Matthew 16:21-25 NIV

• 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, chief priests and 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!”

Matthew 16:21-25 NIV

• (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 things of God, but the things of men.” (24) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (25) For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

Some people would rather believe a lie than stand corrected

Near the end of three year ministry

• “Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

• Peter didn’t handle this well:– “Peter took [Jesus] aside and began to rebuke

him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’”

Jesus’ response to this apparent devotion is disquieting • “Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind

me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’

• Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.’”

Few words Jesus ever spoke are scarier than these

• Contrast with his other invitations– When he says, “Come dine with me” –

experience my fulfillment – most of us are pleased to accept

– When he says, “Come do life with me” – experience my companionship – many of us are intrigued

– When he says, “Come dance with me” – come experience my joy – it seems like a good deal to follow him

But when he says “Come die with me” …

• Come take up a cross with me

• Come experience my death

• We want to join Peter, “Never, Lord!”

And this is only natural

• From cradle to grave, our goal is to preserve life– From the time we’re

strapped into our safety seats

– To the day we’re in a hospital with tubes in our bodies

– Our goal: Preserve, protect, sustain, secure!

We want to maintain – and maximize – life

• We’re taught that quality of life is related to quantity of enhancements we’ve secured

• Our lives come to be defined by– Accomplishments– Acquisitions

Somebody has to dieSomebody has to die

Along comes Jesus

• He tells us we’ve defined life too selfishly

• He tells us we need to:– Get off the fence between world & kingdom– Show grace to others & not just expect it for

ourselves– Patrol the pleasures we’ve allowed to invade

our perimeter & compromise our hearts– Put him in the box as what is really important

If we’re hearing Jesus right, somebody’s got to die

• If we are to follow Jesus into the kingdom

• If we are to be born into this life of God

• Then the way we’ve come to live must die

• That will be painful and hard

• It will demand the humility & perseverance we see in Jesus as he carries his cross

“Christ died to save us, not from suffering, but from ourselves; not from injustice, far less from justice, but from being unjust. He died that we might live, but live as he lives – by dying as he died, who died to himself that he might live unto God. If we do not die to ourselves, we cannot live to God, and he that does not live to God is dead.”

During the next two weeks, the world will think of the cross

• Think about crucifixion & resurrection, but miss the implication that we, too must die– Price worth paying– Path to communion with God– Road to eternal peace & prosperity

• Jesus makes clear– It doesn’t come from wearing a cross– It comes from bearing a cross– We must die

No wonder they crucified him

• No wonder some would-be disciples said: Never, Lord. I don’t like this path!

• I understand why people want to crucify Christ instead of die to self

We’d prefer a We’d prefer a Da Vinci CodeDa Vinci Code Jesus Jesus

We’d like to rewrite the story of Jesus and make him

• One who wouldn’t insist on difficult choices

• One who wouldn’t do anything so radical as deny pleasure to himself & his disciples

• One whose gospel was about touching the divine through pleasure

• We’d view the church a la Da Vinci Code– A collection of corrupt or misguided people

I’d like to go through the gospels “cafeteria style”

• Take the parts of biblical Jesus that I like– Those that reinforce my lifestyle– Those that leave me feeling spiritual– Those that don’t require much of me

• I can– Wear a cross, but decline to bear a cross– Go on with life as I have it– Keep the self I have

• But I don’t want that self; I want better

Cross at the memorial bridgeCross at the memorial bridge

January 13, 1982

• One of the coldest days in DC history

• Air Florida Flight 90 iced-up on takeoff from Washington National Airport

• Hit the 14th Street Bridge & crashed into the icy Potomac

• Few survived the crash & we watched the rescue efforts on the news

• Arland Williams survived the crash

As the Washington Post tells it:

• “Five different times, a helicopter dropped a rope to save Williams. Five times, Williams passed the rope to other passengers in worse shape than he was. When the rope was extended to Williams the sixth time, he could not take hold, and succumbed to the frigid waters. His heroism was not rash. Aware that his own strength was fading, [Williams] deliberately handed hope to someone else.”

Arland D. Williams Memorial Bridge

• Commemorates the man who made the choice to die to self five times that day

Someone else once made some deliberate choices

• John 10:18 NIV No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Someone else once made some deliberate choices

• John 12:23-26 NIV Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. (24) I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (25) The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (26) Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

We gather today to remember

• When he might have done otherwise, – Jesus chose to take up his cross– He chose to pay the ultimate price for our sin– So you & I can be forgiven & live with God

• Jesus chose to pass us the rope

• If you have never taken hold of it before, grab hold of it today

• Let Christ pull you to safety

But once you’ve done that, don’t stop there

• Don’t let the cross be a symbol you wear

• Let it be a signpost to the life Christ calls you to in this world

• Cross into the life of the kingdom of God

• “If [you] would come after me, [you] must deny [your]self and take up [your] cross and follow me.”