Matthew 16:13-28
“How Would You Answer This Question?”
By: Ken Sauer, Pastor of East Ridge United Methodist Church, Chattanooga, TN eastridgeumc.org
How many of you remember “pop quizzes” in school?
And for those who are still in school, are you fond of “pop quizzes”?
I remember them being intimidating, and when a teacher would announce them, the class would let out a collective “gasp.”
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning, Jesus gave the disciples a “pop quiz.”
No matter how annoying they can be, there really are good reasons why teachers like to give pop quizzes: they truly reveal what you know.
The first question of Jesus’ pop quiz was easy: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
This might have been fun for the disciples to answer.
They had heard the folks talking in the towns.
And it’s easy to talk about what others say, think or do.
What the disciples didn’t realize was that this was only a warm-up question.
The second question was the REAL TEST—the most important question anyone will ever answer.
Jesus asked, “But what about you? Who do you say that I am?”
The Scriptures don’t tell us this, but I can imagine that it suddenly got real quiet.
I can also picture the glances that were so on fire with enthusiasm just a moment earlier now falling slowly to the ground.
“Who do you say that I am?”
This question is much harder to answer because it’s personal; if you get it wrong, it’s you who are at fault.
The weight of this question may have made the air thick with tension.
Can you imagine the disciples slowly turning their heads in Peter’s direction, just hoping he would speak up as he often did—and thus, get the rest of them off the hook?
Peter, possibly uncomfortable with the silence, was ready to answer.
In one instance Peter raised his voice with boldness and a sense of power and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
I bet Jesus smiled at that moment, and I’d imagine that Jesus smiled a lot…
…but in this instance, the tension lifted instantly!
Peter must have felt a surge of pride—and within moments he would need to be humbled…which isn’t much fun.
In the meantime though, Jesus was to give Peter a blessing that would touch his life, and ours, forever: “Blessed are you, Simon, Son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church…”
On the profession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” Jesus builds His Church!!!
But just because the disciples had grasped the fact that Jesus was God’s Son—the Messiah, this did not mean that they had grasped what that really meant.
They were still thinking of Jesus in terms of a conquering warrior King, Who would sweep the Romans from Palestine and lead Israel to power!
That’s why Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone He was the Christ at that time.
Because they would have gone about telling everyone that Jesus was about to march on Jerusalem—sword in hand.
They would have been recruiting troops.
They would have been getting the folks ready for war!
I mean, as far as the disciples were concerned, their natural next move would have been to sit down and plan their strategy: if Jesus is the King then they must figure out how to get rid of the present kings and priests who are ruling Israel.
And the obvious solution would have been to march on Jerusalem, pick up supporters on the way, choose their moment, fight a surprise battle, take over the Temple and install Jesus as King!!!
“That’s how God’s Kingdom will come!”
“That’s how the Son of Man will be exalted in His Kingdom!”
That’s what the disciples had in mind.
So, we are told in verse 21 that “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples” what His being the Son of God really meant.
“Yes, we’ll be going to Jerusalem, but the Son of Man will ride humbly in on a donkey—an animal which symbolizes peace.”
“Yes, the Kingdom of God is coming.”
Yes, Jesus will be exalted as King.
But the way to this Kingdom is the exact opposite road to the one the disciples and especially Peter have in mind!
Jesus will indeed confront the rulers and authorities, the chief priests and legal experts, in Jerusalem; but they, not Jesus, will appear to win the battle.
For they will arrest Him, beat Him and crucify Him on an awful bloody Cross!
Jesus will then be raised from the dead, Jesus tells them, but neither Peter nor the others can figure out what in the world He means by this.
And Peter’s astonished reaction to Jesus’ teaching shows where the disciples were coming from, and what they understood.
And so we face a most perplexing situation.
We see, in this passage of Scripture, how making the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God…
…how uttering those words does not necessarily mean that those who utter them fully understand their implications or what they mean.
Many may believe it has something to do with where we’ll spend eternity, but what might it mean truly live it?
Jesus asked the disciples who the world thought He was, and then He asked, “But what about you? Who do you say that I am?”
It’s a probing question that forces us to ask ourselves where we stand with Jesus and how far we are willing to travel with Him.
It’s a question that gets to the heart of the matter.
Let’s all ask ourselves that question right now: “Who do you believe Jesus to be?”
How we answer this question makes all the difference in the world.
It doesn’t change the reality of Who Jesus Christ is…no, not at all…rather, it shapes and defines who we are and who we will be!!!
For our confession regarding Jesus shapes the way we live as a Church and as individuals.
After Jesus told Peter that being the Christ, the Son of the living God meant that Jesus “must be killed and on the third day be raised to life,” we are told that “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’”
And then Jesus uttered those infamous words: “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.”
Wow!!!
That’s a far cry from “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah…”
But we shouldn’t be too hard on Peter and the other disciples at this point.
How many of us are also guilty of opting for “cheap” grace?...
…for Easter without Good Friday, seeking new life while clinging desperately to the old.
It has been said that, “Too often we make discipleship and the way of Jesus an interesting idea that we discuss over coffee with friends instead of a journey that demands transformation, obedience, the death of the old self, and the sometimes painful birth of the new.”
We too are, at times, stumbling blocks to the purposes of God in both our lives and in the lives of others.
How often are our attitudes and behavior, and perhaps laziness stumbling blocks to those outside the Church and to those inside the Church as well?
Jesus said, “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.”
As Peter and the other disciples and anyone who has ever followed Christ discover, the gospel, if it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, is cross-shaped.
It is both a demand and a gift.
The gospel of Jesus Christ offers, not a comfy answer to the felt needs of our self-centered culture, but the truth that our world so desperately needs to hear!!!
“We preach Christ crucified.”
The way of Jesus is the way of suffering.
But it’s not suffering for suffering’s sake.
It is suffering that comes as a result of our willingness to risk loving God and our neighbors no matter what the cost!!!
It is suffering that comes from loving!!!
And it is the only way that leads to Resurrection and new life!!!
If we lose our lives in service to Christ and Christ’s Kingdom, we will find a life beyond our imagining!!!
Nothing else compares…
…not money…
…not possessions…
…not any sensual indulgence…
…not power…
…NOTHING!!!
We only find life when we have the courage to give it away!!!
Moreover, Jesus promises us the gift of the Holy Spirit to enable and empower our response to His question, to make it possible for us to do the impossible and begin to live into the life Christ lives!!!
For with God, all things are possible!!!
Just imagine if all of us were to give ourselves completely over to Christ?
Would that not cause a call to ring out like some great bell echoing through the streets of our town?
“Pick up your cross and follow Jesus, pick up your cross and follow Jesus.”
Imagine that sound resonating through the businesses and offices, through the classrooms and hospitals, through the homes and lonely apartments: “pick up your cross and follow Jesus.”
Imagine people coming out of their doors to see where the noise is coming from, and there walking ahead of them is Jesus saying, “Pick up your cross and follow me.”
Following Jesus costs everything and gives everything.
There is no “half-way” about it.
It’s like learning to swim.
If you keep your foot on the bottom of the pool you’ll never figure out how to do it.
You have to lose your life to find it.
What’s the use of keeping your feet on the bottom when the water gets too deep?
We have the choice: swim or drown.
When we follow Jesus, safety or walking on the bottom isn’t an option.
To the disciples and others who followed Jesus when He was on earth, Jesus made astonishing claims about what was going to happen in their own lifetimes.
Many people have been puzzled by verse 28 where Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
But Jesus is not talking here about His Second Coming.
Rather, Jesus’ Words are fulfilled when He rises from the dead and is granted, as He says it in Matthew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth.”
You know, it often is true that what the world counts as great is foolishness, and what the world counts as foolishness is true wisdom!!!
Cling to your life and you’ll lose it; give everything you’ve got to following Jesus, including life itself, and you’ll win it.
It has been said that “in every generation there are, it seems, a few people who are prepared to take Jesus seriously, at His word.”
What would it be like if you and I were one of them?
