03-11-07-The Way of the Cross
Last week began a series on the cross. We saw how Jesus took His disciples on a retreat to Caesarea Philippi. There He asked them about what the people said about Him and then He asked His disciples “Who do YOU say I am?” Peter boldly declared that Jesus was the Son of the Living God—the Messiah and Jesus pronounced a blessing on Him for hearing the voice of the Father in heaven. Then Jesus proceeded to tell the disciples that He would build the church and the enemy would not be able to overcome it because the church has been given the authority to defeat satan.
Today, I’d like to pick up the story where we left off and talk about the way of the cross. They are still at Caesarea Philippi and Jesus is preparing them for the last phase of His life where He must go to Jerusalem to be killed, and then be resurrected from the dead after 3 days.
¨ Matthew 16:21-27 (NIV) 21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
¨ 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done.”
Now that the disciples realized that Jesus was the Messiah—the Son of the Living God—they knew that His mission would never fail. So that meant they were on the winning side and that no matter what happened victory was guaranteed. For some of the disciples this was great news because it justified their reason for following Him—He would establish His kingdom and be the one who would finally conquer the Romans and set the Jews free from their bondage. For others it may have made them feel that finally their Master would get the recognition that they felt He so rightly deserved. For others it may have meant that they thought Jesus would finally have some peace from all the persecution of the religious leaders and that maybe He would finally put them in their place.
So imagine the shock of the disciples when the Lord broke the news to them that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the religious leaders, and He must be killed, and raised to life on the third day. Suffering, dying—where is the victory in that? Why was Jesus talking about suffering and being killed, when He had just told them that He was the Messiah—the Son of the Living God? Why as Messiah, He had so much power that He could just snuff out those religious leaders with a snap of His fingers! But, you see the disciples completely missed the last part of what Jesus said—He must be raised from the dead on the third day—all they could focus on was the fact that He was talking about suffering.
The little word Jesus used—must—is important. It showed that Jesus knew what He was doing and that He was determined to fulfill His purpose here on earth. He must go to Jerusalem to fulfill what the Father had put Him here on this earth to do—that is to bring salvation for all mankind by the way of the cross.
Well, as can be expected the disciples had to talk about this with Jesus and as usual Peter was the first one to open His mouth. I love Peter! He is often called brash, impetuous, or is accused of getting ahead of God. But one thing is for sure, Peter was a man who spoke what He thought. So Peter took Jesus aside and spoke what they were all thinking, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to You!” In essence Peter was saying the same thing that later on those who would mock Jesus when He hung on the cross would say:
¨ Matt 27:40 (NIV) “. . . Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
In fact, some translations seem to indicate that Peter actually stood in the way of Jesus to block His path—as if he could somehow stop Jesus from going the way of the cross.
Peter began to tell Jesus that He was wrong and must not talk that way. Can you imagine the audacity of Peter in taking Jesus—the Messiah—the Son of the Living God over to the side to explain to Him the reality of things? Peter must have thought, why Jesus is the Christ, what could possibly stop Him from having victory! So Peter presumed to “lecture” his teacher on the error of His statement!
This drew a sharp rebuke from Jesus. He knew that He had come into the world to die for sinners—He knew that He must go to Jerusalem to die and be raised again on the third day. He knew that He must walk the way of the cross. Anything or anyone who hindered Him from this purpose was out of tune with God’s will. So He said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Wow, imagine Peter’s reaction to that! Jesus basically told Peter you are an offense to me, a stench in my nostrils—or in modern language—“You make me sick!”
4625 σκάνδαλον [skandalon /skan·dal·on/] n n. Probably from a derivative of 2578; TDNT 7:339; TDNTA 1036; GK 4998; 15 occurrences; AV translates as “offence” nine times, “stumbling block” three times, “occasion of stumbling” once, “occasion to fall” once, and “thing that offends” once. 1 the movable stick or trigger of a trap, a trap stick. 1a a trap, snare. 1b any impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall, (a stumbling block, occasion of stumbling) i.e. a rock which is a cause of stumbling. 1c fig. applied to Jesus Christ, whose person and career were so contrary to the expectations of the Jews concerning the Messiah, that they rejected him and by their obstinacy made shipwreck of their salvation. 2 any person or thing by which one is (entrapped) drawn into error or sin.
For the word “stumbling block” the NLT it says “. . . You are a dangerous trap to me. . . .” This is a correct translation, because the Greek word used here literally means “the movable stick or trigger of a trap, a trap stick.” So Jesus is telling Peter that satan is trying to use him as a trap or a snare to prevent Jesus from doing the will of the Father. In calling Peter satan, Jesus did not mean that Peter was demon-possessed or satan-controlled. He simply meant that Peter’s actions and words were what could be expected from satan (whose name means adversary). So by coming against the way of the cross, Peter became a hindrance to the plan of God for Jesus to become the Savior of the world.
Now Jesus begins to explain the true cost of discipleship—or the way of the cross.
¨ Matthew 16:24 (NIV) “. . . If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
1. To deny self means to yield to God’s control so completely that self has no rights whatsoever. It is a total surrender to the will of God for our lives.
2. To take up the cross means the willingness to endure shame, suffering, and perhaps even martyrdom for His sake. Since the cross was a cruel instrument of death it also meant to die to sin, self, and the world.
3. To follow Him means to live as He lived with all that meant including humility, poverty, compassion, love, grace, and every other godly virtue.
The Lord explains two hindrances to discipleship—or the way of the cross:
¨ Matthew 16:25 (NIV) 25 “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it.”
1. Saving his life—The natural temptation for anybody is try to save yourself from discomfort, pain, loneliness, or loss. Now, we must realize that the cross was a horrible way to die with excruciating pain and suffering. The cross was never used to train or discipline someone. There was only one purpose for the cross—to bring death to men. No one who ever hung on the cross lived. The cross was not a thing of beauty. The cross was a thing of shame. Only criminals and the outcasts of society died on a cross.
¨ Matthew 16:26 (NIV) 26 “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
2. Pursuit of wealth—The second hindrance is to pursue becoming wealthy. Why is this so bad? Don’t we all want to have riches and wealth? Doesn’t the Bible talk about God blessing us? If we are rich does that mean we cannot be a disciple of Christ? Jesus was not opposed to people being rich, but this is a hypothetical idea that Jesus is saying to make a point.
“Suppose, that a man became so successful in business that he owned the whole world. The mad quest for success would absorb so much of his time and energy that he would miss the central purpose of his life. What good would it do to make all that money, then die, leaving it all behind, and then spend eternity empty-handed?” Man was put here on this earth for bigger business than just to make money. He has the high calling to represent the King of the universe. He has an eternal soul that must be accounted for while he is on earth. So, if he misses out on that, then he misses everything.
Sadly, this may not be as hypothetical today as it was when Jesus spoke it. There are far too many in the world today, including Christians, who have sold their souls for the almighty dollar. The pursuit of riches is a far greater thing than the life of sacrifice that God calls them to. As a result, families have been ruined, wars have been fought, and lives have been destroyed. Too many people have come to the end of life and discovered that they wasted their life trying to get ahead at the high cost of their family. You never see a U-Haul truck behind a hearse. The old saying, that you can’t take anything with you when you die is still true today and it is exactly what Jesus was saying to His disciples.
The way of the cross involves sacrifice and Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that truth. Although it was true that He was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, it did not change the fact that He had a mission to accomplish—to die and be raised again to be the Savior of the world. That was the sacrifice that He was willing to make so that He would please His Father.
¨ Matthew 16:27 (NIV) “For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done.”
But Jesus also wanted them to know that the way of the cross was not only about sacrifice, but also about reward. Once the sacrifice was made, then the reward would come. After Jesus made His sacrifice on the cross, salvation would be available to every man, the church would be born, lives would be brought into a wonderful, personal relationship with the Father, and the enemy would be defeated. The problem is that the disciples wanted the kingdom of God and all its rewards without the sacrifice. In other words they wanted the reward without paying the price it cost.
So the Lord tells His disciples of the glory that follows the suffering. He points them forward to His Second Coming when He will return to earth with His angels in all the glory of His Father. Then the Father will reward those who live for Him. By looking at the rewards it would help the disciples to be willing to make the sacrifice—no matter how difficult it was. In fact, history tells us most of the disciples gave their lives to fulfill the mission of God on earth—many dying cruel deaths.
Everything that Jesus told the disciples is true for us today. The way of the cross is a life of sacrifice. We do have to be willing to make the sacrifice so that we can receive the reward from our Father. We must be willing to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow God no matter where it takes us or how much the cost.
Paying the price, or making a sacrifice, to gain a reward is a fact of life that we may not like, but it is a reality.
Ø If you are a runner, you must pay the price to go faster and have more endurance.
Ø If you are a weight lifter, you must pay the price to get stronger.
Ø If you want to lose weight, you must pay the price of self-discipline.
Ø If you want a promotion at work, you must pay the price of submission to your boss.
Ø If you want an education, you must pay the price of hard work and study.
Anything that we want in life has some price that we must be willing to pay to get it!
If this is so in our natural lives, then why do we think it would be different in our spiritual lives?
The question is are we willing to walk the way of the cross and make a sacrifice in our lives for the sake of God’s kingdom. Are we willing to pay the price? It may mean reprioritizing our schedule so we can spend more time in prayer and reading of God’s Word. It may be a financial price—giving of our tithes and offerings, or being careful of not wasting how we spend of the other 90%. It may be learning to live within our means and getting out of debt. It may mean breaking a bad habit—and we have our own vices to deal with.
It may mean making a commitment to someone or something that we don’t want to do. It may mean stepping out of our comfort zone to reach out to someone who is hurting.
But regardless of what sacrifice we make, it will never be as great as the one that God made for us.
Ø Taking up our cross is not having a mean, hard boss.
Ø It is not having to drive an old, worn out car.
Ø It is not having to live with certain aches or pains.
Ø It is not having friends or family turn against you.
Ø It is not doing without the things of this world.
Ø Taking up our cross means that we exchange our life completely for the cause of Christ!
Will you pay that price today? Will you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow God no matter where it takes you or how much it costs? If so, I can promise you that the reward of the Father will far outweigh the price of sacrifice that you make!
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n n: noun or neuter
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
TDNTA Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version