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Matthew 16:21-26
September 25, 2011
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Hi Kids,
There is a game called “Follow the Leader.” How do you play that game? Someone is chosen
as the leader. Everyone else is supposed to follow wherever the leader goes and do the same things
the leader does. Are you supposed to tell the leader what to do? What happens if you don’t do what
the leader does? You are out of the game.
We are “Christians.” People give us that name from the person we follow as our Savior. Who is
our Savior? [If the response given is “Jesus,” remind the children that “Jesus” is his personal name
like your name is (give some examples). Jesus also has a title that tells us God chose him for a very
important job, to do everything so we can go to heaven. That title is “Christ.”] Jesus Christ is our
Savior.
Jesus is the leader God has given to us. What did Jesus do that we are to follow? Did Jesus
ever sin? No. So when someone tempts us to sin, what should we say to the person? Take that
temptation away. What did God send Jesus to do on earth? He came to forgive our sins. God told
Jesus where Jesus would pay for our sins? Where did Jesus die for us? On the cross. How did it feel
to be crucified? It hurt so much all the time after they whipped him and then nailed him to the cross.
Why did the people want Jesus to die? They didn’t believe in Jesus as their Savior or the things he
taught them from the Bible.
People don’t always believe us when we tell them about Jesus. At times people don’t like what
we tell them from the Bible. They may say bad things about us, and even try to hurt us so we stop
telling them God’s Word. They may want us to do sinful things for them, and if we say “no”, they may
do bad things to us. Jesus tells us to keep following him as our leader no matter what others say or
do. Where is Jesus leading us? He is leading us to heaven where all bad people and bad things are
gone.
Matthew 16:21-26
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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? (NIV84)
Fellow believers privileged to follow Jesus as his disciples:
“You devil, you.” What does the phrase mean if you say it to your spouse or a friend? To your
child? Jesus was talking to Peter, a close friend. What did he mean when he called his disciple
“Satan?” The Son of God was telling Peter who his words were serving, and it wasn’t who Peter
thought. See how deceptively the devil works.
We heard Peter last Sunday make it clear that he and the other disciples finally “got it” as to
who Jesus is. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus’ words and actions for the past 2
years had convinced them that he is the Messiah promised by the prophets for over 50 generations.
With this knowledge in place, Jesus took them to the next step of understanding why he came. He
Matthew 16:21-26
September 25, 2011
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gave his job description (v. 21) as the Christ, dying while on the cross. “Jesus explained…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.”
Peter opened his mouth and his ignorance became so obvious. He doesn’t get it that Jesus
has to go to the only place which God had designated as the acceptable place to pay for sins – the
Jerusalem Temple. And Peter won’t accept that Jesus came to die. Did the group not understand
that a human death is required for our forgiveness because humans have sinned? They didn’t
understand that Jesus is the only human who could pay the bill for everyone’s sins because he alone
is God as well. And the concept of rising from the dead in three days blew right past them. ““Never,
Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!””
When Peter rebuked Jesus, he showed that he was like the Israel nation who didn’t
understand what God planned for the Messiah’s work. It’s like Peter is saying, “Your suffering and
death will spoil everything. The Messiah’s career can’t end this way. What good will you be to God if
you are dead. The Messiah needs to be a powerful military person and a savvy politician to break the
Roman rule over us. Then we will be saved, that is, free to enjoy life as a chief world power with God
giving us world prestige and a large land area like David and Solomon had.”
Peter had good intentions. He loved the Lord. He spoke convinced that he was in tune with God’s
will. He literally said to Jesus, “May God have mercy on you, Lord.” In this exclamation Peter called
upon God to shield Jesus from this awful fate. Then in the strongest negation possible, Peter
emphasized that this horrible prediction of Jesus simply cannot be true. Peter took it upon himself to
teach and admonish Jesus. Both his attitude and his words indicated that Peter had stepped way out
of line. His misguided love needed correction.
Some of the toughest temptations come from our friends, not from our enemies. The
treacherous aspect of this temptation lay in the fact that it came from a dear friend. To oppose the
Father’s will made Peter an agent of Satan. Peter may have been an unwitting pawn of the devil, but
that just made him all the more dangerous. Our friends care about us and so attempt to deflect perils
which may be placed in our path by the will of God. Friends hate to see loved ones suffer. They may
suggest the easier road, the one free of hardship and pain. Their motive is similar to Peter’s: a love
more concerned for our comfort than our character.
Jesus’ answer illustrates the absolute necessity of placing God above all else, including the
closest human relationship. That principle holds true even if a relationship unravels at the seams. For
Jesus there was only the will of God to perform. The source of Peter’s thinking originated in his sinful
human nature, a powerful ally of Satan. Satan prompts our sin-infected human mind into producing
ideas that may look innocent enough, and even good at first glance, but in reality are diametrically
opposed to the will of God. Jesus simply affirms his Father’s will and his intention to do it.
When Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ earlier, he spoke words from heaven. Here he
speaks words from hell. Before, he was a building block in the foundation of the kingdom; now he is a
stumbling block in Christ’s way. Jesus handled temptation here by saying, “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.” Jesus first
Recognized the source is a devilish trap set by Satan. Then he Immediately got the temptation out of
his sight. This is why we have to watch carefully for Satan even among closest friends. This is why
we need to deal decisively with temptations (no dilly-dallying around). The longer we entertain the
temptation in our minds, or keep it before our eyes, the greater the danger of caving in. So
immediately get it out of your sight, put it behind you, so you do not see or think about it any more.
Matthew 16:21-26
September 25, 2011
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Turn your heart to following God’s will to block Satan’s temptation.
The Christian’s job description can be summarized from Jesus’ words before us as “dying
while carrying a cross.” And when we are approached by a temptation, our response needs to TELL
SATAN, “TO THE REAR MARCH!” Jesus turns to us and explains how we do this, “If anyone would
come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Our saving faith comes entirely from God’s doing. He converts our heart through the Gospel to
believe in Jesus. We exert zero energy and make zero choices to become a Christian. But our
ongoing life as a disciple involves a lot of effort on our part. When Jesus says “If anyone wants to
come after me,” he is speaking to people who have saving faith. Continuing as a disciple is an act of
our will. God doesn’t force us to do it. The new self put in us by the Holy Spirit wants to pattern our life
after Jesus in a decisive way.
“Deny yourself.” Jesus commands us “deny your sinful nature’s requests.” Once and for all
say good-bye to focusing on loving yourself as number 1 and focusing your attention entirely on
Jesus. Why? “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” When you
and I sin, we are satisfying the wants of the nature in us that we got from our parents. Our old self
hates God and refuses to do willingly what God wants. Unless this nature is forcefully curbed by
God’s law, it always will defy God and do the opposite of what God desires. And when we follow
temptation, we are doing Satan’s dirty work. We don’t always see this defiance because it is cloaked
to look like doing what pleases God. Peter didn’t see it when he reprimanded Jesus. This is why we
study God’s word. We want to be clear on God’s will so that we can identify the Devil’s temptation.
Otherwise,
“Deny yourself” does not mean to refuse God’s blessings of earthly convenience and pleasure
as if having nice things and enjoying recreation are sins. But if we place these as our prime concern
and let them direct our life choices, then we are sinning and in need of the warning, “For whoever
wants to save his life will lose it.” Then we need to seek God’s help to “deny our self,” our sinful self so
we don’t lose our eternal life.
For his disciples Jesus connects with denying our sinful nature that action, “Take up your
cross.” For Jesus the “cross” was the instrument that would inflict on him great suffering and on
which he would die. This all happened as the result of his obedience to God in exposing sin and
condemning sinners who refused to repent. Of course, it also happened because this was the vehicle
God had chosen to bring the world forgiveness by paying for all sin on its wooden fibers.
Our “cross” = anything adverse that we face because we refused to deny our faith in Jesus or
refused go against his will. In other words, our cross is the hardship we face because we refuse to go
along with sin. Jesus’ words, “take up your cross” urge us to accept such hardship with courage and
the certainty that God will bless us for being faithful to him. This doesn’t take away the pain or
frustration or earthly loss that sin causes. But knowing that we are obeying God’s will brings us the
security that the hardship is temporary and that eternal life in heaven lies ahead for us as Jesus
promises, “whoever loses his [earthly] life for me will find [real life].”
Jesus’ will and our goal as a Christian is to Keep following Jesus. He uses a present verb
tense that says the action is on-going. It keeps continuing. This means we never stop following Jesus
with dogged endurance, maintaining your loyalty to the end. If necessary, we too will follow him to the
cross. Peter was to live to see these words fulfilled in his own death. The “life” we find by following
Jesus is a life on earth that is filled with the security and peace knowing that we are going to heaven.
Matthew 16:21-26
September 25, 2011
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We can deal with our crosses because, like Jesus’ cross, ours too are temporary. The persecutions,
troubles, distresses, and shame that come our way precisely because we are following him in doing
the will of God will soon be replaced by the joy in heaven free from difficulty and death forever.
“What can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Jesus’ death on the cross is the only acceptable
ransom or exchange for our souls (Matthew 20:28). If we will not receive Jesus’ ransom on the cross
and the cross-bearing way of life that goes with it, there is nothing else we can give in exchange for
the salvation of our souls. By his death on the cross, Jesus laid claim to the souls of all humanity.
There is nothing we can give in exchange for our souls other than surrendering them to Jesus in faith
and discipleship. Lord God, give to me always the will and fortitude to TELL SATAN, “TO THE REAR
MARCH!” Amen.