Seeds for 10/16/2023 - Matthew 16:21-24
Scripture: 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.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
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.”
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Observation: These next several verses contain some of the richest teaching on the crux of discipleship and the centrality of Jesus.
That crux of discipleship is found in one short sentence that begins, “Whoever wants to be my disciple…”
“Whoever” is key. What Jesus is about to say applies to everyone who “wants to be [Jesus’] disciple.” In other words, we’re not free to define discipleship any old way we want. We don’t make up the rules to suit our preferences. We adhere to the words of Jesus: “must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Jesus’ description of the demands—the imperatives—of discipleship stands in contrast to the problem with Peter in the previous verses. Peter tries to dissuade Jesus from the path of suffering and self-sacrifice to no avail. Jesus’ diagnosis is tough to take. Peter has in mind human concerns, not the concerns of God. We don’t have to ask Jesus to expound on that critique or put a finer point on it. He proceeds to do so in the next breath.
This famous description of the call to discipleship essentially boils down the calling that Jesus Himself is living out: self-denial, taking up a cross (for Jesus, literally), and follow Him. Peter didn’t want Jesus to deny Himself, but preserve Himself. Peter didn’t want Jesus to take up a cross, a cruel instrument of torture and death at the hands of the Roman Empire. Jesus, however, set His sights on the cross, in the words of the Letter to the Hebrews, “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame” (13:1-3). Peter didn’t want Jesus to go to Jerusalem where such challenges and trials await. But those challenges and trials are the reason Jesus is aiming for Jerusalem in the first place.
So, when Jesus calls us to practice self-denial rather than self-indulgence, taking up a cross, and following Him wherever He may go, regardless whether its on our “bucket-list” or not, He isn’t asking for something that He is unwilling to do Himself. He Himself has shown the way.
Application:
What’s the last thing you’d want to have to “give up” or deny yourself of in order to be faithful to Jesus?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, help me see and lay aside whatever would keep me from full devotion to you. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
If you liked this post from Seeds of Faith, why not share it and/or subscribe?
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™