Matthew 16:21-26 [Pentecost 14 A]
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 3, 2023
My friends in Christ, there is no shortage of information out there in the world—and by “the world,” I mean the far-reaches of Google—that will help you understand how a cross will protect you from vampires. Apparently, this is especially true if the person holding the cross actually believes that it will protect them. You can read about this kind of thing and whether a tattooed cross works or one worn around your neck or if you have to actually have it in your hands. I guess those who spend a lot of time being concerned about vampires would find comfort in crosses that ward off evil. I trust that most of us here today aren’t too concerned about happening upon a vampire any time soon but look to the cross for other purposes and find comfort in the cross of Jesus, not because of what it is, but because of what Jesus did there. Jesus talked specifically about his cross months before he was put to death on it. Because of the Apostle Peter’s response to what he was saying, our Savior ended up talking about other crosses, crosses that are not his, but ours. I know that doesn’t sound good, but in these words of Jesus, I think we’ll all be able to find Comfort in Crosses Both the 1. The Cross of Jesus (21, 23b) and 2. The Crosses We Bear (22-23a, 24-26) It says here, From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised again. You remember how Jesus asked his followers who people said he was—and who they thought he was? Remember Peter boldly stepping forward (because that’s the only way he knew how to step forward!) and saying, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.”? This was right after that. “From that time…” Jesus started giving his disciples more detail. Jesus came into this world to do exactly what he was telling the disciples he was going to do. The path he was walking would lead him to the cross to pay for peoples’ sins and open the gates to eternal life. He would suffer at the hands of the very people who should have known him for who he was. He would die at the hands of the very people he came to save. But he would defeat death and promise a resurrection to eternal life for all who trust in him. This is what the Father had in mind for him to do. This is what he came to do. These were the “things of God,” as Jesus put it. Maybe you have felt the shock of a loved one telling you that they had only months to live. The thought of someone special to us being gone forever can elicit an intensely emotional and even defiant reaction. This was Peter when Jesus got more specific about his coming suffering and death. He loved Jesus. He felt protective of Jesus. He would prove that in the garden the night before Jesus was put to death. His love for Jesus and his willingness to stand up for him were not Peter’s problems. His not understanding what Jesus came to do was a problem. The devilish trap that he set before Jesus was a problem. Through Peter, Satan served up a temptation for Jesus to agree that this was unfair and for him to not allow the suffering and death.