God's Gospel Truths
Matthew 16:21-28
Jesus Predicts His Death
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny
themselves and take up their cross and follow
me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
~ Jesus
Matthew 16:24-25
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, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 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 they have done.
28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Pondering Point
When Jesus uttered these words, His own crucifixion was still to come. The disciples did not know exactly how the cross fit into Jesus’ life and ministry, let alone their own lives. But they would learn – and they would find their own lives on the line for Jesus! But life is not found in avoiding what Jesus brings into our lives; it is in embracing what Jesus brings. By following Jesus, we find life.
Prayer for the Day
Jesus, You talked of abundant life in John 10. Bring us such life as we take up our cross and follow You. In Your name I pray; to God’s glory I live. Amen.
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). Again, cannot, not should not. For Jesus it's a non-option. You cannot serve God and the system. You simply can't live the freedom way of Jesus and get sucked into the overconsumption that is normal in our society. The two are mutually exclusive. You have to pick. And if you're on the fence about it, as I was for years, the next line from Jesus was the clincher for me: Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life (Matthew 6:25). Notice how Jesus connected money and stuff to worry. You see that? The word “therefore” is the key. It ties together three short teachings on money and stuff to one long teaching on worry (go read the end of Matthew 6 for the full version). Basic point? We worry about what we worship. If you worship money, it will eat you alive.
~ J.M. Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, p. 197