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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. 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." 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. 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. 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."
- Matthew 16:21-28
Yesterday, we read that when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" 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." 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.
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. My study bible points out to us that immediately after Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, the true nature of Jesus' messiahship is revealed. This "true nature" is the mystery of His Passion, the great central act that will be a sign for all.
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." Expectations for the Messiah were that he would reign forever. The idea that Christ would die was perplexing for Peter and scandalous to the Jews (see 1 Corinthians 1:23). Peter's words inadvertently speak for Satan, says my study bible, as he tries to dissuade Christ from His mission. Jesus' sacrifice will be an entirely positive act, made for the world. It is one of the "things of God," bringing man and God closer together.
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." My study bible tells us that the cross, "a dreaded instrument of Roman punishment," became a symbol of suffering by Christians in imitation of Christ. Self-denial is practiced for the sake of the love of God and the gospel. Acceptance of such suffering isn't a punishment and it isn't an end in itself. Through Christ and His revelation to us, it becomes a means to overcome the fallen world for the sake of a better world, that of the Kingdom we seek to be manifest in our midst, including within ourselves and our own perspectives (see Galatians 5:24).
"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." The central Christian paradox: we give in exchange for something better. As my study bible puts it, "In grasping for temporal things, we lose the eternal; but in sacrificing everything in this world, we gain eternal riches that are unimaginable (1 Corinthians 2:9)."
"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." Jesus is again asking us, what do we love the most? There is a choice to be made, always a choice to be made. Our choices reflect this priority, the answer to this question.
"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." In the next reading (on Monday), we will read about the Transfiguration, to which "some standing here" will be witness. It's also a statement, says my study bible, about those in every generation who experience the presence of God's Kingdom.
This is the question (or questions) we face that Jesus presents to us: What would we give in exchange for our soul? What does it mean to take up the Cross? And why should He die on the Cross? What does it mean to save our life to lose it, and to lose our life to save it? All these questions! But all of them are rooted in one central paradox: that of the exchange of a worldly perspective for a heavenly one. It all starts with the assumption that we aren't perfect, and the world is not perfect -- and with the answer of Christ, that there is another way, but it requires our diligence and effort. It's not just going to come to us without making difficult decisions, hard choices. It's not simple, and it's not easy. He shows us the way with the Cross and the sign of Jonah after three days in the tomb. What will it be? Today the world is faced with difficult decisions. Above all, it seems to me, we must remember this Man, His Cross, and what it teaches us. What is He asking you today? How do you read these questions? Where do you find your soul?
