Believe in the Necessity of the Cross!

15th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/17/17
Matthew 16:21-26


Believe in the Necessity of the Cross!
I. Necessary for Jesus
II. Necessary for you


I’m not a foreign traveler by any means, so I don’t know this information firsthand. But I’ve been told that I a common perception of Americans among the people of other nations is that we’re soft. We don’t know what hardship is.

And, while I might not agree that we’re soft, I will admit that we Americans have not suffered hardship to the extent that the people of so many other nations have. Foreign armies have not marched from one coast of our nation to the other, destroying property and lives wherever they go, committing war atrocities against innocent people, even women and children. In all but a few isolated cases—tragic though they were no matter what—our buildings and property have not been bombed and destroyed. Sure, we know what economic depression is, but I can’t recall anyone starving to death. Compared to the people of others nations throughout history, we live good lives, very good lives.

And we take measures to keep it that way. We avoid hardship as much as we can. I still recall a situation a decade or so ago here at Resurrection, although the details now escape me. I recall that we were being asked to comply with some regulation that was undesirable. And immediately one of our congregation’s leaders asked, “What’s the cost of non-compliance?” In other words, which response will be less painful for us to endure? We want to suffer as little as possible.

And, to be honest, that’s a healthy attitude to take. Why suffer more than you must? Why suffer if you don’t have to? Who would recommend suffering if you could avoid it?

Well, Jesus does. Really? He sure does. That’s what he clearly states in this morning’s text from Matthew 16. He speaks with his disciples about two crosses—the one he will face and the one he demands that we face if we want to follow him. That was difficult for his disciples to listen to and to process, and it can be much the same with his followers today. We don’t want suffering; we want glory! We want things to be easy, for ourselves and for Jesus.

But that’s not possible if we want eternal gain. So believe in the cross. Believe in the necessity of the cross! May the Holy Spirit use this portion of his word to fill our hearts with faith in the cross of Jesus and in the necessity of the cross that Jesus asks us to bear!

Part I.

She loved her son. More so now than ever. More so now that he was the only child she had left. She still mourned for her other son who died while serving his country a few years earlier. But WW II was still raging on in Europe, and now her only living son was old enough to enlist, to join in the fight for our country’s freedom. He mourned for his brother, too, but that mourning would not overshadow his desire to honor his brother and to serve his country. Although his mother begged him with tears not to enlist, he felt compelled to go. Even as he walked out the front door with luggage in hand, she begged him not to go. Amid sobs, she shouted, “Don’t do it!”

“Don’t do it!” That’s Peter’s reaction to this information: “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.” We get the impression that Peter stopped listening to Jesus before he foretold his resurrection. The only thing that Peter heard was that Jesus was going to suffer and die. And his reaction? “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Literally, the Greeks states, “God have mercy on you, Lord!” It’s almost as if Peter is implying that what Jesus states is a violation of the holy will of God, as if Jesus is sinning by stating that he will go to Jerusalem to suffer and die. With the advantage of hindsight, we would say Peter was pretty confused when it came to the plan of salvation.

You see, in his mind—as in so many other Jewish minds—the Messiah would never subject himself to anything close to suffering, let alone dying on a cross. But that was always the Father’s plan to save sinners. In the recently sin-stained Garden of Eden he announced a Satan-Crusher whose heel would also be bruised. Every Old Testament animal sacrifice pointed forward to the sacrifice the Savior would make. Isaiah plainly foretold how the Savior would be pierced and crushed for our iniquities. But somehow, by and large, the Jewish people missed it.

But rather than patiently taking more time to explain it to his people, Jesus knew that the time had come for action. And so he told them plainly that he must go and he must die. He had to suffer and die. And we know why. He had to for the sins of the world. He had to for my sins…for your sins. For every time we have done what our God forbids, Jesus had to die. For every time we fail to do the good that our God requires, Jesus had to die. Satan had tried more than once to offer Jesus a pleasant way to be the world’s Savior, but Jesus knew his suggestions were nothing more than diabolical lies. Hours before his death Jesus would humbly pray for his Father to take that suffering from him, if it was his will. But it wasn’t. Instead it was the Father’s will for Jesus to die for the sins of the world. So die Jesus must and die he did. And in his sufferings and death, we find our eternal comfort and joy. So, by the grace of God through the working of the Holy Spirit, believe it!

Believe in the necessity of the cross! His cross was necessary for him to be your Savior!

How blessed we are to know that Jesus knew the cross was necessary for him to be our Savior. No one carried Jesus, kicking and screaming to the cross. He knew it was necessary. And we believe that, until we like to think that it might have been necessary for him to go to the cross for that person, but not necessarily for me. You don’t have to look far to find people who lives are a mess because of the mistakes they’ve made—the sins they have committed. We hear and read about them every day. And it’s so easy for us as God’s people to become disgusted with the sins out there, and rightly so. But realize how close we are at that point to questioning if Jesus’ cross was necessary for us. After all, we’re not the ones leading openly sinful lives. Our lives, thankfully, haven’t made the scandal sheet of the news. No one is pointing at us with an accusing finger. No one, that is, but our God, and rightly so. Because it’s only by the grace of God that the sins inside us haven’t blown up in our face publicly. By nature we’re no better than any other sinner. The truth is that we need the cross of Jesus just as much as the next sinner. And thanks be to God, Jesus knew that the cross was necessary for him if he wanted to be your Savior. He did know! And he does know! Every day! So believe it! Believe in the necessity of the cross. It was necessary for Jesus.

Part II.

If you told me that you enjoy suffering pain, I’m fairly sure I would conclude that you need the help of a mental health professional.

Jesus doesn’t tell us in this text before us that we necessarily have to enjoy suffering; but he does tell us that we will suffer if we want life with him. He states, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 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?” He tells us we need to take up our cross and follow him. Just what does he mean?

Well, he’s not talking about just any suffering in this life. Everyone suffers, Christian or not. The cross of Christ which he tells us to bear is the suffering that comes our way because of our connection to him. That means living the Christian life here won’t be easy. It can’t be easy. If it is, you’re not living it. The world’s ways and values are diametrically opposed to your Christian ways and values.

So, what does bearing the cross involve? Jesus tells us it involves losing our lives. That doesn’t mean we that we need to die physically. It means we have to put aside our own worldly goals and aspirations if we want to have life with him. It’s not about us; it’s about him. When life becomes about us, we’ve lost life with Jesus.

He also tells us that our cross means we have to lose the world. You can’t have it all. You can’t follow the ways of the world and follow Christ at the same time. They are mutually exclusive. Christians who try having both end up losing Jesus. So, take up your cross. It’s going to mean you will lose out on what others have. It means you’ll suffer rejection and ridicule. It means this life won’t be easy, but the life to come will literally be out of this world. It will be life with Jesus in heaven!

So, believe in the necessity of the cross. It’s necessary for you!

Are you ready for that? Are you willing to miss out on some of the perks that your fellow employees enjoy because you insist on being honest? That’s the cross. Are you willing to endure the chuckle of derision or the mocking roll of eyes when you stand up for what your Savior says in his word? That’s the cross. Is it OK that you might not reach your potential in this life because your focus is on the life to come? That’s the cross. Are you OK with being weird in the eyes of others because of your connection to Christ? That’s the cross! Now let me ask you: Have you ever dropped the cross for a moment? Have you viewed it as an unwanted burden? Have you ever avoided the cross completely? We all have. And we’re prone to do it again. That’s what the cross was necessary for Jesus. He died for our failures to bear his cross here on earth and now he lives again to empower us to pick it up and carry it.

By the power of the risen Savior, carry your cross! In fact, believe in the necessity of it, until your Savior calls you to his side in heaven. Amen.