To Lay down ones Life
Mat 16:21 From this time Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer much cruelty from the Elders and the High Priests and the Scribes, and be put to death, and on the third day be raised to life again.
Mat 16:22 Then Peter took Him aside and began taking Him to task. "Master," he said, "God forbid; this will not be your lot."
Mat 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Adversary; you are a hindrance to me, because your thoughts are not God's thoughts, but men's."
Mat 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If any one desires to follow me, let him renounce self and take up his cross, and so be my follower.
Mat 16:25 For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 16:26 Why, what benefit will it be to a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give to buy back his life?
Mat 16:27 For the Son of Man is soon to come in the glory of the Father with His angels, and then will He requite every man according to his actions.
Mat 16:28 I solemnly tell you that some of those who are standing here will certainly not taste death till they have seen the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom."
Introduction
From this time marks a change in Jesus’ instruction of His disciples. They understood He was the Messiah of Israel and now “He proceeded to teach them something of what His Messiahship meant. They thought that Messiahship was ‘unadulterated glory’. The Opposition was nothing more than a little hiccup on the way to majesty and splendour. See L.M. p.427
Mat 16:21 From this time Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer much cruelty from the Elders and the High Priests and the Scribes, and be put to death, and on the third day be raised to life again.
Notes
It was a suitable time for the disclosure of the greatest secret of his death. It is now just a little over six months before the cross. They must know it now to be ready then. The great confession of Peter made this seem an appropriate time. He will repeat the warnings (Mat_17:22. with mention of betrayal; Mat_20:17-19 with the cross) which he now “began.” So the necessity (dei, must) of his suffering death at the hands of the Jerusalem ecclesiastics who have dogged his steps in Galilee is now plainly stated. Jesus added his resurrection “on the third day” (tēi tritēi hēmerāi), not “on the fourth day,” please observe. Dimly the shocked disciples grasped something of what Jesus said. RWP
Mat 16:22 Then Peter took Him aside and began taking Him to task. "Master," he said, "God forbid; this will not be your lot."
Notes
Then Peter took Him aside and began taking Him to task.
So Peter who was mainly the outspoken representative of the Disciples took Jesus aside. He did not want to reprimand Jesus in front of the others. He began to take Jesus to task. i.e. to remonstrate with Him. “Peter now assumes that He knows better than Jesus does of what the Master should do. He does not accept what Jesus has said and presumes to criticize Him for it.” Leon Morris P. 429
"Master," he said, "God forbid; this will not be your lot."
Master means Lord which is respectful enough, but the following “God forbid” seems to be a strong repudiation of what Jesus has just said. Far be it from you Lord, may God show you mercy.
Mat 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Adversary; you are a hindrance to me, because your thoughts are not God's thoughts, but men's."
Notes
But is he adversative conjunction and sets Jesus at odds with Peter and what he has just said.
"Get behind me, Adversary; you are a hindrance to me,......
“Go away” “Get behind me Satan” See Matthew 4:10 "Begone, Satan!" Jesus replied; "for it is written, 'TO THE LORD THY GOD THOU SHALT DO HOMAGE, AND TO HIM ALONE SHALT THOU RENDER WORSHIP.'"
Here Jesus tells Satan to go away and here with Peter Jesus sees the same spirit at work trying to Hinder him from the path to the Cross.
Peter’s words are not what we would have expected from someone who had had the revelaltion of the Messiahship of Jesus.
Satan means Adversary.
AD'VERSARY, n. [See Adverse.] Webster’s Dictionary
1. An enemy or foe; one who has enmity at heart.
The Lord shall take vengeance on his adversaries. Nahum 1.
In scripture, Satan is called THE adversary, by way of eminence. 1 Pet 5.
2. An opponent or antagonist, as in a suit at law, or in single combat; an opposing litigant.
“you are a hindrance to me, because your thoughts are not God's thoughts, but men's."
A stumbling-block unto me (skandalon ei emou). Objective genitive. Peter was acting as Satan’s catspaw, in ignorance, surely, but none the less really. He had set a trap for Christ that would undo all his mission to earth. “Thou art not, as before, a noble block, lying in its right position as a massive foundation stone. On the contrary, thou art like a stone quite out of its proper place, and lying right across the road in which I must go - lying as a stone of stumbling” (Morison).
You do not mind God’s thoughts (ou phroneis). “Your outlook is not God’s, but man’s” (Moffatt). You do not think God’s thoughts. Clearly the consciousness of the coming cross is not a new idea with Jesus. We do not know when he first foresaw this outcome any more than we know when first the Messianic consciousness appeared in Jesus. He had the glimmerings of it as a boy of twelve, when he spoke of “My Father’s house.” He knows now that He must die on the cross.
To mind G5426 φρονέω phroneō
Thayer Definition:
1) to have understanding, be wise 2) to feel, to think 2a) to have an opinion of one’s self, think of one’s self, to be modest, not let one’s opinion (though just) of himself exceed the bounds of modesty 2b) to think or judge what one’s opinion is 2c) to be of the same mind, i.e. agreed together, cherish the same views, be harmonious
3) to direct one’s mind to a thing, to seek, to strive for 3a) to seek one’s interest or advantage 3b) to be of one’s party, side with him (in public affairs) Part of Speech: verb
Barnes comments
Thou art an offence - That is, a stumbling-block. Your advice and wishes are in my way. If followed, they would prevent the very thing for which I came.
Thou savourest not - Literally, thou thinkest not upon; or your language and spirit are not such as spring from a supreme regard to the will of God, or from proper views of him, but such as spring from the common views entertained by people. You think that those things should not be done which God wishes to be done. You judge of this matter as people do who are desirous of honor; and not as God, who sees it best that I should die, to promote the great interests of mankind.
The Renunciation of Self
Mat 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If any one desires to follow me, let him renounce self and take up his cross, and so be my follower.
Notes
Luk_9:23 And He said to all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
They had seen those being lead out to be crucified. All their earthly life ended. Death changed everything. Has Death with Christ and carrying the Cross changed your whole life
let him totally reject G533 himself,G1438 Sef is the biggest problem we have in following Jesus. There must be a Renunciation of self interest self centeredness and self projection if we are to follow Jesus. Romans 6 speaks of a Baptism into Christ's Death which involves a death to self and sinfulness.
Burton and Salter to the Congo
During May 1914 Mr. Burton set sail from England for South Africa. He spent approximately a year in South Africa gathering information, experience and much sound advice concerning what to expect on reaching the Congo. Then in 1915 Mr. Burton joined up with Mr. Salter, who had travelled out to Africa by then, and two other friends ‘Daddy’ Armstrong and Joseph Blakeney. Together they set out for the Congo, arriving there in July 1915. [Photo shows the group of four before they set out. Left to right: Salter, Burton, Armstrong (seated) and Blakeney.]
After reaching the end of the rail line at Bukama on the Congo river they wanted for 5 weeks for the River steamer stuck on a sand bank. Eventually they set sail but Daddy Armstrong contract Malaria which soon turned to Blackwater fever and he died before reaching Malemba Nkulu.
Soon after Joe Blakeney said “if I stay here I will die too so he went back to South Africa”.
Burton and Salter were left to founded the Pentecostal Church of the Congo which today numbers more than 7, 000 assemblies and this year is the Centenary. This was 1915
Mat 16:25 For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.
Notes
For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it,
That is, shall wish to save his life - at the expense of his conscience, and casting aside the cross, he shall lose it - the very evil he wishes to avoid shall overtake him; and he shall lose his soul into the bargain. See then how necessary it is to renounce one’s self! But whatsoever a man loses in this world, for his steady attachment to Christ and his cause, he shall have amply made up to him in the eternal world. A.C
For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.
Jesus is announcing a principle with Universal application.
Anyone at all who sets his will on saving his life will lose it. To set your will on saving your life is self defeating. The follower of Jesus must be willing to be like Him and lay down your life. If we spend all our time and energies trying to gain this life we will end up the loser. Atrue gainer in life is the person who lays down his life.
Don’t concentrate in your life on your own Selfish Concerns or your will lose it.
whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.
The one who puts the Lord and His service before everything else will find real life.
Living for self is not life at all but slavery and Bondage.
To surrender all to life for Christ is to find life with a CAPITAL L.
Mat 16:26 Why, what benefit will it be to a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give to buy back his life?
Notes:
Why, what benefit will it be to a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life?
What a comparison!!! the whole world or a man’s life.
What is the profit or advantage if one gains the maximum imaginable in this world and its riches at the expense of one's life. To gain everything that man can control and have in exchange for one’s life. What can a man offer in exchange for his soul?
Jesus may be thinking here of Martyrdom but He also has a wider application
Mat 16:27 For the Son of Man is soon to come in the glory of the Father with His angels, and then will He requite every man according to his actions.
Notes
For the Son of Man is soon to come in the glory of the Father with His angels,
The coming of the Son of Man
1. The judgment of the world has been committed to the Son as Mediator, as an appropriate honour to One who had humbled Himself for the redemption of the world.
2. Christ is qualified to be Judge, as the Son of God, of the same essence as the Father; the perfections of the Godhead will appear glorious in Him.
3. The saints in judgment will be manifested as the doers of the will of God upon earth.
4. The work of the Judge will be, not to justify, or to make righteous, but to prove the saints by their works, that they are righteous already.
5. Men will be judged by their works, to show that God in the work of man’s salvation supports the cause of infinite holiness. Bible Illustrator
Mat 16:28 I solemnly tell you that some of those who are standing here will certainly not taste death till they have seen the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom."
Notes
This seems to refer to the Coming of the Holy Spirit to set up the Kingdom of God in the Church. At Pentecost there was such an outpouring that the Risen and Glorified Christ was enthroned in His church for the spread of the Gospel of the Kingdom throughout the world. Jesus Christ is exalted on High and is Coming Back to set up His Reign on earth from Jerusalem.
