From that time on [after Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah], Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Matthew 16:21

For those keeping track, last week Peter was the hero of the story – the first disciple to recognize and confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. This week, in a continuation of the same conversation between Jesus and his disciples, Peter is the villain of the story. That may be strong, but then again, Jesus does call Peter “Satan”! 

So what happened? How did Peter fall from grace so quickly, in the very same conversation with Jesus? How did he go from the rock on which Christ would build his church, to a “stumbling block” standing in the way of all that Jesus came here to do? What did Peter get wrong? And how can we make sure that we don’t fall into the same trap and make the same mistake? 

What happened with Peter is that he knew the truth, but not the whole truth. He knew the truth that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. That was true, and is true. But it’s not the whole truth. Because there are at least three other dimensions of this whole truth about Jesus that Peter was yet to learn. So, let me share with you these three truths – every one of which is just as great, and just as important, as Jesus being the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Truth 1: The Messiah Was Born to Die

The first of these three great and important truths about Jesus is that he was born to die. He was born among us in order to die for us. His role as our Messiah, and his mission to save us, would not and could not be fulfilled until he suffered and died for us. This is a great and important truth, but it is also a great and terrible truth. It was a difficult truth for Peter and his fellow disciples to accept. Truth be told, it was even a difficult truth for Jesus to accept. 

That’s why when Peter tried to convince Jesus not to go to Jerusalem, Jesus reacted so vehemently, even calling Peter ‘Satan’. ‘Satan’ is a word which means ‘tempter’, and I believe that Jesus was tempted to do as Peter suggested – to avoid Jerusalem and his certain fate of suffering and death. Jesus was tempted at that moment no less than he was tempted in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry; and no less than he was tempted in the Garden of Gethsemane at the end of his ministry. 

Thanks be to God, Jesus resisted that temptation. Because our very salvation was hanging in the balance on each of those occasions, when Jesus was tempted not to fulfill his mission to die for us. All that Jesus had to do was give in to temptation, and we would have been kept out of the kingdom of heaven forever. That is a scary truth, or at least it should be. But Jesus did not give into this temptation. Because he knew that his mission would not and could not be fulfilled until he died for us. And he loved us all too much to give in to this temptation. 

Truth 2: The Messiah Would Be Raised from the Dead

Another great and important truth, though, besides the fact that he had to die for us, is the truth that on the third day he would be raised from the dead. I wonder whether Peter even heard Jesus say that. Jesus said clearly that: 

“he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” 

Did Peter and his fellow disciples catch that last part? About Jesus being raised from the dead? If they did, why would they try to convince Jesus not to go to Jerusalem? Wouldn’t they instead be asking Jesus, “What do you mean – on the third day be raised?” Tell us more about that! This was a truth that would not have been hard for the disciples to accept, but it was hard for them to believe. 

Nobody had ever said that they would be raised on the third day and then been proven right. It was unprecedented. And it would be almost impossible for the disciples to really believe it until they saw it for themselves. They couldn’t really believe that Jesus would be raised from the dead until he appeared to them on that first Easter. But when they did see him alive on that third day, and when they embraced this truth, it changed everything for them. They no longer had to fear death, and that freed them to live for Jesus in bold and dramatic new ways. Isn’t that true for us as well? The more we believe in his resurrection – and the promise of our own – the more we are freed to live boldly and dramatically for his sake in the world.

Truth 3: The Messiah Invites Us to Take Up Our Cross

Which brings us to the third great and important truth. Remember, the first of these truths was that Jesus had to die for us. The second of these truths is that Jesus would be raised from the dead. The third of these great and important truths is spoken by Jesus to those first disciples, and to us all, in these memorable words: 

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

If the first truth was hard to accept, and the second truth was hard to believe, this truth is definitely hard to live. It is a hard truth to live, day in and day out. It is a truth that is easy to forget in a world that emphasizes anything but. A truth that is not very popular, and that doesn’t make the list of anyone’s inspiring or encouraging sayings. But a truth that is, quite simply, the truth. If we want to follow Jesus, we must deny ourselves, and take up our cross, and follow him. There is no other way. If we want to save our life, we must lose it. For it is only by losing our life for Jesus’ sake that we find true life. For Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life. There is no other way, and no other truth, and no other life. 

This great and important truth is spoken, after all, by the One who is the truth. And this One invites us to follow him by denying ourselves, and taking up our cross. He invites us to find true life by losing our lives for his sake. Or, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer put is so simply, and powerfully: “When Christ calls us, he bids us come and die.” Die to ourselves, and live for him, and with him. Die with him, that we might live with him. 

One More Truth: The Cost of Nondiscipleship 

These words of Bonhoeffer’s are found in one of his most important and well-known books, “The Cost of Discipleship.” The whole first half of that book is devoted to combatting what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace,” and inviting the reader to reconsider what it means to take up our cross. His words are powerful and important. And I have long loved this challenging book by Bonhoeffer on the cost of discipleship. But I also love this follow-up quote from Dallas Willard about the cost of nondiscipleship, as he calls it. This quote is found in his book, “The Spirit of the Disciplines”:

“It was right [for Bonhoeffer] to point out that one cannot be a disciple of Christ without forfeiting things normally sought in human life, and that one who pays little in the world’s coinage to bear his name has reason to wonder where he or she stands with God. But the cost of nondiscipleship is far greater – even when this life alone is considered – than the price paid to walk with Jesus.

Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, nondisicpleship costs you exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10).”

And that, too, is an important truth. Taking up our cross is not simply about suffering for the sake of the gospel. It is about finding the abundant life that Jesus came to bring. It is about finding hope and healing, peace, joy, and meaning and purpose in this life. And there is no other way to find these things than by losing our life for Jesus’ sake. 

We can gain the whole world without taking up our cross, but where will it get us? Nowhere that God wants us to go. It is a dead-end road. There is no pot of gold at the end of its rainbow. There is an empty soul and an empty life. That is the ultimate cost of nondiscipleship. Jesus wants more for us. This, too, is the truth. He came to offer us more. He died to give us more. He was raised to promise us more. And he invites us to become his disciples if we want more – take up our cross and follow him. Lose our lives for his sake and find our true lives. 

Closing

Peter, by the way, discovered this truth for himself. Not at first. He would struggle for quite a while, as we know. But he would eventually discover this truth. And live by it, and die by it. And we still have his words, recorded in First Peter (1 Peter 1:3-9), that show us how great a gift this truth became for him. I want to close this sermon with his memorable words. Here they are:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

These are the words of a man who has discovered the truth of the gospel, and wants us all to discover this truth for ourselves. May we do so, to the glory of God. Amen.