Matthew 16:22
In Matthew
There are several things
that we can learn from the reaction of Peter. The most obvious thing is how
terribly shocked and disappointed that Peter was when he first heard of the
impending death of Jesus. After all Peter knew that Jesus was the Messiah, and
Peter also knew many of the wonderful promises about what the Messiah would
accomplish for God’s people. During the time that
Peter and the other disciples had been following Jesus, how often they must have talked about and looked forward to the
Peter and the other
disciples were shocked and dismayed to learn that Jesus was going to
Jesus answered Peter’s rebuke in verse 23. The Bible says,
"But he
turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: you are an offense unto
me: for you savor not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." Jesus actually addressed Peter and called
him, “Satan.” The word “Satan” means adversary. We know that at several
different times Satan tried to prevent Jesus from dying for the sins of the
world. When Jesus was a baby, King Herod was inspired by Satan to massacre
babies for the purpose of also trying to kill the
baby Jesus. When Satan set about to tempt Jesus in
the wilderness, it was the purpose of the devil to sidetrack Jesus from the
will of God. The hatred against Jews today comes from the same dark spiritual
source of evil. Satan hates the Jews because Jesus was a Jew.
Be careful that you do
not oppose God’s work. If you oppose a work that is God’s work, then you are
assisting the devil, and you have fallen into the same trap that Peter fell
into. The wise person will find out which way God is going and will go with
Him. To do any less is to join forces with evil. Jesus said, "He that gathers
not with me scatters abroad."
Jesus said to Peter, "Get thee behind
me, Satan." Shortly before this
Peter had made the confession, "Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God."
And Jesus had said to Peter, "Blessed art thou Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has
not revealed this unto you, but my Father which is in heaven." What a contrast between the two incidents
and the two statements made by Jesus to Peter. At one moment Peter makes one of
the most important confessions and expressions of faith that any human can
make, and just a little while later he is guilty of opposing the work and the
will of God. Life is just like that. It is full of dangers and temptations.
Don’t let some temporary victory fool you into letting down your guard. Be
careful. Just around the next bend or the next corner may come some powerful
temptation that will overwhelm your soul and cause you to do or to say
something for which you will later be ashamed.
The fundamental reason
that Peter opposed Jesus can be found when Jesus said to Peter, "...you savor not
the things that be of God, but those that be of men." The word that is translated "savor" simply means to understand. Peter’s problem
in this case was not a lack of faith or a lack of devotion to Christ, but a
lack of understanding of the things of God. As a matter of fact, it was Peter’s
zeal without enough understanding that led him to unknowingly oppose the work
of God. A zeal or desire to serve God without a good understanding of the
purpose and the Word of God, will often lead humans
to actually oppose the work of God. Such unwise believers will do things and
say things that are wrong and harmful and that
do not advance the
Knowledge of the Word of
God and understanding of the Word of God are essential to understanding the
will of God. Peter could have avoided this failure if he had a better
understanding of the Old Testament scriptures and what they said about the
Messiah. Many of the events in the life of Jesus were prophesied beforehand in
the Old Testament. Not the least of these events was the sacrificial death of
the Messiah for the sins of the world. Isaiah 53:8-10 says, "He was taken from
prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut
off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he
stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his
death; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for
sin."
By better understanding
the scriptures, Peter could have been prepared for this moment. The same is
true for us and the situations that we will face in life. The better that we
know and remember the scriptures, the better that we will be equipped for life.
You will either understand and interpret the situations of your life from a
purely human perspective, or you will understand them from a divine and
scriptural perspective. That’s one of the reasons that having a steady diet of
the Word of God is so important. The most important book in the world is the
Bible. Know it, read it, study it, and remember it’s teachings in every
situation that you face. The more that you do, the more that you will be
involved in the work of God that will last forever. But when you fail, you are
in danger of having Jesus say to you just like He did to Peter, "Get thee behind
me, Satan, for you understand not the things that be of God."
In Matthew 16:24-27
Jesus taught what it takes to be a disciple. There are requirements. If you
want to follow Jesus, there is something that you will be asked to do. There is
a decision to be made and a price to pay. The Bible says, "Then said Jesus unto his
disciples, If any one will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and
whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man
profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the son of man shall come in the
glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man
according to his works."
Jesus said, "If any one will
come after me." Let’s interpret that from the Greek New Testament
and explain a little more clearly what Jesus said. When He said, "If any one will come after me," it means: “If anyone has a strong
determination to get to the same place that I am going.” Jesus was not talking
about arriving at any geographical location. He was not talking about a
physical journey but a spiritual journey. If
you want to walk with God, if you want your life to be a spiritual journey
after the example of Jesus, there are at least four
things that we can find in what Jesus said here that require a major commitment
on your part:
1. A determined
decision.
2. A denial of one’s self.
3. The bearing
of your cross.
4. The following of
Jesus.
Everyone must make their
own choice, and everyone will make their own choice. If you follow God,
it will be because you chose to do so. If you do not follow God, it will also
be because you chose to not follow Him. God has given every one of us a
will of our own. Even children can be strong willed
at a very young age. One of the important lessons of life to learn is
that the only person that you have any hope of controlling is yourself, and even that will not be easy. The best hope for your
children to do right is when they choose to do right, and the only hope
for you to live a consistent life as one of God’s children is for you to make a
determined choice to go with God. Joshua said, "Choose you this day whom you will serve. As for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord."
If you choose to follow
God and if it is your will to follow God, then you must learn self-denial. To paraphrase what Jesus said, "If anyone makes a
determined decision to end up where I am going, let him deny himself...." Jesus
set the example for this when He left His throne in heaven and came into a
sinful world to die for all of us. It is not only what you do that counts, but
why you do it. For example, you can be a mechanic, a
cook, a computer programmer or a doctor, and be selfishly grabbing after
everything you can get in this life. Or you can be any of these things,
and dedicate your work to God and ask for His will to be done in what you do.
To deny yourself is to honestly ask for God’s will to be done and not your own
will. Remember that’s what Jesus did when He was praying in the garden
just before His crucifixion. Jesus prayed
to the Father and said, "Not my will but thine be done."
To deny yourself is to
seek God’s will and to ask for God’s will in whatever you do. In the teaching
about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6 Jesus said to
pray, "Thy
kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." If you want something so much that you
cannot turn it over to God and cannot ask for God’s will to be done, then you
are not walking with God but are walking according to your own will.
To deny one’s self is
the opposite of selfishness. Actually, selfishness is the essence of sin. It is
when you are selfish that you are sinful. A sinful life is a selfish and self-centered
life. Humans are naturally selfish. It is very easy for any human to be taken
over by selfishness. But when you take your eyes off of yourself and look to
God through Jesus, you will find victory over your selfishness and sinfulness.
The natural person constantly says, "I
want," and "I will," and
yet is never satisfied. The spiritual person says, "Lord, forgive me," and "Not my will but thine be done."
Jesus explained denying
oneself in verses 25 and 26. He said, "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake shall find it."
This is one of the mysteries of life where the opposite happens compared to
what the unspiritual person thinks will happen. It will sometimes appear as
though you are losing your life when you give up your will, deny yourself, and
go God’s way; but actually you are finding your life. Does
not the infinite, loving, and wise God of the
universe know what is best for the humans that He has placed upon the
earth? How vain are the thoughts of a man to dare think that he would know
better than God. How great will be the regrets of those
who one day find out what could have been, if had
they only gone God’s way instead of their own way!
One of the good things
about God is that it is never too late to turn to Him as long as you are still
alive on this earth. You may have gone the wrong way in the past, but you can
change now and start going with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53:6
says, "All we
like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the
Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Jesus said, "Whosoever shall
lose his life for my sake shall find it."
The only valid reason to deny yourself and to put your life into God’s hands,
is for Jesus’ sake. It is out of appreciation for the fact that Jesus gave His
life for us that now we give our life for Him. When we understand how great
have been our sins and how horrible our eternal destiny would be without Jesus,
then we are willing to lose our life for His sake.
Remember that it was because of His great love and compassion for us that Jesus
went to the cross. Think about the horrible agony and torment that He
suffered on the cross in our behalf. When we give a proper perspective to these
truths about what Jesus did for us, then we are more than willing to lose our
lives for His sake and to constantly ask that His will be done and not our own
will.
Jesus said, "If any one will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Jesus had a heavy cross that He carried. He
suffered for the sins of the world upon that cross. No one else could ever have
a cross like that, but He does give each of us our own cross to bear. The
servant is not greater than his Lord. There are many joys and benefits to
following God, but we must not forget that there is also a cross for each of us
to bear. We must not forget so that we will be prepared and not be taken by
surprise. A little later in the book of Matthew Jesus reminds us of the rewards
that He will give when He returns to the earth. But for now He reminds us of
the cross that we will each have to bear if we are to go with God. Before the
crown there is a cross. Before the victory there is a battle. There is an old
hymn that was based upon this teaching by Jesus about the cross. The first two
verses of the hymn are:
“Must Jesus bear the cross alone, and all the world go free?
No. There’s a cross for everyone, and there’s
a cross for me.
The
consecrated cross I’ll bear, Till death shall set me free,
And then go home my crown to wear, For
there’s a crown for me.”
Of course,
the cross is something that is unpleasant to bear, and it is something that you
only suffer because you have chosen to go with God. Every believer will have
their cross to endure. It may be the cross of persecution or tribulation which
we are all heir to, or it may be the cross of some personal sorrow
or disappointment. Whatever your cross is, you can be certain of two things: 1.
God will give you the strength to bear it. Remember that Jesus said, "my yoke is easy
and my burden is light." 2. There
will be a good result to whatever you suffer. There is a reason for it, and
when all is said and done good will come out of it, both for you and for
others. Remember Romans 8:28, "all things work
together for good to those that love God and to those that are the called
according to His purpose."
Jesus said, "If any one will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” When we have
made a determined decision to go with God, when we have denied ourselves, when
we have taken up our cross; then and only then can we follow Jesus. Do not refuse
your cross. Do not complain about it or run away from it. Gladly take up your
cross for the glory of Jesus Christ your Savior. Bearing
your cross is a challenge that requires a total commitment, but it is
the meaning and the essence of the Christian life. Go for it and you will find
not only the will of God and the key to true and lasting happiness, but you
shall also look forward to the return of Jesus Christ when He shall reward
every man according to his works.
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Copyright; 2007 by Charles F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved