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Jesus, Death and Discipleship By Paul Thompson

Last Sunday night if you were here, John Lovell from Moore College very helpfully started us back into Matthew chapter 16 and you will recall that he preached from verses 13-28.
Some of the things that John said I am going to repeat this morning. The Lord knows what he is doing and I take it that he wants to underscore for us some of those things.
I became increasingly annoyed as I read the article. The author accused me of being bored with the cross but the more I thought about it the more I became convinced it was true.
My thinking and my life reflected it. The fact is for many of us here this morning who are Christians we have become bored with the cross. Our lives reflect it in our comfortable middle class lifestyles and attitudes. Jesus challenges us this morning to be radically changed by his death on the cross. When you meet someone for the first time there are two things you usually do. They are accepted norms. You ask what is your name and what do you do? It is no different when you become a disciple of Jesus Christ, a Christian.
Jesus introduces himself. He doesn't shake your hand. He invades your life. He comes
to stay. He takes up residence. He makes his presence felt. He says to you, I am Messiah,
the anointed one by God to be King and this is what I do.
And as we move through Matthew and as we come back to Matthew we see that Jesus has two
jobs to do. The first is to start a family, his church. The second is to die for his family
so that they might go from being his enemies to becoming his brothers, his family.
You recall that it was because of the obvious rejection the Scribes and the Pharisees that
Jesus experienced opposition. We need to remind ourselves too that Matthew writes as a Jew
to new Jewish Christians. His aim is to prove beyond doubt that Jesus is the Messiah because
he fulfils the Old Testament predictions about himself. Now Matthew wrote his Gospel as a
teaching manual for these new disciples of Christ but he also wrote it to convince sceptical
Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. And in this passage, particularly verse 23, Jesus is not
telling us here how we may become Christians. He is not saying that by denying ourselves
and taking up our crosses and following him that our sins will be forgiven and we will
have eternal life. These verses describe to us what it is to be a Christian. If a friend
wants to know what a Christian is, here is a perfect description. Firstly then,
to be a disciple of Jesus Christ we need to grab hold of the cross. Look with me at the
beginning of verse 21. 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. Firstly notice Jesus' suffering. Before the cross we are told the cruel way Jesus
was treated. Pilate had him whipped, his murderers spat on his face, they pushed him around making
fun of him, they struck him with their hands, they dressed him to look like a king mocking him,
they put a crown of thorns on his head and over and over they struck him on the head with a stick.
Then they stripped him naked and drove iron nails through his hands and feet securing him to the
cross. Oh what pains he had to bear. So Jesus is the suffering servant predicted in Isaiah chapter
53 that John just read to us. But what does his suffering mean for us this morning? The writer
to the Hebrews in chapter 4 in verse 15 tells us for we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathise with our weaknesses but we have one who is tempted in every way just as we are yet was
without sin. Are you overcome this morning with weaknesses? Maybe you are struggling with illness
or being single or in your relationship as a wife, mother, husband, a good employee or Christian
brother or sister. Jesus is the one who knows how you feel. He knows the temptations yet he is
without sin. You are not alone. Jesus cares deeply about you. But next notice that Jesus suffered for
us. Look at the next part of verse 21. But that he must be killed. This was shocking news to the
disciples ears. They had the mistaken idea that Jesus must be some earthly king. Remember John
said that to us last Sunday night. But to Matthew's readers and to us these words plunge us to the
depths of our faith. Now if you are a fan of CSI you know that finding a motive for the death or
murder helps not only solve the case but helps make sense of what happened. The why factor makes
sense of it all. It is no different concerning Jesus' murder on the cross. You see we deserve to
die. He didn't deserve to die yet he died. Why? After all he was without sin. If the wages of
sin is death how could death apply to him? The Bible says he was harmless, he was holy, harmless,
undefiled and separated from sinners. In Christ's death we come across something abnormal not normal.
He is both God and man so there is something unique unparalleled about his death. How could
he go to the cross knowing he didn't deserve to be killed? Again we are told in Hebrews although
he was a son he learned obedience from what he suffered. He learned obedience. Isn't that what
we need to please him? But he willingly died and took the punishment his father inflicted upon him.
He took the anger of his father for rebellious people like you and me. And what is the glorious
result if we believe he died for me? He treats me as not guilty as if I never sinned. Next we
read in verse 21, on the third day he was raised to life and he must be killed and on the third
day be raised to life. His resurrection from the dead is proof that he overcame the power of death,
the sting of death. What good news? What hope for us who will die? Having seen the greatest job ever
done. Next let's look at our greatest rebellion and we see that in verses 22 through to 23. Verse
23, look at that, Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Never Lord, he said, this shall
never happen to you. Why the sudden change in Peter? Here is this hand-picked disciple of Jesus
who in response to Jesus' question in verse 13, who do people say the Son of Man is, receives a
direct revelation from God the Father and in verse 16 answers, you are the Christ, the Son of the
living God. Peter goes from speaking words from heaven to words from hell and Satan. How could
this be? What's Peter doing to Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God? Notice how condescending
he is to Jesus. So Jesus won't be embarrassed in front of his disciples, in front of his friends,
his mates if you like. He takes Jesus aside. Surely this is the most arrogant statement ever
made. Peter thinks he knows better than Jesus. The great sin we are all guilty of is pride and here
it is in all its glory. When we men and women behave badly it's because of pride. Peter is no
different. What is at the heart of pride? What drives it motivates it? It's competitiveness,
isn't it? Pride competes against another. Jesus says I must and that comes smack bang up against
Peter's never Lord. This will never happen. Do you naturally want to compete with others? Do you look
down on certain people? I know I do. Then we are proud and pride is against God. Pride has no place
in our ministries. If we are prone to be proud we need to come often and drink deeply from the
humbling springs of the cross. But mixed with pride is ignorance. Why is Peter ignorant of
Jesus' coming death on a Roman cross? Because the focus must always be on me. I'm so self-absorbed
that I don't listen to what others say. Peter is not listening to Jesus. But our greatest sin here
deserves the greatest telling off. Notice verse 23. Jesus turned and said to Peter get behind me
Satan. You are a stumbling block to me. You do not mind the things of God but the things of men.
Why does Jesus give Peter the greatest telling off? Because Peter tempts Jesus to divert from
the reason he came to earth as Matthew has already told us in chapter 1 and verse 21 that he might
save his people from his sins. His name was Jesus. That he might save his people from his sins. This
is his mission. Jesus is possibly telling Peter here to get back to him, to quit taking the lead
and to be a follower so that he might learn to be a disciple and to know what a disciple of Jesus
is all about. When Jesus says to Peter get behind me Satan he does not mean that Peter is possessed
by Satan. Rather he is playing the role of Satan. The result of Peter's pride and our pride is what?
Look at the last part of verse 23. You do not mind the things of God but the things of men.
Jesus is saying in other words Peter you exercise your mind, you set your emotions on human beings,
Peter is centered on man and isn't this the problem today? Man focuses by nature on man not
on what Jesus says. Rather the things of God, the Gospel are the things of God and at its heart the
cross of Christ. But it doesn't end there for Peter or us. We need to be corrected and Jesus
does this now. Secondly, having grabbed hold of the cross we need to say no to ourselves and yes
to Christ. This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. We see this in verses 24 to 26.
Look with me at verse 24. Then Jesus said to his disciples if anyone would come after me he must
deny himself and take it from me. Jesus turns Peter's bad behaviour into a teaching opportunity.
Why? Peter and his disciples desperately need solid information on how to follow him in the
future. It's going to be tough. They will face death threats and death itself. Step one was he
has introduced himself. We saw that a few verses earlier on that he is the Messiah, the Son of the
Living God. Step two is the incredible job he's going to do through his suffering, death and
resurrection. Now step three, in response to steps one and two Jesus just doesn't want it driven
into the disciples' skulls. No, Jesus shouts it into our ears as well so that we will get excited
about the job of being fair dinkum disciples. A disciple is simply a learner, a pupil, a follower
who follows both the teacher and his teaching. And there's a three part harmony on being a
disciple here. The first part of the harmony sounds like this. I must say no to myself and
yes to Christ. Look at the next phrase. He must deny himself. Jesus here is like the drill sergeant
on the parade ground. He shouts a direct command at his troops which he expects to be obeyed. There
will be no negotiating. Do it. What does he mean deny yourself? Peter himself provides part of the
answer. Jesus says that Peter is going to deny him when he is arrested. Remember the story? Peter has
fled the scene and he's sitting in a courtyard and a servant girl comes up to him and probably
sheepishly says, you also were with him. You also were with Jesus Christ of Galilee. And what does
Peter say? I don't know the man. I don't know the man. He's denying knowing Jesus. Imagine husbands
if you came home from a hard day at work and your wife and children refused to recognize you. Your
wife looks you straight in the eye and says I don't know you. Imagine the pain and confusion
and separation. But that's exactly what Jesus says to you and me this morning. If you've made the
momentous decision to be a Christian you're going to live denying yourself to yourself. Your daily
attitude towards yourself will be I don't know you man. I'm a new person now in Christ. Saying
no to myself is not just about saying no to chocolates or Maccas. It's to renounce me. It's
to step down from the throne of my heart and put the sceptre in Christ's hands and my crown on his
heart. It's to bow before him as my new king. How am I going to do this? In the same way Jesus did.
A learned obedience. What did Paul say to the Romans in chapter 6 and verse 16? You are slaves
to the one who you obey. Whether you are slaves to sin which leads to death or to obedience which
leads to righteousness. Now the second part of the harmony is to take up our cross. He says that
here you're to deny yourself and take up your cross. The Roman cross of course was a tool of
execution of death and here Jesus is saying that he is our example. Jesus here firstly means that
we must be prepared to die. He forewarns the disciples. Remember they were all martyred by
Bar John. Is he saying then that we're to be martyrs? No. But it's more than just physical
death he's talking about. It's dealing with the person I used to be who constantly keeps
interrupting my life and saying I know you. When we attempted to sin we must remember him dying on
the cross. He died for our sins on the cross. We can never do that but we must learn to use the
cross and say Lord Jesus I'm facing this temptation. Help by your spirit me to die to these
desires. To refuse to know my old self because you put him to death on the cross and you died
for my sins past present and future. So why would I want to sin now? The third part of the harmony
is follow me. When I was a teenager I was obsessed with yachting with sailing. I would want to be
around the top yachtsman. I would go and I would take photographs of their yachts and if I had an
opportunity to go out on a start boat I would go out and I read yachting magazines. At all my spare
time I wanted to be an Olympic yachtsman and to win a gold medal and I followed everything about
these men. They were my mentors, my examples. Jesus in the same way is telling us to follow
him and of course he sits down how we are to follow him. We saw that on the Sermon on the
Mount. Good rules, rules on how to follow Jesus. The whole of Matthew is a text on how we are to
follow Jesus. But now in verse 25 Jesus applies it personally. Notice verse 25 will you? For whoever
wants to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What fills my
life is what I become. If shopping or entertainment or TV or videos fill my life then they will shape
my life. Poor Rene Rifkin. How could one man change so much? Well the answer is simple. He
found his life and he lost it. In seeking to have it all his eyes were bigger than his stomach and
his personality split apart. He went mad. What consumed him eventually destroyed him. The Proverbs
are right. As a man thinks so he becomes. But Jesus says that the cross is to shape my life
because it's only as I die to myself that I can truly know the power of Christ, his suffering,
death and resurrection to be a real Christian. Everyone today wants life but it's only the
Christian who has life because through giving up his life he finds the real life that has only
found in Jesus Christ. But Jesus applies it not just personally but he applies it to what we
desire to have, our possessions if you like. Look at verse 26. What good will it be for a man if he
gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Often
for the Charismatics their Gospel is one in which money and prosperity are next to godliness. But
is the reason that we have become bored with the cross because of our greed? Let me read the
blurb for a Christian book on greed. It's called Beyond Greed. The most disturbing thing about the
fact that greed is idolatry is that hardly anyone owns up to being a worshipper. Imagine the
response of disbelief in the local church if it was revealed that the vast majority of its members
were secretly worshipping other gods. Yet if our analysis of the religion of money is right the
unthinkable may not be so far from the truth. Again what is behind our greed as Christians?
Isn't it pride? We confuse our wants with our needs. We think things will bring us happiness
when only being in a healthy relationship with Jesus is to be found true happiness. What did
Jesus say? We cannot serve both God and money. But now Jesus goes on to say to his disciples
and to us that to be his disciple we need to not only grab hold of the cross to say no to
ourselves and yes to him, but there is a reason for all this. He as King is coming. Look at verse
28, for the Son of Man is coming, 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. Jesus finishes off
by saying the reason I've told you of my suffering and death and resurrection is how closely it is
tied to my return. But if you are not a Christian this should terrify you that Jesus is going to
return. He is coming as judge to punish his enemies and to send them to hell. The challenge
for you this morning if you are not a Christian is to come to Jesus now as the one whose death
on the cross makes forgiveness possible because he paid for sins on the cross. Turn from your pride
and arrogance. Make him your King and follow his Son. Christians, how could we ever be bored with
the cross? Let's return to the cross and we will return to a healthy relationship with Christ. Only
this will arrest the satisfactory we were challenged with a few weeks ago. Let's repent
of minding the things of man and return to minding the things of God, the cross and our
response of obedient lives. May we relearn to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow
him. He promised us in light of that to reward each of us according to what we have done. May
God have mercy on us all. Amen.