Matthew 16:21-23 - The Cross Foretold
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Introduction
Introduction
[READING - Matthew 16:21-23]
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.”
[PRAYER]
[CONTEXT] Matthew 16:21 marks a turning point in the public ministry of Jesus.
At first he came preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” (Matt. 4:17). Jesus has alluded to his death, but now he begins to openly reveal that he will go to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and rise again.
Jesus foretold his cross on four occasions.
With each foretelling, the date of his death draws closer.
With each foretelling, his disciples fluctuate between confusion, denial, and grief.
With each foretelling, Jesus reminds us of his ultimate purpose—he must go to Jerusalem and suffer and be killed and be raised up on the third day.
[CIT] In this, the first foretelling of his cross, Jesus foretells, Peter rebukes him, and Jesus rebukes him in return.
[INTER] As we begin to think toward Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, what can we learn from this first foretelling of the cross?
[TS] Well, one thing we learn is that…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
LESSON #1: The cross was necessary (v. 21).
LESSON #1: The cross was necessary (v. 21).
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.
[ILLUS] Hollywood director asked about making a movie about Jesus after the “The Passion of the Christ” came out — “I’d do it different. I’d have a ninja come down and pull Jesus off the cross, toss him over his shoulder, and say, ‘Not on my watch.’”
The audience laughed. The host said something like, “That sounds great,” but it all revealed a fundamental misunderstanding about Jesus and his cross.
His cross wasn’t something to be avoided. It wasn’t something he needed to be saved from.
His cross was why he came.
His cross is how he saved those who trust him.
His cross was necessary.
[EXP] Jerusalem was necessary. Jesus showed his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem.
Jesus wept for Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37, saying…
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!
It was only fitting then that this rebellious city of God became the city that killed God’s son.
Suffering was necessary. Jesus told his disciples that he had to suffer. This includes his suffering on the cross and the mockery, flogging, and other abuses that came before it.
Hebrews 5:8-9 says…
8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation…
The active obedience of Jesus in his suffering proved his perfection as the sacrifice for our sins.
Death was necessary. Jesus revealed to his disciples that he had to be killed. The prophet Isaiah said…
3 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.
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
The Jewish religious leaders—the elders, chief priests, and scribes—would hand him over to be murdered, but it was the will of the Father to crush him so that through his cross those who believe would be brought back to God.
Resurrection was necessary. Jesus showed his disciples that he must be raised up on the third day.
17 …if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
All of these—his city, his suffering, his death, and his resurrection—were all necessities that Jesus foretold and then fulfilled as he went to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and rise again so his disciples would be saved.
Simply put, salvation doesn’t work without the necessities that Jesus foretold here in Matthew 16:21—salvation doesn’t work without his cross.
[APP] Do you understand that the cross was necessary? Do you understand that it was a must?
It was a must because it was the will of God.
It was a must because Jesus paid the price for our sins.
You are a sinner, which means you’ve done the opposite of what God said do.
He said, “Don’t lie,” and you lied.
He said, “Don’t covet,” and you coveted.
He said, “Don’t commit adultery,” and you’ve lusted in your heart, which is the same thing on a spiritual level.
He said, “Don’t commit murder,” but you’ve been angry with your brother in your heart, which, again, is the same thing on a spiritual level.
You are a sinner.
You are a rebel against God.
And the price for your sin is death.
God breathed life into us, but when we sinned against him, we chose death for ourselves.
Because the life of a creature is in its blood, there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood, which means that there is no forgiveness without death.
Because we’ve sinned against an eternally holy being, our sin is eternally offensive, so our death would have to be eternally punitive.
In other words, our sin against God who is eternally holy demands eternal punishment under the wrath of God in hell.
But Jesus’ death saves us from paying the price for our own sins! Jesus death saves us from an eternity of punishment in hell!
Because Jesus is the eternal holy Creator himself, his time on the cross was sufficient to pay the price for all who trust in him!
The cross was a must because on the cross his shed blood secured our forgiveness forever.
Have you trusted in Jesus? Have you trusted in the work he did on his cross?
Have you confessed your sinfulness?
Have you confessed that your sin against an eternally holy God deserves eternal punishment?
Have you called on God to forgive you and save you through the work that Jesus did on his cross?
Do you understand that his cross was a must for you? Do you understand that his cross was a must for all those who still need to hear of his cross and be saved?
There is no other way of salvation except his cross.
That is what makes his cross necessary.
[TS]…
LESSON #2: The cross was surprising (v. 22).
LESSON #2: The cross was surprising (v. 22).
22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”
[ILLUS] In the late 19th century, the acclaimed author Oscar Wilde attended a formal dinner party. A fellow guest, unfamiliar with Wilde but eager to seem intellectual, decided to offer him some unsolicited advice about writing. This guest reportedly said something along the lines of, "Mr. Wilde, you should focus on writing something serious and of lasting value, not just frivolous plays and poems."
Wilde, known for his sharp wit, simply replied, "Thank you for the advice. I shall endeavor to remember it while writing my next trifling masterpiece."
The guest only realized later that Wilde was already one of the most famous writers of the day.
Perhaps you too have embarrassed yourself by giving unsolicited advice to an expert, but none ever more so than Peter in Matthew 16:22 who gave unsolicited advice to the Son of the living God.
[EXP] There had been allusions to his death before this, but when he openly declared that he would soon die in Jerusalem, it was a surprise to his disciples.
It was surprise because in the passage just previous to this one, Jesus praised Peter for confessing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Mt. 16:16-17).
The Christ or Messiah was the promised, anointed savior who would deliver God’s people from the enemy.
Most of the Jews in Jesus’ day thought of Rome as the enemy, but Jesus came to save his people from their sins—and that he could only do by way of the cross.
But when Jesus announced the cross to the disciples, surely they must have thought, “How could the Christ, the Son of the Living God die?”
This news was so shocking that Peter called on God to forbid it, saying, “This shall never be.”
But it would be because, far from forbidding it, God ordained it.
In Acts 4:27-28, Peter would say in prayer…
27 “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.
It might have been surprising, but it was God’s plan that Jesus die on the cross to pay the price for our sin.
[APP] I think what surprises most people today is not that the Savior would die, but that they needed a Savior to die for them.
Most people think they are pretty good, better than most. They try to do the right thing. They don’t hurt anyone. They treat people right.
They don’t think their own sin is their biggest enemy.
Here’s the truth: My sin is my biggest enemy, and your sin is your biggest enemy.
By way of his surprising cross, Jesus saves us from our biggest enemy—our sin.
In Romans 3:10-18, the Apostle Paul, who called himself the chief of sinners, quoted from the Old Testament saying…
10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
He goes on in Romans 3:23 to say…
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
This means that our sin has separated us from God, but if that is so, how could God bring us back to himself?
Through the surprising way of the cross.
Paul says in Romans 3:24-25…
24 (all who believe) are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith…
You are a sinner. Only your pride would make that surprising to you. Sin is your biggest enemy. And if you believe, God has delivered you from that enemy by way of the cross of His Son.
If you haven’t done so before, bow before God and admit your sin.
Bow before God and profess your faith in Jesus as God’s Son who died to make you right with God.
[TS]…
LESSON #3: The cross was trying (v. 23).
LESSON #3: The cross was trying (v. 23).
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.”
[ILLUS]
[EXP] How quickly things change. In passage just before this, Peter was congratulated for confessing Jesus as the Son of the Living God, and Jesus said that this was revealed to him by the grace of God. Then Jesus went on to say in Matthew 16:18…
18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church…
But now ‘Peter the rock’ would become ‘Peter the stumbling block’.
Jesus had heard this temptation before. In Matthew 4, Satan tempted Jesus with glory without the cross, and now Peter does the same.
This is why Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!”
But just as Jesus would not be thrown off the will of his Father by Satan, so he will not be thrown off the will of his Father by Peter.
The cross would be trying, but Jesus would meet the trial with perfect faithfulness. He would go to the cross in obedience to his Father.
The question is, would Peter take up his cross and follow Jesus.
The right place for a disciple of Jesus is behind Jesus following him, not in front of Jesus trying to lead him. Peter was rebuked for trying to lead Jesus away from the cross, but Jesus would not be turned away. Jesus said of his cross in John 10:17-18…
17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.
18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
Jesus knew what his Father had commanded him to do, and he would do it.
Jesus also knew what his Father commanded Peter and the rest of Jesus’ disciples to do, but would they do it?
Would they get behind Jesus and follow him?
Would they take up their own crosses and follow him?
And what about us?
Will we take up our crosses and follow Jesus?
[APP] In the passage after Jesus reveals the cross and Peter forbids the cross, Jesus tells his disciples that they—that we—will have to take up our crosses and follow him if we are his disciples.
His point couldn’t be more clear: the road to salvation is paved with suffering.
Far from living our best life now, Jesus said that in this world we would have trouble.
He said that because they world hated him, it would hate those of us who follow him.
He said that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
In other words, the road to salvation is paved with suffering.
The cross was trying to Jesus but he took it up to save us from our sins. He humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, but God exalted him—God raised him up on the third day (Phil. 2:8-9).
If we want to share in the glory of Jesus’ resurrection, then we must share in his suffering. We must take up our crosses and follow him.
Peter took up his cross and followed Jesus, and then writing to those who were also walking the road of suffering, he said…
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
Let us deny ourselves take up our crosses and follow Jesus!
Let us not hold on to our worldly lives but lay them down for the glory of Jesus!
Let us take up our crosses and be ready for his return when he will repay each one for what he has done!
Let us take up our crosses and follow Jesus so that we will rejoice with exultation at the revelation of his glory!
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
[PRAYER]
The cross was necessary, surprising, and trying, and the cross was the will of God so that we who believe will be saved.
Have you believed?
Will take up your cross and follow Jesus?
{When I Look Into Your Holiness, 484}
Wherever He Leads I’ll Go, 437
