gives life freely and
abundantly in his Son Jesus Christ. That
is why to lose our life for Jesus is to gain eternal life. That is why denying ourselves for Jesus is
the only way to learn our true identity.
And that is why bearing our cross as we follow Jesus is the only way to
know true peace and joy in this life.
The satanic temptation that Jesus faced in the
wilderness and the satanic temptation that he faced from Peter (the temptation
to avoid the cross for the things of the world) is the same satanic temptation
we all face and the consequences of giving in to that temptation is
eternal. Jesus says that:
The Son of Man is going to come with his
angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according
to what he has done.
In effect, what Jesus is saying
is this: if you are struggling to deny yourself
when those around you are constantly promoting themselves—if you are tempted to
reject the difficulties of being my disciples because it’s easier to go along
with the world—if you are wondering if following me is the right way to
go—consider my call to discipleship in the light of eternity and then decide.
Jesus is coming again and this world and everything
in it will be destroyed. On that day,
what will any illicit pleasure that we have avoided, or any sacrifice we have
made, or any difficulty we have endured for the sake of following Jesus matter
compared to the blessing of living forever with God in the kingdom of
his Son? They won’t! Jesus says:
Truly, I say to you, there are some
standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in
his kingdom.”
Peter
confessed the truth about Jesus, that he was the Christ, the Son of God. But he didn’t understand what that
meant. Jesus had to tell him that it
mean rejection, suffering and death. And
yet, we hear the promise of Jesus that those who were standing there that day
would live to see him come into his kingdom.
How is that possible?
For that answer we have to travel to Calvary. Raised upon a cross is Jesus—rejected and
crucified just as he promised. But above
his head is a sign, placed there by his enemies, acknowledging him as
king. Beneath Jesus was a soldier,
making the same confession as Peter:
This man was the Son of God.
Beside Jesus was a repentant sinner asking to be remembered when Jesus
entered his kingdom. Here at the cross
is where it all comes together: the Son
of God—the Savior of the world—the one true King.
This is his kingdom—it is the kingdom of the
crucified—the kingdom of the One who bore the cross for us and of all those who
are his, bearing their crosses for him. Let
us take up our cross and follow Jesus! Amen.
