Sermon Date: February 8, 2009 Scripture: Matthew 16:21-28, “A Frightening Forecast” Rev. David W. McKinley Central Schwenkfelder Church Worcester, PA

INTRODUCTION
            Forecasts are strange things.  They are often wrong, yet we revolve our lives around them.  I visited with someone recently who lives on the coast of California.  They were in town unexpectedly.  That night it was to dip into the teens.  She replied, in so many words, “This weather stinks!”  No one likes a bad forecast, especially when it comes to pass.  Aren’t we thankful that some do; some don’t?  Forecasts are usually prefaced with something like: “This is what you can expect…..”  “This is what it’s going to be like.”  Good weathermen explain how and why, not just what.  Incidentally, my parents just lost their favorite weatherman, as Geoff Cornish moved from SE Kansas to Lexington, KY recently.  In the end, the Farmer’s Almanac is right most of the time!
            Jesus gives a type of forecast in our passage today.  But it is not pertaining to the weather.  Rather, it has to do with His life expectancy.  We can learn much from His words concerning plans and expectations.  Some questions we might ask from the text are: What does it mean to believe in God?  What is meant when we use the term, “disciple?”  Let’s look at verse 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, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”  From this, we discover that…

I.  GOD’S PLAN FOR JESUS DID NOT INCLUDE OUR’S.
You remember from last week that Jesus revealed Himself as the promised Son of God.  When asking His disciples: “Who do you say that I am?”  Peter, bucking the popular opinion, responded by saying: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  But what must this Christ, this one sent from God do?  The unexpected.  Notice the two verbs in Jesus statement of verse 21: go and suffer.  The Greek communicates it differently than in English, using the article dei/.  This article implies a situation of necessity.  Either by itself or with a verb, it implies something that must happen.  It means to ought to; to be proper.  In the past tense it means something had to happen.  Then came the explanation what Jesus must do.  He must suffer, be crucified and be raised.  Anyone reading the Old Testament could have discovered that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer hardship, die at the hands of sinful men and be raised again.  Jesus admonished His followers in Luke 24:25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
Who were the prophets that Jesus referred to?  No doubt the Old Testament prophets.  Peter did not understand this.  So he acted out.  Verse 22 tells us: “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 things of God, but the things of men." Out of compulsion, Peter rebuked the Son of God.  That is pretty ironic- as if Jesus was speaking inappropriately.  But then Jesus rebuked Peter.  What does it mean, “to rebuke?”  Peter was not Satan.  But Satan was working through Peter at the time.  Jesus discerned this.  Jesus’ answer reminds us man’s agenda oftentimes conflicts with God’s agenda.  The point is that it was necessary for Jesus to die, from a divine perspective.  Hebrews 9:22: “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” 
As you and I go through life, we have a set of plans.  Plans, goals, or a strategy towards life is important.  But the most important question is do they agree or conflict with God’s?  What is it that He wants from us?  What are His interests concerning us?  The same was in the case of Joseph, the son of Jacob.  You remember from the story that his brothers were jealous of him, threw Him into a pit and sold him into slavery in Egypt.  Joseph not only was released from prison but eventually rose through the ranks to become the highest official next to Pharaoh.  When Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers feared that he would act in revenge.  So they humbly came to their brother, seeking forgiveness yet again.  Notice Joseph’s response in Genesis 50:19:  Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”  What men meant for evil, God means for good.  Secondly…

II. OUR PLANS SOMETIMES DON’T INCLUDE GOD.
Verse 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. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”  What a weighty matter!  This addresses the whole idea of success.    
           
What is your idea of success?  For many, it is to gain the world which can take on the appearance of to live in a nice house; to drive a nice car; to have well-behaved children who are successful- for they are a reflection of you.  But the value of the soul is much more.  It requires two deaths; one literal and one spiritual.  Let me explain.  In order for your soul to be redeemed, Jesus had to die as a sacrifice for your sin.  Moreover, in order for you to acquiesce to that act done on your behalf, you must repent and believe.  Biblical repentance and belief implies a dying to self.  Giving up your sense of entitlement to resign yourself to following Jesus Christ.  Theologian Daniel Bell had this to say: “The atonement and Christ’s work on the cross displays the fullness of divine charity, the lengths to which God will go to renew and restore communion with us even in the face of our bloody rebellion.  When we observe communion, we are reminded of God reconciling us to Himself in the death of Jesus Christ.  Tonight, we will observe this in the love Feast.  I hope you can attend. 

This is the only way in which your life can count for good.  We are all moving towards a day in which Jesus will return for those who are His own.  Verse 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 he has done. 28 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."  A key question to ask is: “What am I living for? 

CONCLUSION
            What is God like?  How has He dealt with my sin that has offended Him?  To get a partial glimpse of what Jesus did for us, maybe the following story might help.  A small boy was consistently late coming home from school.  His parents warned him that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless he arrived later than ever.  His mother met him at the door and said nothing.  His father met him in the living room and said nothing. 
           
At dinner that night, the boy looked at his plate.  There was a slice of bread and a glass of water.  He looked at his father’s full plate and then at his father, but his father remained silent.  The boy was crushed. 
           
The father waited for the full impact to sink in, then quietly took the boy’s plate and placed it in front of himself.  He took his own plate of meat and potatoes, put it in front of the boy and smiled at his son. 
           
When that boy grew to be a man, he said, “All my life I’ve known what God is like by what my father did that night.” 

 

Daniel Bell, “God Does Not Demand Blood,” Christian Century February 10, 2009, 25. 

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