“Losing our Lives for Christ’s Sake” (Matthew 16:21–28)
1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. After St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God at Caesarea Philippi, our Lord Jesus “began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matt 16:21). Upon hearing this Matthew tells us in chapter 16:22 of His Gospel these words, “And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” As Christians we know that the glory of God is revealed in the passion & cross of our Lord Jesus. By His cross Jesus redeemed you from your sins, and in His resurrection He’s justified all who trust in Him. In the Gospel from Matthew 16 this morning we learn that the Christian life is one of discipleship and self-sacrifice. The message is entitled, “Losing our Lives for Christ’s Sake,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. The way to power, wealth, and fame can easily slip through your fingers. The Roman Emperor Charlemagne knew this. An interesting story surrounds the burial of this king. Legend has it that he asked to be entombed sitting upright in his throne. He asked that his crown be placed on his head and his scepter in his hand. He requested that the royal cape be draped around his shoulders and an open book be placed in his lap. That was AD 814. Nearly 200 years after AD 814, Emperor Othello determined to see if the burial request had been carried out. He sent a team of men to open the tomb and make a report. They found the body just as Charlemagne had requested. Only now, nearly 200 years later, the scene was gruesome… But open on the skeleton was the book Charlemagne had requested—the Bible. One bony finger pointed to the words of the text of our Gospel lesson for today where our Lord Jesus says to Peter, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Well, I think that you can answer that one.
3. Here in Matthew 16:21-28 we see that the time had come for our Lord Jesus to speak very plain to His disciples and to us about His suffering and death. But, when Jesus began to speak of His suffering, death, and resurrection, Peter says, “Never Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Sure, Peter’s intentions were good. He couldn’t bear to think of such things happening to his Lord. But, Peter was having an “open mouth, insert foot moment.” He didn’t understand what he was saying. The same guy who had just moments earlier in Matthew 16 announced that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, now was contradicting Jesus’ words.
4. One moment Jesus had commended Peter’s confession of faith in Him as being the chosen one by God to save us from our sins. But now, Jesus rebuked him, even called him Satan. This was fitting because Peter was speaking for Satan. He was saying essentially what Satan had told Jesus during those 40 days of temptation in the wilderness. He told Jesus not to carry out his mission to save you from your sins by paying for them through his death upon the cross. Satan wanted Jesus to not carry out the Father’s will or fulfill the promises of God’s Old Testament prophets. When Jesus called Peter a stumbling block, that term referred to a crooked stick in a trap to which bait would be attached. An animal going for the bait would spring the trap and be captured or killed. In the same way, Peter was setting a trap for Jesus. If Jesus had stepped into that trap, his whole mission of redeeming the world would have been aborted. The rebuke that Jesus spoke to Peter was in order.
5. In His response to Peter, Jesus reminded His disciples and us the cost of following Him in Matthew 16:24-26, “24…If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?” Jesus had to bear his cross for your sake, and we who are here today who follow him have our crosses to bear too. The crosses Christians bear are the hardships and sufferings they endure as a consequence of faithfully following Christ. But, our Lord Jesus will give us the strength to bear it, and he will use it to increase our appreciation for the cross he bore for us.
6. Dear Christian, if your primary concern is to save this life, to get the most out of this life in pleasure, satisfaction and enjoyment, you’ll end up losing everything. But, if you lose your life for Jesus’ sake, if you dedicate all to him, follow his guidance and obey Him, you’ll live a meaningful and God pleasing life in this world and enjoy all the blessings of everlasting life in heaven.
7. Many people forfeit their souls as they strive to gain everything they can in this world. Some manage to build up great wealth, power, and prestige, but even Alexander the Great didn’t succeed in ruling the whole world. And if he had, what good would it do him now? For like Charlemagne, the Great King, he too was a mortal man who eventually died, leaving his empire to other men to take over. If Alexander the Great could’ve offered the whole world as the price of his admission to heaven, the Lord of all would still say to him, “That’s not enough. Everything you offer me is already mine, for I made it. Depart from me. Be consigned forever to the place I’ve prepared for the devil and his angels. There the weeping and gnashing of teeth will never end. There you will be tormented forever in unquenchable flames without being destroyed. What a fool you have been.” Dear friends why waste so much time trying to gain power, wealth, and fame? Don’t you know that he, who dies with the most toys, still dies?
8. Yet, millions of people imagine that they can buy their way into heaven. They rely on their puny good works, which are like filthy rags in God’s sight. How tragic it is that so many people reject the payment Christ has made for them with His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. There’s no salvation in any other. Jesus is the only Savior of the whole world. He died for all!
9. Do you remember the words that Jesus said in John 12? In John 12:32 He said, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." When Jesus spoke of being "lifted up," I believe He meant three things. First, he would be lifted up on a cross to die the death of a guilty man, even though He was innocent of all charges. Second, he would also be lifted up by being exalted by God the Father because of his willing death. The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:8-9, "[H]e humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name." Finally, Jesus will one day be exalted before the eyes of every soul God made, when "every tongue [will] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:11).
10. As Christians we’re called to lose our lives for Christ’s sake. One way that we can do this is in our worship when we approach the Lord’s Supper with reverence and awe. "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). Just as by celebrating the Passover feast the people of Israel looked forward to the Lamb who would be slain for them, we eat and drink in remembrance of the one who bore our sins in His body on the tree to save you from sin, death and devil. If Jesus lifted up is what draws souls to heaven, we can’t afford to downgrade the celebration of communion to the margins of our worship. For when we eat His body and drink His blood we’re receiving from Him the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life.
11. A second way we can lose our lives for Christ’s sake is by following his example. Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). Over 50 years ago, 5 Christian missionaries took up their cross by making contact with a violent Ecuadorian tribe in order to share the Gospel with them. Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCulley, and Pete Fleming were killed, leaving behind their wives and children. They lost their lives for Christ’s sake. But, as word of the tragedy spread throughout the world, their example inspired many others to take the gospel into all parts of the earth. And in years to come, through the witness of family members of the martyred missionaries, many from the tribe (including the murderers) became followers of Jesus. In their deaths, these 5 missionaries lost their lives for Christ, and Jesus faithfully drew many to life through their sacrifice. Take a moment today to consider how you could lose your life for Christ’s sake. What in your life is taking priority over worshipping Him over all things? Is it your job, your possessions, your family, your power or popularity, your money? God may not call you to literally lay down your life for your faith in Jesus, but He has called you to lift Christ high.
12. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. You’ve heard the voice of Your Lord Jesus and have come to follow Him. Now He leads You through His Word and Sacraments into eternal life. Because you’re in Him you can’t perish. And when our Lord Jesus comes to you whether in your own death or at the End of Time, you who are His own, will enter into His presence, where there is no want, no crying, no dying, only joy that has no end. Amen.
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