Sermon manuscript:
In our Gospel reading Peter confessed Jesus to be the
Christ. This is important and life changing because it is by our confession of
Jesus as the Christ that we are saved. However, as we also heard, Peter ran
into some difficulty when Jesus spoke about the cross. Today we will talk about
what happened with Peter and how this also applies to us as Jesus’s followers
today.
We’ll begin with the story. Jesus was going to the villages
of Caesaria Philippi with his disciples. Jesus asked them, “Who do people say that I am?” The disciples told Jesus
what they had heard. Some people said that he was John the Baptist; others,
Elijah; others, one of the prophets. Jesus then asked them, “What about you? Who do you say that I am?” Peter
responded for all of them and said, “You are the
Christ.”
This is a very special answer. The word, “Christ,” means
“anointed one.” The way that people were made into kings in the Old Testament
was by being anointed with oil. Peter is saying that Jesus is king—but not just
any king. God made promises in the Old Testament about a great king who would
arise. He would be a descendant of Abraham and of David. He would put an end to
injustice and wickedness. He would bring about righteousness and peace.
Peter’s answer, therefore, “You are
the Christ,” is of enormous significance. He is saying that Jesus is
this great king. Peter does well with his confession of who Jesus is.
What happens next, though, throws a wrench into Peter’s
thoughts about Jesus being the Christ. Jesus began to tell them what was going
to happen to him. He was going to suffer many things. He would be rejected by the
elders, chief priests, and experts in the Law. He would be killed. After three
days he would rise again.
This was not what Peter had in mind for his beloved king. Stuff
like that didn’t happen to kings. What good could this suffering and dying
possibly serve? Peter rebuked Jesus. Jesus rebuked Peter right back. He used
very harsh language. He said, “Get behind me Satan!”
I’m not aware of Jesus ever calling anyone else that terrible name. He
explained why he called him that: “For you are not
setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
These words are key. They identify a great divide. A person
can set his or her mind on the things of God or on the things of man. What does
it mean to set your mind on the things of God or the things of man? Let’s begin
with the things of God.
The things of God are bound up in Jesus the Christ. He is
loved by God the Father. What does this king do? You already heard very
important things this king did. He suffered many things, was mistreated,
killed, and rose again.
You are aware of the goodness that the king accomplished by
doing that because we talk about that a lot. Jesus’s suffering, death, and
resurrection brought about the verdict of forgiveness for sinners. Sinners, who
otherwise should die and go to hell for their sins, instead are received as
beloved children of God for Jesus’s sake.
Jesus’s work as king, however, did not end with his death
and resurrection. Forty days after he rose from the dead he ascended to the
right hand of God the Father. That is where he reigns and rules as king now. The
way that he reigns and rules his spiritual kingdom is through the testimony of
God’s Word by Christians like you and me. These Christians are scattered far
and wide all over the earth. These Christians have been given the Holy Spirit. They
believe the Gospel. They urge others to believe in the good news of this king
and to follow him. When the last person whom God has chosen is brought to
faith, then Jesus will come again.
When Jesus comes again he will judge so that goodness and
evil will be identified and separated. Evil will be confined in hell. Those who
believed in Jesus will receive their inheritance as co-heirs with Christ. All
things will be placed under Jesus’s feet. Then Jesus will hand over the kingdom
to God the Father so that God will be all in all. These are the main points of
the things of God, upon which we should set our minds.
What are the things of man? What Jesus means by the “things
of man” is the way that man operates after the fall into sin. Already in
Genesis you can see the things of man by the way that Adam and Eve lived after
they disobeyed God. I don’t think they were exactly happy, but they tried to
make the best of the situation. They solved problems. They were ashamed of
their nakedness, so they sewed together some fig leaves. Life went on.
So it was also for Cain, their son, and his descendants
after they were rejected by God. They tried to make the best of things. They
discovered new things. They made instruments to improve their quality of life.
Peter, when he was setting his mind on the things of man,
perhaps thought that Jesus as an earthly king would be good for life in this
world. Instead of him suffering and dying—seemingly accomplishing nothing—he should
get busy. He could raise an army, create a following, and if luck was on their
side they might manage to bring Israel back to its former glory.
So it is also today. We try to make the best of things. We’ve
discovered lots of useful things. Like the men before us we try to push the
ball forward. We try to make progress.
Jesus rebuked Peter by saying that he was setting his mind
on the things of man instead of the things of God. Perhaps when Jesus told his
disciples that he was going to suffer and be killed and rise again, it sounded
to Peter as though Jesus was going backwards. That’s how suffering generally
sounds to us. We try to get rid of suffering. We try to fix problems. It
sounded wrong that suffering should remain—especially under the rule of this
very special, long-promised king!
Jesus, however, knew things that we don’t know. He knew that
our fundamental problems could not be fixed by any amount of reforms or the
wisest of leaders. Our problems are too deep for that. We needed to be
redeemed. That was why Jesus suffered, died, and rose again. This was good, not
bad! It was how sinners were set free.
But Jesus’s teaching on the cross was not just for him. He
goes on to teach the disciples about the life that they were to live. Suffering
would remain for them too. He said, “If anyone would
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
We can understand these words according to what Jesus told
Peter. We are to set our minds on the things of God instead of on the things of
man. To set our minds on the things of God is to recognize that he is king—he
is in control, not us. God’s understanding of goodness is better than our
understanding of goodness. We might identify something as good that is not good,
and, vice versa, we might identify something as being evil which is in fact
very good.
Take, for example, the problem of being a disciple of Jesus.
Being a disciple of Jesus is a problem, because that means we won’t always fit
in. Jesus didn’t always fit in and look what they did to him. Jesus’s apostles
didn’t always fit in. They were severely mistreated. Disciples of Jesus will
never fit in because we believe in and testify to the Gospel. We believe that
Jesus is the king who will set all things right.
The reason why this means we will never fit in is because we
will always be seen are raining on the parade of earthly dreams. Man always
dreams of making a paradise on this earth. By testifying that Jesus is the
Christ we are also saying that all other reforms are at best half-measures, and
can never really succeed. The Gospel is always an indictment against setting
your mind on the things of man.
Although Jesus’s message was not always welcome to everyone,
Jesus did not change it. People went away from him. People got angry at him. He’s
going to remain the king that he is.
Jesus is open about the suffering that we will undergo as
Christians. Suffering will remain. And if you won’t deny yourself, if you won’t
take up your cross and follow him, then you won’t be his disciple. It’s as
simple as that. When the prospect of suffering rears its ugly head, you will
betray him to save your own skin.
Be prepared, therefore. Jesus says several times, “Be sober and watchful.” That means, “Be sensible. Have
unrealistic expectations. Don’t be surprised when suffering comes upon you.” You
might be tempted to think that there is some way that you could “fix” Christianity
so that you don’t have to suffer. Maybe you can make it so that it never
offends anyone, so that nobody ever feels bad from anything you might say. A
lot of Christians set this as a high priority for their life of faith.
I submit to you that they are probably doing something
similar to what Peter was thinking of doing in our reading today. Peter was
trying to fit Jesus into a mold of his own making. This king would then work
well for him, solve his problems, and go a long way in creating a paradise on
this earth. So also today Christianity can be edited so as to curry favor with a
certain segment of the population, or to avoid persecution from another segment
of the population. This song and dance, however, is a far cry from the bold and
simple confession of Peter: “You are the Christ.”
We do not need to play tricks with what we say. We do not
need to figure out how to be clever like we so often do with our worldly
pursuits. We need the truth. The plainer and simpler the truth, the better.
Then let the Holy Spirit go to work.
And if it should so happen that we then receive a cross, so
be it. God will work good through that cross, even if we don’t see it. God
willing, and by God’s grace, we’ll keep on believing in the king, despite the
cross. We’ll keep confessing that Jesus is the Christ. By that confession we
will be saved.
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