The Gospel and the Kingdom - Matthew - The Rebukes and the Requirements

 

TEXT: Matthew 16:22-26 – “²² Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” ²³ 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.” ²⁴ 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. ²⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ 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?”

We are in Chapter 16 again today. In this chapter, we have seen that Jesus again refuses to give the Pharisees a sign to prove His divine identity. Also, we will see Him warn His disciples to beware of the Pharisee's false teachings. And end our study with Peter correctly identifying who Jesus is. This study will be over the next two days as we divide it up into palatable pieces.

As we continue, today we pondered over Jesus Reminder and Revelation, and now we will muse over the Rebukes and the Requirements.

We start by seeing  Peter’s rebuke of Jesus in verse 22. Peter is upset that Jesus is speaking about His sufferings and death. He doesn’t want to hear about it, he doesn’t want Jesus to talk about it. Jesus then rebukes Satan (vs.23). Jesus’ rebuke against Satan is for influencing Peter to speak as he has.

So, we will close today with the REQUIREMENTS for discipleship (vs. 24-26).

Jesus lists the true conditions of discipleship -counting the cost of being a disciple of His. Too often today we minimize what it means to be a true follower of Christ. Just say a prayer and you’re in. But Jesus makes it clear, if we truly want to be a follower of His, there are three things we must do. 

First, Jesus says that we must Deny ourselves. The verb used by Matthew here is the same word Matthew used to describe Peter denying Christ three times. To deny yourself means to refuse to recognize or to acknowledge yourself. Say no to yourself. Saying no to yourself is hard, isn’t it? It means saying no to yourself to follow Jesus. 

Second, Jesus says we are to Take up our cross. For Jesus to say this to His disciples was dramatic and even unthinkable. The cross represented the most painful death. When He gives us as His followers this command, He gave the ultimate challenge to give up everything to follow Him. No reserves, no retreats, and no regrets. For Jesus to place this in the middle of this context He places it in the middle of our everyday life. It must be our daily priority, our schedules, our focus, our devotion. Following Jesus without any reservations. 

That brings us to Follow Him. The verb here is in the present tense. It means a daily following. A lifestyle. A way of life. Not saying no to just one or two things – a lifestyle of saying no to ourselves.  Taking up the cross daily.  A daily decision to devote ourselves to Christ.

How do we measure up to the requirements of a true disciple? Do we daily:

• Deny ourselves?
• Take up our cross?
• Follow Him?