THE OFFENSE OF THE CROSS
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God always has a plan, and His plan is always Plan A, and never Plan B.
Because you and I are finite in our thinking and knowledge we cannot always rely on our own version of Plan A. Very frequently we need to go to Plan B. If you were to ask Edison how many plans he had to go through before he invented the light bulb, he would have told you that he had exhausted the entire alphabet many times over.
But God’s knowledge and understanding are infinite. He knows the end from the beginning. For Him it is always Plan A.
Because of man’s sin nature he can never fulfill the requirement of God to live a perfect life. As Paul told the Romans:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
God’s plan, from eternity past, was that His beloved Son would temporarily empty Himself of His inherit glory, and be found in the fashion of a man. It would be His Son who would fulfill the righteous requirements of the law on behalf of His people. It would be His Son who would inaugurate the New Covenant promised by Jeremiah, by pouring out His blood for the many who would place their faith in Christ as their Lord and Savior. As Jesus said in
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
If you have not done so yet, please turn in your Bible to . Our text for this morning shows a surprising turn of events. First Jesus makes a surprising announcement, then Peter foolishly rebukes Christ, and then it concludes with Christ’s stern reply.
Let’s read our passage together.
JESUS’ SURPRISING ANNOUNCEMENT
JESUS’ SURPRISING ANNOUNCEMENT
A Shift in Ministry Focus
The first phrase of verse 21 “from that time” marks a shift in ministry focus for Jesus. The same phrase was used to mark the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in
From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Now it seems to mark the ending of His public ministry and the transition to private ministry with the twelve.
Four “Must Do’s” for Jesus
As we consider the “must do’s” for Jesus we need to remind ourselves that God has a plan.
There was always a plan — there was never a Plan B. It was always Plan A.
Must go to Jerusalem
Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.
Must suffer many things
Must be killed
The term for killed is not the term that is used for legal executions, but the term used for murder.
Must be raised on the third day
It would seem that Peter and the twelve did not catch this part about Jesus being raised from the dead. They were so grieved by the message of His death that they blocked the message of His being raised from the dead.
I’d like to focus for a few moments on the fact that Messiah must be killed. It is quite obvious that almost everyone in Israel had failed to understand the writings of the OT regarding the fact that Messiah would be killed. Even the apostles did not understand this until after the resurrection of Christ. On the day of His resurrection, Luke’s Gospel account informs us that Jesus traveled with a couple of disciples (not apostles) on the road to Emmaus. While traveling with Him they did not recognize Him, and they began to speak to Him about the things that had happened. (As a side-note, they in fact were witnessing to Jesus about Jesus).
But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.
Then, still under disguise, Jesus said to them:
And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
It seems to me that this is very similar to the conversation Jesus had in our present text with the twelve. Unfortunately Israel had misunderstood the writings of many of the prophets.
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.
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 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.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
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By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
As I already mentioned, God always had a plan for the redemption of His people. It was necessary that Jesus must die, and be resurrected from the dead. The cross of Christ is the thing that holds all things together. Without the cross there would be no forgiveness of sin; there would be no reconciliation with God; there would be no justification; there would be no peace, and certainly no future glorification.
Did you know that even the human body points to the cross. This past week a person I knew as a child sent me a link to a conversation an unknown preacher had with a scientist about how the body points to the cross. It was simply awe inspiring.
Did you know that even the human body points to the cross. This past week a person I knew as a child sent me a link to a conversation an unknown preacher had with a scientist about how the body points to the cross. It was simply awe inspiring.
There is in the human body a protein molecule that holds everything together. I won’t try to impress you with science talk, since I’m not very good at it, but I find it interesting that this molecule is shape like the cross.
There is in the human body a protein molecule that holds everything together. I won’t try to impress you with science talk, since I’m not very good at it, but I find it interesting that this molecule is shape like the cross.
We have been looking at Jesus’ surprising announcement. Let’s turn our attention now to Peter’s foolish rebuke.
We have been looking at Jesus’ surprising announcement. Let’s turn our attention now to Peter’s foolish rebuke.
PETER’S FOOLISH REBUKE
PETER’S FOOLISH REBUKE
We have noted frequently that Peter was the spokesmen for the twelve. Most often the things that he said reflected the view of the twelve. In last weeks passage his confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, most likely reflected the view of the twelve. But how could he go from confessing that Jesus was God, to rebuking Him? Let’s note a few things:
Peter’s Rebuke Reflected an Intimacy with Christ
It is easy to miss the fact that it was because of his intimacy with Christ that Peter felt bold enough to offer a rebuke. Intimacy in itself is a good thing. But often our most intimate friends and relatives seek to stand in the way of our doing what God has called us to do. How many prospective missionary has had family members try to talk them out of going to the missions field?
Peter’s Rebuke Reflected Ignorance of God’s Word
Peter’s Rebuke was Somewhat Insincere
The Greek term which is translated “God forbid it” is the same term that is sometimes translated as mercy or propitiation. Young’s Literal Translation puts it this way:
And having taken him aside, Peter began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Be kind to thyself, sir; this shall not be to thee;’
We’ve looked at Jesus’ surprising announcement and Peter’s foolish rebuke. Let’s turn our attention now to Christ’s stern reply.
CHRIST’S STERN REPLY
CHRIST’S STERN REPLY
Satanic Influence
Notice first that Jesus turned to Peter before addressing him. Most likely He looked Peter straight in the eyes, which is a physical gesture that conveys the idea of “pay close attention to what I am about to say!”
Notice next that Jesus told Peter to get behind Him. That can be taken in at least two different ways. On the positive side Jesus could have been telling Peter to get behind Him and support Him rather than deter Him. He could have been admonishing Peter to follow His lead. However, the more natural way to take this statement is to understand Jesus to be saying to "get out of my way! Stop tempting Me with the easy road.”
Finally, notice that Jesus addressed Peter as Satan. Understand that Peter was not indwelt by Satan. Nevertheless what he was saying to Jesus what pretty much what Satan had when he tempted Him.
Detour Warning
I don’t know about you, but I hate detours! What is even worse is a detour with no marked signs as to where to go. That has happened to me right here in the Britton area. Apparently they assume that everyone driving on the roads around here knows how to get around a detour without the help of signs.
When Jesus told Peter that he was a stumbling block, I believe it was in reference to a detour — a detour of the cross. We’ve run across the Greek term for stumbling block before. It’s the same term that is translated as offense in . When we looked at that text we noted that is the term scandalon from which we get the word scandal. Peter’s act of trying to get Christ to take a detour around the cross was scandalous, it was offensive, it was a stumbling block.
Recently I ran across a stumbling block in my own life. I was walking down a wooded path when I tripped over a tree root. It was offensive to my body (and mind as well!). After I fell I proceeded to tumble down a slope just like in the movies. IT WAS EPIC! And I have been seeing a chiropractor ever since.
Peter was not the first one to try to get Jesus to by-pass the cross. Satan did so in . The crowds did so after the feeding of the five thousand ().
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.
And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”
Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,
and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ”
Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;
and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ”
Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.
It has been pointed out that Jesus called Simon Peter a rock in verse 18, but now in verse 23 he calls him a different type of rock — a rock of offense. Peter was not the only Jew to find the cross of Christ to be an offense. Paul writes of it in
but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
Representation
An ambassador is one who represent someone else of higher rank. When an ambassador speaks he or she does not speak their own mind, but the mind of their leader. Nikki Haley is our current Ambassador to the United Nations, and when she speaks she is representing President Trump. She is sharing his views and not her own. And quite frankly I think she has done a great job!
Peter, as well as the rest of the twelve, should have understood that he was an ambassador for Christ. They had already been sent out as ambassadors in . But here we find Peter representing the ways of the world instead of God. John wrote:
Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.
These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;
but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.
Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts,
or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support.
And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city.
As you enter the house, give it your greeting.
If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace.
Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.
Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.
But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues;
and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.
For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
“But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.
It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!
“Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.
Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
You and I who are believers in Jesus Christ are also ambassadors for Christ. And our duty is to declare unto others the message of reconciliation which has been entrusted to us. But very often, like Peter, rather than proclaiming the message of God, we proclaim our own message.
As we close and prepare our hearts for the celebration of the Lord’s Table, I want you to reflect on what it would be like if Satan, through Peter, had deterred Jesus from the cross. We would be like Paul wrote to the
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Let’s pray.
Closing Song: No. 349 - O How He Loves You and Me
Closing Song: No. 349 - O How He Loves You and Me
O How He Loves You and Me
O How He Loves You and Me