31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of
Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief
priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He
said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said,
"Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things
but on human things." 34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said
to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and
take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will
lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the
gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world
and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the
glory of his Father with the holy angels."
If any
want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and
follow me
· Today we hear Jesus tell Peter to “get behind me!” while calling
him a devil. He goes on to say that his disciples should and must follow him
and take
up their cross. It appears that, one way or the other, everyone
ends up behind Jesus.
· Those who follow him will follow after him, while those who do not
follow him will be left behind by him. In either case, the person must give
themselves over to something, must surrender to something. What they give
themselves to makes quite a difference.
· Jesus tells Peter you are setting your mind not on divine
things but on human things. Because of that, he can’t understand
what Jesus is saying when he speaks of his coming Passion and death. These are
not things that Peter wants to consider. Jesus is giving his disciples some
strong and bitter words in speaking of his rejection, suffering, death, and
resurrection. We receive those words as well, right here and right now.
· The church has long interpreted the reaction of Peter and of the
disciples as a misdirected understanding of Jesus as the Messiah. They expected
a glorious and triumphant worldly kingdom to be found in the here and now. They
would also have a role in it and a leading role, maybe with thrones and crown
and everything. Rejection, suffering, and the cross could have no place in such
a reign. It would be all sweetness and light, an eternal upward procession from
glory to glory.
· It would not be so for Jesus. We all know the story; we hear it
every year, possibly twice a year. We’ve made it important to our lives. The
symbol of Jesus’ suffering is found in our churches and often on a chain or
cord around our necks. Jesus told his disciples that his life would have
suffering and death.
· He also told his disciples that their lives would have the same. John’s
Gospel tells us of Jesus saying “Servants are not greater than their
master.” The history of the church is full of people attempting to
circumvent that, trading the cross for glory, and setting the mind not on
divine things but on human things.
· I think this will always be the internal struggle of the church.
Arguments over creeds, prayers, worship services, and the like often occupy the
mind of congregations and wider faith communities. We don’t argue about taking
up the cross because we just might feel that we all do that anyway and it’s
just too personal. Asking a question about taking up the cross could also lead
to questions about whether or not we are doing that.
· As we said earlier, denying ourselves is a matter of what we give
ourselves to, not what little comforts we give up. It is possible to dedicate
our lives to people living in poverty because Jesus is on the side of the poor
and still enjoy Oreos every so often.
· Denying ourselves is not a matter of giving up certain things as
it is giving up ourselves, our pretentions of godhood, and our desire to
control everyone around us. In many ways, it is accepting God as God and
remembering that we are not god. As the British writer, C.S. Lewis said “True
humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
· One way or another, we all are behind Jesus, either as his
followers who walk with him or as those who prefer ourselves to his way and who
are left behind on his way.
· The way of Jesus Christ leads ultimately to Calvary and the cross.
However, it doesn’t end there. Good Friday precedes Easter every time. To focus
on one without the other does damage to both and to those who focus on one or
the other.
· The denying of the self is not a simple thing nor is it the sort
of thing that leaves us empty. If we are to deny ourselves, take up our cross,
and follow Jesus, we would find that it is Christ’s life that fills us. Who we
are becomes fully joined to who Christ is. Then what Jesus told his disciple
will be true for us as well: For
those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life
for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
No comments:
Post a Comment