MATTHEW 16
OPENS WITH...REVEALING WHO JESUS IS AND WHAT HE CAME TO DO
Verses 1-4 tells us Jesus' Warnings AGAINST The Sadducees and the Pharisees seek a sign from Jesus.
"Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed."
Then the Pharisees and Sadducees...
Their working together showed a deep fear among the religious leaders. AND INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, DID YOU KNOW THAT...The Sadducees and Pharisees were long-standing enemies. They stood for both beliefs and policies which were diametrically opposed and the fact that they came together against Jesus shows they regarded Him as a serious threat.
WHY?
1. The Pharisees lived according to the smallest points of the oral and scribal law; the Sadducees received only the written words of the Hebrew Scriptures.
2. The Pharisees believed in angels and the resurrection; the Sadducees did not (Paul used this division in Acts 23:6-10).
3. The Pharisees were not a political party and were prepared to live under any government that would leave them alone to practice their religion the way they wanted to; the Sadducees were aristocrats and collaborated with the Romans to keep their wealth and power.
4. The Pharisees looked for and longed for the Messiah; the Sadducees did not.
Yet for all these differences, Jesus brought them together. Not in a good way – they came together in opposition to Jesus, but they came together nonetheless.
And testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven...
Jesus had done many signs and they remained unconvinced. They looked for a sign from heaven such as calling down fire from heaven, preferably against a Roman legion. They said they were not convinced by the signs “on earth” Jesus had already done.
Jesus had already been asked for a sign in Matthew 12:38, and in response He had already pointed them to the sign of Jonah. AND REMEMBER JEWISH Tradition held that a sign done on earth could be a counterfeit from Satan, but signs done from heaven (coming in or from the sky) were assumed to be from God.
The immediate demand of the Jewish leaders for a sign from heaven contrasts sharply with the Gentile crowd’s response to Jesus’ miracles (Matthew 15:31).
Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times...
Jesus condemned their hypocrisy. They felt confident about predicting the weather from the signs they saw around them, but were blind to the signs regarding Jesus’ Messianic credentials right before their eyes.
Jesus wasn’t the only one to notice the hypocrisy in His day. The Jews of Jesus’ day had a proverb saying that if all the hypocrites in the world were divided into ten parts, Jerusalem would contain nine of the ten parts.
You cannot discern the signs of the times...
Jesus said this of the religious leaders of His own day regarding the signs of His first coming. There were prophecies, circumstances, and evidences that should have made it clear to them as signs of the times that the Messiah and come from the Old Testament. Many people today are just as blind to the signs of the times regarding the second coming of Jesus.
A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign...
This statement of Jesus reminds us that signs alone convert no one. It is easy to place far too much confidence in signs and wonders as tools to bring people to faith in Jesus.
The problem isn’t that the signs are themselves weak, but that a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after them. The Bible gives repeated examples of those who saw remarkable signs, yet did not believe.
No sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah...
Jesus promised a sign that would have power to bring people to faith – His resurrection. He had previously mentioned the sign of the prophet Jonah in Matthew 12:39-41, clearly explaining it as His coming resurrection.
We remember some of the similarities between Jonah and Jesus:
1. Jonah sacrificed himself that others would be saved.
2. Jonah disappeared from all human view in doing this.
3. Jonah was sustained the days when he could not be seen.
4. Jonah came back after three days, as back from the dead.
5. Jonah preached repentance.
Verses 5-12 tells us Jesus cautions the disciples against false teaching.
"Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.” But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?; but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees...
After the preceding conflict with the religious leaders, Jesus gave this warning to His disciples, using the metaphor of leaven.
As noted previously in the parable of the leaven (Matthew 13:33), leaven is consistently used as a picture of sin and corruption (especially in the Passover narrative of Exodus 12:8, 12:15-20).
DID YOU KNOW...
It was the Jewish metaphorical expression for an evil influence. To the Jewish mind leaven was always symbolic of evil…leaven stood for an evil influence liable to spread through life and to corrupt it. False doctrine; which is fitly called leaven, because it soureth, swelleth, spreadeth, corrupteth the whole lump, and all this secretly.
It is because we have taken no bread...
This was a strange concern after Jesus had, in the recent past, miraculously fed both crowds exceeding 5,000 and 4,000 men who were counted. The disciples didn’t understand Jesus at all here and His use of leaven as a metaphor.
TRAPP says it well, “Our memories are naturally like hour-glasses, no sooner filled with good instructions and experiments than running out again. It must be our prayer to God that he would put his finger upon the hole, and so make our memories like the pot of manna, preserving holy truths in the ark of the soul.”
Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees...
Jesus impressed the importance of being on guard against false teaching, especially that in the service of religious hypocrisy.
Jesus charged His disciples with three things:
1. Ignorance, because they didn’t understand that He was using material things (leaven) to illustrate spiritual things (the dangerous teachings and practices of the Sadducees and Pharisees).
2. Unbelief, because they were overly concerned with the supply of bread, when they had seen Jesus miraculously provide bread on several previous occasions.
3. Forgetfulness, because they seemed to forget what Jesus had done before in regard to providing bread.
Verse 13 tells us Jesus asks the disciples to tell Him who others say He is.
"When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi...
Jesus again withdrew from the mainly Jewish region of Galilee and came to a place more populated by Gentiles.
Caesarea Philippi lies about twenty-five miles [46 kilometers] north-east of the Sea of Galilee…The population was mainly non-Jewish, and there Jesus would have peace to teach the Twelve.
Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?
Jesus did not ask this question because He didn’t know who He was, or because He had an unfortunate dependence on the opinion of others. He asked this question as an introduction to a more important follow-up question.
Caesarea Philippi was an area associated with idols and rival deities. “The area was scattered with temples of the ancient Syrian Baal worship…Hard by Caesarea Philippi there rose a great hill, in which was a deep cavern; and that cavern was said to be the birthplace of the great god Pan, the god of nature…In Caesarea Philippi there was a great temple of white marble built to the godhead of Caesar…It is as if Jesus deliberately set himself against the background of the world’s religions in all their history and splendour, and demanded to be compared to them and to have the verdict given in his favour.
Verses 14-16 tells us A pointed question and a pointed answer.
"So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets...
People who thought that Jesus was John the Baptist, didn’t know much about Him, and they didn’t know that Jesus and John had ministered at the same time. Yet John, Elijah, and Jeremiah (along with other prophets) were national reformers who stood up to the corrupt rulers of their day.
Some thought Jesus was a herald of national repentance, like John the Baptist and some thought Jesus was a famous worker of miracles, like Elijah. Some thought Jesus was someone who spoke the words of God, like Jeremiah and the prophets.
Perhaps in seeing Jesus in these roles, people hoped for a political messiah who would overthrow the corrupt powers oppressing Israel.
DO YOU NOTICE...SADLY I MIGHT ADD, The general tendency in all these answers was to underestimate Jesus; to give Him a measure of respect and honor, but to fall far short of honoring Him for who He really is.
Who do you say that I am?...
It was fine for the disciples to know what others thought about Jesus. But Jesus had to ask them, as individuals, what they believed about Him.
This is the question placed before all who hear of Jesus; and it is we, not He, who are judged by our answer. In fact, we answer this question every day by what we believe and do. If we really believe Jesus is who He says He is, it will affect the way that we live.
You are the Christ, the Son of the living God...
Peter knew the opinion of the crowd – while it was complimentary towards Jesus in the peoples eyes – it was NOT accurate. Jesus was MUCH MORE than John the Baptist or Elijah or a prophet. He was MUCH MORE than a national reformer, MUCH MORE than a miracle worker, MUCH MORE than a prophet. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.
We can surmise that this was an understanding that Peter and the other disciples came to over time. In the beginning, they were attracted to Jesus as a remarkable and unusual rabbi. They committed themselves to Him as His disciples or students, as was practiced in that day. Yet over time Peter – and presumably other of the disciples by this point – understood that Jesus was in fact not only the Messiah (the Christ), but also the Son of the living God.
Peter understood that Jesus was not only God’s Messiah, but also God Himself. The Jews properly thought that to receive the title “the Son of the living God,” in a unique sense, was to make a claim to deity itself.
Verses 17-20 tells us Jesus compliments Peter for His bold and correct declaration.
"Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ."
Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven...
Jesus reveals to Peter that he spoke by divine inspiration, even if he did NOT even know it at the time. In this, Peter was genuinely blessed – both by the insight itself and how it came to him.
We too often expect God to speak in strange and unnatural ways. Here God spoke through Peter so naturally that he did NOT even realize it was the Father who is in heaven that revealed it to him.
I also say to you that you are Peter...
This was not only recognition of Peter’s more Roman name; it was also a promise of God’s work in Peter. The name Peter means “Rock.” Though perhaps unlikely, Peter was a rock, and would become a rock. God was and would transform his naturally extreme character into something solid and reliable.
On this rock I will build My church...
The words this rock have been the source of much controversy. It is best to see them as referring to either Jesus Himself (perhaps Jesus gesturing to Himself as He said this), or as referring to Peter’s confession of who Jesus is.
Peter, by His own testimony, did not see himself as the rock on which the church was founded. He wrote that we are living stones, but Jesus is the cornerstone. We could say that Peter was the “first believer”; that he was the “first rock” among “many rocks.”
CHRISTIANITY, THE BELIEF OF AND IN JESUS CHRIST AS OUR ONLY DOOR, OUR ONLY ROCK, OUR ONLY HOPE, THE SON OF ALMIGHTY GOD, OUR LORD, SAVIOR, MASTER, AND FRIEND, AS GOD'S WORD MADE FLESH IS THE ROCK OF OUR SALVATION AND OUR CORNERSTONE.
SEVERAL RELIGIOSITIES STATE THAT PETER IS THE FOUNDING FATHER OF CHRISTIANITY, THE ROCK, THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY. THAT IS A LIE. JESUS CHRIST IS THE ROCK, THE CORNERSTONE, THE FOUNDATION, THE ONLY WAY, THE ONLY TRUTH, AND THE ONLY LIFE.
Peter said as much in 1 Peter 2:4-5: "Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
I will build My church...
DID YOU KNOW...This is the FIRST use of the word church in the New Testament (or the Bible for that matter), using the ancient Greek word ekklesia. Significantly, this was well before the beginnings of what we normally think of as the church on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2.
This shows that Jesus was anticipating or prophesying what would come from these disciples/apostles and those who would believe in their message that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, DID YOU KNOW...
The ancient Greek word ekklesia was NOT primarily a religious word at all; it just meant, “group” or “called-out group.” In describing the later group of His followers and disciples, Jesus deliberately chose a word WITHOUT a distinctly religious meaning.
Furthermore, this statement of Jesus was a clear claim of ownership (My church). The church belongs to Jesus. This was also a claim to deity.
Taken together, Jesus' revelation and promise is wonderful:
1. He brings His people together in common: I will build.
2. He builds on a firm foundation: On this rock I will build.
3. He builds something that belongs to Him: My church.
4. He builds it into a stronghold: the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it...
Jesus also offered a promise – that the forces of death and darkness can NOT AND WILL NOT prevail against or conquer HIS CALLED OUT GROUP...HIS CHURCH.
JESUS DID NOT SAY YOUR OR PETER OR THE DISCIPLES CHURCHES, RELIGIONS, ISMS, ISTS, JESUS SAID MY CHURCH. This is a valuable promise in dark or discouraging times for JESUS' church.
SATAN, THE LOST WORLD, RELIGIOSITIES, SOCIETIES, POLITICALS NOR ALL THE DEMONS OF HELL CAN OR WILL PREVAIL AGAINST JESUS' CALLED OUT GROUP.
(((And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven...)))
This idea of Peter holding the keys of the kingdom of heaven has captured the imagination (and theology) of many throughout the centuries. In artistic representation, Peter is almost always shown with keys.
Some people WRONGLY TEACH, BELIEVE, AND PROCLAIM that this means that Peter has the authority to admit people to heaven, or to keep people out of heaven. This is the basis for the popular image of Peter at the Pearly Gates of Heaven, allowing people to enter or turning them away.
Some people WRONGLY TEACH, BELIEVE, AND PROCLAIM that it also means that Peter was the first Pope, and that his supposed successors have the keys that were first given to Peter. Indeed, the Papal insignia of the Roman Catholic Church is made up of two prominent keys crossed together.
BUT WE WHO HAVE READ AND STUDIED THE BIBLE KNOW THAT THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN MEANS THAT PETER KNEW AND WOULD PREACH JESUS CHRIST AND HIS TEACHINGS, HIS MINISTRY, AND HIS PROPHECIES. THESE ARE THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM. JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY KEY. ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE. ONLY JESUS CAN FORGIVE. ONLY JESUS IS THE WORD MADE FLESH.
THESE ARE THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM.
There is no doubt that Peter had a special place among all the disciples, and that he had some special privileges:
1. He is always listed first in the listings of the disciples.
2. He continued to open the doors of the kingdom to the Jews by giving them Jesus Christ in Acts 2:38-39.
3. He also opened doors of the kingdom to the Gentiles in Acts 10:34-44.
Yet we NEED TO REMEMBER ANOTHER FALSE TEACHING OF THAT DAY AND OUR OWN, there is NO Biblical argument whatsoever that Peter’s privilege or authority was passed on. To put it one way; one might say that Jesus gave Peter the keys, but did not give him the authority to pass them on to further generations, and there is not a whisper in the Scriptures that Peter’s authority was to be passed on.
WHY?
The idea that apostolic authority comes from Jesus, who gave it to Peter, who set his hands on the heads of approved and ordained men, who in turn set their hands on the heads of approved and ordained men, and so on and so on through the generations until today is nonsense. It is exactly what Spurgeon said it was: the laying of empty hands on empty heads.
PETER WAS THE HEAD OF THE DISCIPLES AND PETER PREACHED JESUS CHRIST AND HIS WORD, BUT PETER WAS NOT AND DID NOT BECOME JESUS' AUTHORITY AFTER JESUS RETURNED TO HEAVEN.
JESUS HOLY SPIRIT LIVING WITHIN THOSE WHO CALL HIM LORD SAVIOR MASTER AND FRIEND GRANT AUTHORITY AS THE HOLY SPIRIT WILLS IT. JESUS GRANTS AND JESUS CALLS AND JESUS LEADS US THROUGH HIS HOLY SPIRIT AND THROUGH HIS WORD....NOT ANY OTHER. NO MAN, PASTOR, PRIEST, NO RELIGIOSITY, NO IST, NO ISM, JUST JESUS HOLY SPIRIT LIVING WITHIN US.
And whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven...
The power for binding and loosing is something that the Jewish rabbis of that day used. They bound or loosed an individual in the application of a particular point of the law. Jesus promises that Peter – and the other apostles – would be able to set the boundaries authoritatively for the New Covenant community. This was the authority given to the apostles to build a foundation (Ephesians 2:20).
We should understand this as Jesus giving both the permission and the authority to the first-generation apostles to make the FOLLOW THROUGH WITH HIS RULES FOR THE CALLED OUT GROUP, THE CHURCH – and DOWN THROUGH THE AGES WITH THE INSPIRED WORD JESUS GAVE THEM ALL AND COMMANDED THEM ALL TO RECORD AND WRITE FOR THEM AND US TODAY. IN JESUS WE HAVE THE SAME AUTHORITY GIVEN US BY JESUS CHRIST HOLY SPIRIT, NOT MAN.
AND DID YOU KNOW...
BARCLAY tells us, “Binding” and “loosing” were administrative terms in daily Jewish life; whenever a Jew came up against the Law of Moses, that Jewish person was either “bound” or “loosed” in regard to that law. To loose was to permit; to bind was to prohibit. To loose was to free from the law, to bind was to put under the law. “Their regular sense, which any Jew would recognize was to allow and to forbid. To bind something was to declare it forbidden; to loose was to declare it allowed. These were the regular phrases for taking decisions in regard to the law."
In daily Jewish life, this could be rather complicated. Here is one example from ancient rabbinical writings, cited by teacher Mike Russ:
THIS SHOWS US THE RIDICULOUSNESS OF ALL THE JEWISH TRADITIONS AND LAWS ADDED TO GOD'S COMMANDS.
1. If your dog dies in your house, is your house clean or unclean? Unclean.
2. If your dog dies outside your house, is your house clean or unclean? Clean.
3. If your dog dies on the doorstep, is your house clean or unclean? Ancient rabbinical writings took the issue on and decided that if the dog died with his nose pointing into the house, the house was unclean; if the dog died with his nose pointing away from the house, the house was clean.
As their rabbi, Jesus did this binding and loosing for His own disciples. Without using the same words, this is what Jesus did when He allowed them to take the grains of wheat in the field (Matthew 12:1-8).
Significantly, when it came time to understand the dietary laws of the Old Covenant in light of the new work of Jesus, God spoke to Peter first in Acts 10. He and the other apostles, guided by the Spirit of God, would bind and loose Christians regarding such parts of the Old Covenant.
In a lesser, secondary sense, this power is with Jesus' Church today. “Today the Lord continues to back up the teaching and acts of his sent servants, who teach Jesus Word, follow Jesus Word, and proclaim Jesus Word are pieces of the one Rock.
He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ...
Jesus was pleased that His disciples were coming to know who He was in truth, but He still did not YET want His identity popularly known before the proper time.
Verse 21 tells us Jesus begins to reveal the full extent of His mission.
"From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."
He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things…and be killed...
This must have come as quite a shock to His disciples. After fully understanding that Jesus was the Messiah, the last thing they expected was the Messiah would suffer many things and be killed.
Yet this was the predicted work of the Messiah (Isaiah 53:3-12). He must die, and He must after His death be raised the third day.
The suffering and death of Jesus was a must because of two great facts: the man’s sin and God’s love. While His death was the ultimate example of man’s sin against God, it was also the supreme expression of God’s love to man.
And be raised the third day...
The disciples were probably so shocked that Jesus said He would be killed in Jerusalem that these words did NOT sink in. Later, an angel reminded them of these words (Luke 24:6-8).
Verses 22-23 tells us Peter’s unwitting opposition of Jesus.
"Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!...
At this moment Peter had the remarkable boldness to rebuke Jesus. Peter did it privately (took Him aside), yet was confident enough to tell Jesus that He was wrong to consider going to Jerusalem to be killed.
It’s not hard to see Peter following these steps:
1. Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah.
2. Jesus compliments Peter, telling him that God revealed this to him.
3. Jesus tells of His impending suffering, death, and resurrection.
4. Peter feels this isn’t right, and he feels that he hears from God and therefore has some authority or right to speak.
5. Peter begins to rebuke Jesus. ” ‘Began’ suggests that Peter gets only so far before Jesus cuts him off.”
We can infer that if Peter was bold enough to rebuke Jesus, he was confident that God told him that he was right and that Jesus was wrong at this point. Where it all broke down was that Peter was far too confident in his ability to hear from God.
1. What Peter said didn’t line up with the Scriptures
2. What Peter said was in contradiction to the spiritual authority over him
Get behind Me, Satan!...
This was a strong rebuke from Jesus, yet entirely appropriate. Though a moment before, Peter spoke as a messenger of God, he then spoke as a messenger of Satan. Jesus knew there was a satanic purpose in discouraging Him from His ministry on the cross, and Jesus would NOT allow that purpose to succeed.
We can be sure that Peter was NOT aware that he spoke for Satan, just as a moment before he was NOT aware that he spoke for God. It is often much easier to be a tool of God or of the devil than we want to believe.
You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men...
Jesus exposed how Peter came into this satanic way of thinking. He did NOT make a deliberate choice to reject God and embrace Satan; he simply let his mind, his feelings, his emotions, settle on the things of men instead of the things of God, and Satan took advantage of it.
Peter is a perfect example of how a sincere heart coupled with man’s thinking can often lead to disaster.
Peter’s rebuke of Jesus is an evidence of the leaven mentioned in Matthew 16:6. With his mind on the things of men, Peter only saw the Messiah as the embodiment of power and strength, instead of as a suffering servant. Because Peter could NOT understand nor handle a suffering Messiah, he rebuked Jesus.
Verse 24 tells us Jesus declares His expectation that His followers would follow Him by dying to self.
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
Said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me”...
This was a word spoken to the disciples of Jesus; to those who genuinely wanted to follow (come after) Him.
Let him deny himself, and take up his cross...
It was bad enough for the disciples to hear that Jesus would suffer, be rejected, and die on a cross. Now Jesus told them that they must be WILLING to do the same thing.
Deny himself, and take up his cross...
Everybody knew what Jesus meant when He said this. Everyone knew that the cross was an unrelenting instrument of death. The cross had no other purpose.
The cross was NOT about religious ceremonies; it was NOT about traditions and spiritual feelings. The cross was a HORRIFIC, CRUEL, AND TORTUOUS way to execute people. EVERY time we see the cross, it should break our hearts and remind us HOW GREAT was Jesus love for the lost, the blind, the rejecting, and those who hated him.
In these twenty centuries after Jesus, we have done a pretty good job in sanitizing and ritualizing the cross. Today, the cross does NOT remind us of what the cross meant in Jesus day. The cross means rejection, nakedness, humiliation, torture, shame, and public ridicule. Yet Jesus said something much like this: “Walk down death row daily and follow Me.” Taking up your cross was not a journey; it was a one-way trip. There was no return ticketing; it was never a round trip.
Deny himself, and take up his cross...
Jesus made deny himself equal with take up his cross. The two express the same idea. The cross was NOT about self-promotion or self-affirmation. The person carrying a cross knew they could NOT save themselves.
Denying self is not the same as self-denial. But we deny self when we surrender ourselves to Christ and determine to obey His will.
Denying self means to live as an others-centered person. We are to STRIVE to be a selfless servant. That means NOT having ourselves as the focus, but thinking about others. Jesus was the only person to do this perfectly, but we are to follow in His steps (and follow Me). This is following Jesus at its simplest: He carried a cross, He walked down death row; so must those who follow Him.
Human nature wants to indulge self, not deny self. Death to self is always terrible, and if we expect it to be a pleasant or mild experience, we will often be disillusioned. Death to self is the radical command of the Christian life. To take up your cross meant one thing: you were going to a certain death, and your only hope was in resurrection power.
Verses 25-27 tells us The paradox of the cross: finding life by losing it.
“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”
Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it...
We must follow Jesus this way, because it is the only way that we will ever find life. It sounds strange to say, “You will never live until you first walk to your death with Jesus,” but that is the idea. You can’t gain resurrection life without dying first to self and the self-centered lost world.
You do NOT lose a seed when you plant it, though it seems dead and buried. Instead, you set the seed free to be what it was always intended to be.
What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
Avoiding the walk to SELF death with Jesus means that we may gain the whole world, and end up losing everything.
REMEMBER...Jesus Himself had the opportunity to gain all the world by worshipping Satan (Luke 4:5-8), but He CHOSE life and victory in obedience instead.
Amazingly, the people who live this way before Jesus are the ones who are really, genuinely happy. Giving our lives to Jesus all the way, and living as an others-centered person does not take away from our lives, it adds to it.
He will reward each according to his works...
This ultimate gain is given on this day. If we live life blind to this truth, we really will lose our own soul.
Verse 28 tells us A promise to see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.
“Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Some standing here…shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom...
SOME WRONGLY POINT TO THIS AND SAY, JESUS LIED. ALL OF THE DISCIPLES DIED, AND DID NOT LIVE TO SEE THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS.
FOR THE 12 DISCIPLES, THEY ALL, BUT FOR JUDAS, SAW THE RESURRECTED JESUS. WE KNOW THAT THERE WAS A FALLING AWAY OF MANY WHO HAD FOLLOWED JESUS WHEN THEY REALIZED HE WAS NOT THERE TO FREE THEM FROM ROME AT THAT TIME, BUT TO FREE THEM FROM ETERNAL DAMNATION. AND THOSE THAT REMAINED, THEY SAW THE PROMISE REVEALED IN JESUS WALKING WITH THEM AFTER THE CROSS. THEY SAW HIM RETURN TO HEAVEN.