If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me

 

 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 into 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.  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."  My study Bible comments here that, after Peter's confession of faith (see yesterday's reading, above), Jesus reveals the true nature of His messiahship:  the mystery of His Passion.  This is the central reality of our faith.  It was expected that the Messiah would reign forever, so the idea that Christ would die was perplexing to Peter and remained scandalous to the Jews even after the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:23).  Peter unwittingly speaks for Satan, as the devil did not want Christ to fulfill His mission and save mankind through suffering and death.  

 

 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."  The cross was the dreaded instrument of Roman punishment, reserved for the worst of criminals, but is also a symbol of suffering by Christians in imitation of Christ, my study Bible says.  For Christians, it also becomes a symbol of spiritual victory and transformation.  We practice self-denial for the sake of the love of God and the gospel.  My study Bible elaborates that to accept this suffering is not a punishment, nor is it an end in itself, but rather a means to overcome the fallen world for the sake of the Kingdom and to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24).  

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."  My study Bible says that the central paradox of Christian living is that 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).   

 

"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."  These questions emphasize the futility of accumulating worldly wealth or power at the expense of the soul, for none of that can redeem a fallen soul, nor benefit a person in the life to come.  The state of one's soul is linked to life and its quality at all times.

 

"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."  My study Bible suggests that this is a reference to those who would witness the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9, in the next reading).  It also applies as well to those in every generation who will experience the presence of God's Kingdom.

What is the Cross and the mystery of the Cross?  In this central event of Christ's mission as Messiah, His Passion, we find in some sense the nature of faith in God.  It is transformational.  In the Passion, the worst type of punishment given to human beings was transformed into a symbol of victory, of spiritual renewal, and especially victory over death -- the Resurrection, and life (John 11:25).  In His saving ministry for us, Jesus walks into the worst of human misery, the worst of evils of this world -- that is, injustice, terrible suffering, and death at the hands of those who are powerful, manipulative, and ruthless.  But in so doing, Jesus transforms all of that, standing it on its head.  He creates victory over death, the final enemy.  He brings us life.  He brings us Resurrection.  And the Cross forever after becomes a symbol for us of life, of victory over evil and death, and of transformation.  This is why the Cross goes before us, why it is a symbol for us of the power of God in our lives.  It is why we have need of the Cross.  Because it is only through Christ's victory that we can have victory, that we can find our own triumphs over difficulties that this world will give to us in other forms of injustice, of evil, of death, no matter how they come to us.  With faith, we will find also that there is a Resurrection, and a transformation of our lives.  It is Christ who plants good, even in the midst of evil, and this is what our faith is about.  We may have our own crosses to bear, our own afflictions and burdens, but it is faith that helps us not just to carry them, but to see them through to something else, our own resurrections in life.  Let us consider what our faith can do, and what it means to have victory in the Cross.