Following Jesus

Background: Jesus has just had a great moment of spiritual breakthrough with the disciples. Peter was given revelation by God that Jesus was THE Messiah; not just a man or a gifted teacher.

This was a powerful turning point in preparing the Disciples for understanding the principles of life in the Kingdom. Jesus took the next step and began to tell them that He was facing suffering. Even though He was THE Messiah, His future involved suffering and crucifixion.

Peter was unable to process this so he actually rebukes Jesus by saying, Far be it from you Lord! This shall never happen to you” (Matt 16:22). Jesus immediately corrects Peter and names him a hindrance to the Kingdom and a tool of Satan.

Why such a forceful rebuke from Jesus? Peter was simply expressing concern for His Master - why the stinging rebuke? The answer is found at the end of v. 23. Jesus tells Peter that he has lost his focus, and is no longer thinking as one who has the ultimate aim of glorify God.

Transition: If Peter strayed off course, it is just as easy, if not more so, for us to fall off the path. Jesus uses His next words as a teaching time for all of the Twelve, and for us as well. Jesus is reminding Peter that the way of the follower is to be patterned after the Master. It was a timely lesson for them, and can serve as a good reminder for us as well

Let’s read the text together and be reminded of how and why we are to follow Jesus.

How do we follow Jesus?

We follow Jesus through self-denial

Explanation: This is one of those biblical terms that is easy to understand, but it difficult to live out. Self-denial means that we are willing to

We follow Jesus by taking up our cross

Why do we follow Jesus?

We follow Jesus this way because it is the path for Eternal Security

We follow Jesus because all the world has to offer is insufficient

We follow Jesus this way because we will face a future accounting