Matthew 16:21-26
21 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.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 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.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
The Cross: It’s in the Job Description
Six years ago, I began studying to be a pastor. While there were doubts and concerns along the way, what I feared the most during those years of school was my vicar year. It was a fear of the unknown. The classroom was familiar; the homework was manageable. What do vicars even do? Am I going to like the work, or will it crush me? What am I getting myself into? That’s what makes job descriptions so helpful: they tell you exactly what to expect, so that you’re mentally prepared when the time comes to actually do the job. Over the past year, the Seminary gave us tons of information about vicar year. Once I got the call here to St. Peter, the details got even more specific. What a relief to have a job description! Vicar year became less of an unknown, and many of my fears melted away.
In our Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus lays out his own job description. Last Sunday, we heard Peter confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. He’s the Anointed One, whom prophets foretold would save mankind from sin. Peter and the other disciples knew who Jesus was and what his goal was, but they didn’t quite understand how he would carry out the salvation of God’s people.
So Jesus told them. “[The Messiah] must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” This shocked the disciples. They thought, “What is Jesus talking about? There’s no way that’s right. The Messiah is supposed to destroy our enemies, not let our enemies destroy him! He’s supposed to bring us glory and fame, peace and security–not suffer and die! We can’t let this happen.” So Peter stepped up to say something, as he so often does. He took Jesus aside, put his arm around him, and told him that he’s got it all wrong. “Yes, Jesus, you’re the Messiah, and that means you’re never going to suffer and die. That just wouldn’t make sense.”
But there’s the problem. To the human mind, it’s unreasonable for the Saviour of the world to suffer and die. “Skip the cross, Jesus; go straight into glory. You’re the almighty Son of God, after all! Why would you need to do any suffering.” We might even sympathize with Peter: “He’s just thinking about Jesus’ safety. Why would he want his Lord to die?” But Peter missed the bigger picture. What seemed like reasonable thinking on Peter’s part is actually satanic. Jesus stepped away from Peter and rebuked him in front of everyone: “Get behind me, Satan!” One of his closest friends had become an agent of the devil. Here, Peter isn’t the Rock, who gave a solid confession of faith last week: he’s become a stumbling block in the path to the cross, an opponent to God’s eternal plan of salvation! Peter doesn’t realize that he’s asking for his damnation and the damnation of the world. If Jesus doesn’t go to Jerusalem and die on the cross, then we would still be lost in our sins. It does no good to confess Jesus as the Messiah yet reject the saving work he came to do on the cross.
How often do we act like Peter, pretending to know better than God? Don’t we also slip into a human mindset at times, one that only accepts God’s plans as long as they bring us comfort and glory? As long as life is going well, we happily give God control. But what happens when our lives take a turn for the worse? Do we still trust God then? In those moments, Satan takes us aside, puts his arm around us, and makes us doubt God. “What kind of God allows his people to suffer? If he loved you, he would prevent this evil from entering your life.” When we start to doubt God’s plans, our arrogant hearts need to hear Jesus’ rebuke: “Get behind me. You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Who are we to give advice to God? If our salvation rested on human reason, we would surely be lost. Our plans would never include any suffering, but we needed a suffering Messiah.
And that’s exactly what we have in Jesus. No matter what his disciples thought about him, no matter how his best friends betrayed him, no matter what Satan was whispering in his ear, Jesus never abandoned his true job description. He always and only had in mind the concerns of his Father. God had repeatedly promised a Saviour from sin, and Jesus was fully aware of the necessity of his death on the cross. He didn’t go begrudgingly to Jerusalem, but out of love for us, he willingly took our sins to the cross to pay the price for them. In our obedient Messiah, we have forgiveness for our arrogance, for our rejection of God’s will in our lives. We have eternal peace and comfort for our souls because Jesus gave up the peace and comfort of heaven to suffer and die in our place.
But that doesn’t mean we won’t have pain and suffering to bear in our lives. Just as the Messiah’s job description included a cross, the Christian job description also includes a cross. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” There’s no way around it, no way to avoid it. If Christian, then cross.
Does this intimidate you, dear Christians? A job description can take away your fear of the unknown, but it can also instill a different fear as you discover exactly what the job demands. Jesus certainly isn’t trying to scare you by talking about the Christian cross, but he is trying to clear up misunderstandings people have about discipleship. Many Christians have been misled about their job description. They hear a prosperity gospel every Sunday, and they expect that their faith will bring them glory and success in this life, much like Peter and the other disciples expected. But Jesus never says that following him will produce worldly wealth or fame or comfort. In reality, Christian discipleship costs us everything. We let go of everything to take up the cross and follow Jesus.
This cross involves self-denial. Peter had been clinging to his personal vision of salvation. He wanted to involve himself in Jesus’ mission, to steer him in the right direction. Self-denial means letting go of everything that gets in the way of following Jesus. It could be wealth, possessions, concern for body and life, the idea that I have a role to play in my salvation. What it comes down to is denying yourself or denying Jesus, entrusting your salvation to him or trying to accomplish it yourself. It’s the cross that teaches us self-denial.
To understand what Jesus means by “the cross,” think of a physical, wooden cross. Historians say that a full cross weighed 300 lbs, so that most could only carry the crossbeam, which was still up to 100 lbs. It took a lot of effort to pick up a cross. Likewise, Christianity demands your full commitment. There’s no such thing as “casual Christians,” who show up on Sunday but don’t practice their faith outside of church. Every day of their lives, Christians must carry the cross. Besides the physical torment of carrying a cross, you have emotional pain too. Crosses were reserved for the worst of criminals. It brought shame, causing people to mock and curse you, even if they didn’t know you or what you’d done. So too, your faith will not win you any favor with the world, but they will hate you because of it. Maybe you’ve been publicly embarrassed or lost friends or gave up jobs because you follow Jesus. Any persecution you face because of Jesus is a cross, physical or emotional. Finally, crosses were tools of execution. When you carried a cross, you were about to endure suffering to the point of death. Your head may not be on the block right now, but all Christians must be willing even to die for Jesus, who willingly died for us.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but it can be a real struggle to deny myself and carry my cross. Deliberately bearing shame and suffering, being willing to give up everything, even my life–this goes against every instinct in my body. All too often, we only practice our faith when it’s convenient, when we won’t face persecution for it. If you don’t feel like you’ve been bearing any crosses lately, examine your heart and ask yourself why. Could it be that you’ve been avoiding the cross? If so, ask God to grant you a willing heart and the strength to pick up the cross. Maybe you look at your life and don’t see any opportunities to carry a cross. Praise God for this momentary rest, but be prepared to shoulder a heavier load that may come in the future.
Whatever our crosses may be, God lays them on us to teach reliance on him. Against all human reason, we believe that the cross is good for us, that it drives a wedge between us and the sinful world and brings us closer to our Saviour. Our sinful nature desperately wants to drop it and run away, to spare ourselves the pain and save our lives at all costs. But when we suffer for our faith, then we know that we are really Jesus’ disciples. This is the Christian paradox: our persecutions bring us peace, because they assure us that we are following our Saviour. And when we see the path that Jesus trod, it’s not just the cross: there’s glory waiting at the end. By picking up our crosses and following Jesus, we too will find glory. Not the glory that the world gives, but the glory reserved for those who faithfully bear the cross: the glory of the resurrection and eternal life in heaven. Now we have the cross, but then we’ll have the glory. The cross makes us look like losers to the world, but we know that it’s the sign of victory, in this life and the next.
So for now, your Christian job description says “cross-bearer.” But don’t worry if you’re afraid. You need only look to Jesus for comfort and confidence. Jesus will not deny those who deny themselves for his sake. Your salvation is complete. Entrust your life to him who gave up his life to save you, for he knows what’s best for you. Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow him. Though the path seems difficult, cheer up! Your cross brings you closer to your Saviour, and soon enough you will reach the promised glory. Amen.