Matthew 16:21-28 (2)

Turning toward Jerusalem

At least the disciples are beginning to grasp who Jesus is. There is so much more to learn. Most first century Jews fully expected a Messiah, an Anointed One through whom God would perfectly restore the people of God to their birthright as His unique and permanent possession. The Romans, indeed all who threatened to oppress the Jewish people, would be eliminated. Other ethnic groups may survive, but those who were descended from Abraham would be the vehicle through which God will bless the world.

Lest we be too hard on those disciples let’s be honest enough to admit that we too often project wrong ideas about what Jesus has come to do - now and in the future.

The Necessity of Death

The first ‘shock’ to these disciples was the straightfoward way Jesus told them He must die.

Since the Pharisees, Sadducees and other religious leaders were seeking to find reason to kill Jesus (see John 5:18; 7:1) going to Jerusalem sounded dangerous enough.

Jesus isn’t just talking about ‘death.’ He’s predicting His own murder!

He is predicting that prior to His murder, those religious authorities will conspire together to make Him suffer ‘many things.’

And Jesus says, knowing full well what awaits Him: “I must go.”

Look further, though, at how Jesus develops the idea of death and its necessity in the life of His followers:

Matthew 16:25–26 HCSB

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?

Losing one’s life…Twice in that statement Jesus is telling His closest disciples that to find life, to gain life, one must first prepare to lose life.

The Promise of Resurrection

Jesus predicts His own death. Jesus calls for His disciples to be prepared to lose their own lives.

He also promises restoration. Jesus assures His listeners that though He is to be killed, He will be raised again on the third day. For those who have been listening this is not truly new information. Twice in passages previous to Matthew 16 Jesus has spoken about the ‘sign of Jonah -

Matthew 16:4 HCSB

An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.

Again we can trace this thought through Matthew 16:25-26

Matthew 16:25–26 HCSB

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?

Those who lose their lives for Jesus’ sake will find life. Those who lose their life in seeking to gain Jesus will be rewarded with a life that never ends.

A Required Reorientation

We can’t be too hard on Peter for his response because likely had we been there we would have said similar things.

What Jesus speaks in reply, though, should make us take notice:

First, he identifies the real source of the statement. Jesus isn’t saying Peter is ‘possessed’ by the devil, but Jesus knows that the devil will do everything possible to keep Him from fulfilling God’s purpose and plan.

Second, Jesus identifies the radical reorientation necessary to follow Him - Matthew 16:24

Matthew 16:24 HCSB

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.

Come with Me...

Jesus clearly invites people to come along with Him. Immediately after His baptism and temptation Jesus begins inviting people to come with Him. All those around Jesus when He spoke the words we are looking at today were coming with Jesus.

Self-Denial

First, those choosing to come after Jesus are to surrender their will to Him.

There may be no more eloquent explanation than the one Paul gave in his pre-trial hearing with Herod:

Acts 26:12–19 (HCSB)

“I was traveling to Damascus under these circumstances with authority and a commission from the chief priests. King Agrippa, while on the road at midday, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me.

We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ “Then I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ “And the Lord replied: ‘I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting.

But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and of what I will reveal to you. I will rescue you from the people and from the Gentiles.

I now send you to them to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that by faith in Me they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified.’

“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

Take Up Your Cross

No one who chooses to come with Jesus can honestly expect a life of comfort and convenience.

In Matthew 10 as Jesus sends out the twelve, He reminds them that their will be a cost to their calling.

Those who Jesus sends can expect governmental interference, family discord, even pure hatred on account of the name of Jesus.

The cross of which Jesus speaks is not His cross. None of His followers can expect to die and be the bearer of the sin of the world. That cross has been borne once for all at Calvary.

Yet as we have already seen and heard, taking up one’s cross is a synonym for a willingness to die.

Death to self, death to sin are part of the daily process of being a follower of Jesus.

Just as He was prepared to give His life, so His followers must be prepared to give their lives.

Follow Me

It might be easy to overlook this last word from Jesus. To ‘follow’ Jesus is not just to come alongside Him.

To follow Jesus is

Following = Participate in Salvation

Obviously we cannot ‘save’ ourselves. Following Jesus, though, calls for us to - as we have seen - make choices on a daily if not hourly basis to stay close to Him.

Paul will write to believers in Philippi:

Philippians 2:12–13 (HCSB)

So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.

Following Jesus is more than a one time choice expressed at a religious service.

Following Jesus is a life-long willingness to invest in Him, to invest time and resources in His life, His teaching, His purposes.

Following = Participating in His Death and Resurrection

Choosing to follow Jesus, as He has explained in

Matthew 16:25–26 (HCSB)

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?

is literally choosing death and new life over this life.

Experiencing the Kingdom

Many look at vs 28 and wonder…what exactly does Jesus mean?

We know that all those standing with Him 2,000 years ago are long dead. Some of them died violently because of their willingness to follow Jesus.

All of those are gone. So, how can some not ‘taste death’ till the see the Son of Man ‘coming in His Kingdom?’

Simply this: many of those standing with Jesus at that moment will live long enough to see Jesus in His true nature: the post-resurrection Jesus.

As Jesus was raised from the dead He was raised to real life, the quality of life God desires for all who believe and trust in Him.

WRAPPING UP...

Let me share an account of a man most of us have never met - M Theron Rankin a missionary to China from the early 1920’s through 1942

He quickly gave himself to the tasks at hand and God blessed his mission work. His reports often say things like "walked 9 miles today to visit a village," or "I'm the first foreign person in this village."

He routinely shared in places that had never heard the Gospel before. As his ministry grew, his family did as well, with the births of two daughters. China was undergoing great upheaval in almost all areas of life during the time he served there. Rankin taught at the Graves Theological Seminary in Canton, and eventually returned home on furlough to obtain his Ph.D from Southern Seminary.

In 1935 Rankin was elected the Secretary of the Orient for the Foreign Mission Board, which meant that he helped to supervise the work of Southern Baptists in that part of the world.

Rankin began extensive trips, conferences, and mission projects with the missionaries through South Asia.

The conflict in China continued however, and as 1940 approached, war clouds were on the horizon. L. Howard Jenkins, the president of the Board of the FMB, sent a cable to Rankin telling him to come home. Rankin's reply was swift and simple. "My place is in China."

Again Jenkins sent him another cable telling him he was needed at home.

Again the simple reply: "My place is in China."

Jenkins third cable read "You risk imprisonment, loss of your life. Come home." Again the reply was swift and simple. "It may be that some of us will have to die for Christ in this generation. My place is in China."

Rankin was in Hong Kong on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

As a foreigner he was not allowed to leave, so he quickly gathered the several Baptist missionaries in the region into an apartment building over the harbor.

They hid there for 17 days while the city endured constant bombings. Eventually the whole city had to surrender and the Americans were marched as prisoners to Stanley Internment Camp.

The prisoners were not beaten or tortured, but they were slowly starving to death. The rice contained as many weevils as it did rice, but it was all they had to eat. Even at that they went days without eating, and learned to share food with the children and others in camp with them.

Even in prison he was a leader, overseeing food and relations among the whole camp. The prisoners were released in 1942 and Rankin returned to America a shell of a man.

Shortly after his return he was elected as the leader of what is now called the International Mission Board of the SBC.

As he traveled the world in that role, he often shared a simple and direct message:

"We cannot claim great faith and then try to prove it with small actions and small giving."

Holmes, Luke. The Forgotten Faithful: Lessons from the Hidden Heroes of Church History (p. 28-31). Kindle Edition.

So What?

Jesus knew what He was headed towards in Jerusalem.

He knew that His death was absolutely necessary in order to fulfill God’s purpose.

He knew that through death, God would raise Him into new life.

Even today, thousands of years later people gather around Jesus. Christian concerts draw hundreds and thousands of people each year.

Popular Bible teachers travel the country - indeed the world - and people flock to hear them.

Those are wonderful and important parts of what it means to experience the presence of God.

But when the concert is over, when the preaching event has concluded....

Like Peter we have heard the invitation of Jesus to come around Him, to come along with Him.

Will we respond to His call to follow?

Following Jesus -

Today you can receive the salvation from sin Jesus died to provide...

Today you can participate in what God has been wanting to do in your life from the moment of your creation...

Today, by choosing to follow Jesus - in self-denial, in taking up your cross, and going all the way with Him

You can have life, and have life abundantly.