Peter Rebuked (Matthew 16:21-27)

Earlier Peter had confessed that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16). Obviously he now realised who Jesus was. He regarded Jesus as the Deliverer of Israel (the Christ) and was convinced that he was divine. Yet it is obvious that Peter did not yet understand that the journey of Jesus as the Messiah involved his death because he now objects strongly to it.

Jesus had informed the disciples in great detail about his coming arrest, death and resurrection. Peter’s objection was a contradiction because he managed to combine in a sentence his acceptance of Jesus as Lord and his disagreement with Jesus’ intention.

Why did Peter make this response? He did it because he loved Jesus with all his heart. There was nothing clinical in Peter’s response. It was an expression of strong love, but it was an uninformed love because he refused to listen to what Jesus was teaching about his death.

How did Jesus react to Peter’s rebuke? His response shows the seriousness and the sinfulness of Peter’s desire. He was now acting like the devil and suggesting that Jesus should not fulfil God’s plan. Peter is a reminder that uninformed love is only a step away from becoming a hindrance. The rock has become a stumbling block.

Peter’s mind had been enlightened by the Father, but the enlightenment was not static. He had grasped profound truth, but there was much more to know. It was basic to discipleship for a disciple to think about what he had been taught by his teacher. Peter had not done this, and now he found himself standing in front of Jesus as a hindrance rather than as a disciple following behind Jesus. In attempting this role reversal, Peter discovered the inflexibility of Jesus.

The duty of disciples

This interaction with Peter led Jesus to give further instruction to his disciples about genuine discipleship. The order of his words are important. A disciple of Jesus is marked by three things: deny himself, take up his cross and follow Jesus. What does Jesus mean by these three details? I think he means repentance, trust and commitment.

What is denial of self? It is not giving up chocolates – that kind of activity is easy. Instead denial of self is leaving whatever we were and becoming different in our aims. A person who lives for self has not repented. Living for self can mean different things to different people. The issue is whether or not I have repented of who I am and what I did when I was not following Jesus.

Jesus used many pictures of faith and I would suggest that one of them is ‘taking up his cross’. I suppose the significance of a cross was identifying fully with something that could lead to dying for it, no matter who will try and prevent it. That is faith in Jesus – wholehearted allegiance.

But that is only the beginning. The disciple who repents and trusts in Jesus engages in a life of ongoing commitment. Of course, the good thing about discipleship is that it always involves the company of Jesus because disciples follow him.

Such disciples are helped in their choices by the process of evaluation. Should they live for the world? Even if they gained all of it, they would have missed out on the essential meaning of life, which is to follow Jesus.

Jesus here is not describing a special kind of disciple. Instead he is describing the only kind of disciple. We are not to assume that there is any other kind of disciple apart from someone who repents, trusts in Jesus and then obeys him. Jesus is not saying that they will be perfect, because Peter was not behaving perfectly at that moment. But he did want to follow Jesus.

The day of decision

Once more Jesus calls himself the Son of Man, a reference to the prophecy in Daniel 7 of the Messiah receiving universal authority. In the context he adds another detail to what he has mentioned in verse 21. There he listed what would happen to him in Jerusalem. Now he informs them about an activity he will engage in after his resurrection. He does not indicate how soon or how distant this appearance will be. But we can say that he knew where he was going and what he would be doing?

What will Jesus have on that day? He mentions two things. One is the angels and the other is glory. With regard to the angels, they are said to be ‘his angels’. Of course, this could be reference to his deity because as God he owns everything. But it is also a reminder of the extent of his exaltation that the most powerful creatures are his agents.

What role will the angels have on that day? One way of answering the question is to think of them as an army – the heavenly host. We are used to soldiers in times of crisis helping some people and capturing and imprisoning others. In a way, that is a picture of what angels will do when Jesus returns. They will gather together God’s people and they will also be the ones that ensure the wicked enter the place of punishment. The question to ask ourselves is, ‘Will we be glad to meet an angel on that day?’

Jesus will also come in the glory of his Father. This describes his appearance and his activity. Glory includes splendour and the activity he will perform will be to judge the world. This is going to be the occasion when every knee will bow to Jesus and listen to what he has to stay. It will be awesome sight. Perhaps the closest human illustration would be when a conqueror sat on his throne after a battle and passed judgement on those who had helped him and on those who had opposed him.

I wonder what Peter thought as he heard this. Did he say to himself, ‘I wonder what Jesus will look like on that day? I know have done wrong in speaking to him the way that I did. I do love him, but love should be expressed in serving him, not in advising him. I am glad that I can make my peace with the Judge before the Judgment Day comes.’ Or maybe, he resolved to be more careful with his words and to take up the cross of discipleship and follow Jesus as close as he could.

Preached on 14/8/2016