24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? Matthew 16:24-26
Right after Jesus
rebuked Peter for “not setting his mind on the things of God but on the
things of man,” Jesus taught His disciples this difficult teaching
concerning the requirements to follow Him. These qualifications are often
overlooked by modern day Christians, whom demand to make following Jesus look
like a walk in the park. Such demand grows out of the desire to enjoy the
pleasure of the world without the consequence of being thrown into hell.
This should not startle anyone because this is within every soul. As we
are born in sin, we automatically desire the enjoyment of the pleasure of the
world without wanting to enter the gates of hell. The only way for
Christians to fulfill such desire is by overlooking the requirements of
following Jesus. In the secular world, particularly in the mysticism and
occultism, enjoying the pleasure of the world can be achieved by preparing a sacrifice.
Say if one desires to be very rich, often one must be prepared that one of
his/her offspring might be born with extremely disabling defects. Or even
sometimes they must sacrifice their offspring to the fire in order to gain the
world. And often they do not even think of heaven as their final
destination. All they can think about is the life in this world.
But Christians are a step further in this case. Modern day Christians
demand heaven to be bestowed upon them. They claim it as the promise of
God in Christ Jesus. So they desperately believe in Jesus in order to
avoid punishment in hell and to gain heaven for their own sake. In the
meantime, as they live in the world, they have no desire to obey God’s commands
whatsoever. All they want after they gain heaven is to also gain the
world, all its riches, all its joy, all its pleasure, without even care whether
it is sinful or not.
These Christians always
pressure God to fulfill His promise to bestow them heaven as long as they
believe in Christ Jesus. And they grow bolder as to pressure God even
more by appealing to His eternal quality of love. This pressure on His
loving quality is meant to secure their wild desire to live without being
limited by God’s law. They demand to be accepted as they are even if they
continue living an un-repented life of sin. All they want is indulging in
sin until the day they die and still be admitted into heaven. This is the
main problem of the modern day Christians. The teaching of the apostle
Paul is exploited to the fullest so that for these people the law is obsolete
and only grace remains. They throw away the law because the law is
limiting their wild life. They only want to bask in God’s grace.
Repentance is not in their vocabulary. For in their argument they say
that since God is love and full of grace, He must accept them as they
are. But they forget to read carefully, that in Romans 3:31 the apostle
Paul also said: “31 Do we then overthrow the
law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”
What these modern day Christians do is exploitation and manipulation of the
word of God using undisciplined hermeneutics. They read the word of God
casually as one reads a novel.
Derridean mode of
reading has become the norm in this postmodern era. In this mode, the
author’s intention is not relevant. The history behind it is not
significant. The cultural situation of the time is not important.
Even the grammatical structure that the author chose is not considered
influential to the meaning of the text. The Derridean mode of reading is
the kind of reading that gives absolute power to the reader. The reader
may ascribe meaning to the text whatever they understand it. They do not
talk about the original language used. For them it is useless.
Unfortunately today we encounter many Christians read the Holy Scripture – the
Word of God – in the Derridean mode of reading. And so, the proper
hermeneutics is now a thing in the past. The Derridean mode of thinking
gives no respect to the Holy Scripture written centuries ago. And this is
what influences many modern day Christians to ignore the difficult teachings of
Jesus and promote only what makes them feel good. Our text about the
qualifications to follow Jesus is one of those texts that they ignore because
it is very difficult to do. Little do they know that this text holds the
key to living a true Christian life. Without understanding this text
properly, one may not be able to lead a proper Christian life. And proper
Christian life is what God desires for His people after they are saved through
the sacrifice of His Son.
A text always stands in
a context. Without a context, a text’s meaning can be whatever.
Even with a personal letter we can’t let that happen. Our personal letter
must not be taken out of context. A text within our personal letter must
not be taken out of context, or otherwise its meaning can be unlimited. A
text read without a context may be used to harm. That is ethically
unacceptable. If in reading one’s personal letter we must carefully
consider the context, how much more if we read the word of God. So in
reading the Scripture, one must pay careful attention to the context. Now
let’s get on with our text.
Our text is preceded by
many events that involved signs and wonders and miracles and discourses of
Jesus. These events are very important to our interpretation of the
text. The immediate context of our text is the deliberate questions Jesus
asked His disciples regarding who He is. First He asked who He is
according to the people.
13 Now
when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
(Matthew 16:13)
Surely the disciples had talked with
people along the way. They heard what the people said about Jesus.
The rumors and gossips in the street were not hidden to them. Because
Jesus was one figure that drew a lot of attractions, rumors must have
circulated pretty strongly around. So the disciples quickly answered:
14 And
they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah
or one of the prophets.” (Matthew 16:14)
Research-wise, Jesus’ disciples passed
the basic skill of research. They reported as is. Jesus, no doubt,
reminded many people of John the Baptist, who had great authority even though
he never performed any miracles. But Jesus did not just remind them of
John the Baptist, but also of Elijah, who bravely opposed the power that be and
faithfully spoke of the truth of God. Obviously liking Jesus to John the
Baptist and Elijah was not enough, some people said that Jesus was like
Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a prophet who always suffered, who did weird
things – never before seen things, and those qualities they found in Jesus.
But they couldn’t be certain of who Jesus is, so they too said “one of the
prophets,” of whom we do not have clear certainty as to which prophet (because
there are many prophets: i.e. Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Obadiah, Haggai,
etc.) Sounds like the crowds were confused in identifying Jesus.
Their answers were not in agreement with one another. And so their answer
was unreliable. But those were the answers of the masses. So Jesus
moved to the next question, a more personal question.
15 He
said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
(Matthew 16:15)
After following Jesus for quite some
time, seeing the signs and wonders and miracles He performed, listening to His
teachings that they never heard before, they ought to have a pretty good idea
who Jesus was. But surprisingly they did not compete to answer this
fairly clear cut question. Contrary to the first question, the disciples
were busy reporting to Jesus what they heard in the street. They competed
to give the best answer to Jesus. They wanted to impress Jesus with their
answer. This time they fell silent. Their tongue was tied. No
answer came out from their mouth. Despite all their experiences with Him,
witnessing the impossible, listening to the word of heaven coming out of His
mouth, they could not bring themselves to say what was right. Only one
dared to speak. The man who always speaks first thinks later. Simon
Peter loudly proclaimed:
“You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God.” (Matthew 16:16)
Through all his experiences with the
Lord, the awe, the respect, the amazement, the piercing words, the courageous
teaching, the brave challenge to the establishment, the brilliant answers, the
uniqueness of Christ, the glory of truth and grace, Peter couldn’t resist to
conclude that his Lord was different than any other prophets of the past.
But the answer was hidden, it remained mysterious to his mind, undisclosed to
his heart. Until the touch of God the Father penetrated his heart and His
wisdom overshadowed his limited understanding. Suddenly, in strange
enlightenment, the eyes of his heart were opened wide. The hidden answer
immediately readied itself at the tip of his tongue. So he burst without
thinking it, proclaiming what would be the foundation of Christian faith for eternity.
Yes, Peter was the first who proclaimed that Jesus, this simple peasant from Nazareth, a poor fellow
among the outcast, the unwanted King of kings, was the Messiah. Jesus was
the promised One. The only One of all the billions of people who inhabited,
is inhabiting, and will inhabit the earth, who was anointed by the God Almighty
to be the savior of the world, the Lord of lords, the King of kings. Yes,
this rejected Jesus was the Son of the living God. And yes again, not
Caesar, not the king of Judea, who was the Son
of God, but Jesus of Nazareth.
This proclamation by Peter was the pivotal moment of the acceptance of Jesus
Christ as the One and only Messiah of God. A very important revelation
was given that moment in front of all the twelve disciples of Jesus through the
mouth of Simon Peter. So Jesus acknowledged the revelation:
17 And
Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood
has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
(Matthew 16:17)
What went on Peter’s mind, I
suppose? The words that came out of his own mouth were not from himself,
but from God the Father. God used Peter’s mouth to reveal a historical
statement that will stand to eternity. It is the statement of faith that
distinguishes between true followers of Jesus and not. And this statement
of faith marks the beginning of the journey of faith. Here another
historical statement was uttered by the Son of God Himself, that He promised to
build His church on the foundation of the statement of faith that was just
uttered by His premier apostle, and also on the foundation of His apostles and
His prophets of old.
18 And
I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will
give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19)
The statement of faith is empty without
the existence of the Messiah Himself. Jesus is the source of the
faith. He is the Messiah of God. He is the cornerstone of the
foundation of faith. Without Him our faith crumbles to nothing. He
is the Rock Himself as interpreted by Daniel in the dream of King
Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:35). The church is then founded upon Jesus
Himself as the cornerstone, and the teachings of the apostles and the prophets.
This context is key to our text. The foundation has been laid. All
eyes are now upon Jesus. The establishment of the identity of Jesus in
the mind of the apostles was completed. No second guessing anymore of who
Jesus is. He is not Jeremiah, not Elijah, not one of the prophets, and
not John the Baptist. He is the Messiah of God, the Son of God.
This knowledge should change the orientation of their then blurry faith.
No more doubt. No more guessing. It has been confirmed. Now
the process of living up to that knowledge and faith is another matter. The
secret of the process has not yet been revealed up to that point. Only
the statement of faith was revealed. Only the identity of Jesus, the
object of our faith, was revealed. But the process was still
unclear. Peter’s statement marked the beginning of a new life for all the
apostles. It challenged them to the core. They were torn between
following their childhood dream of what the Messiah ought to be and the reality
of the Messiah whom they knew in person. And so when Jesus, the Messiah,
revealed to them that the Messiah had to suffer, the reaction was contrary to
logic.
21 From
that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be
raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke
him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But
he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me.
For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of
man.” (Matthew 16:21-23)
Peter, the one who was first in
uttering the historic statement of faith, was also the one making the terrible
mistake. Peter dared to rebuke the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Chosen
One, the Son of God, as if Jesus were mistaken. Peter put himself at the
level of Jesus and though of Jesus as his buddy equal to him. The
revealed truth of Isaiah 53 going to be fulfilled in Jesus as the suffering
Messiah was responded by Jesus’ premier apostle with a denial. Peter
rejected the truth. Peter attempted to live up to the statement of faith
he just uttered in the wrong way. His childhood dream of what the Messiah
ought to be took over. He dreamed of the Messiah to wield a mighty sword,
ride a magnificent horse, wearing the glorious armor worthy of kings, driving
out the oppressor, Rome, and establishing the kingdom of Israel that never wanes. So when
Jesus revealed of Him suffering and dying in the hands of the uncircumcised, he
could not take it. He rebutted Jesus’ saying. He wanted the Messiah
of his childhood dream to manifest in Jesus. Suffering Messiah was not in
his dream.
Jesus’ response was unexpected. His response to His beloved disciple was
the harshest ever. It was a very important moment for all disciples to
know the truth. Jesus’ authority was challenged right there and then by
Peter, the spokesperson of the Jesus’ disciple league. If He conceded to
Peter’s challenge, then His confirmed identity as the Messiah, as the Son of
God, would be given a chance to be doubted big time. It’s break or make
time. So Jesus stood His ground and responded to Peter in Matthew 16:23.
23 But
he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to
me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things
of man.”
The difference between God and man is
huge. For man, God can’t bleed. For man, God must not bleed.
For man, God can’t suffer. So Peter rebuked Jesus. The small rock
rebuked The Rock Himself. And The Rock stood firm and He rebuked the
small rock in return. This is the first and the last He ever called His
beloved disciple “Satan.” Here Jesus pointed out that Satan’s thought was
always contrary to God’s. If man thinks contrary to God’s, then man resembles
Satan. And Satan can’t stand in the presence of God to argue with
Him. So Jesus rebuked Peter to get behind Him. The thought of man
can’t stand in the presence of God to argue with Him. Jesus’ fate was
already decided from eternity even before the world began. The divine
order must proceed. The salvation of mankind must be completed.
Only through the sacrifice of the Messiah such salvation could be
achieved. Abandoning it would mean the doom of all mankind. Jesus
wouldn’t back off. He wouldn’t cancel the divine order. God’s love
to His people was great, so this must be done, voluntarily. And Jesus had
decided to lay His life for His people. No power could stop Him. No
words could persuade Him to do otherwise. No, not even Peter could stop
Jesus from moving forward toward His suffering. This is the manifestation
of His being the Messiah. His confirmed identity was put to the
test. And He proved His confirmed identity by standing true to who He
is. He could not budge. But, the process of living up to the faith
was proved difficult for Peter and the other disciples. They said to
believe in Jesus. But yet at the first test they chose to doubt.
They’d rather change God than accommodating God’s word into their category.
For the disciples, their journey of faith began with a bumpy ride.
There would be more bumpy rides along the way. As we read further we will
find how Jesus’ disciples failed test after test. Their spiritual growth
was filled with struggles. Their foundations were shaken. Their
faith in Jesus was tested to the limit. They bumped here and there.
At one point they even ran back to their old life. Their doubt was so
overwhelming. They couldn’t reconcile their childhood dream with the
reality. They couldn’t yet accept the reality of the Suffering
Messiah. They found it hard to unlearn the old idea of the glorious
Messiah. It was hard to let go of the thinking of man. They never
heard of the mind of God prior to their encounter with Jesus. This was a
new thing for them. Their comfort zone was disturbed. A difficult
process awaited the disciples. Jesus was yet to reveal the steps.
These steps are also for us all who desire to follow Jesus. And it’s not
getting easier even after two thousand years. Because these steps are
personal. These steps attack the very nature of our self. These
steps turn our core being upside down. What remains is faith.
Without faith in Christ Jesus, we wouldn’t go through these steps. No one
would. That is why the statement of faith first proclaimed by Peter ought
to be ours first and foremost before we undertake the steps of living up to the
faith. Here is the secret of how Jesus is building us up spiritually.
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