Matthew 16:21-26 Sermon. September 13th, 2020. Grace-Vail and Grace-Benson. Who does a 3 year old trust more: self or dad? A 3 year old doesn’t really want to go to a place where you sit in a chair and open your mouth and people look in and poke around for a while, and you keep your mouth open even if it hurts. But a parent knows best. Who do you trust more: self or God? Jesus told his disciples that he needed to suffer many things and be killed and then rise 3 days later. Peter trusted himself more; but Jesus knew best. Jesus also comes to you and says you must carry a cross, deny self, lose your self and find life. Who do you trust more: yourself, or Jesus? How can we grow in our trust of a Lord not only went to the cross, but also brings a cross to you? Last week, we heard how Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” And Jesus said, “You’re a rock, Peter. On what you just said I will build an indestructible group of people.” Great news. Then Jesus told them they’d be headed for Jerusalem, the capital city, cultural and power center. What would you expect if you were Peter? We’re going to Jerusalem because Jesus is the Christ, and people need to know it. He’s going to establish a group that even the gates of hell won’t overcome, let’s do it. He’s the one, we’re ready. The last thing he expected was to hear Jesus say, in Jerusalem I will suffer many things from the leaders and be killed, then rise in 3 days. What would you have done if Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, the compassionate healer, no nonsense teacher told you that he was going to Jerusalem so that he could suffer and die? You might do what Peter did. He took Jesus aside and said, “May God give you mercy. What you just said should never happen to anyone, especially you.” Why avoid suffering, death, and cross? Why avoid the cross? The first reason is obvious. A cross was horrible and led to dying. Crucifixion was a Roman execution method designed to maximize pain and suffering before death; as well as exposure, shame, humiliation, all included. The sight of anyone carrying their cross only meant one thing. Their life was behind them. They had only cruel suffering and death to look forward to. The Romans had shown their brutal cruelty and power yet again. Before the cross was ever a symbol of Jesus and sacrifice, it was a symbol of brutality and force and fear. As if that wasn’t enough, another reason to avoid the cross is that when you’re dead you can’t influence others. How could a dead Jesus reveal himself as Christ and Son of God, and build up an indestructible group. The part about rising after 3 days didn’t even seem to compute with Peter. Probably another way of Jesus speaking strangely figuratively and no one knows exactly what he means. No one would have dreamed that the resurrection would actually happen, much less be expected to happen before he died. Why would there be a need to go to Jerusalem to die? And it seemed to Peter that there were other options. Jesus said to Peter, you are minding the things of man, not the things of God. What are the things of man in this case? You can have a life of comfort and happiness without pain and suffering. You shouldn’t have to suffer or die, there shouldn’t be things like crucifixion. Jesus also called Peter “Satan.” Peter was speaking as a messenger of the devil. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Satan wanted Jesus to seek glory for himself without suffering, without pain. It would only cost him his allegiance to his father, and all the pain could have been avoided. Along with that temptation to get glory without pain is this thought: the reason there is pain and suffering is on some level God’s fault. Why does he let people go 40 days without food? Why does he forbid eating delicious fruit? Why does he allow executions and cruel tortures to happen? You can’t trust God. It’s better to seek comfort without God than to experience pain with him.
Now, Jesus later talks about how the cross was not just for him, but for you as well. A cross in your life is broadly defined, anything that causes pain, discomfort, humiliation, shame, death. And you and I, like Peter, naturally would try to avoid those things at all costs, for similar reasons. You might say something like, this should never happen to me: Sickness and pain. The shame of admitting my specific sins to the people I have hurt. The rejection of identifying myself as a Christian in a non-friendly place. These are things we avoid. Death as well. We’d think, I need to live a little longer, I have more I want to do and see and experience. Not death, death would diminish my ability to do good in the world. It’s easy for us to be minding the things of man and not the things of God. To subtly but surely start to agree with the thought, there shouldn’t be suffering in the world, and because there is, there’s something wrong with God. God is not to be trusted. And a life of comfort without God is to be preferred over a life of pain with him. We can think this way. Notice that when Jesus said, “Get behind me Satan,” he wasn’t talking to pagans or outwardly evil people, he was talking to Peter. You need to hear this, I need to hear this. Even we who are close to Jesus need to be challenged, are you minding the things of man? Why do you try to avoid a cross? Why was the cross even necessary? Jesus reacted strongly to Peter. And he didn’t just say, “I think my enemies might try to kill me.” He said, “This is necessary. There is a need which only my suffering and death and rising will fill. Jesus said the cross was necessary. Why the necessity? First reason: The cross had to be endured, because God is determined to be close to people. He found us in a position where our attitudes led us to be functionally dead to God. That’s where Jesus found us, worthy of death and distance, so to be close to us, that’s where he needed to go. Jesus was minding the things of God, not the things of man. What God is interested in more than anything is having you close to himself. That’s his desire for you. That’s why Jesus came. Jesus knew he could handle it without flipping out and losing his confidence and having that crushed spirit last for eternity, he knew he could go through that, and 3 days later be completely re-united with the father, remade in his human body, reconstituted in his state of being as God and man. You couldn’t, so he did. The cross had to happen; because only death can lead to resurrection. Only his death and resurrection can deliver to us the life we really long for, the life God designed us for. Death usually renders a person’s ability to influence others to zero. Jesus is the one exception. His death, coupled with his resurrection means death has been transformed from executioner to gardener. Now I don’t think you would disagree with any of that. The cross was needed so we could be saved. But there’s more. The cross was needed because that’s how bad your rebellion against God is. The power of mending our broken relationship with God in this way was needed because the breaking of our relationship with God was like killing an innocent person. The cure had to match the offense. The horror of the death of an innocent man by crucifixion is matched only by the horror of people revolting against God. The treatment we as humans enact against God needed to be rectified, and the cure had to be more powerful than the wound. The violence done to Jesus is akin to the violence of sin against God. Jesus does not want to force anyone to do what they don’t want to do. He wants to free them to do what they want to do. If someone wants to crucify him, he’s not interested in overriding their human will and refusing to allow them to do it. He wants to let them do it, then rise again so they can be forgiven for doing it, and find in him a way to have those kinds of desires die and new kinds of desires to be brought to
life in them. Only the kindness of God leads to repentance. There is no greater act of kindness, fierce kindness, sacrificial kindness. Not only does Jesus say there was a cross for him, he also says there is a cross for you. “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 In fact whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 After all, what will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul?” Notice how Jesus talks about you as if there are 2 selves within you. You need to deny you, or you will lose you. But if you try to save you, you will lose you. There are 2 you’s. Just like he talked to Peter but called him Satan, and said there are the things of God and things of man. So, what’s going on here? We all have 2 selves. The Bible refers to it in different ways. The old self, the new self. The sinful nature, the spirit of faith. We all get glimpses of this. Times you do something that you. Times that you do something good and wonder how you did it. Now, in one sense, all people have a better and worse version of themselves, Christian or not. But only in Christ is this truly new self given. And it’s only through the cross, his first, but yours as well. The cross, his and yours, is your way for that old self to die. The cross, his and yours, is your way to not have to have life your way. The cross, his and yours, is your way to discover your true self, the self you were always meant to be Jesus wants you to be strong enough to endure death and live with him. Jesus wants you to live in communion with him forever. To give you that version of yourself, he first was committed to face the horror of the cross himself. And now he invites you to experience his presence even in the smaller crosses that he gives you to carry. If you did not have crosses, you’d get so distracted by the pursuits of pleasure that you’d lose touch with God and with reality itself. If you did not have crosses, you’d grow so self-confident that life is pretty much fine the way it is, you don;t need Jesus’ help for much. Why bother caring so much about a Lord who would die for you and rise again? If you didn’t have death, you couldn’t rise again. You couldn’t become the new you unless the old you goes away. The only prerequisite to resurrection is this: you have to be dead, otherwise it’s not resurrection, its recovery, healing, but not resurrection. Do you want resurrection, new life, or do you want a slightly better version of the you you think you should be. You have no idea who you are. Jesus does. He wants to make you the incredible you who can die and then rise so much better than you ever have been. Will you let him? Will you let him bring a cross to you so he can make you new? Think again of how a person who is carrying a cross, they’re not thinking about their lost goat, or their next drink, or whether or not they should divorce their husband. Their life is over. It’s all behind them. The cross is a way for you not to have to have life your way. So that you can have life God’s way. What’s his way? I’ll go with you. I’m with you. Follow me. I want you with me. I want you near me. I will be near you wherever you go. So what are some of the crosses Jesus gives you? In the broad sense a cross is anything that causes suffering, pain, humiliation, shame, reputation destruction, death to your version of life. Jesus wants you to discover that when those times come, he is with you. Death? You don’t go alone. Reputation shattering? He will give you a new one. Shame? He’ll give you glory. Pain? He gives comfort. That’s the power of the cross, Jesus’ first but yours too. Your life is meant to be a growth process of letting the right parts of you die, so that the best part of you can live. God wants to change you, but he wants to do it in such a way that you are left intact. In
fact, you become more yourself than you could ever be without him. When you grow in the habit of going to Jesus for him to put parts of you to death so that he can bring new parts of you to life, a few things happen. You receive safety for a fear dominated existence. If you don’t have to fear your physical death, you also learn not to fear the death of your reputation, or of your comforts. You can begin to live less driven by fear. You’re free to let those things die so that a better reputation can be give, a better way of life, better dreams, superior desires, surpassing solutions. When you grow in the habit of going to Jesus for him to put parts of you to death so that he can bring new parts of you to life, you receive safety from an avoidance dominated life. By rising from the dead, Jesus has given you a new way to deal with others doing what they want when that means they are harming you. You can simply endure, and have confidence that you will rise from the dead. You can rather die than get violent, rather than crush with power or force or arms. Rather than yelling and screaming and hitting and fighting. The cross means you are stronger than you think. You’re able to withstand suffering, cruelty, even death, and face it all with faith that as Jesus rose, you will rise as well. That your real self will be given you. So, what are you minding, the things of God or the things of men? Things of man are constantly grabbing for our attention. Things of God have chosen to be more gentle, not hidden exactly, but subtle, humble, not overpowering. What are you minding? What’s on your mind? Do you see the role the cross plays in your life, not the role it played in your life, but the role it plays, ongoingly in your life. Desire to save your soul and you will lose it. Your idea of saving your soul will be wrong. You will not get this right. You need to lose your version of saving your soul, and let Jesus’ version come in its place. What can you give in exchange for your soul? What is your soul? The invisible yet real you. The you which is more real than your body. If you want to get to know someone, the last thing you should do is open up their head or chest and look around. You should let their body reveal their soul to you. That’s who they are. We are spiritual beings, destined to be so of one kind or another for all eternity. Don't lose your soul to an eternity apart from God and the identity he alone gives. Its not a good exchange. There are multiple possible you’s, which will you receive? The you that you can make, or the you that Christ through cross and resurrection can give you? What kind of exchange are you looking for: There is a God who would make the lose of the whole world worth it; who would make the losing of him unbearable for all eternity even if all the rest of the world could be gained. There is a type of losing that leads to gaining, and a type of losing that leads to gaining. Cling to life your way, and you will never have life God’s way. Let go of life your way, and God will give you life his way. Who do you trust more? Yourself, or the one who already endured the cross for you? Won’t you pick up your cross, you’ll find that he’s there with you. This is more than a dentist appointment, life in a world where crosses kill people is no joke. But Jesus is with you. He’s already been through it and beyond for you. And he does not leave you alone. He had everything in heaven, but you, and he said life with you is better, even if it took a cross to get there. So when he gives you a cross, take it, it’s from him. And so it is blessing.