The Cross and the Kingdom—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 14A/Proper 17A (Matthew 16)
Matthew 16:21-28 New Revised Standard Version Updated
Edition
21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
27 “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. 28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
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You can
pass the test and still fail. That’s what happened to Peter. After Jesus asked
his disciples who they thought he was, and Peter proclaimed him Messiah and Son
of God, Jesus began to reveal to his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem
where he would suffer. That didn’t sit well with his disciples, including
Peter. You can understand why they might resist. Why should they go to
Jerusalem if that led to the suffering and death of their beloved teacher? This made no sense to them. Why not stay up
north where the ministry doing so well? Large crowds gathered to hear Jesus
preach and to receive healing. Why risk that success just to go to Jerusalem
where the religious and political leaders would love to put an end to his
ministry?
This
reading reminds us that we can quickly forget the purpose of our ministries,
whether lay or clergy. We can get so caught up in success and think we have a
handle on things that we fail to see the bigger picture. Peter had gotten it
right. Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God, but he misunderstood Jesus’
definition of those titles. He imagined a king like David. That’s what people
expected, or at least most people expected. That meant if Jesus was King, then
Caesar and his henchmen couldn’t be king. As you would expect, Caesar and his
representatives would not allow a rival to emerge. Rome permitted kings, as
long as they controlled them.
When
Jesus talked about messiahship and the kingdom of God he had something
different in mind than Caesar and those who worked for him. It was also
different from what many of Jesus' contemporaries in Galilee and Judea expected
(hoped for). While Jesus didn’t envision a kind of political entity that
mirrored Caesar’s empire, that didn’t mean his contemporaries put the two
together. This might be the kingdom of God, but Jesus’ contemporaries expected
that it would look like Caesars, only that Jesus would be in charge. What Jesus
understood was that when he entered Jerusalem there would be a clash and
because he didn’t go to Jerusalem leading an army he would end up dead. As for
Peter, he wasn’t at all happy with the way Jesus understood his calling. Surely
suffering and death aren’t the best methodology when you are trying to
establish God’s realm. So Peter decided to rebuke Jesus: “Impossible, Master!
That can never be!” (Mt. 16:22 Message). He wanted Jesus to know that this
could not be what God had in mind for him. There had to be a better way to
accomplish Jesus’ mission. After all, Peter had just received the keys of the
Kingdom (Mt. 16:13-20). That meant he was Jesus’ righthand man. He saw himself
as having a place of importance in this coming kingdom. Jesus’ suffering and
death would surely derail that opportunity.
Jesus
understood what Peter didn’t. There was no other way. In going to
Jerusalem and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, he challenged the
system that included both political and religious components. Since the Roman
overlords expected the priests to keep order in Jerusalem and Judea, they were
implicated in a corrupt system. It’s a system that Constantine and his many
successors and imitators continued, and many religious folks were only too
eager to comply. We see that today in the growth of Christian Nationalism and
the veneration given to Donald Trump as a modern-day political messiah.
When
Peter rebuked Jesus, Jesus returned the rebuke. Jesus’ words were sharp and
cutting: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are
setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Mt. 16:23).
Calling Peter Satan (adversary) had to hurt. Surely, he wasn’t evil. However,
just like Satan sought to distract Jesus in the wilderness, it appears to Jesus
that Satan was once again using Peter to distract him from fulfilling his
mission. In just a few short verses, Peter had gone from being the rock on whom
Jesus would build his realm to a stumbling block standing in the way of his
inaugurating this realm. That’s because Peter believed there had to be a better
way to achieve God’s purposes than Jesus dying on a cross.
Jesus
isn’t done with Peter. He tells the Rock that the way forward involved picking
up one’s cross and then following Jesus. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in reflecting on Peter’s
rebuke of Jesus, shows that “from its very beginning the church has taken
offense at the suffering Christ. It does not want that kind of Lord, and
as Christ’s church, it does not want to be forced to accept the law of
suffering from its Lord.” Not only that but “this is a way for Satan to
enter the church. Satan is trying to pull the church away from the cross of its
Lord” [ Discipleship (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 4),
85]. It’s interesting that many Progressive Christians not only have a
problem with the idea of Satan but also the way of the cross. Therefore,
Bonhoeffer’s warning is important to hear. There is always the temptation of
complacency and self-satisfaction. We can draw within ourselves,
comfortable that we’re in good with Jesus even if the world continues to
suffer.
Jesus
tells Peter and the rest of the group that if they wanted to be his disciples,
they would have to pick up their crosses just as he would pick up his cross. In
other words, Jesus’ followers should expect to share his fate if they followed
him. Thus, as Bonhoeffer reminds us, discipleship can be costly. Discipleship
can be costly because it can involve resisting the ruling powers. much like the
women in Exodus 1 and 2 did when Pharaoh tried to exterminate the Hebrews.
As we
contemplate the question of whether discipleship is costly, we also hear Jesus
tell his disciples that if they want to save their lives, they will have to
lose them. In other words, to be a disciple does not involve playing it safe.
Inviting us to think eschatologically, Jesus tells the disciples and us that
there is no value to be found in gaining the world while forfeiting their (our)
lives. The issue here, it seems, is the
choices we make in life. The big question facing the disciples (and us)
concerns whether we’re ready and willing to follow Jesus wherever he leads,
even if that pathway leads to a cross.
Over
time, Christians domesticated Jesus’ message of the cross. Instead of it being
an expression of discipleship that involves resisting the reigning powers
(nonviolently not violently), we have made the cross transactional. We sinned.
Jesus died on the cross. He paid our debt. We are free/forgiven. So, all is good,
and I can get on with my life with little to nothing required of me. While
Jesus had made his choice, he was going to Jerusalem. He knows that the
consequence of his faithfulness to his calling suffering will be the
consequence. It’s not that he’s courting suffering and death, it’s just that he
is not going to let suffering and death stand in the way of fulfilling his
calling. The question here is whether
Peter will follow him. Is he willing to share Jesus’ fate? That is the question
that Peter struggles with.
Now as
we ponder the meaning of Jesus’ call to discipleship it’s important to get this
straight. As Raquel St. Clair Lettsome notes, “Suffering is never the goal or
measuring stick of their discipleship.” Suffering isn’t the will of God and
shouldn’t be accepted passively. Therefore, “it willingly sacrifices for the
cause of Christ but opposes sacrificing one’s self for the greed of others” [Connections,
p. 632. Kindle Edition]. The reality here is that one cannot fear death if one
is to live for Jesus. Fear of death ultimately is a fear of living. It keeps us
from following Jesus.
The
reading from Matthew 16 closes with an apocalyptic message. The “Son of Man
will come with his angels to repay everyone what they’re due. This is a message
of judgment that many of us struggle with. In this passage “Son of Man” is an
apocalyptic title for the one who will come in judgment or perhaps better will
bring God’s reign in its fullness, with each person will be judged based on
their life work. We can read this rather negatively, or more positively. Might
we read this in light of the closing message of Revelation, where John sees the
inbreaking of the new heaven and new earth and hears a loud voice declaring:
“See, the home of God is among
mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them and be their God;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
(Rev. 21:1-4)
Jesus leaves us in a bit of suspense as to when all of this
will take place. He suggests that some of those standing in the midst of Jesus
“will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom”
(vs. 28). We know that the Son of Man has yet to return in glory, but
could some reading this passage see the return of Christ before tasting death?
No one knows exactly how to read this. Was Matthew’s Jesus wrong? Was Matthew
still expecting this to happen? After all, it was possible that some who followed
Jesus in life still lived. Whatever the case, Jesus invites us to follow him.
When the end comes, we’ll be ready!
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