Matthew 16:21-28
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, the chief priests and the 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 concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their 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 they have done.
28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” [1]
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Jesus rebukes Peter for seeking to dissuade Him from going to the cross. Peter, Jesus says, was looking at it from the perspective of humanity, rather than from God’s, and in so doing was furthering Satan’s purposes. A rather harsh rebuke. But it makes sense from our perspective, knowing and believing what we do about why Jesus had to go to the cross, and the blessings that flow to our life and the entire universe because of it.
But what’s interesting here is that Jesus doesn’t go that direction with what He says next. He doesn’t seek to educate Peter on the reason He had to go to the cross. He goes a different, but related direction: discipleship. Maybe this indicates that Peter’s real concern wasn’t about Jesus going to the cross, but what it meant for Peter personally as a follower.
Our danger and temptation today is not about whether Jesus should go to the cross. That is settled, and all who are truly Christian confess the centrality and importance of the cross. Our issue is with our own cross and the call to true discipleship.
Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our own crosses, lose our lives, and come after Him. The temptation is to rebuke Jesus, not about His cross, but about our own. “Lose my life? Deny myself? Take up a cross? This shall never happen to me!” But we don’t answer Jesus call to discipleship with our words. We answer the call with our lives, with our response in deed, with our actions.
The call to discipleship is answered every day in every decision, as we interact with others, as we plan our schedules, as we buy and sell and earn and spend. We are called to a life of Christ-exalting self-denial. May God grant us grace and strength to follow!
Lord Jesus, I cannot follow You in my own strength. Let Your Holy Spirit lead me to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow You today.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 16:21–28). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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