The Teachings of Jesus

Sermon Sixty-Six

Matthew 16:21-28

by

Jim Bordwine, ThD

Introduction

Jesus spoke many times about how His followers were supposed to live—He talked often about what they should desire, how they should handle temptation and sin; He spoke about ordering our life so that the time we have been given is spent in ways that truly honor God. Today, we come to one such passage. This text is perhaps the most useful and the most challenging passage in the Gospels when it comes to the topic of discipleship.

The Text

Matthew 16:21 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 be raised up on the third day. 22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS. 28 Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

The Teaching

We know that Jesus, on more than one occasion, spoke about His coming ordeal in Jerusalem. He even predicted His resurrection three days after His death on the cross. Matthew indicates that it was at this point in His ministry that Jesus began to concentrate on that subject to prepare His disciples for what was to come. The wording of v. 21 indicates that the Savior began to reveal this information more directly. In Matthew’s arrangement, this development follows, of course, the confession of Peter regarding Christ’s identity and purpose.

I want to call attention to a fact that runs throughout the Gospel accounts, but only infrequently is brought to the attention of the reader. I’m referring to the Lord’s awareness of how His mission on earth would conclude. We should marvel at His composure as we realize He knew one of His closest companions would betray Him to those who wanted to end His life. We should be humbled by His willingness to deal with the day-to-day demands made on Him when He already knew His journey would end most painfully in the hands of His enemies and then on a cross. We should be astounded by His dedication and realize the only explanation is His love for us and His desire to see us freed from condemnation.

How do you know that someone really loves you? Is it merely the words they speak? Are you convinced of someone’s love for you just because they say they love you or is there more to this matter? Isn’t it true that assurance of someone’s love comes primarily from the way they treat you? When you see someone putting your welfare ahead of their own or when you witness someone making decisions intended for your benefit, then you know the words they speak are true. With that principle in mind, think of the behavior of Jesus Christ. Although He was fully aware of how His journey would end, He continued on that path faithfully until He accomplished His mission—a mission that was all about you and your eternal welfare. When Jesus says “I love you,” you have no doubt about His promise because you see in the Bible what He endured for your sake.

It is that aspect of the Lord’s life that should give us such confidence and hope for the future. Having secured us, we know Christ will never let us fall away. When we read about the Savior’s trial and understand that He knew what was to come long before He reached Jerusalem on that final visit, we are reading about something most remarkable. There can be no doubt regarding the love of our Savior for us—simply no doubt whatsoever. Jesus steadfastly made His way to that city knowing what He would encounter. It’s this information that Jesus begins to explain to His disciples more plainly, according to Matthew.

Adding to the Savior’s burden was the fact that even when He spoke to His disciples about the coming trial, they did not comprehend and remained rather shallow in their desires and somewhat worldly in their expectations. Right down to the end of Christ’s time on earth, those disciples were arguing about which one was the greatest and who among them should have seats of prominence in the Lord’s kingdom. Compare that to the example of Jesus. As you do, let me ask you this: Isn’t His example cause for giving thanks to Jesus Christ every time you consider His life? Isn’t the truth of His steadfast conduct powerful enough to prove His love for us so that we, in turn, respond to Him with lives of consecration? Isn’t it true that, just as Jesus demonstrated His love for us through His conduct, we are to demonstrate our gratefulness by seeking to live according to His standard? That is, in fact, the pattern we’re taught in the Bible—we seek to remain on the path of obedience not to earn our salvation, but as a means of giving thanks for our salvation and to prove that our professions of love for Christ are not empty words.

I don’t think I’m in danger of misspeaking when I say that many of us here this morning are far from what we should be when it comes to a loving, humble, and thankful response to our Savior in light of what He did for us. The problem with most of our lives is that we don’t dwell on the sacrifice of Christ to the point where we are humbled and drawn to lives of holiness as a result. Many of us are glad to have the benefits of salvation, but our lives are less than stellar examples of thankful obedience. We’re supposed to order our homes and work with diligence and, in general, remain free from obvious sin—but lots of people live in that manner and they have no part in Christ.

That which is supposed to distinguish the disciples of Christ is personal holiness—not corporate holiness that is found when we all come together for worship, for example, but personal holiness, a record of keeping the Word of God day after day, a record of applying that Word to every aspect of our lives—from that which is most important to that which is routine and relatively unimportant.

Do you realize that Scripture has a lot more to say about personal holiness than any other aspect of your Christian experience? The Bible is filled with exhortations to personal obedience in response to Christ’s sacrifice of Himself for us. The formula is simple: Personal holiness is grounded in a personal salvation. Jesus didn’t come to save a faceless mass; He came and endured the way of the cross for those given to Him by the Father before the foundation of the world. If you belong to Christ, then you were one in His mind during those days leading up to His arrest and crucifixion. How do you think you should be living now that you know what Jesus did for you? Is it sufficient to call Him your Savior? Is it sufficient to refrain from murder or bank robbery? Doesn’t Scripture teach you that in response to the Savior, you are to glorify Him throughout all the days you live on this earth?

You need to think about that. Your life up to this moment has been lived for something—some purpose, some desire; you’ve been guided by some principle. For those rescued from eternal death by Jesus Christ, there is only one acceptable model for living and that model is Jesus Himself. We glorify Him and express our gratitude when we live according to His example and teaching.

When we speak of the personal nature of our responsibility in light of what has been done for us, let’s not forget that the cost of redemption was most personal to Jesus Christ. Yes it was covenantal in nature in the sense that Jesus was representing a body of people, which was all those appointed to eternal life by God; but within that covenant structure you find real people—people condemned because of sin, people with faces and names, people who are held accountable by God.

The sin Jesus died for was my sin—not the sin of a group of which I may be a part, but my sin, my transgressions, my infractions against the law of God. This kind of redemption demands, therefore, a personal response from me—not just talk about how God has manifested His mercy to the Body, but meditation on how God’s mercy has been poured out on me. That thought is connected to what Jesus endured in my place.

Jesus told His disciples what was to come; He told them what He would have to face; He told them about the horrible treatment in store for Him; He even told them that He would die and then be raised up the third day—and all for others, all for the guilty who, because of His willingness to be a Substitute, would never face that wrath of God that would fall on Him. As I said, our redemption was an intensely personal matter for our Savior. And we should be unable to read a verse like v. 21 without pausing to consider how we are responding to that the great truth of the Lord’s giving of Himself for us.

Rather than wait to the end of the sermon to ask you to make some application of what has been said, let’s do that now. Take a moment to think back over the past week. Dad and mom, think about the activity in your home the past several days. Children, think about how you responded to your parents in recent days. Young people, think about the places you visited, the conversations you had, and the plans you made this past week. I ask everyone this question: Can you really say that the things you did, the words you spoke, and the plans you made were expressions of your love for your Savior and your desire to glorify Him at every turn?

Some Christians—in fact, many Christians—excuse our general lack of zeal for righteousness by saying that we hear the story of redemption so often as believers, that it becomes “routine” and doesn’t strike us as powerfully as it once did. I don’t accept that explanation; and I hope you reject it, too. The reason our lives are sometimes embarrassing examples of dedication, compared to what Jesus did for us, is that we have lowered the bar of discipleship to the point where self-sacrifice and holy living and sacrificial living and sorrow over our offenses are rare elements.

When was the last time you wept over your sin? When was the last time you tossed and turned during the night because you were so disturbed by your sin that it robbed you of your sleep? When you think of what Christ did to deliver you from the consequences of sin, are you ashamed of all those times when you let sin pass with hardly a thought? When was the last time you eliminated something (or someone, for that matter) from your life because it was hindering your sanctification? Are you quick to confess your sin to God because the burden of the guilt is so troubling—or, like some, can you continue on your happy way for weeks or months without coming to that point of repentance?

Our lives are supposed to be examples of a grateful response to a God of much mercy and a Savior of amazing compassion. After writing about how the Lord is working out His plan of redemption for all of His people, after assuring his readers that God is guiding all things to that final day, and after speaking of the destruction that is in store for the present heavens and earth, the apostle Peter asked a simple question of his readers: “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness. . . ?”

Since many of the things we consider so important are going to disappear, since so much of that in which we invest our lives will be wiped away one day, and since much of what we allow to worry us and drain our strength will one day have no relevance, what kind of people should we be? We are investing hours, days, and years in pursuit of that which we think is important and beneficial. If you had to stand before Jesus Christ and defend your present lifestyle as an appropriate response to Him for what He did for you, could you do it?

What should we care about now—today—in light of what is to come? What kind of people should we desire to be? What are we doing to know and promote those things that will survive the coming destruction? What portion of our time is spent pursuing holy things—holy attitudes, holy desires, holy acts as opposed to things that are truly worthless when all is said and done? What degree of interest do we have in spiritual treasure—like the lives of others, the record of faithfulness we leave behind, the reputation of good deeds that will live on after us? The great challenge facing every Christian here today is that of living now in light of what we know is to come.

All that I’ve been saying is related not only to the opening statement about what Jesus would face in order to save us, but also to what is soon coming in this passage when Jesus talks about how a true disciple lives. Before we get to those verses, however, we have recorded for us Peter’s reaction to the Lord’s talk about His coming trial: “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord!’ This shall never happen to You.” (v. 22) Poor Peter—so serious, yet so foolish. Here is another example of the disciples’ lack of comprehension. Jesus is the promised Savior, He has come to deliver people from their sin, and the disciples apparently thought it could be done without a payment being made, without a sacrifice being presented, without any pain or bloodshed. Clearly, they did not understand the nature of their own estrangement from God; nor did they understand the concept of God’s holiness in light of man’s sin.

Peter hears Jesus speak of a coming ordeal and, with shameful shallowness of thought, he makes these declarations. He meant well, but that doesn’t excuse his lack of perception. We might not think this was such an offensive thing to say, but look at the Lord’s response: “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” (v. 23) Can there be any doubt about the nature of Peter’s objection? It was satanic, meaning that it represented a point of view that was contrary to what God had ordained for our salvation. It was a suggestion that was completely at odds with what must happen if salvation is to be accomplished. Satan wishes to keep us captive in his kingdom of darkness; God sent His Son to free us and translate us into His kingdom of light. Where, then, does an objection like that the one Peter made originate? It originates in worldly judgments and worldly values.

The word Peter uses, by the way, which is translated “rebuke” (epitimao) refers to speaking sternly to another or for the purpose of censuring. This wasn’t a respectful inquiry from Peter to Jesus. Remember that Matthew says that Jesus was just explaining to the disciples what must happen (cf. v. 21). But Peter speaks up and contradicts the Savior. Peter’s demeanor was that of a superior lecturing an inferior. He was way out of line, to say the least.

Jesus, therefore, responds strongly to His disciple and explains what Peter’s rebuke really would mean; it would mean the abandonment of the only way of salvation for the world. It would mean setting aside God’s plan to pursue a plan more acceptable in the eyes of the world—the very world, I will add, Jesus was here to save. This account doesn’t mean that Peter was possessed by Satan; it means his thinking, for the moment, was the result of ungodly reasoning; it was thinking that fell into line with Satan’s opposition to Christ.

How clearly, then, does this brief conversation reveal to us the heart of our blessed Savior? Jesus speaks of what must be endured in the city of Jerusalem. Peter rebukes Him and, in essence, urges the Savior to avoid the discomfort, the pain, the humiliation, and the death that awaited. “Think first of Yourself,” Peter was advising; “Don’t allow anyone to harm You.” Thanks be to God that Jesus did not listen to Peter. Instead, Jesus made clear His steadfast commitment to our rescue.

It was another apostle who said Jesus “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Phil. 2:6-8) Notice what is being said here. The determination Jesus demonstrated to continue to Jerusalem and then to the cross was a matter of obedience. He was obeying the will of His Father who ordained this means of our salvation. To do what Peter urged, to turn back and prevent the enemy from seizing Him would have meant Jesus would have to disobey His Father. How utterly despicable Peter’s counsel sounds in this context! It is no wonder Jesus reacted so strongly.

This exchange between Peter and Jesus leads naturally to what the Savior speaks of next. Peter’s attitude demonstrated a significant flaw in the thinking of the disciples. They were still thinking wrongly of what being a disciple would require. They continued to believe they could commit themselves to Jesus without paying too high a price. As their behavior sometimes illustrated, they were under the impression they could enjoy prestige without having to endure hardship. In summary, the disciples did not grasp rightly the nature of discipleship. Therefore, the Savior takes this occasion to instruct these men regarding what true discipleship required. If one wanted to be identified with Jesus, if one wanted to be numbered among His closest and most dedicated followers, a particular path had to be walked and a particular perspective had to be held in the heart.

Peter’s outrageous statement, as indicated, makes way for this assertion from Jesus: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (v. 24) Jesus recognizes that some will want to follow Him; this has been the indication of the disciples, for example. But notice that the desire expressed does not equal discipleship. Simply wanting to be a disciple and saying you want to be a disciple does not make you a disciple. Jesus is connecting discipleship to Peter’s suggestion that the Lord avoid the way of trouble and hardship.

The problem with that notion is the fact that hardship is exactly what a man encounters when he becomes a disciple of Jesus. That man must be prepared to face opposition and testing of various kinds. This is, after all, the road being traveled by Jesus Himself. If the Savior walked the hard way, then His disciples should expect a similar experience. Anyone who determined to believe what Jesus taught and live as He instructed would be in conflict with the world and that would automatically create friction. It would be impossible, therefore, to be like Jesus to any noticeable extent without paying a price.

Peter’s idea of avoiding conflict and hardship simply would not do; it would not do because our salvation required satisfying the justice of God—and how could that ever be done without facing adversity? How can offense against God be paid for without difficulty? The Savior’s mission was to answer for the sins of His people. That could never be a pleasant, trouble-free experience. But Peter spoke as if pain could be avoided just by choosing to avoid it! He did not understand what was going on. It’s no wonder Jesus answered him so strongly.

If anyone desires to “come after Me,” Jesus said, by which He means align oneself with the ministry of the Savior and promote His view of the world, he must deny himself. There is the first step in achieving true discipleship—denial of self. This means self does not dominate plans or desires for comfort. True and effective discipleship requires a person to consider something else more important than self. My friends, I’m sorry to have to say this, but I doubt we could find ten people in our group this morning who actually live consistently in a state of denying self for some other good. Yet Jesus says that is the first step required.

With this idea in mind, we should think more carefully about what we are doing with the time God has given us. I assume that if you are born again, your desire is to serve the Savior according to whatever calling you are fulfilling. You know how you spend your time and you know what makes you glad and what gives you a sense of satisfaction and purpose. You know what hopes and dreams are in your heart for the days ahead. You know what thoughts occupy your mind most of the time. Put all those things together and ask yourself: Is the result a clear testimony to my commitment to something other than self? That is, after all, a necessary characteristic for anyone wanting to follow Jesus. I didn’t make that up, Jesus said it Himself.

The denial of self is enough of a challenge due to the fact that our flesh demands to be satisfied and even pampered. The average person spends a lot of time complaining and much of the complaining done is related to what the flesh wants and what it takes to make our flesh “happy.” But notice that Jesus adds more to this thought and what He adds brings no relief at all: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Denial of self for the sake of another primary purpose in life—that’s the first step; now Jesus identifies more precisely what that primary purpose in life is, once a man subdues self. The Savior refers to the new pursuit, the new way of living as a cross. A disciple takes up a cross and follows Jesus.

We must stop here. We must stop here because Jesus has put before us a thought of monumental importance. We would be unwise to move straight through the rest of this passage without pausing to think about that first step in becoming a disciple. Therefore, I’m going to ask you to spend time this coming week thinking and praying about the idea of denying self for the sake of living for Christ. You’ve heard and you can read what Jesus said: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself . . .” There’s more, yes, but we aren’t ready for the rest of the Lord’s instruction—not until we have settled this matter.

Gather your family around you this week and talk and pray about this issue of self-denial. Make sure everyone knows what this means. Get together with friends or someone you trust and discuss this concept. Understand that Jesus says the ability to deny yourself is the first step in being a truly effective follower. This notion requires some prolonged meditation. I say that because it will take a while just for us to realize how truly selfish we are in our daily routines. Take a good look at yourself this week; listen to your words, pay attention to what you desire and what you achieve. Take note of what pleases you and what displeases you. And, then, sometime before you return here next Lord’s day, you decide whether you really want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I urge you to take whatever time you need so that you really deal with this matter of self-denial. The rest of the pattern for discipleship is going to be just as difficult to hear, but it will be of no use to you until you take that first step. The rest of the Savior’s instruction about becoming a man or woman or child who really glorifies Him is something you cannot bare unless you have this first matter settled.

Let’s pray…

Communion hymn

Conclusion

Because He paid our debt and returned victoriously to heaven, Jesus presently serves as the Head of the Church, which is His Body. We are part of that Body, so we have every reason to be hopeful as we consider this matter of denying ourselves for the sake of glorifying our Savior. Let’s make no mistake—we must have His help. Now is the time to call upon Him and ask Him to manifest in you the truth of your redemption, the truth that you belong to Him, and the truth that your life is not yours, but is His.

Jesus is not dead, He is alive and as our great King, He has the power and the willingness to help you live in a manner that honors His Father. Don’t hesitate to ask for His aid. This sacrament, in fact, is His pledge to you that His help awaits—His help awaits because He loves His own. He desires that holiness be the distinguishing feature of your life right now here on this earth.

We read of the establishment of this sacrament in Matt. 26:

28 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”