Take Up Your Cross

Matthew 16:21-28 (ESV)

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!^[a] This shall never happen to you.” ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance^[b] to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

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^[c] 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? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. ²⁸ Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Take Up Your Cross

It had to have been confusing for Peter – a bit of emotional whiplash! This reading, flows directly from last week’s account.

-        Who do you (plural) say that I am?

-        Peter speaks for all – “You are the Messiah, the Son of God!”

-        Blessed are you!

But then Jesus talked about what it means for Him to be the Christ/Messiah: 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. (Matthew 16:21)

Peter didn’t like what he was hearing: Peter took [Jesus] aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

-        This suffering and dying (overlooking the rising!) was not what anyone wanted or expected for the Messiah.

-        They expected victory, triumph, glory!

Jesus response? “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.”

Jesus knew that His ministry, without the crucifixion and resurrection, would be useless. Without His death, there is no forgiveness of sins. Without His resurrection, there is no everlasting life for all who believe in Him.

The Cross of Christ – His suffering and death there – is essential. This is why St. Paul said that when he preached to the Corinthian Christians, he was determined to know nothing among them except Jesus … and Him crucified. It’s why he reminds them (and us!) that he delivered as of first importance that which he also received: that Jesus died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised. All of this was “according to the Scripture” – exactly as God planned it to save us through the Cross.

There is a deep temptation for people to displace Jesus from the cross. On the one hand, we’re tempted to try to climb up there ourselves and do something to atone for our own sins. It seems like sometimes we think that we have to punish ourselves in some way in order to become right with God … as though Jesus’ death was insufficient for the job. On the other hand, we try to displace Jesus on the Cross by making the faith about something other than His death and resurrection.

People try to make the Christian faith about morality, which is just a religion of the law that is written on our hearts. Now, don’t get me wrong! Morality matters, but it will not save you. Remember that in Isaiah 64, God complains that our righteous deeds are like filthy rags to Him. It is only when our actions flow from faith moved by grace that they are pleasing in His sight. We always fall short in some way, so we strive to be moral, but we don’t place our hope there! Our hope for forgiveness is in Jesus’ death!

Sometimes people try to make the Christian faith about “Love.” That sounds nice, doesn’t it? It seems like a great philosopher said, “All you need is love, love. Love is all you need.” But what kind of “love” are we talking about? After all, in 1 John, the beloved apostle says, “God is love.” And God through Christ is all we need. But John also says, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” If we want to depend our ability to love God, or our love for others, that will fall short, too!

We are often tempted to confuse love with niceness, too. We act like it is not loving someone to call sin sin, or to challenge their false beliefs. Now, it matters how we do that. You don’t have to be a jerk – but love desires God’s truth and blessing. Love confronts sin because we know the price one pays for sin – death! We want to share Jesus’ death so that people may have life in Him!

There are some others who make the Christian faith about power, and they wrap their religion in their flag or label it with their political party. But Jesus came not to be served, not to amass power, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

What Jesus is saying in this reading is that His suffering, death, and resurrection is the plan. He is saying, “This is how I am going to save you!” But Peter says, “No way!” And we’re tempted to do the same – we want to keep Jesus off the Cross.

But notice what Jesus says next, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

What is your cross? We usually understand this as the sufferings we face in this life. To some extent that is true, especially when we suffer in faith and for the Faith! But, in the end, your cross is Christ’s cross. Remember that in baptism we are tied to Jesus’ death and through His death connected to His resurrection so we have a new life. (This is one of the reasons I wanted the painting of the crucifix we have hanging at the entrance of the sanctuary. It’s a reminder that our salvation came through Jesus’ body – delivered to us in the water of baptism and the blood of the Lord’s Supper!)

Jesus says, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” It could also be translated whoever would save his soul will lose it, but whoever loses his soul for my sake will find it.” Your soul is that part of you that lives on even after you die. It is the part of you that will be reunited with your body in the resurrection. And for you to save your soul, you have to die with Jesus. His death has to be your death, so that His life becomes your life.

Jesus asks, “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?”

What tempts you at the cost of your soul?

-        Wealth? Pleasure? Sex? Prestige? Power? Security? Comfort?

-        We make little compromises with the world that work against the kingdom of heaven when our hearts are set on the things of this world instead of the things of God; when we don’t trust or live in God’s Word in all it’s truth and purity. It’s as though we exchange the truth of God for the lies of this life.

If you lost your soul, what could you give to get it back?

-        The answer is: Nothing.

-        Ephesians 2 says that we were dead in our trespasses and sins apart from Jesus. It is His life, His blood, that is the only thing that can be given to redeem our souls.

-        His death is our life. That is why it says at the beginning of Romans 12 that we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices seeking and following God’s good and gracious will.

-        This is what it is to take up our cross and follow Jesus. Our life is bound up with His.

So, brothers and sisters, take up your cross and follow Jesus! Do all the hard things that come with following Him. Take hold of those Christian disciplines like prayer, steeping your life in Scripture, tithing, giving, doing good, having mercy, being compassionate, and all the things that are described in our Epistle reading today.

More importantly, though, live in the grace that flows from Jesus’ cross. In Romans 1, Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. Live under the sign of your salvation! God will use it to comfort you with His love and forgiveness. He will use it to encourage others, sharing your hope with your brothers and sisters in Christ. He will also use it to draw others to Jesus’ cross, that they, too, may take it up as the source of their salvation! Bear the mark of being forgiven. In baptism you received the sign of the Cross, both upon your forehead and upon your heart. You are those who have been have been fed by Jesus. Live in His grace as one who follows Jesus through death to eternal life. Amen.