Deny, Take Up, and Follow
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Read Matthew 16:21-28
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 on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Jesus reveals his coming death and resurrection (Matt 16:21-23)
Jesus reveals the cost of following him (Matt 16:24-26)
Jesus reveals the coming of His Kingdom. (Matt 16:27-28)
Jesus reveals his coming death and resurrection
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 on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
From that time
Moving from verse 13-20, Jesus raised two questions: “Who do people say that I am “? AND “Who do you say that I am.
His main concern was the second question. Pointing to his disciples when asked this question, Peter bolding answered You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt 16:16)
It is because of this recognition of who he was that Jesus is then able to reveal the things that are here in the rest of Matt 16.
From that time… in other words because it has now been revealed to them, now Jesus can begin to reveal what is coming
Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things (Matt 16:21)
Jesus was saying this is going to happen. He is preparing them for the events that was coming in less than a year, maybe even six months away. He would willingly (he must go) to Jerusalem. He did this on his own, he wasn’t dragged to the city of Jerusalem, he traveled there, knowing what was coming. What was coming?
suffer many things.
Look whose hand he will be suffering by...
from the elders and chief priests and scribes,
This group of people, together are called the Sanhedrin. The word Sanhedrin in greek means “council.” This council was in charge of Jewish affairs in Roman Palestine.
Many think that it was the Romans who sent Jesus to the cross, and yes, they may have been the ones to hold the hammer and hit the nails, but it is this council of Pharisees, Scribes, and the elders who placed the whip, the hammer , and the nails in the hands of the Romans.
be killed
This council wanted to silence Jesus. They wanted to stop his teachings, his miracles, and his harsh words (which were truth) towards them, and the only way they saw that it could happen was to kill him.
They had no idea, that as much as they opposed Jesus and his claim as the Messiah, God, in killing him they were actually doing the will of God. Jesus being killed was God’s plan from the beginning.
How could his death be a good thing? How could the hope of the world being put to death be something good??
John 3:16 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus did not come to this earth to live a die as an old man. Jesus came to die. That was God’s plan....HE GAVE his only Son.
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
How did God show his love for us… he sent his Son to die.
But his plan didn’t stop there. Look at that last sentence in verse 21:
and on the third day be raised.
This was always God’s plan. Jesus would be put to death, and three days later rise from grave. And now, as the disciples have understood who he is (The Christ, the Son of the Living God) Jesus knows he now can reveal his coming death and resurrection.
But as he reveals God’s plan to them, someone speaks up. Peter. He had spoken up and said that Jesus was the Christ, which was revealed to him by the Father, but now these words that he says come from the enemy. Look at verse 22.
And Peter took him aside
This time he didn’t proclaim his words in front of everyone, he brought him to the side for a personal conversation.
and began to rebuke him, saying “For be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.
Peter knew who he was. He knew he was the Christ, the Messiah, sent from God, but he did not completely understand the entire purpose of Jesus, the death and resurrection.
Peter had his mind set on an earthly Kingdom, like all of the Jews. They though the Messiah would sit on the throne of David (a literal throne), and fight for their enemies here on earth, beginning with the Romans who were oppressing them.
So Peter takes Jesus to the side and begins to tell him, “no way, this is not going to happen.” But look at the way Matthew writes...
(Peter) began to rebuke ...
He may have started to talk to Jesus about this, but Jesus stopped him very quickly and had some very bold words for Peter...
23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!
Can you imagine someone calling you Satan? Someone looking at you and saying you are the Devil!
Do you remember these words from earlier in Matthew’s gospel? Jesus in the wilderness as he was being tempted by Satan (Matthew 4)
Then, at least he was talking to Satan, but now he is not talking to Satan, but they were doing the same thing. Satan was trying to tempt Jesus to get him to sin, which would take away from his very purpose, his character. And that was not who he was, and not God’s plan for him..
But here, it’s the same. In saying this, Peter is trying to change God’s plan. He may not be intention in doing this because he does not understand it fully, but still his words point to it. So Jesus, calls Him Satan, because he is trying to deny the Fathers will.
It is interesting that Peter moves from being the stone that will help build upon the rock, Jesus, the church to now being a stumbling block (hindrance, offense (KJV) ).
Where are there words coming from? Why does Peter express these things to Jesus?
For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man (23)
Like I said earlier, at this point they do not fully understand what was coming, even after the resurrection.
But Jesus wasn’t finished with Peter, even though he would deny Christ 3 times before the cross, Jesus would use him boldly to tell of Jesus on the day of Pentecost and the Bible tells us that on that day 3000 people were saved and baptized… it was the being of the church, Eklessia.
Now as we move into verse 24-26 we are going to see:
2. Jesus reveals the cost of following Him.
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
This is not the first time Jesus talked about the cost of following him.
Going back to Matthew 10:16-25 Jesus had already told his disciples to expect persecution if they would follow him.
He talked about being brought before governors and kings, being hated for simply following him. But he said the one who endures will be saved.
I heard a Pastor say once of these verses from Matthew 10… “if we are to be like him, we will be treated like him.” “if we are to be like him, we will be treated like him.”
If anyone would come after me
in other words, if you want accept his gift of salvation, there are three things he says...
Look at these verbs: deny, take up, and follow.
Deny himself: this word deny brings the disowning or separating. Jesus is saying that if you want to be mine, you must turn from your own will, to my will, or the Father’s will. What becomes important to you, is what is important to God.
Many people will waster their entire lives trying to achieve what they they is important…important to them. But in the end, all that matters is his will for your life. That doesn’t mean that you can’t go after the career your want on do other things that you want. But it does mean that the priority is God. ANd when we place our mind on his, our priorities , our wants, will all fall into place. Let him lead your heart. Don’t lead your own.
The Bible says that Proverbs 14:12
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
When you lead your own heart, you will fall. Our heart is set on sin and self and it leads to death.
Jesus says deny yourself. Then..
take up his cross and follow me.
Jesus had not been to the cross, in fact at this point he had not even mentioned that the cross would be how he died. But living in that Roman province, people knew of crucifixion. They knew that when someone was sentenced to death on the cross, they would have to carry their cross from the court to the place they would die.
A man who would be caring his cross, was already dead. As he passed people on the street on the way to the place he would die, people would think in their minds, I will ever see this person again. Carrying a cross meant , you were already dead.
And that’s the point that Jesus is trying to make. When we deny ourselves, and take up our cross, we are dead to ourselves.
But it doesn’t end there. If you are going to deny yourselves and be dead to your own wants and self, where now do we find our meaning and our hope?
follow me
to follow someone means to walk in their footsteps. Here Jesus says, if you want to identify with me, call yourself a believer or Christian.... walk like I walk. Follow in my footsteps.
Deny himself, take up your cross, follow me
In verse 25-26 Jesus give a beautiful picture of what it means to deny, take up and follow
25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Look at verse 25
whoever would save his life will lose it
A better way of saying that might be… Don’t deny. Don’t take up your cross. Don’t follow.
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it
Again, another way of saying that is deny, take up, and follow.
But look at verse 26...
English Standard Version Chapter 16
26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Your soul is who you are. Your soul defines you. Who you are is not black or white or Igbo, Hausa, American or anything else. Who you are today and forever is defined by your soul. And the definition of your soul is determined what you do now. How you live yoru life.
One day you will be buried in the ground, but your soul will go on. It will not be the end.
The application from these words of Jesus to our lives today is simple.
Live your life like you want. Make your decisions in your own mind. Try to get as much as your can in this life, you will forfeit your soul. You will lose it and be separated from God one day when you die. The Bible calls that place Hell, and it is real.
But if you give your life over to the one who created and loved you, so much that he sent his Son for you, you will deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him. The result is a life that takes the focus off of yourself, and places it on the that first loved you.
++++++Bow your heads
Have you denied yourself?
Have your taken up your cross?
Are you following Jesus?
3. Jesus finished this conversation with these two verses:
27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
27: One day Christ will return. Maybe we will be alive, maybe not. But he will return. And Jesus says that o that day
he will repay each person according to what he has done.
For those of us who deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him, on that day there will not be a judgement, but there will be a reward.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
The believer is not judgement, because the blood of Jesus has justified us by us becoming his children, but the more responsible people are in their walk with Jesus, there will be greater rewards. What are those rewards? the Bible doesn’t tell us. We will have to wait and see.
The last verse in the chapter (28) is hard to understand, and for many years people have been trying to say what it means. I have read a lot of opinons, an d there are many. Look at it..
verse 28
Matthew 16:27–28 (ESV)
28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Now the first time i read that, I thought that it pointed to the time of Jesus’ return. But “those who are standing there” have been dead for 2000 years.
SO because of that, many Bible Interpretors think that “the Son of Man coing into his kingdom” is not one event, but more than one grouped together under this title.
They believe these thing include his resurrection, the Gentiles believing the Word and finally his Second Coming.
I don’t know, this could be the explanation, but I am sure of this..
English Standard Version Chapter 16
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.