Following Jesus to the Cross (Matthew 16:24-27)
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I’d like to talk this morning about something good mothers do instinctively in their families. Mothers sacrifice their desires. They don’t this because it’s fun, but for the sake of their families. Yet in the very act of giving of their desires, they gain a greater joy. It’s like the mother who gives up her food in order to feed her child.
Jesus spoke a similar message to His disciples. In order to be His disciple, each person must take up His cross and follow Him. But what does this mean, to take up your cross and follow Jesus? How is this act of self-denial related to salvation?
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.” (Matthew 16:24-27)
What does it meant to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus? Jesus was calling His disciples to die (v. 24). Deny your desires in order to serve God instead. Deny your cravings in order to please God instead. Seek not your own happiness as your top priority, but rather the will of God.
In telling us to take up your cross, Jesus was also telling us to let the world think what they may. Criminals sentenced to crucifixion had to carry their cross to their place of death. Onlookers would curse them and spit on them. But blessed are you when you are persecuted. Resign yourself to the will of God, despite the suffering you will endure, or what others may think of you.
Yet our dying to self is for our eternal joy (v. 25). The Bible never requires a sacrifice from us that is not rewarded far greater. Think of all the sacrifices you’ve made in your life. They may have been hard to make, but you made them because your conscious would not allow you to do otherwise. So ultimately you obeyed your conscious rather than your immediate desire.
Some may consider this selfishness. It’s not selfish to know that we are rewarded when we serve God. It’s realizing that He is God, the most powerful being in all of the universe. He doesn’t need our service, but He allows us to serve Him so that we might be blessed through it. In being faithful to God, we find true joy and peace.
Many understand this passage wrongly, though, thinking that this dying to self is what leads to salvation.
“ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:15-18)
The confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, is the foundation of the church. Anyone who would make that their confession as well is a member of the church. It’s not based on works at all, but on the grace of God towards those who trust in Jesus.
“Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. 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, chief priests and 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 things of God, but the things of men.” “(Matthew 16:20-23)
Right after Peter confessed Christ, Jesus had to rebuke Peter for having a earthly mindset. Peter wanted to defend Jesus and fight for what he perceived to be the truth. Jesus taught Peter that in order to follow Christ, he must change his whole perspective on life. But notice the order in which these events occurred. 1) Peter confessed Christ and Jesus applauded Peter for knowing the truth, a truth that he could not have known unless God had revealed it to him. 2) Next, Peter showed his ignorance of God’s will by wanting to fight for Jesus physically, and Jesus rebuked him. 3) Finally, Jesus reveals the lifestyle that His disciples are to have.
Dying to self does not lead to salvation; it is a result of salvation. Self-denial for the sake of piety does not please God. Jesus is not describing the path to salvation, but the character of the saved. You will know a tree by its fruit. God said through the prophet Hosea, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). No sacrifice that we can make can save us. Only Christ can save us, and He offers the salvation to anyone who would trust in Him and what He did for us on the cross.
Nevertheless, at the end of time, right before the revealing of the new heaven and new earth, all people will be judged. God will take out all of His books (Rev. 20:12). Nearly all of the books have one primary purpose: to show that every man is sinful. These books record the deeds of all people, whether good or bad. Keep in mind that anything not done in faith is sin. Even things that we call “good,” if not done in service to God, is sin. But one book, the book of life, contains nothing but names. Is your name written in it?
Pastor Chris Huff has been with us since July 2009. He and his wife, Abby, have four children. Chris is originally from St. Louis, MO and even though he was raised as a city boy, he has a small town heart. Chris is all over the internet, so you can find him on Facebook, Twitter,… (read more)
