Matthew 16:21-23

Do you have your Bibles this morning? Open to

Matthew chapter 16. I told the Wednesday night

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Bible study, I said I went to ENT last Monday

and I looked at my vocal cords and several nodules

and told me learn to speak, basically. And also

I told them it told me to lose weight, so that's

also very good. But, you know, so my voice keeps

going out, so I really am dependent on this microphone.

But I wasn't thinking this morning, I'm singing,

and my wife's like, don't sing loud. And I'm

like, what? And I'm singing still, and she said,

don't sing loud. I'm thinking, am I that bad?

I'm sorry. Or is my breath stinking so bad or

something? She's like, no, your voice, save it.

So I'm trying to do that this morning. We're

just going to look at three verses. We'll look

at verses 21 through 23. From that time, Jesus

began to show to his disciples that he must go

to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the

elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed

and be raised the third day. Then Peter took

him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, Far

be it from you, Lord. This shall not happen to

you. But he, that is Jesus, turned and said to

Peter, Get behind me, Satan. You are an offense

to me. For you are not mindful of the things

of God, but the things of men. Would you join

me as we pray? And just for my voice, Pastor

Kyle, would you stand and ask God to help us?

Lord, superintend in his voice that you might

be able to preach the things that you've given

him. May the intent of listeners and learners,

Lord, speak to our hearts. Sanctify us through

your word, Lord. Convict us through your word.

God, may you grow and challenge us through your

word. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you.

After all that Jesus had done through his miracles

as well as his teaching, it seems that the disciples

finally get it. They arrive at the place where

they understand who Jesus truly is. As we looked

last week, Peter has just made that great confession.

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

So really, you think about this. This is a great

moment. It's a high point in the life of the

disciples up to this point. However, their understanding

was not yet mature. It was not yet complete.

So yeah, they had a clear understanding of who

Jesus was, but they could not yet understand

Christ. what he'd come to do. When you think

about where they were, the cross was not in their

thinking at all. They didn't even have a category

for it. So they knew Jesus was the Christ. That

they got. But they couldn't understand why did

he have to go to the cross. Now in our mind,

Jesus, the Christ, and the cross go together.

But you have to understand for a first century

Jewish man, that thought would not have entered

his mind. The Christ would come to rule, not

come to die. The disciples knew that God's kingdom

would come, but they did not know it would come

through suffering. They did not know it would

come through death. God the Father had determined

that the kingdom of Christ would be inaugurated

by the death of Christ, not the immediate triumph

of Christ. Now again, we can't really fault the

disciples. They're products of their time and

their culture. I mean, all of Israel at that

time expected God's king, the anointed one, the

Christ, who would come and triumph over his enemies,

not die an apparent weakness. Keep in mind, they

were living under Roman rule, so there's a strong

desire in everyone's hearts for a national restoration.

All that Israel would be restored to her former

glory. That Rome, the foreign invader, would

be removed from the Holy Land. And they thought,

well, when the Messiah comes, that's exactly

what he's going to do. So when Jesus started

talking to the disciples about his impending

suffering and death, they were confused, but

they were caught off guard as well. Now think

about the immediate context. Matthew, the author

of this gospel, he's writing to show that Jesus

is the rightful king of Israel. So in order to

prove his thesis, he's writing about Jesus' mighty

works, the strong one who can cast out demons

and silence them, the one who has authority to

forgive sin, strength and authority to restore

sight to a man born blind, and he can even raise

the dead. But even as Jesus was performing all

of these signs, there was this growing hostility

against him, coming particularly from the religious

leaders. They were very unhappy with Jesus and

his popularity. They were jealous of him. But

they were also not pleased that he was unwilling

to follow their rules. They became so upset with

him that they got together and conspired. To

put him to death. Now in the text today, Matthew

16, Jesus and the twelve are in Caesarea Philippi.

Jesus had wanted to be alone with his disciples

because the crowds were always clamoring about

him. Vying for his attention. Jesus couldn't

get away. He couldn't even eat or sleep. So he

took a journey with his twelve and he goes into

the region of Caesarea Philippi. This area...

was as far from Jerusalem as you could possibly

go, yet stay in the land of Palestine. And we

looked at this region last week, and I'm not

going to repeat myself. It was there that Peter

wonderfully confessed, you are the Christ. But

right after Peter makes that great confession,

Jesus began instructing the disciples on what

his mission would entail. Verse 21. From that

time, he began to show them, He must go to Jerusalem,

he must suffer, and he must be killed, and he

must be raised. Now, full understanding, they

got it, he's the Christ. Now he's going to tell

them, okay, here's what I'm going to do. Now

at this point in time, Jesus is just a little

over six months from the cross. So as a good

teacher, he starts preparing his disciples. He

knows they're going to need... further instruction.

And he begins now, I want to let you know what's

going to take place. They understood the person

of Christ, but they woefully misunderstood the

work of Christ. And he told them that he must

go to Jerusalem. The word must, it's a Greek

word, die, actually. And it describes divine

necessity. Divine necessity is laid upon Jesus.

There is no other option. He, by necessity, has

to do this. But why? Why must he go? Why was

going to Jerusalem so necessary? After all, the

people who hated him most and wanted him dead

lived in Jerusalem. This is not a safe place

for him at all. In fact, at the previous Passover,

Jesus had even stayed away. Why? Because the

Jews in Jerusalem wanted to kill him. That's

John chapter 7 verse 1. But now there's a shift

John 7:1

change. Something's changing in the mind of Jesus.

And Luke says that he steadfastly set his face

to go to Jerusalem. He is determined. He's got

his sights there. Why was he so insistent? What's

the driving force behind Jesus going there? Well,

his mission will terminate. It will culminate

in the capital city. Everything that Jesus had

been doing was leading up to this moment. where

he would go to Jerusalem, and he would suffer,

he would be killed, and he would rise again.

It says he's going to suffer many things at the

hands of the chief priests, the elders, and the

scribes. Those are religious leaders, but they're

also the three branches that made up the Sanhedrin.

The Sanhedrin was the ruling body of Israel.

Israel's leaders are conspiring against Christ.

Yet Jesus was determined. He had this resolve,

I'm going to go to Jerusalem, and he knew full

well what awaited him. He knew he would suffer.

He knew how he would suffer. And he knew he would

be killed. Yet he also knew that the suffering

he would endure is not meaningless because there

was a divine purpose behind it. It was God's

will that Jesus suffer, die, and rise again.

Because this was God's determined means by which

he would save his people. See, the cross was

not an accident. It's not the result of some

unfortunate events coming together. Secular,

some seculars believe that Jesus got himself

into hot water with political authority. They

believed he actually died or was killed as some

political revolutionary figure. No. The cross

was the purposed, redemptive plan of God. But

no one, including Jesus' own inner disciples,

could understand that at the time. Verse 22.

So Peter took him aside. He began to rebuke him,

saying, Far be it from you, Lord. This is not

going to happen to you. Now what's interesting,

who just made the wonderful confession? Peter.

Same person. Now privately, because it says he

took him aside, privately rebukes Jesus. Basically,

can you imagine, set the scene, Peter basically

takes Jesus aside, and he says, hey, Jesus, what

you just said, that talk about your death in

Jerusalem, well, that's not going to happen.

Far be it from you, Lord. It literally means,

may it never be so. In fact, some scholars, and

I'm not one, says it means, may God forgive you

for even saying that. May it never be so. Peter

was unable to reconcile in his mind, how could

Jesus be the Christ and be killed? How could

he be the Christ and be killed? That just doesn't

fit into theology. Because again, Peter, same

thing, first century Jew, in his mind, what's

the Messiah? He's going to gather the dispersed

tribes of Israel. He's going to reestablish that

glorious Jewish kingdom. And he's going to rule

with justice and might over the nations. But

there's another detail we should consider. Peter

loved Jesus. He's a dear friend. And the thought

of Jesus suffering and dying, that's too much

to take in. He wasn't going to sit around and

stand for it. As far as he was concerned, he

would never allow that to happen. Jesus must

not go to Jerusalem if he would die there. Now

that thought on the surface seems noble. We can

appreciate Peter's loyalty because it is loyal.

Jesus said it was satanic. Verse 23. But he turned

and he said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan. You

are an offense to me. You're not mindful of the

things of God, rather the things of men. I mean,

could there be any sharper or stronger rebuke

than get behind me, Satan? Now listen, if Jesus

is calling you Satan, this is a big deal. Now

why does he call him Satan, though? I mean, Peter's

just wanting to keep his friend from dying. Well,

if we go back to Matthew chapter 4, and you don't

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

need to turn there. Do you remember in the desert,

tempting? Satan comes to the Lord and he offers

him basically the same thing. He offers Jesus

the kingdom and you don't even have to go to

the cross. In Matthew 4, verses 8 and 9, the

Matthew 4:8

devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain,

showed him all the kingdoms of the world and

their glory. And he said to him, All these things,

everything you're looking at, Jesus, take a good

look. I'll give it to you. All you have to do

right now, fall down and worship me. That's it.

It's yours. But Jesus knew something. The kingdoms

of the world had already been promised to him.

The Father was going to give Jesus the nations

as his inheritance. Psalm 2. All people groups,

all nations. All tribes and languages would be

placed under Jesus' feet. But first, he had to

go to the cross. He had to suffer. And he had

to die. See, the satanic offer that Peter was

a part of is to get the kingdom and bypass the

cross. But God the Father had decreed the kingdom

must come through the cross. This is his will.

That his son, his beloved son, his only son,

would give his life as an atoning sacrifice on

a cross outside of Jerusalem. And anyone who

would try to deter Jesus from that plan was acting

in the spirit of Satan. See, Jesus was consumed.

He's driven by one thing. And that was to do

his father's will. In fact, Jesus said in John

4, he said, my food. My very sustenance is to

do the will of him who sent me and to finish

his work. That's what he's living on. That's

why he said, I must go to Jerusalem. Yeah, the

agony's there, suffering's there, but he was

resolute in going there. Why? My good father

has made a plan that I must finish. He wanted

to perfectly fulfill his father's will. That's

what's driving him here. So when Peter comes

and is trying to keep Jesus from going to Jerusalem,

friends, it's not a small mistake. Jesus is going

to have none of it. In fact, Jesus looks at Peter

and he just said earlier, I'm going to build

my church on you. Now he says, you're an offense

to me. The word offense is skandalon or skandalon.

It's a stumbling block. It's an impediment. Now

earlier, Jesus had called Peter, Petras, called

him Petra, called him a rock. And now he says,

you know what kind of rock you are? You're a

stumbling block. You're a rock that's going to

make someone trip. Peter was acting as an impediment

to Jesus fulfilling God's will. The word Satan

or the title Satan means adversary. Peter was

acting as an adversary to the will of God. So

what we see here, again, we look at it and we're

like, we understand it humanly. Yeah, we're thinking

like men. That's the problem. Peter was inadvertently

placing a roadblock in God's mission for Jesus.

He was standing in the way of Jesus doing what

his father had decreed. And Jesus told him that.

He says, for you are mindful of the things, you

are not mindful of the things of God. but rather

the things of men. So here's Peter. Unlike Jesus,

Peter was not setting his mind on the things

of God. He's setting his mind on the things of

men. David Guzik says this. Jesus exposed how

Peter came into this satanic way of thinking.

He did not make a deliberate choice to reject

God and embrace Satan. Of course not. He simply

let his mind settle on the things of men instead

of the things of God. And Satan comes and takes

advantage of that. Peter is a perfect example

of how a sincere heart coupled with man's thinking

can often lead to disaster. Again, we often hear

people say, well, the Lord knows my heart. He

does, but that didn't exonerate Peter here. Peter's

intention may have been noble. God knew his heart,

and he still said, you are an offense, Satan.

See, man's philosophy is to avoid pain, avoid

suffering at all costs, seek glory, and if possible,

bypass that cross. Hey, if you could get to glory

without the cross, who wouldn't do that? God.

God's wisdom said, no, the Messiah must suffer,

die, and rise again, then enter into glory. God's

plan of salvation comes through a cross, and

any alternative to that plan is offensive to

Christ. Now, I want you to first note that it

is important that we understand Jesus. does not

go to the cross for anything he has done wrong.

He has no sin that needs to be atoned. He heads

with his face like a flint to Jerusalem as redeemer.

He's the one that's going to make the payment

that would set his people free. The cross, he

goes there because it's necessary. And the cross

is necessary because you and I have waged war

against God by our sin. We rebelled against him.

We broke his holy law. And God, because of his

holiness, there's alienation, there's separation,

and there's condemnation. Just condemnation upon

us. So here we were, helpless, the enemies of

God, alienated from the life that is in him,

and yet God loved us. And he desired a relationship

with us. But here's the dilemma. How could God,

who is holy and just, how could he ever reconcile

with the sinful people? They're guilty. How could

God be just, yet justify his sinful people without

compromising his justice or his holiness? The

answer? The cross. God will not just overlook

sins. He's not going to dismiss them away. That

would be an attack on his justice. Just act like

all the rebellion didn't happen. Instead, God

designed the plan where he would deal with our

sins, not his son's, but he would do it at the

cross. It is here. The sinless Lord Jesus, the

Lamb of God, he would offer himself. as the atoning

sacrifice for the sins of his people. So what

we can understand is Jesus is resolute in going

to Jerusalem because there he will be our sin

-bearing substitute. 1 Peter 2, verse 24. Peter

1 Peter 2:24

later got it, by the way. It's good. He wrote

this. Speaking of Jesus, who himself bore our

sins in his own body on the tree. The Lord didn't

simply die for us. He died in our place. He died

as our substitute. In other words, he bore the

wrath we deserved. Isaiah foretold us this. Isaiah

Isaiah 53:6

53, verse 6. The Lord has laid on him, that is

Jesus, the iniquity of us all. Paul, the Apostle

Paul in the book of Romans presents a great problem.

It's found in Romans 3, 23. Here's the problem.

For all have sinned and come short of the glory

of God. That's the problem. Everyone, universal

condemnation because there's universal depravity

and sin. We've all sinned and we've all fallen

short. And by the way, it's present tense. We

keep falling short. Here's the glorious solution.

Being justified freely by his grace through the

redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set

free forth as a propitiation by his blood. God

justifies us freely, or if you have the ESV,

it'll say as a gift. It's free. It's a gift.

And it's by his grace. Our justification is given

to us as a gift, but that doesn't mean that justification

costs nothing. It just costs us nothing. It costs

Christ everything. Notice the verse. Justified

freely by his grace through, this is the means,

through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

What does it mean to be redeemed? If you are

redeemed, you're bought back. It means you've

been delivered, you've been set free because

a price was paid for you. It's a picture of slaves

being bought. From the slave auction or off the

auction block. A price was paid. Ephesians 1

.7 In him we have redemption through his blood.

The redemption price that was paid was the life

blood of the son of God. God set forth Jesus

we are told as a propitiation. It's a big word.

It's a sacrifice that appeases wrath. God's wrath,

friends, was against us. Why? Because of our

sin. His wrath was satisfied. How? Because Jesus

appeased it at the cross. Our redemption was

the bloody death of God's son. You're saying,

but didn't God love us? Yes. John 3 .16, that

beloved verse. For God so loved the world that

he gave his only begotten son. But was God angry

at us? Yes. in Psalm 7, God is a just judge.

God is angry with the wicked every day. So that's

the dilemma. He's loving us and he's angry at

us. And it's not some temper tantrum angry. The

wrath is not God losing his fit of rage. It's

a settled disposition against sin. God so loved

us that he sent his son. And he was so angry

at us that his son had to be sacrificed in order

for us to be reconciled. Again, the Apostle Paul

in Romans 5. But God shows, he demonstrates his

own love toward us. How? How does God show you

he loves you? If you're ever doubting. And that

while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

That's the proof. The cross. Much more than having

now been justified by his blood. We shall be

saved from wrath through him. We sang earlier,

all I have is Christ. Why sing a song like that?

Sit. Where is salvation from wrath found? In

Christ. Where is justification found? In Christ.

How? By his blood. God's love, it was magnified

at the cross. It's what he told us there in Romans

5a. He demonstrated his love there. The cross

reveals something. The extraordinary length that

God underwent in order to reconcile his sinful

people to himself. Jesus bore the punishment

we deserved. And as he did so, God's wrath is

satisfied, so there's no more wrath against us,

and we are reconciled, we're brought back into

favor, and we're saved by his life. Union with

him. God didn't overlook it. Instead, he took

your sins and my sins and he laid them on the

back of his son and he allowed his precious son

to be punished for them. And this is how, this

is the riddle that we talked about earlier. This

is how God can be just and the justifier of the

one who has faith in Jesus. He's still just,

but he justifies not everyone. The one who has

faith in Jesus. How? Because of the cross. God's

justice and holiness. were not compromised, and

his sinful people were able to be justified.

How? How can he maintain his righteous character

and justify ungodly people? It's the cross. It's

the cross, friends. And understanding this explains

why Jesus called Peter Satan when Peter was trying

to get Jesus to not go to the cross. The cross

was the means by which God... would be reconciled

to us. But there's more happening than just our

reconciliation. The cross is also a place of

victory because the author of Hebrews says in

chapter 2, verse 14, he says that through death,

Christ destroyed the one who has the power of

death. That is the devil. Destroyed means rendered

ineffective. Satan didn't cease to exist, but

he was rendered powerless at the cross. Spurgeon,

Charles Spurgeon writing about that, It says

this, By his own death, Christ broke that evil

power which brought death into the world with

its long trail of woe. He did this not by his

example, not by his life, but by his death. Therefore,

let those who speak, and this is an old English

word, slightingly of his atoning sacrifice, see

their folly. For it is through death that Christ

destroys him that had the power of death. That

is the devil. Paul, the apostle, writing in Colossians

2, speaking of Christ, he said he disarmed rulers

and authorities. And I love this. He put them

to open shame by triumphing over them. What happened

here? At the cross, Christ triumphed over Satan.

He rendered Satan ineffective, and not just him,

but all the demonic forces who were in line with

him. So we could say this, at the cross, Jesus

Christ, the promise of Genesis 3 .15, he will

bruise your heel, but you will crush his head.

It was at the cross of Christ that Jesus crushed

the serpent's head and put him to an open shame

through his death and resurrection. Through his

death and resurrection. We talk about different

views of the atonement. Penal substitutionary

theory. That's what we believe. Christ is our

substitute. Christus victor. We sang that song.

Christ is the victor. Both of those are true.

Satan's ultimate defeat came by way of the cross.

And this is the great plot twist. This is why

you don't ever play chess with God. He always

wins. He always calls checkmate. Because here's

the plot twist. That Christ defeated the one

who had the power of death. by submitting himself

to death. Isn't that great? Look at divine irony

there. See, had Jesus not gone to the cross,

Satan would not have been defeated. This is why

Peter, Jesus, is calling Peter Satan. Don't try

to keep me from the cross. I must go to Jerusalem

because this is the only way for sinners who

could be saved. If you have the Christ, but you

don't have the cross, you don't have a Savior.

You must have this. It's only at the cross, only

at the cross, that sin is atoned for. God's people

are reconciled to him. Satan is crushed and death

is defeated. This is why today, 2 ,000 years

later, on this glorious Lord's Day, I'm still

behind this pulpit, this sacred desk, preaching

Christ crucified. And I'm happy to do it. Because

it's still a stumbling block to Jews and to Greeks.

It is foolishness. but to those who are called,

both Jews and Gentiles. This is what we know.

Christ, the power of God, and Christ, the wisdom

of God. Can you see the wisdom in the cross?

Is your heart open? Do you say, like, look what

God has done? Because for far too many, the cross

still doesn't make any sense to them. They believe

Jesus is a good moral example, a wonderful religious

figure, but the cross, they don't have a category

for it either. In fact, They consider it foolish.

It's nonsense. Paul wrote about it. Verse 18.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to

whom? To those who are perishing. But to those

who are being saved. When we talk about the cross,

we're singing the power of God. As we close,

understand this. The cross of Jesus divides humanity

into two camps. Two groups, if you will. Those

who are perishing and those who are being saved.

Those who are being saved are those who have

learned to boast in the cross of Christ. Paul

said this in Galatians 6, verse 14. But God forbid

Galatians 6:14

that I should boast. There's one place I can

boast. In the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'll close with Paul Apple in his commentary.

He said, the message of the cross, the simple

historical truth of Christ crucified, is the

only message that can deliver sinful man from

his lost condition of alienation from a holy

God. The unsaved will continue to mock at the

humiliation of Christ as symbolizing only weakness

and foolishness. But to us, friends, this is

us. But those who believe the message of Christ

crucified, to us, we can see in it, and it speaks

of the... power and wisdom of God. Oh, how glorious

is his wisdom that God could maintain his justice

and yet justify ungodly people like us. Oh, the

power of the cross where people who were dead

and alienated from God are brought back to a

place of reconciliation and into favor and fellowship

of God. Oh, this is our boast. This is why we

wear it around our neck. This is why we have

it in our churches. We boast in the cross of

Christ because the greatest problem we had, our

greatest problem was our sin and separation from

a holy God. And the only answer to that problem,

the only one, was the cross of Jesus Christ.

May you boast, take pleasure in the cross of

Christ. Let's pray as we prepare to commune with

the crucified. yet risen, Lord. I do want to

sing. Let me just say this before we pray. I

thought of the way that we do this benediction.

If we could do When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,

traditional tune, not the newer tune, okay? Let's

pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, so very much

for the cross of Jesus Christ. Lord, we obviously

aren't boasting in wood or trees. We're boasting

in the one who hung on the tree. the one who

gave his blood and gave his life for ours. Lord,

he is the one we take pleasure in. Lord, life

is full of hardships and difficulties and roadblocks.

Suffering awaits all of us, but we look to the

ultimate suffering of the Son of God, and there

we find peace. Because he has triumphed over

our greatest enemy, death itself. So not even

death can hold us. Not even death can be against

us. Lord, thank you, Lord, for this truth. Father,

help us as your people learn to love, to boast,

to appreciate more what you have done at the

cross of your son. It's in the blessed name of

Jesus we pray. Amen.