Following Jesus (part 1)
Matthew 16:21-27
January 15, 2012
Last week when we met we began a new era in the ministry of Jesus.
He had left the crowds and had begun to invest His time into the twelve.
He took them alone to Caesarea Philippi
In order to get away and give some much needed instruction.
And the first order of business
Was Jesus inaugural teaching on “The Church”
And we learned some very important
And insightful things about Christ’s church.
IT’S FOUNDATION
Is Christ. If anyone enters the church they do so on the foundation that Jesus is Lord, the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
It is the distinction that separates the church from the world.
The world thinks Jesus could be the forerunner,
The Church knows Him to be the Christ.
There is no way to be a part of Christ’s church
Aside from confessing the Lordship of Jesus.
IT’S BUILDER
Is Christ. We don’t build the church, we don’t grow the church, Christ does.
Man can’t even recognize Christ as Lord apart from a revelation from the Father
And so it is absolutely arrogant to assume
That we can bring men into the church apart from Him.
Christ builds – He adds bricks – He determines its design
IT’S OWNER
Is Christ. He said it is “My church”.
He purchased it with His own blood, it belongs to Him.
And consequently every person who is called into the church is those who “have been bought with a price”.
Christ owns the church and therefore
Our one objective is to be pleasing to Him.
IT’S VICTORY
Over death. “and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
The church is a supernatural organization whose builder and owner is Christ, and has victory even over the grave.
Christ came and suffered death that He might free us from death
And give us victory over the grave.
IT’S STEWARDS
This is us. Having been given the keys of the kingdom, we are those who bring heaven’s realities to light here on earth.
Under the sovereign hand of God, those who have been bound and those who are loosed are all mysteriously determined by God.
We merely hold the keys and try the locks,
Seeking to reveal who the chosen are.
It is very parallel to the parable of the sower.
We simply sow the seed, the type of heart will reveal what happens to it.
And so Jesus gave great insight into the church.
But then He gave an interesting statement.
(20) “Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.”
And obviously that seems to be strange timing for such a command.
But as I told you last week, it isn’t.
Jesus told the disciples what the church would be,
And everything was given in future tense.
“I will build…”
“…the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
“I will give you the keys…”
Jesus spoke of the things that were coming in the future.
Christ was not presently building.
The gates were not presently overpowered.
And Peter did not presently have the keys.
WHY?
BECAUSE CHRIST HAD NOT DIED.
• He had not atoned for sin.
• He had not descended into hell.
• He had not stolen the keys.
• He had not given them to Peter.
All that was coming, and then the church would be a reality,
But it was not yet at hand.
So Jesus merely pointed out what was coming.
So there was the first teaching.
It is the future glory of the church.
Here comes the second point of teaching from Jesus,
And that is how it all comes about.
• How the church will go from non-existent to a reality.
• How the church will come to have victory over death.
• How the church will come to hold the keys to the kingdom.
Now Jesus reveals how that will happen.
(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.”
Jesus started by revealing the end result of His church.
Loosing the prisoners and defeating death.
But now He backs up to reveal how the church gets that type of victory.
And very simply, THE CHURCH’S VICTORY
IS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SAVIOR’S SUFFERING.
What you notice is Jesus using the word “must”
These are not potential requirements, these are not one plan of many.
If the church is to achieve victory and authority over death,
Then this is what “must” happen.
Now that is a key word, because after using it of Himself here,
Jesus will use it of you and I later in verse 24.
Saying what we “must” do to enter the church.
So Christ is merely revealing the means
By which the church will ascend to victory over death.
And there are actually four musts that must happen.
1) “He must go to Jerusalem”
WHY JERUSALEM?
Luke 13:31-35 “Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away, leave here, for Herod wants to kill You.” And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal.’ “Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! “Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'”
But why?
Because Jerusalem was the litmus test.
The final verdict of the Messiah could only be rendered in Jerusalem.
You may even remember from studying John, that Jesus began by doing some miracles in Galilee, but His skeptic brothers insisted that if He wanted to be taken seriously He had to go to Jerusalem.
John 7:1-5 “After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. “For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”
You see Jerusalem was the voice of the nation.
If Jesus was to be worshiped it would have to be Jerusalem,
And if He was to be condemned it would have to be Jerusalem.
It had to be a total, national acceptance or rejection
And so “He must go to Jerusalem”
Furthermore, the work of Christ could not be done in secret.
He had to manifest Himself to the world.
2) “He must…suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes,”
Not only must Jesus go to the public figure head of Jerusalem,
But He must also suffer there at the hands of the religious elite.
WHY MUST HE SUFFER?
Hebrews 2:10 “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.”
We talked about this Christmas morning.
The suffering of the Christ was a “fitting” thing.
If He was to become a perfect Savior full of mercy
Then He had to suffer as the rest of humanity does.
Hebrews 5:8 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”
And so He learned why obedience is so difficult for humanity.
So Jesus walked through the garden, He endured mocking and scorn,
So that when we do it too, He can be merciful to our difficulty.
Hebrews 2:17 “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
And so while suffering is certainly not a pleasant thing,
Jesus obviously had to do it.
He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things…
3) “He must…be killed”
And so we learn that His suffering must be severe enough to end in death.
WHY DEATH?
Certainly we understand,
Because death was the requirement to atone for sin.
Hebrews 9:22 “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
Sin is a serious issue, and it is sin that brings about death
And death that keeps man bound.
The only way for death to be defeated is if sin is defeated.
And the only way for sin to be defeated is if blood is shed.
That was the essence of what Paul meant when he said:
1 Corinthians 15:56-57 “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And so Christ had to die if He was to pay the penalty for sin.
Romans 8:3 “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,”
And so you and I fully understand that if Christ didn’t die,
Then we could not be saved.
He must go to Jerusalem and suffer and be killed
4) “He must…be raised up on the third day.”
And again this is obvious to us as well.
The whole point of His death was to atone for sin, but how will we know if it worked, if He stays dead?
That is why Paul wrote:
Romans 4:25 “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”
Beyond that, death is the enemy.
Death is what keeps men bound.
If He doesn’t defeat death then all of the other things are really pointless.
It doesn’t matter if He goes to Jerusalem…
It doesn’t matter if He suffers…
It doesn’t matter if He is killed…
If He doesn’t conquer the grave the other stuff is really insignificant.
This is what had to happen in order for the church to receive victory.
If Christ was going to give the keys to the church,
Then He first had to get the keys from death.
Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
So if the church is truly to be victorious over death,
Then Christ had to suffer and suffer publicly.
He had to die and then conquer the grave.
There really is no other way around it.
This was the only way His plan for the church could be fulfilled.
It “must” happen this way.
Which, by the way, is the same thing Jesus had to remind Peter of in the garden while being arrested.
Matthew 26:51-54 “And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? “How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”
This is the sovereign plan of God in order for the church to be redeemed.
This is how it had to happen.
And really that should have been the end of the conversation.
That should have been it, but it wasn’t.
It actually set off a chain of events that revealed to Jesus
That the twelve did not yet fully understand what following Him meant.
And so let’s work our way through the remainder of this text.
(I understand we won’t make it the whole way through this morning,
But let’s see how far we get)
After Jesus gives this necessary teaching, it leads to a series of responses, let’s look at them.
#1 A SELFISH INTERRUPTION
Matthew 16:22
It is apparent that Peter got a little full of himself after that great commendation.
• Peter heard how he was “blessed”
• Peter heard how he was the rock
• Peter heard about getting the keys to the kingdom…
It obviously went to his head, for Peter does the absolute unthinkable.
“Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him…”
Can you believe that?
That fallen man would actually think highly enough of himself
To have the audacity to tell Jesus He was wrong
Peter not only thought Jesus was wrong, but actually rebuked Him.
Look at his rebuke:
“God forbid it Lord! This shall never happen to You.”
So it is obvious that Peter didn’t like all this suffering and death talk.
Now, if you are familiar with Peter, you know he didn’t have much trouble
Arguing with Jesus over His plans.
He argued here.
He argued about his feet being washed.
He argued about if he would deny or not.
Here Jesus says He will suffer and die and Peter says, NO WAY!
Obviously Peter was IGNORANT
• He did not understand the gravity of sin or the means of redemption.
• He did not understand the necessity of suffering and death.
Peter reveals his Jewish ignorance in full force.
Remember the Jews had no place of a suffering Messiah, they only wanted the Messiah who would come and conquer Rome and rule with an iron fist.
WHY?
Because they didn’t understand the sin issue.
Remember Isaiah?
Isaiah 53:1-3 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
When Christ was hanged on the cross, suffering for sin, they didn’t see it,
Because they didn’t recognize their need for a sacrifice.
Peter is in that same boat.
He was ignorant of the sin problem,
And so he saw no need for the Messiah to suffer death.
But ignorance wasn’t Peter’s only problem.
Peter was also SELFISH
And that is what Jesus will reveal next.
A Selfish Interruption
#2 A STERN REBUKE
Matthew 16:23
This is beyond a doubt the sternest rebuke any disciple ever received.
“Get behind Me, Satan!”
In a matter of minutes Peter went from being blessed to being Satan.
WHY WOULD JESUS CALL PETER SATAN?
Because Peter was manifesting Satan’s chief attribute.
Isaiah 14:12-15 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.”
Remember it was Satan who tried to put himself above God.
It was Satan who put his plans above God’s plans.
And as a result he was cast out of heaven.
Well, in this incident Peter looks exactly like Satan.
Furthermore in the wilderness, Jesus remembered Satan pulling Him aside and offering the kingdom without the suffering.
And that is what Peter is doing here.
Jesus has seen this type of arrogant selfishness before.
He saw it in Satan, and now He sees it in Peter.
And so Jesus says, “Get behind Me, Satan!”
But it also indicates to us the main problem of Peter.
He had gotten ahead of the Lord.
He had put his agenda before Jesus’ agenda.
Jesus had to remind him to get in his proper place.
That is a good reminder for us.
If at any time we begin to put our plans before the Lord’s we are merely looking like Satan.
“You are a stumbling block to Me”
Jesus just told Peter that if he had his way
Then the atonement and the church would never occur.
Peter would only cause Jesus to fail at His mission.
“You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
And there it is.
Peter was selfish.
Peter only wanted what he wanted, and obviously Peter had never envisioned following Jesus to suffering and death.
And at this moment Peter was more concerned about his own comfort and plans than he was God’s plan of redemption.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
We’ve all heard the song: “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.”
Peter was at this moment promoting Satan’s gospel.
He was standing at the wide gate and doing everything he could
To get Jesus to walk through it.
Peter was filling the role of false prophets all over the world
Who bid men to enter through the wide gate onto the broad road.
“Come as you are, no suffering, no death, no hardship, no repentance. Just come receive a life of blessing and comfort and financial bliss. Come, go to heaven and receive all God has for you.”
And men have been buying that ticket for centuries,
But Jesus taught us it is a faulty ticket.
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
But Peter is here preaching Satan’s gospel to Jesus.
Peter was preaching Eternal life without death.
BUT THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE.
Remember Jesus “must” go to Jerusalem
And suffer and die and be raised.
And so Jesus rebuked Peter.
This plan won’t save anyone.
A Selfish Interruption, A Stern Rebuke
#3 A SIMPLE FACT
Matthew 16:24-25
You see Peter’s interruption revealed to Jesus that His disciples
Did not yet fully understand what they were in for.
They liked all this talk of a church and victory over death,
But they did not understand the necessary suffering.
And after Jesus revealed what He must do, and they didn’t like it,
He now changes course to what they “must” do.
Just as Jesus had a “must” so do we.
“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.”
He is simply saying, “Peter if you are unwilling to let Me embrace My suffering, how will you ever embrace yours?”
And this is so important.
Our world is saturated with Satan’s gospel of life with no cost.
But that is a false gospel.
Jesus never said it would be easy, He always said it would be hard.
If you or I are walking on some road of ease and comfort, assuming we are headed for heaven, then you had better check your map
And make sure you didn’t somehow begin to travel on the wide road.
Jesus is clear here.
This is what “must” happen for a man to enter Christ’s church.
1) “he must deny himself”
In other words, you have to turn your back on you.
You have to give up control of your life.
You have to push your own decision making aside.
• Your dreams…
• Your goals…
• Your possessions…
• Your family…
• Your everything…
It must be denied, it must be forsaken.
Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
People want to go to heaven without denying themselves.
They want to keep their old way of life and go to heaven too.
But you can’t.
Jesus was saying that you will never follow Him in selfishness.
Self must be denied.
You must make decisions based upon His will, not your own.
2) “he must…take up his cross”
“Oh, it’s the cross I have to bear” NO
In Jesus day the cross was the symbol of public execution.
Pilate had lined the streets of Galilee
With crosses after stopping an insurrection.
It was the cruelest, slowest, most humiliating death imaginable.
And Jesus was telling the twelve that is what you must embrace.
3) “he must…follow Me”
And that is to calvary to be nailed to that cross.
We’ll talk more about this next week,
But it is simple to see that Jesus is calling those who will enter His church
To let go of this life and embrace suffering.
(25) “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
It gets pretty clear doesn’t it?
• If you have these notions of just walking to the front of an air-conditioned church and signing your name to some card.
• And then getting in some heated baptistery.
• And then simply attending that church for a couple of hours a week.
And somehow you convince yourself that you are following Jesus, Then you are gravely mistaken!
To follow Christ is to follow Him.
It is to deny self.
It is to take up His cross.
It is to follow Him.
And we have a lot more to say about this next week when we finish this text, but let me pause here for just a second now and ask:
WHAT ABOUT MISSIONS?
We are full of excuses as to why we can’t share the gospel.
We are full of excuses as to why we can’t go on mission.
And really all it boils down to is that when given the choice
Most choose self over Christ.
I don’t want to go to China…
I don’t want to go to Africa…
I don’t want to talk to my neighbor…
Well, that’s all fine and good.
• Just keep refusing to deny self.
• Just keep refusing to take up the cross.
• Just keep refusing to follow.
But answer me this.
HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO FOLLOW CHRIST TO HEAVEN WHEN YOU REFUSE TO DO THE THINGS HE SAID YOU MUST DO TO FOLLOW HERE ON EARTH?
We all sit in hearty agreement about what Jesus “must” do.
He “must” suffer.
He “must” die.
He “must” rise.
And we are in agreement with that.
It is our MUSTS that we disregard.
“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
SO, THE CHOICE IS YOURS; THIS LIFE OR THE NEXT?
Matthew 16:25-27 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “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? “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.”
