"Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works." -Matthew 16:24-27
To whom is this command spoken?
Spoken to Jesus' disciples, but the command is for anyone who desires to come after Me.
What does this command require?
Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus.
What truths do we learn here?
First, we learn that if anyone desires to follow Jesus, there are some ground-rules. This is contrary to popular thinking. There are many today that desire to follow Jesus, but they want to do it on their own terms. They don't want to acknowledge that there are some basic principles to following Jesus. They will deny things like church attendance, church membership, church discipline, tithing, and anything else that would bring just a little too much commitment to their lives. Jesus teaches us here that there are some fundamental things to following Jesus.
Let's break this down into the three basic parts:
1. let him deny himself - This goes back to the dialogue that Jesus and Peter have just had. Peter rebuked Jesus because he didn't like that Jesus was going to have to die. Peter needed to get his own desires out of the way. Peter was mindful of the things of men. He needed to deny himself.
2. let him...take up his cross - The follower of Jesus must acknowledge that life is on the line. The cross is an instrument of torture. Its as if Jesus is telling Peter, "I'm going to be crucified, and you all can expect to be killed for following Me as well."
3. let him...follow Me - Again, this command comes up. Followers of Jesus must keep following Him. Every moment of every day we must follow Jesus.
The Christian life is a paradox. Whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for Christ's sake will find it. Following Christ doesn't always make a lot of sense to our human minds. It doesn't make sense to the world around us. But Jesus teaches that following Him is the only real way to save your life in the long run.
What are the consequences for disobeying this command?
If you miss this command, you miss it all.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
The Commands of Christ - Matthew 16:21-23
From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men!"
To whom is this command spoken?
Jesus here speaks to Peter, but it seems the command is for Satan. What could this mean?
What does the command require?
"Get behind me, Satan!" Get out of the way.
What truths do we learn here?
What could this command mean? Is Jesus speaking to Peter or to Satan? Is Peter possessed by Satan? What is going on here? I turn to William MacDonald to help bring some clarity here:
"In calling Peter Satan, Jesus did not imply that the apostle was demon-possessed or Satan-controlled. He simply meant that Peter's actions and words were what could be expected of Satan (whose name means adversary). By protesting against Calvary, Peter became a hindrance to the Savior." -The Believer's Bible Commentary
Peter had aligned himself as Jesus adversary here. He was getting in the way of what Jesus came to do. By doing this, he put himself in the position to be rebuked by the Lord and put in his place. Peter was always sticking his foot in his mouth. Just moments before this, Peter had called Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now he takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him. He is the picture of a sporadic, unstable Christian. Peter was passionate, that is for certain, but in all this passion, he had a hard time keeping a consistent walk with Jesus.
Steadiness is important in the Christian walk. We must do our best to walk one step at a time, listening to the words of Jesus and following Him. This is an easy thing to say, and a hard thing to do. We must constantly lay aside our own desires and ambitions and pick up the desires and ambitions that Jesus has for us. Keep Him in the forefront of our minds and keep ourselves at the back.
Peter's rash words brought rebuke. Let us learn from Peter and walk humbly with our God.
To whom is this command spoken?
Jesus here speaks to Peter, but it seems the command is for Satan. What could this mean?
What does the command require?
"Get behind me, Satan!" Get out of the way.
What truths do we learn here?
What could this command mean? Is Jesus speaking to Peter or to Satan? Is Peter possessed by Satan? What is going on here? I turn to William MacDonald to help bring some clarity here:
"In calling Peter Satan, Jesus did not imply that the apostle was demon-possessed or Satan-controlled. He simply meant that Peter's actions and words were what could be expected of Satan (whose name means adversary). By protesting against Calvary, Peter became a hindrance to the Savior." -The Believer's Bible Commentary
Peter had aligned himself as Jesus adversary here. He was getting in the way of what Jesus came to do. By doing this, he put himself in the position to be rebuked by the Lord and put in his place. Peter was always sticking his foot in his mouth. Just moments before this, Peter had called Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now he takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him. He is the picture of a sporadic, unstable Christian. Peter was passionate, that is for certain, but in all this passion, he had a hard time keeping a consistent walk with Jesus.
Steadiness is important in the Christian walk. We must do our best to walk one step at a time, listening to the words of Jesus and following Him. This is an easy thing to say, and a hard thing to do. We must constantly lay aside our own desires and ambitions and pick up the desires and ambitions that Jesus has for us. Keep Him in the forefront of our minds and keep ourselves at the back.
Peter's rash words brought rebuke. Let us learn from Peter and walk humbly with our God.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
The Commands of Christ - Matthew 16:5-6
"Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."
To whom is this command spoken?
Jesus disciples
What does this command require?
Beware and watch out for the 'leaven' of the Pharisees and Saducees.
What truths do we learn through this command?
This command is for the disciple's own protection. Jesus warns them to watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees. If you look down to verse 12 in this chapter, you will see that Jesus was speaking of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. What is this doctrine that Jesus warns of?
Immediately preceding this warning the Pharisees and Sadducees ask Jesus for a sign from heaven. Jesus responds by telling them that they ought to be able to discern the signs of the times for themselves. He calls them a wicked and adulterous generation for seeking a sign. Luke 12:1 tells us that the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees is their hypocrisy. They wanted to see a sign from Jesus, but it wasn't because they believed in Him. They wanted a sign because they were testing them.
What are the consequences for disobedience?
falling into the trap of hypocrisy
To whom is this command spoken?
Jesus disciples
What does this command require?
Beware and watch out for the 'leaven' of the Pharisees and Saducees.
What truths do we learn through this command?
This command is for the disciple's own protection. Jesus warns them to watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees. If you look down to verse 12 in this chapter, you will see that Jesus was speaking of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. What is this doctrine that Jesus warns of?
Immediately preceding this warning the Pharisees and Sadducees ask Jesus for a sign from heaven. Jesus responds by telling them that they ought to be able to discern the signs of the times for themselves. He calls them a wicked and adulterous generation for seeking a sign. Luke 12:1 tells us that the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees is their hypocrisy. They wanted to see a sign from Jesus, but it wasn't because they believed in Him. They wanted a sign because they were testing them.
What are the consequences for disobedience?
falling into the trap of hypocrisy
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