Follow Me

Matthew 16:13-28 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

¹³ Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

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 be raised up on the third day. ²² Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wishes to 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 will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.

²⁸ “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

If you are a frequent reader of Nuggets you know that the text in Matthew 16:13-20 is a foundational scripture to me. Jesus first asks who the people say that He is. The disciples answer:  “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” The people of Israel were waiting for and expecting their Messiah to come, yet when He did they did not recognize Him. The way that Jesus taught and the miracles and signs He did made them aware that He was a man of God, but still they did not see Him for who He was. Jesus then asks the disciples: “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”   Jesus response was:  “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

The revelation that Jesus was and is the Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer and Savior of all mankind is a revelation that comes not from the persuasive words of others, not through human logic. The revelation that Jesus is the Christ is a revelation that must come to each individual by the Father.  In John 6:44 Jesus says: “ No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him”     In John 14:6 Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”     Many will say then that to believe in Christ as Lord and Savior is arrogant. They say how is it fair to say Jesus is the only way to God if God must reveal Him?

The text takes an interesting turn in verse 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 be raised up on the third day.   Jesus began to reveal and foretell His death to His disciples. Peter, who Jesus had just called blessed because He had the revelation of Christ from the Father, now has things turned.     Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”       Today many both in the world and even in the church, are offended at the cross of Christ. Many don’t want to acknowledge that the reason Jesus came was to die for the sin of all mankind. You see by acknowledging the cross and Christ’s suffering each individual must acknowledge their own sin and their own need of a savior.

In John 12:27-33 Jesus again speaks of His impending death on the cross.    “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. ³¹ Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³² And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” ³³ But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.  

Jesus death on the cross was not without difficulty. After all Jesus, though He was God, had a human body and mind. The knowledge of what He was going to endure was deeply troubling, yet it is why He came. Jesus now answers the question of how it can be that He is the only way to the Father and that the Father must draw men to Him.    He says: “I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”     If  people will look to Jesus on the cross, fulfilling the mission of the Father, if they will watch as He suffers to bear the burden of their sin, if they will stay there and not be offended by the cross and the cost of sin, they will hear Jesus say:  “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”    It’s no surprise that the cross is offensive to many, it is there at the cross that each individual is confronted with their own sin and need of a Savior.  Sin is offensive to God. There can be no sin in God’s holy presence. Each individual has a choice, The Father draws them, Jesus endured the cross. We can reject the cross as offensive and so remain in sin, offensive to the holy God. Or we can accept the cross, embracing Christ’s suffering on our behalf and be redeemed from the offense of sin and reconciled to God the Father.

The text continues:  Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.   This too has been sometimes wrongly understood even in the church. Jesus does not ask us to live a life of suffering. He says we are to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and follow Him. It is our life of sin that we are to deny. We are to follow Jesus. Jesus is no longer bearing the weight of His cross. He is no longer suffering on that cross. Jesus is alive! He is risen! He lives with the Father and He will return. We are to follow Him, not bearing every day the burden of the cross, not suffering under the weight of sin and affliction, but rather to the resurrection life He lives and provides. Jesus says:  “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  We exchange our life for the abundant life Christ provides.

What comes with that abundant life? What do we receive when we choose not to be offended by the cross but rather receive the revelation that Jesus is the Christ? We become part of Christ’s church, not a denomination or a local body, but part of Christ’s church and He says that upon the revelation that He is the Christ:    “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”    The power to stand and prevail against the gates of hell, the power to bind the evil on this earth and to loose the realities of heaven here on earth, that’s the abundant life that comes with following Christ.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus the Christ; Holy Spirit, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thank You Jesus that You endured the offense of the cross to remove the offense of my sin. I choose to follow You.     Amen.