Take Up What Cross?!? – Matthew 16:21-28
/Lectionary Readings for August 30, 2020
Exodus 3:1-15 Moses at the Burning Bush
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c God’s Faithfulness to Israel
Romans 12:9-21 Marks of the True Christian
Matthew 16:21-28 Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
Peace Quotes
“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal”. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” ~ Mother Teresa
Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me. God loves me. God has plans for me.
Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading
Please don’t let the first third of today’s reading distract you from the last two-thirds.
One key to not misunderstanding today’s reading is remembering that Matthew is a Jew telling the story of a Jewish savior to a Jewish audience. When you look at this Gospel in its entirety, Matthew’s story starts with hopeful optimism, but over time, turns sour as he realizes how few Jews will accept Jesus as the Messiah. Matthew gets frustrated with his own people.
Sadly, the first verse of today’s story is one of many that have been used for centuries as a reason/excuse by Christians who have horrifically abused and systematically murdered Jews – for centuries; let that sink in. Matthew squarely lays the blame for Jesus’ death at the hands of Jewish leaders – not the general Jewish population.
Another key is to remember that all the Gospels were written in hindsight. Again, today’s first verse gives us a post-resurrection perspective of what’s happening. Let’s not judge these ancient characters based on our modern theology.
Finally, recall that last week’s Scripture reading was the verses immediately before today’s verses. Last week Peter declared that Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus responded by saying He would build His church on the solid foundation (i.e. the rock) of Peter’s statement.
So today, when you hear Jesus calling Peter “Satan,” don’t get too distracted by a literal understanding of those words. Peter did not suddenly morph into the devil… although… someone in our Bible Study this past week pointed out that Jesus repeatedly spoke to demons inside people more than once. Perhaps you can think of someone who has said or done something that has irritated or offended you so much that you felt like they were a demonic presence in your life.
Personally, Jesus’ quick and harsh comment makes far more sense to me as a turn of phrase rather than a theological pronouncement. Nevertheless, I do not doubt Jesus’ seriousness in the moment. In the coming chapters, Jesus never rejects Peter, despite their rocky relationship. In fact… in the very next chapter, Peter is one of just 3 people Jesus invites to the top of a mountain for a mystical experience we call the Transfiguration.
All of this reminds us… no matter how rocky our own relationship with God and Jesus may have been or may be today, God never rejects us, but rather, invites us to join with the Divine Presence in our life-long journey of working out our salvation with humility and respect.
Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts as you read today’s text.
Read Matthew 16:21-28
Years ago, Anne and I were bringing a group of Jr. High kids back home from a week at summer camp. In the last 5 minutes of the trip, an 8th grader who was known for having mood ricochets said, “I don’t know why I act like this. I’ll be in a good mood, then someone says something, and… I just snap. I lash out before I even realize what I’m saying. I really don’t mean to sound like suck a jerk.”
Such are the rapid shifts of the adolescent brain, awash in the chemistry of puberty. Anne and I drove home praying for parents – like my own – that must endure such mood swings and outbursts. It’s a critical time of life when people may or may not learn how to control such urges.
As I thought about today’s story, I can’t help but wonder if Peter walked away from this conversation equally baffled by the mixed messages of Jesus’ comments, feeling both uplifted by Jesus’ indisputable praise a few verses back and now hurt by Jesus calling him Satan.
Let me put on my “lawyer hat” for a moment and offer a defense of Peter – one of Jesus’ earliest and closest disciples. They’ve spent three years living, eating, traveling, sleeping, learning, debating, and performing miracles together. Three years! My hunch is that only people who have served in military combat can appreciate the intensity of relationships that core group shared with each other.
With such extreme cohesion in mind, how would you feel if your fearless and divine leader declared that he must suffer and die? Would you not say or do something to protect them?
Remember, when these words were spoken, nobody had ever survived crucifixion and burial. Peter, and the others, must have been terribly confused and distressed. For me, this scene beautifully expresses the love Jesus’ disciples had for him and for what they were doing together.
Jesus goes on to share words that have challenged Christians for 2,000 years.
What does it mean to “deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus?”
Growing up in the Bible Belt, it was not unusual to hear of someone walking or running down the highway with a cross over their shoulder – as though that were something we should all consider doing. That’s an extremely literal understanding of today’s text.
But hey, if God tells you to do something (and it does not harm someone else), do it! I can tell you from personal experience that sometimes God asks you to do something that makes no immediate sense so that God can refocus your attention on something of great importance.
Today’s text invites us to wrestle with the meaning of “take up your cross.” Over the years I’ve heard numerous interpretations. One such explanation is that Jesus suffered, so if we want to be like Jesus, we need to suffer. Somehow, we’ll discover Jesus through misery. People who feel guilty about their past (or present) sometimes feel the need to punish themselves as an act of atoning apology for their past deeds. The famous 16th century German theologian Martin Luther “regularly practiced self-flagellation [whipping himself] as a means of mortification of the flesh.” (Mortification sounds far more admirable than “ripping apart.”)
Quite bluntly, this is a parent-toddler dynamic and it rarely produces positive results. We can punish ourselves all day, but if we can never forgive ourselves, we can’t move on, and we can’t be positive, productive members of our families or our communities. This “suffer with Jesus” approach more often leads to a downward spiral of depression and self-abuse – and more importantly, a belief that God does not love us as we are.
I don’t know about you, but nothing about that package sounds like Good News from a loving God who wants the best for us. To counter this approach, I offer Jesus’ words in John 3:16-17 (NRSV) “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Suffering brings no joy to our Creator who dearly loves us.
An alternative understanding of Jesus’ words offers us far more hope for ourselves and our futures.
In verse 24 Jesus tells his disciples, “If [people] want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” In one sentence, Jesus explains that being His follower – His disciple – is a multi-step process, not a singular, momentary activity.
First, we deny ourselves. Deny what?
I believe this is where the miracle of the human brain and the Divine gifts of freewill and self-control merge. God has given all of us options in life and a brain to consider those options, their consequences, and make decisions. The Great Commandments in Matthew 22:35-40 give Christians a framework for making decisions. How will my decisions, words, and actions express love for God, love for myself, and love for others? Sometimes that answer conflicts with our instinctive desires.
Here’s a practical example: I want a diet that’s high in sugar, salt, and fat. Why? Because that’s how our taste buds are wired. This has only become a problem in the last 100 years. As a consequence of my greater desire to work with God in service to others, having a milkshake with every meal would be tasty but it would not give me the body that can be of greatest service to God. So for me, Step 1: I deny my taste buds’ urges so that I can follow God’s leading with greater energy and endurance. (Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy milkshakes periodically, and I still need to get more exercise and sleep. I’m a work in progress.)
Step 2: Taking up our crosses. It’s interesting that Jesus says, “take up their cross” NOT “take up MY cross.” So clearly Jesus does not place His burden on us. Remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30 (NRSV) “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Taking up our crosses means, individually and out of our own free will, accepting the responsibilities of our faith and committing to following God’s leading for our lives knowing there may be consequences for our displays of compassion, forgiveness, and radical inclusion.
“The condemned criminal who carried the horizontal bar of the cross to the site of crucifixion would have been subjected to taunts, humiliation, rejection, and shame before finally enduring an agonizing death. [Today’s] disciple who “takes up the cross” is one who is willing to surrender pride, ego, status, comfort, and even life for the sake of the kingdom of God.” (Bartlett, David L.; Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 4 (Kindle 971-974). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. )
Step 3: “Follow me.” Follow You where?!?
Yes, Jesus went to the cross – 11 chapters from now – but He didn’t stop there, and neither should our theology. During the next few months, we’ll place ourselves in the disciple’s shoes, and with them, follow Jesus through 11 chapters worth of major events before we all end up at the cross. And even then, none of Jesus’ disciples were crucified the same day; so clearly Jesus did not mean “follow me to the point of getting crucified with me.” This was not a suicide pact.
So what was Jesus’ point? “Follow me as we experience God’s transfiguring power. Follow me as we heal the sick, learn about forgiveness and accountability, discuss money management, confront authority as we seek social justice, and share one last Passover meal together. Follow me.”
When we, individually and as a community of faith, follow Jesus through all of that… then we will have experienced what it means to be the hands and feet of God in the world. And with so much “on the job training,” we will be well-equipped to passionately share our vision of a world that loves God, loves ourselves, and loves others. Amen? Amen!