Brent Kuhlman

+ Jesu Juva +

Matthew 16:21-28

Last week Peter was so helpful.  Confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God.  How true. Jesus promises to build His church on that confession.  Great job Peter.

Now Jesus spells out the “what” of His being the Christ ministry.  Explains the Christ job He’s going to do.  Spells it right out.  It’s quite a Christ mission.

Listen to Jesus again.  “It’s absolutely necessary, i.e., it’s God’s will for me to set out for Jerusalem.  And there I will suffer deeply at the hands of the lay leaders, senior pastors, and Bible teachers.  I’ll be executed.  And on the third day I’ll rise from the dead.”   

Last week we learned “who” Jesus is.  The Christ.  That’s clear.  No problem there.  But this week we hear the “what.”  The “how” Jesus is the Christ.  He’s the Christ who will suffer.  Suffer not just in general.  A suffering that will be terminal.  He won’t die of a broken heart or of old age.  He’ll suffer a death by execution.  Stapled to the Cross as a public menace.  That’s His Christ mission.

Got a problem with that?  Peter sure does.  You followed his lead last week.  Will you follow him this week? 

Peter ponders what Jesus says.  A suffering Christ?  A dead Christ?  Absolutely unthinkable! Oxymoron!  According to Peter, the words “suffering” and “Christ” completely contradict each other.  The words “dead” and “Christ” are like fingernails on a chalkboard.  THE CHRIST CAN’T LOSE!  He supposed to be a winner!  THE CHRIST CAN’T DIE! Inconceivable!

So Peter takes Jesus aside.  Politely.  Pastorally.  Issues his first encyclical.  “God be merciful to you Jesus.  I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  What you’ve just said will never happen to you.  Why?  Because the Christ cannot suffer and the Christ cannot, (now listen to me carefully Jesus) DIE!  EVER!” 

No suffering, dying, and rising Christ Jesus for Peter.  How about you?  Would you give your “Amen” to Peter’s words?  Would you too insist on a Jesus who goes to Jerusalem minus Holy Week, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday? 

If you’re with Peter who infallibly holds to a suffering free Christ Jesus, then you’re in league with the devil!  Jesus turns on a dime.  Looks right at Peter.  Looks right at you.  “Get behind me Satan!”   It is Satanic to not want Jesus to do a Jerusalem Holy Week, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.  Satan tried to derail Jesus doing His salvation job of bearing all the world’s sin on the cross with his three sensational wilderness temptations of:  “Turn stones into bread!”  “Jump!”  “I’ll give you the world!”   

Pull a Peter and you’re pulling a Satan all over again.  Pull a Peter and you’re not concerned with God’s ways but men’s.  Pull a satanic Peter and you don’t have a Savior.  You’re left all on your own.  And believe me, that’s not good!   

Jesus will have none of it.  He will not abandon His trip to the Cross and a borrowed tomb.  He will go to Jerusalem.  He will suffer.  He will be crucified.  He  will  be buried.  He will rise from the grave.  And neither you, Peter, nor Satan can stop Him.  He will not put Himself first.  He is the Suffering Servant Christ who suffers, dies, and rises for sinners. 

Now His Cross shapes your lives.  Patterns your lives.  A disciple of Christ Jesus “finds his life” by . . . “losing it!” 

You have a life when you take up your cross and follow Jesus. 

And that simply means this: 
1) You believe the truth about yourself and then,
2) you believe the truth about Jesus Himself! 

First, what is the truth about yourself?  Warning!  It’s not pretty.  You are a sinner.  A rotten to the core sinner.  By nature lost in your selfish self.  A sinner that relentlessly seeks to assert yourself against God.  Even to prevail over Him.  A life centered on yourself. A sinner with the constant drive to be number one no matter who you hurt.  And that you as a sinner deserve nothing but God’s temporal and eternal punishment. 

Doesn’t that kill you to say confess such a thing?  Indeed.  And that’s the point!  The old Adam brags about his accomplishments and his record.  But the old Adam must be put to death!  Drowned.  Crucified.  Daily.  With all his sin and evil desires.  To take up your cross and follow Jesus is the daily search and destroy mission of the old Adamic self. 

So go ahead. Confess the truth about your sinful self.  Repent!  Turn away from that life of believing lies.  Lose the life of trusting in yourself.  For only when you lose that life do you find another!

And that’s a new life in Christ!  When you take up your cross and follow Jesus you believe what He says.  He says that He is the suffering and dead Good Friday Christ!  The Easter Sunday Christ!  That He does it all for you and for your salvation.  For the forgiveness of all your sins.  Only in this Christ Jesus are you saved.  You can gain the entire world, but without faith in Christ Jesus, there’s only one alternative:  the place prepared for the devil and all his angels. 

Faith’s reward is salvation.  A reward that is only by grace.  Salvation in Jesus!  He reveals His reign over us sinners in His suffering, death, and resurrection.  Peter saw that.  So did the other disciples.  They didn’t taste death, i.e. they didn’t die, before they saw Jesus’ words come true.  Jesus died on the Cross.  And from the Cross He reigns as the Christ, the divine Son of Man, winning a salvation for sinners like Peter, you and me. 

In the Name of Jesus.