Comfort, ease, pleasure, happiness, these are worth pursuing, say the preachers of this world. Suffering is not. Do whatever you must to avoid it. In Christ, however, we see suffering differently.
“Get behind me, Satan!”
Can you imagine hearing Jesus say that to you? Unfortunately for him, Peter did not have to imagine it. On the heels of his church-building confession of Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” from last week’s Gospel reading, Peter experienced what may have been the most shameful rebuke imaginable. Not only did his teacher, whom he loved and respected and for whom he had left everything, call him out strongly and severely, that would have been hard enough, but He did it in front of the others. The only thing worse than the feeling of shame is being shamed “in public.” No wonder Peter kept his mouth shut for the rest of this text.
Fortunately for us, Jesus did not stop with the name-calling. He helps all of us who hear this account by making explicit where Peter went wrong. For that, we have to back up a bit.
Verse 21 marks a turning point in Matthew’s gospel, especially a turning point for Jesus’ openness about what was coming for Him. He had alluded to His death before (see Matthew 9:15, 10:38, and 12:40), but this was the first time He spoke openly and directly concerning His suffering and rejection. Peter, with his chest still puffed-up after Jesus’ accolades in verses 17-19, was quick to raise an objection. Matthew does not say it, but I imagine Peter had already stopped listening before Jesus got to the part about being raised. He heard Jesus’ mention of suffering, and that was enough. His conception of God left no room for such talk; perhaps because his people had known suffering firsthand for so many generations. But a suffering Messiah? That was too much.
Is it not the same for us? Our problem, as baptized believers, is not that we do not believe Jesus suffered. We confess it every week. The problem is the implications, which may have been on Peter’s mind, too. Jesus is clear about what this meant for His followers in verses 24-26. If we are to follow Him, we must deny ourselves and take up our crosses, too. If this is not clear, Jesus removes any question in verse 25: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Follow Jesus and lose your life. It is not the best PR slogan.
Jesus is clear about what this meant for His followers in verses 24-26. If we are to follow Him, we must deny ourselves and take up our crosses too.
The heart of the problem for Peter (and for us) is he was setting his mind on the things of man instead of the things of God (16:23). It is hard not to. The voices of this world are loud and unyielding. Sometimes they are on-point. But when it comes to the fundamentals, they preach an entirely different message. This is why we need to immerse ourselves in the Scriptures and the community of believers. Like addicts in need of detox, we need to return regularly to the Lord, repent of our false conception of the world, and reset our minds on the things of God (in fact, the next three Gospel readings could help you continue this theme with a four-part series, which I will say more about that at the end of the reflection).
But in this text, it is the world’s avoidance of suffering that is most incompatible with the ways of God. Comfort, ease, pleasure, happiness, these are worth pursuing, say the preachers of this world. Suffering is not. Do whatever you must to avoid it.
In Christ, however, we see suffering differently. When it happens for doing good for others, it becomes a virtuous and blessed reality, even if it is terribly difficult (refer to 1 Peter 4:12-19 for more on this point). We also see the end of Christian suffering, which is similarly foreign to the human way of thinking. Now I am talking about the resurrection. This is the heart of the promise you get to proclaim in this sermon. As Jesus rose from the dead (just like He said in our text), we too will rise. This leads us to suffer differently. Filled with hope, empowered by the Spirit of Jesus, and confident in the promise of eternal relief, we suffer for and with our sisters and brothers in Christ. The epistle reading in Romans 12 offers plenty of guidance on what this looks like. You would do well in this sermon to proclaim Jesus’ resurrection and ours, as well as to call the people of God in your congregation to love one another and bear their cross in sacrificial service to their neighbors.
Earlier, I mentioned you might consider a series of sermons which would compare and contrast a mind set on the things of God with one set on the things of man. This week the point of contrast would be Suffering. The next three weeks could explore Greatness (Matthew 18:1-20), Forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35), and Justice (Matthew 20:1-16). I will say more about them in turn. In each of these texts, Jesus confronts the human conception of reality with the gracious mind of God in Christ, so will you.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out our previous articles on Matthew 16:21-28.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Matthew 16:21-28.
Text Week-A treasury of resources from various traditions to help you preach Matthew 16:21-28.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
Lectionary Podcast-Dr. Peter Scaer of Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN walks us through Matthew 16:21-28.
