Matthew 16 "Cup of Wrath"

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Let's step back in Matthew a little ways to Matthew 16.

Beginning at verse 21, from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go

to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes

and be killed and on the third day be raised.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you, Lord, this

shall never happen to you.

But he turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan.

You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but

on the things of man.

And Jesus told his disciples, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take

up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake

will find it.

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then

he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see

the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

Pray with me as I lead us.

Father, the inadequacy of my ability to communicate the truth that is here weighs heavy, maybe more

than most times.

So Father, I pray for just an outpouring of your Spirit, that you would use the foolishness

of a preacher, that you would draw us into the wisdom, the divine wisdom of God, the King,

and the significance and the treasure that this night represents.

Help us, we pray, to know you, to know ourselves.

Help us, we pray, in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Now, there's something wrong with Good Friday.

There's something wrong at its deepest levels.

You know, Easter is supposed to be one of, really should be one of the great celebrations

of the year, and it is because we celebrate that day when the first disciples beheld the risen

Christ.

And just try to imagine what that experience was like.

You know, when Peter writes in 1 Peter about this inexpressible joy, he was talking from experience.

You know, Sunday when we worship at Easter, it's going to be upbeat.

It's going to be celebrative.

Even tomorrow, we're going to have all the kids here.

It's going to be more like a party, trying to, you know, find eggs out here on the lawn.

And, but there's something wrong with Friday.

It is a, even as we worship here together, it's very sullen, maybe depressing.

You know, we don't like to talk about pain and suffering.

It's not in our cultural makeup.

I was just with some of my friends a couple nights ago, and somehow,

some way, and none of these friends are a part of the church,

but somehow we got on the subject of death at a Mexican restaurant.

And as fast as we got there, they ran as fast as they could away from it.

And so, we don't like to talk about pain and suffering,

but when we think about that Friday,

there was plenty to go around.

You know, Good Friday is just hard.

Because I think down inside, we feel that this, there is something wrong here.

This is not what it should have been.

You know, when we come to the gospel,

the gospel is good news.

And so, we want to talk about good news.

We want to be upbeat and positive,

and again, celebrate all the great things that God has done.

We think of Jesus.

We think how much He's loved us,

the hope that we have in Him.

We think of all of this infinite grace and mercy

that is poured out upon us.

And so, we should be celebrating.

We should be upbeat.

The gospel, indeed, is good news.

But it's only good news

when we contemplate

the wrong

that was done on Friday.

There is no resurrection.

There is no resurrected life.

There is no celebration

before.

There is a death.

And that death, we must look into deeply.

You know, it's interesting,

even as we read these verses in Matthew 16,

you know, it's not just our culture,

because the disciples had the same struggle.

I mean, as soon as Jesus starts talking about them,

he says, yeah, we're going to go to Jerusalem,

and I'm going to suffer,

and they're going to put me to death.

And he even tells them about the resurrection,

but that thought,

that totally escapes them.

And so, Peter,

at least exercising a little bit of tact,

didn't do this in front of the group,

but took him off to the side.

And basically saying,

you got this wrong.

This is not the script.

This is not the way it's supposed to be.

And then Jesus

refers to maybe his closest friend

as Satan himself.

And he says,

you are thinking in man's terms.

You're not thinking in God's terms.

And when you're thinking in men's terms,

you're a hindrance to me.

And so Jesus tells him here,

he's determined to go to Jerusalem,

because that's why he was called.

That's why he came.

He did not come just to make life better.

He did not come just to heal diseases.

He did not come

just to teach people a better way of life.

He did all that.

That was a prelude,

a foretaste of what the kingdom would look like.

But what Jesus came for

was a garden.

A very eventful garden.

But you know,

all this started,

you know,

there's two things I want us to see about this tonight.

And the first is the calling of Jesus

is all about death.

It is all about death.

The year,

you know,

as Jesus came,

you know,

his ministry was glorious

in so many ways,

but yet his goal

was this garden.

But way back in the beginning,

there was another garden.

A garden where things

should have gone better.

God created all things,

declared it to be good,

and at the heart of that creation

was man,

and he put him in a garden.

And man was made

to give glory

to his creator

through his trust,

through his submission,

through his service,

to declare the creator's

greatness

and value

above all things.

It was a perfect world,

a perfect environment.

He had one,

only one way

to do that,

and that was simply

to stay away from

this one tree.

And at that critical point,

where he should have bowed

in trust,

and in submission,

the one point

when he should have

given glory to the creator,

he took it

for himself.

He said,

I will submit to only one,

and that's me.

And so in doing that,

as promised,

they were cursed.

They were exiled

from the pleasure,

the intimacy,

the love,

and joy

of the creator.

They were enslaved

to futility

along with

all of the rest

of creation.

They were

enslaved

to suffering

to suffering,

and ultimately

to death.

Everything they touched,

everything they thought,

everything they dreamed,

everything they did

from here on

was corrupt.

it was polluted

by a heart

that wanted

glory.

The friend of God

was now an enemy,

separated

in enmity

with no hope

of making it

any better.

well,

now we can fast

forward

to another garden,

a garden

where Jesus

finds himself.

After the supper

with his disciples,

he goes to

a garden.

but there

in that garden,

it was not

the created man

that was put to test,

but it was the God man.

It was Jesus himself

facing

the same

challenge

with the odds

so much heavier

against him.

This was not

the perfect world.

This was now

a very broken world.

He was not

promised

this

you know,

riches

of intimacy

with the Father.

He was promised

exactly the opposite.

He said,

if you obey,

if you trust,

if you serve,

you will be

separated

from the one

through all eternity

he has

enjoyed

and loved.

In this second garden,

the son

faced

rejection

and suffering

beyond belief,

beyond our

comprehension.

He did not

choose prosperity.

He

did

what the first

man

should have

done.

He bowed

and said,

not my will

but yours

be done.

He trusted,

submitted

himself

to the

Father.

He chose

alienation.

He chose

judgment.

He chose

death.

He chose

death.

what the

first man

should have

done,

now the

second Adam

did do.

He put

the Father's

glory above

all things

and he

bowed

in submission

and trust

to the

one

who

was

above

all

others.

This

was his

journey.

His

journey

came.

He came

to this

garden

to stand

in

for that

first man

who had

now lived

for centuries

in this

slavery of

futility,

but he

stood in

for him

in two

different

ways.

He

stood in

and obeyed.

He served.

He worshipped

the creator

the way

that first

man should

have done.

He did

it for

him.

But he

also stood

in and

took the

payment.

It was

not his.

it was

a payment

that

belonged

to

someone

else.

He

was the

sacrificial

lamb,

the

innocent

standing

in

for the

guilty.

and there

is

something

very

wrong

with this.

There's

something

very

unfair.

The

righteous

one

is

treated

as a

criminal.

The

righteous

one

is now

the

recipient

of

contempt

and

wrath

and

alienation

while the

guilty

party

gets

off

scot-free.

We need

to feel

the weight

of this.

A lot

more than

we

typically

do.

Because

we are

the

guilty

party.

He

received

the

punishment

on

himself,

the

innocent

one

that we

should have

received.

But this

was his

calling.

the

death

Jesus

died,

I

should,

you

should

have

died.

The

glory

that the

father

deserved

that he

gave,

I

should

have,

you

should

have

given.

He

did

all of

that

in our

place.

He,

the

beloved,

was treated

as the

enemy.

in

eye,

the

enemy,

and I

have now

become the

friend of

the throne.

He was

treated with

contempt,

so I can

now be

treated with

joy.

scorn,

so that I

can now

be

welcomed

home.

He was

treated with

wrath,

so that I

can now

know peace.

let the

weight of

Jesus'

death

sink in.

Let it

weigh heavy,

because this

is why he

came.

But as he

continues in

Matthew to

talk to his

disciples,

Jesus came

to glorify

the father,

and in that

process was

a road to

a cross,

to his

death.

And now,

all of those

who follow

him, as he

tells the

disciples there,

are to,

everyone who

would come

after me

must take

up his

cross.

cross, we

are called to

follow him

into death.

When Luke

writes this, he

adds a word.

He says, to

take up her

cross daily.

This is not a

one-time thing.

This is a

constant, I've

got to do this

every day kind

of thing.

Because as we

follow Jesus,

that self-determining,

self-centered,

self-glorifying

aspect of who

we are,

must die.

You know,

coming to

Jesus is a

good thing.

Life goes so

much better in

many ways because

of him, you

know, relationships

and so forth,

but,

but,

Easter,

the joy of

resurrected life,

only happens

after death.

And so what

does it mean for

us to take up

our cross daily?

We don't die

like Jesus

died.

His death

was once

for all.

So what is he

calling us here

to?

Well, I think

we are to die

in multiple

ways.

And all of

it is,

centers around

this core of

self-glorification.

First thing is,

it means dying

to our self-determination.

It was,

last week I was

reading through

the Psalms,

and I got to

Psalm 100,

110.

And at

verse 2,

this verse had

never struck me

this way,

but verse 2

simply says,

the Lord sends

forth from Zion

your mighty

scepter.

Rule in the

midst of your

enemies.

And I read

that verse,

and I got a

knot in my

stomach.

Because there

was something

down deep

inside that

says,

I do

not

want

someone

ruling

over me.

I do

not

like

submission.

I want

to determine

my own

thing.

Just like

every other

part of our

culture,

I am

hopelessly

determined

to be the

king

king and

to rule

over

Klagastan.

It's

my kingdom

and I'll

do what

I want.

But that

self-rule

must die

daily.

I need to

join with

Jesus and

pray

constantly,

not my

will,

but yours

be done,

even to

the point

of my own

death,

that I

might declare

the glory

of the

true king,

not this

imposter

king.

I also

need to

die to

my own

personal

significance.

You know,

one of the

things that

terrifies me

is

obscurity.

You know,

that I would

mean nothing.

You know,

I want to

be somebody.

I want to

be somebody

important.

I want to

be somebody

that's known.

I want to

be somebody

that's wanted.

I want to

be somebody

that people

will look up

to and find

value in

them.

And so I

live and

govern all

that I do

around this

pursuit.

I am

addicted to

glory.

I am

addicted to

creating it

for myself.

I need

to come

once again

daily to

the place

where I

see I'm

only the

creature.

Yes,

I'm

significant.

Yes,

I'm

created in

the image

of God,

but I

am

created in

the image

of God

just like

everyone

else.

And my

significance

does not

come from

me and

what I

produce.

It comes

from bowing

before the

king and

serving him

and exalting

him.

My glory

daily

must die.

You know,

Good Friday

is a good

time to

contemplate

Jesus'

death in

our place.

It's also

a good time

for us to

contemplate

the need

of our

own

deaths.

Yes,

yes,

yes,

yes,

yes.

Yes,

yes,

yes,

yes.

Yes,

yes,

yes,

yes,

yes,

yes,

yes,

we need

to acknowledge

the weight

of our

sin.

We need

to acknowledge

the weight

of that

sin in

our rebellion

against the

glory of

God

that we're

addicted to.

We are

addicted to

this rebellion.

We are

addicted to

our own

glory.

We must

contemplate

also

the cost

the cost

of that

rebellion.

It doesn't

cost you

a whole

lot.

You are

really the

beneficiaries

of great

riches,

but it

cost

someone

terribly.

I must

come to

terms

that the

cross

where Jesus

died

was my

cross.

It's

coming to

terms,

too,

with that

daily dying

that I need

to be as a

follower of

Christ to

embrace,

not to

fight.

Christ.

We who are

in Christ

can't

embrace such

a death

because we

know Easter

is coming.

But let's

don't go to

Easter too

soon.

Let's

linger.

Linger here

on Friday.

Linger here

in the drama

of the death

of Christ.

And then

when Sunday

morning gets

here,

the

sweetness

will be so

much greater.

Let's

pray.

Lord Jesus,

help us to

contemplate

death.

A death

that was

necessary.

The death

that you

took that

should have

been ours,

but a death

that you

gladly took

for the

glory of

the Father.

Thank you.

Amen.

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information,

visit us

online at

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over

hugs.

With

ANKS,

bye.

與

あり

on go.