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of Matthew for our study tonight 
before we take the supper, Matthew chapter 16. Matthew chapter 16, 
our focus will be verses 21 to 23, the necessity of Christ's 
passion. But I want to read the entire 
chapter, beginning in verse one. Then the Pharisees and Sadducees 
came, and testing him, asked that he would show them a sign 
from heaven. He answered and said to them, when it is evening, 
you say, it will be fair weather, for the sky is red. And in the 
morning, it will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and 
threatening. Hypocrites, you know how to discern 
the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the 
times. A wicked and adulterous generation 
seeks after a sign and no sign shall be given to it except the 
sign of the prophet Jonah. And he left them and departed. 
Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten 
to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, Take, 
heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have 
taken no bread. But Jesus, being aware of it, 
said to them, O you of little faith, why do you reason among 
yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand 
or remember the five loaves of the 5,000 and how many baskets 
you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the 4,000 
and how many large baskets you took up? How is it you do not 
understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread, but 
to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees? And 
they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven 
of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked 
his disciples saying, who do men say that I, the son of man 
am? So they said, some say John the 
Baptist, some Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 
He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered 
and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus 
answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for 
flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who 
is in heaven. And I also say to you that you 
are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates 
of Hades shall not prevail against it. and I will give you the keys 
of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will 
be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed 
in heaven.' Then he commanded his disciples that they should 
tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ. 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 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. 
Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after 
me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow 
me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever 
loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it 
to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange 
for his soul? For the son of man will come 
in the glory of his father with his angels, and then he will 
reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, 
there are some standing here who shall not taste death till 
they see the son of man coming in his kingdom. Amen. Well, let 
us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
You for the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, the comprehensiveness 
of it. We know that He satisfied all 
of the obligations, all of the stipulations laid upon Him in 
that covenant of redemption. We praise You that He set His 
face like a flint to go to Jerusalem in order to suffer and to die 
and to be raised again. We know, God, that was not because 
of His own crimes or His own sins, but it was our sin, our 
crime. was our wickedness, our lawlessness, for which He died. 
And we praise You for that. We praise You that He satisfied 
the penalty of divine justice. We thank You that He was raised 
again that third day, that He now sits enthroned at the right 
hand of the Father. And we look forward to His return 
again in glory to judge the living and the dead. Again, please wash 
us from all sin and impurity, cleanse us in the blood of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and guide us by the Holy Spirit. And we 
pray in His most blessed name. Amen. Well, from this particular 
point in Matthew's gospel, the movement is toward the cross, 
not just theologically, but geographically. So notice in verse 13, they're 
in Caesarea Philippi, that's kind of in the northern regions 
there in Galilee. And then we see in verse 21, 
from that time Jesus began to show to his disciples that he 
must go to Jerusalem. We see the movement from Galilee 
to Jerusalem, and we see the cross casting its shadow over 
the entirety of the narrative. Christ came to save his people 
from their sins. Matthew 1.21 announces that. 
The manner in which he does that is through his life, through 
his death, and through his resurrection. He's already hinted, at least 
informally, that this is, in fact, the case to his immediate 
disciples. We'll see that in a few minutes. And here, formally, 
he announces that he must go. This is a divine necessity. This isn't up for grabs. This 
isn't optional. This isn't, you know, plan C 
if you're so inclined. But he must do what he does in 
terms of the salvation of his people. So he identifies the 
specific character of his messianic role, the role that was just 
confessed by the disciples. Notice in chapter 16 at verse 
15, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, 
You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Well, that title, 
that confession, that declaration comes with a lot of Old Testament 
baggage, as it were. In other words, what we find 
in the Old Testament tells us or clues us in with reference 
to the mission of the Son of God. Now, obviously, Peter didn't 
see that at this particular point. We'll notice that in a few minutes. 
As well, the Jews, by and large, didn't see the necessity of a 
crucified and resurrected Savior. They were looking for political 
relief. They were looking for the subjugation of the Roman 
Empire. They were looking for earthly or geopolitical prestige. 
They were looking to be restored, in a sense, to what they enjoyed 
under David and Solomon. They didn't see the emphasis 
primarily upon the spiritual nature of God's kingdom and the 
reality that He's come to save His people from their sins. Interestingly, 
and we won't get to this tonight, but if you notice in verses 21 
to 23, Jesus teaches a very important lesson. He teaches that the cross 
precedes the crown. And that's not the only place 
that we find this particular lesson in the ministry of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. The cross precedes the crown. In other words, we don't just 
wander into heaven without some degree of difficulty and hardship. And it's on the heels of that 
that he then issues this challenge in terms of discipleship in verses 
24 to 27. You as disciples must undergo 
the cross prior to the crown as well. It is not the case that 
the health, wealth, prosperity, so-called gospel is valid or 
is legitimate. No, there is a pattern. There 
is a paradigm set forth for us by our blessed Savior. Notice 
in verse 24, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny 
himself and take up his cross and follow me. We cheapen that. We make it seem as if a cross 
in our lives is a difficult child. A cross in our life is having 
to spend a little extra time and, you know, overtime at work. 
Boy, I'm under such a cross. I'm under such a burden. People 
at work don't love me. That's not the cross in view 
here. And these particular disciples would understand all too well 
the implications of the statement. You need to be willing to die 
for Jesus. You need to be willing to be 
crucified for Jesus. Now, by and large, He doesn't 
ask that of any of us. He doesn't specify that that's 
the only means by which we serve Him. But certainly, there ought 
to be a willingness on the part of God's people to follow the 
Savior wherever He bids. And if that means crucifixion, 
if that means torture, if that means jail, if that means whatever 
it means, we follow the Lamb wherever He bids us go. So Christ 
sets forth the paradigm, and that paradigm is for His people 
as well. The cross always precedes the 
crown. As I said, we won't get to that 
tonight, but I wanted to make sure we did get to it, at least 
in some small sense. So I want to look first at the 
declaration of the divine plan in verse 21. Secondly, the rejection 
of the divine plan in verse 22. And then finally, the affirmation 
of the divine plan in verse 23. Now notice, in terms of the declaration 
in verse 21, there's this continual emphasis. So verse 21, from that 
time, Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go 
to Jerusalem. Again, a geographical shift. We're moving from Galilee down 
to the city of Jerusalem. But there is a theological necessity 
laid upon the Son of God in terms of the covenant of redemption 
and even in terms of the city of Jerusalem. What takes place 
in Jerusalem, according to the Old Testament? What takes place 
in Jerusalem is sacrifice. What takes place in Jerusalem 
is the Day of Atonement. What takes place in the city 
of Jerusalem is when the just substitutes for the unjust, and 
the wrath of God is appeased. If you go back to chapter 9, 
again you see some informal statements concerning his impending death. 
Notice in Matthew 9, specifically at verse 15. And Jesus said to 
them, can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the 
bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the 
bridegroom will be taken away from them and then they will 
fast. Now, obviously, Jesus is the 
one in view here. So he's alluding to and foreshadowing 
and at least informally announcing the fact that he's going to die. 
Notice in chapter 10, specifically at verse 38. Chapter 10, verse 
38, and he who does not take his cross and follow after me 
is not worthy of me. Again, another lesson in terms 
of discipleship, the disciple follows the master. And if the 
disciple takes up the cross to follow the master, that must 
imply that the master himself has taken up a cross as well. And then notice in chapter 12, 
specifically at verses 14 and 15, Notice the Sabbath wars. That's the context in verses 
1 to 8, and then again in verses 9 to 14. Notice how the Sabbath 
war ends in verse 14. Then the Pharisees went out and 
plotted against him how they might destroy him. Verse 15, 
but when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there, not because he was 
a scaredy-cat, not because he was filled with cowardice, but 
it was not yet his time. So he withdrew from there knowing 
their purpose and intention to destroy him. It's not without 
great merit that then we see this appeal to a suffering servant 
passage in the prophet Isaiah. So had the disciples been listening 
to these informal announcements, perhaps they would not have dropped 
the ball so severely when Jesus makes the formal announcement 
in chapter 16 at verse 21. But then notice not only this 
formal announcement, but again in chapter 17, you can turn there, 
verses 22 and 23. 22, now while they were staying in 
Galilee, Jesus said to them, the son of man is about to be 
betrayed into the hands of men and they will kill him. And the 
third day he will be raised up. And they were exceedingly sorrowful. It's an interesting thing. Not 
that they were exceedingly sorrowful, but they were exceedingly sorrowful 
even after he had announced that he'd be raised up. They loved 
him. They were devoted to him. They didn't want him to be hurt. 
They didn't want to see him suffer. They didn't want to see him die. 
And then again, notice in chapter 20, Chapter 20, specifically 
at verse 17, now Jesus going up to Jerusalem, took the 12 
disciples aside on the road and said to them, behold, we are 
going up to Jerusalem. The son of man will be betrayed 
to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they will condemn 
him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and discourage 
and to crucify. And the third day he will rise 
again. It's intriguing that on the heels of this, two disciples 
then jockey for position in the kingdom of God. Again, brethren, 
I don't want to pick on the disciples here. I mean, I think they're 
representative of all of us, but they're just a bit tone-deaf, 
aren't they? He announces that he must go 
to Jerusalem, he must suffer at the hands of godless men, 
he must be delivered up to the Gentiles, and he must be crucified. So what happens? The mother of 
Zebedee's sons come and says, hey, can my little precious boys 
sit on your right hand and on your left when you come in the 
glory of your kingdom? Do you not hear yourself? He 
just announced that he's going to die. And Jesus handles this 
beautifully. Not that he needs my commendation, 
not that he needs my approval, but notice the nature of her 
request. Verse 21, she said to him, grant that these two sons 
of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other on the 
left in your kingdom. Now look at how Jesus responds. 
Jesus answered and said, you do not know what you ask. He's 
going to preach again the message that the cross precedes the crown. You don't just shoot into a position 
of glory on the right hand and on the left hand of the blessed 
Savior without some sort of difficulty along the way. That's just the 
nature of the way it is. And people have problems with 
that. Well, why is it? Why is there suffering? Why is 
there hardship? Why is there travail? Why is 
there affliction? Why in the world is there any 
good in a world that is in defection and rebellion and transgression 
against God? C.S. Lewis wrote the book, or 
wrote the pamphlet, booklet, The Problem of Pain. John Gerstner 
followed it up with a better question, The Problem of Pleasure. Lewis is saying, you know, trying 
to deal with the perennial question, why do bad things happen to so-called 
good people? Gerstner flips it on its head. 
Why does anything good ever happen to bad people? We've got the 
wrong framework. We've got the wrong point of 
reference. We've got the wrong frame of mind when it comes to 
these things. So Jesus says, you do not know 
what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup 
that I am about to drink? That's a reference to the wrath 
and the fury and the judgment of God. You can see that in Gethsemane, 
when Christ prays according to his humanity, that if it is possible, 
let this cup pass from me, but nevertheless, not my will, but 
thine be done. It's the cup of God's wrath. 
Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and 
be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? Why 
does he say that? Well, Luke 12 50 specifies for 
us the words that Tito doesn't mean sprinkling. He doesn't say 
I'm going to be sprinkled with a bit of distress. I'm going 
to be sprinkled with a bit of problems. I'm going to be overwhelmed. I'm going to be immersed. I am 
going to be submerged in the wrath and fury of God Most High. 
You don't know anything about the cup. You don't know anything 
about the baptism that I'm about to undergo. Your question is 
wrong-headed. But then notice, they said to 
him, we are able. Do you ever do Monday morning 
quarterback when you read your Bible and say, you know, brothers, 
you probably shouldn't say that. Or you've been in a situation 
where you're with somebody that's not as bright as somebody else. 
And the not as bright as somebody else is challenging the brighter 
than they. And you just kind of secretly think you should 
stop this. It's not going to end well. It 
is not going to demonstrate your prowess and savvy, but rather 
it's going to demonstrate just the opposite. So notice these 
men say, we are able, and again, I'm not picking on these men, 
brethren. I'm really not. I mean, I think 
they're representative of all of God's people. Notice what 
he says in verse 23. So he said to them, you will 
indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized 
with. In other words, there will be 
a cross before your crown. James is beheaded in Acts chapter 
12 by Herod. And then John is famously exiled 
on the island of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony 
of the Lord. Now, Patmos wasn't a retirement place. It didn't 
have, you know, several nice, lush, 18-hole golf courses. Patmos was a rock out in the 
Aegean Sea. It was a place where you sent 
criminals. So these men would know something of the cup. They 
would know something of the baptism unto suffering and death. And 
notice, but to sit on my right hand, middle of verse 23, and 
on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom 
it is prepared by my father. Now notice verse 24. This is 
intriguing. And when the ten heard it, they 
were greatly displeased with the two brothers. Why do you 
think they were greatly displeased with the two brothers? I cannot 
believe your lack of virtue. I cannot believe your lack of 
etiquette. I cannot believe that on the 
heels of his announcement that he's going to die, you're jockeying 
for position. No, probably because they themselves 
wanted to be on the immediate right hand and on the immediate 
left hand. If these two edge them out, then 
they're out on the fray. I doubt it was a virtuous contemplation 
or a virtuous displeasure in these men and their lack of savvy 
in the situation. And then notice how Jesus responds. 
Verse 25, Jesus called them to himself and said, you know that 
the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them and those who are great 
exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among 
you. That's a lesson that needs to be proclaimed in every age 
of the church. We're not supposed to have celebrities 
lead us. We're not supposed to have t-shirts 
with our favorite guy's face on it. Yet it shall not be so 
among you. But whoever desires to become 
great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires 
to be first among you, let him be your slave, just as the Son 
of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his 
life a ransom for many." This further defines, describes, and 
declares the nature of the divine necessity laid upon him for him 
to move into Jerusalem. Now back to chapter 16. Verse 
21, from that time Jesus began to show to his disciples that 
he must. Don't miss the significance of 
this word. It highlights the absolute necessity 
of the mission of Christ. There is divine necessity, a 
theological necessity involved here. And when it comes to the 
Lord Christ, he understood that. So he shows to his disciples 
that he must. And intriguingly, the various 
infinitives that follow are passive, which indicates that God is the 
active agent. The Father is the reason why 
Jesus must do this. I've mentioned the covenant of 
redemption. That's the backdrop. That's the background. That's 
the pre-temporal, intra-Trinitarian covenant between the persons 
of the Godhead to save His people from their sins. The Father elects 
a miserable lot of sinners, gives them to the Son, the Son covenants 
to the Father that He'll take on our humanity, He'll go into 
this world, and He will suffer for them, and He will die for 
them, and He will be raised again for them. So there is this necessity 
laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ. So this word, must, highlights 
that absolute necessity. And then this word, must, governs 
each of those following statements. Notice, He must go to Jerusalem. He must suffer many things from 
the elders and chief priests and scribes. He must be killed 
and he must be raised the third day. Now he must go to Jerusalem. Why is that? Because that's where 
they killed prophets. It's not only where they sacrificed 
sacrifices, but that's where they killed prophets. I seem 
to have tipped my hand this morning relative to some statements about 
revelation. I don't think it's in our future. 
I think it happened and it was applicable to the first century 
situation. The great city, as I mentioned, 
was Jerusalem. Those saints under the altar 
crying out for the vengeance of God in Revelation chapter 
6 have specific reference to the conditions that obtained 
in the first century. The first primary enemy of the 
Church of the Lord Jesus Christ was not the Roman Empire. They 
were second But the first primary enemy was the unbelieving Jews. 
You see it with Jesus. You see it with the apostles. 
Trace through the book of Acts. The government, the civil government, 
doesn't get involved until later on. And they're even unwilling. 
They just play pass the buck. They don't want to deal with 
Paul. This isn't our debate. This isn't our dispute. Some 
of them even announce as much. This is an intramural religious 
discussion between these Jews and this subset of Judaism, this 
Christianity. So when you look at scripture, 
you'll notice that Jerusalem is both the holy city, but it's 
also the apostate city. And so Jesus must go there. Why? Because that's where they kill 
prophets. You see that in 2 Chronicles. You see it in Jeremiah 26. You 
see it as well in Matthew 21. You can turn there. Matthew 21, 
the parable of the wicked vinedressers. It's simply the history of Israel 
and her dealings with God most high. And this is intimately 
connected to the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 5. He uses the 
same analogy. He uses the same situation. He 
uses the same sort of a thing to illustrate in his time, Isaiah's 
time, the apostate nature of the people of Israel and the 
judgment of God that is impending. Well, notice in chapter 21, the 
Lord Jesus gives us that history of Israel. Verse 33, here another 
parable. There was a certain landowner 
who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a wine 
press in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers 
and went into a far country. Now, when the vintage time drew 
near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers that they might 
receive its fruit. Who do you think the servants 
are? The prophets of God, sent by God to Israel to bring forth 
the fruit. Give us the fruit that the landowner, 
the vineyard owner, has called you to bear. Now notice in verse 
34, I'm sorry, verse 35, And the vinedressers took his servants, 
beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again, he sent other 
servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 
Then last of all, he sent his son to them, saying, They will 
respect my son. Brethren, this is not tough to 
figure out who he's talking about. He's talking about his contemporaries. 
He's talking about these religious leaders. He's talking about Old 
Covenant Israel. He is applying to them this analogy 
to show them their disregard for the living and true God. 
So the father says he sent his son, they will respect my son. 
Notice in verse 38, but when the vinedresser saw the son, 
they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill 
him and seize his inheritance. So they took him and cast him 
out of the vineyard and killed him. So Jesus must go to Jerusalem 
because that's where They kill prophets. Luke's gospel, he says 
as much. Luke 13, 33. He says, nevertheless, 
I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following. For it 
cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. See, brethren, as we move our 
way through John's Gospel, you see that antipathy, that enmity 
rising, that opposition to our blessed Savior. It culminates 
when they say, away with him, away with him, crucify him. They 
fulfill all that was written concerning them. They do the 
bidding of God. Even the wrath of man shall praise 
you, the psalmist says in Psalm 76. But as well, as I mentioned, 
it is the place of sacrifice. Matthew Henry marks this connection. 
He says he must go to Jerusalem, the head city, the holy city, 
and suffer there. Though he lived most of his time 
in Galilee, he must die at Jerusalem. There, all the sacrifices were 
offered. Therefore, he must die, who is 
the great sacrifice. So he says, I must go to Jerusalem. But notice, secondly, he must 
suffer many things. He says, as much to them, he 
must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and 
chief priests and scribes. The sufferings of our Lord are 
manifold. Now, the Bible doesn't get into 
a long celebration of that vis-a-vis some sort of a passion play like 
you see in Romanism or on the big screen. It doesn't celebrate 
the blood and the gore the way that, say, Mel Gibson does in 
his movie about Jesus. But with reference to the suffering, 
the Son of Man knew sorrow. The Son of Man knew suffering. 
The Son of Man goes into Gethsemane, and his soul is exceedingly sorrowful, 
even unto death. Again, this is written in the 
Old Testament. When we get to Peter's rebuke 
of the Lord Jesus, Peter is showing his ignorance of the prophetic 
word. He is demonstrating his lack of understanding in terms 
of the messianic agenda. He is evidencing that he hasn't 
grappled with the reality of, say for instance, the 22nd Psalm. Psalm 22 talks about crucifixion 
hundreds of years before crucifixion. Psalm 22 is basically a script 
for what happens in terms of Messiah. The first half is the 
humiliation, the suffering, and the death. The latter half is 
the exaltation of the right hand of the Father and the blessings 
that accrue as a result of what the Son of Man suffered. You've 
got Psalm 69, and you see that applied in the gospel narratives, 
the betrayal of our blessed Savior. You've got as well the prophet 
Isaiah, the servant songs, and in particular 52 and 53, the 
suffering servant of Yahweh, a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief. He has no form, no comeliness. 
When we see him, there's nothing in him that attracts us to him. 
He is suffering on behalf of the people of God. Daniel 9, 
Messiah cut off. Zechariah 9 to 14. And intriguingly, 
Matthew the theologian invokes these prophets along the way 
and shows us that everything that was specified and written 
of Christ has come to pass. Notice thirdly, he must be killed. 
The Messiah of Israel would be crucified. John Gill said, signifying 
that he should not die a natural death, but that his life should 
be taken from him in a cruel and violent manner, without any 
regard to law or justice. Indeed, that he should be properly 
murdered. He says that, and be killed. 
He's not going to die in His sleep for the salvation of us 
men. He is rather going to be killed. 
He's going to be brutalized. He's going to be treated with 
absolute contempt, and with absolute disdain, and with absolute hatred. They treat the only holy, harmless, 
and undefiled man that has ever walked the face of the earth 
in the most atrocious and vicious way. Now brethren, again, the 
cross precedes the crown. Peter, according to Fox, Fox's 
book of martyrs, when it was time for him to be crucified, 
he had one request. Crucify me upside down. I am not worthy to go in the 
same way that my blessed Savior went. The people of God suffer. When you identify with the true 
and living God, does the world around you say, good for you. 
You're one of our bestest friends now. We love and esteem you because 
you hold fast the truth as it is in Jesus. No, it's just the 
opposite. You can be disowned, you can 
be disassociated with, you could lose jobs, you could lose life, 
you could lose freedom, you could lose liberty, you could lose 
a whole lot. Well, again, the cross precedes the crown, and 
Jesus sets forth that paradigm or that pattern. The means, ultimately, 
or this is the means, ultimately, by which He would affect our 
redemption. Without the shedding of blood, 
there is no remission. And when God comes to deal with 
our sin, He doesn't deal with a bull or a goat or a heifer. 
Rather, He deals with His only begotten Son. The Son of His 
love, the one who has His nature, comes into this world, takes 
on our nature, lives for us, dies for us, and is then raised 
again. So notice that progression. He 
must go to Jerusalem, he must suffer, he must die, but then 
he says he must be raised the third day. The Old Testament 
indicated that he must be raised again from the dead. You see 
it in that servant song in Isaiah 53. You've got that. the ignominy, 
which is an old word meaning the curse and the shame associated 
with the crucifixion of our Lord. But it ends in exaltation. It 
ends in triumph. It ends in blessedness. The same 
with Daniel's 70 weeks. The same with Psalm 16. The Apostle 
Peter invokes Psalm 16 to prove the resurrection of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. So again, what Jesus says here, it's scripted. He's not making things up. He's 
not suggesting anything that hasn't obtained or hasn't been 
in the daily readings that these men had undergone. So you get 
the point that these brothers had been instructed. These brothers 
had the information. These brothers had known, but 
they really didn't peer down and know of a truth, the nature 
of the Messiah. So that brings us then, secondly, 
to the rejection of the divine plan. Notice the objector, then 
Peter. You kind of expect this from 
Peter. Peter has always struck me as a ready, fire, aim kind 
of a guy. You know, you're supposed to 
ready, aim, fire. That's typically the way you 
shoot, but some people ready, fire, and then aim. Peter's got 
an impetuosity about him, but as well, Peter is the spokesman 
for the other apostles. Matthew indicates that as we 
move through, or as you move through Matthew's gospel, Peter 
is the one that vocalizes or speaks, for the most part, not 
every single time, but for the most part, he's the spokesman 
of the 12. So notice what Peter does here. 
And let's just remember that Peter had just been pronounced 
blessed by our Lord. So go back in the context to 
verse 15. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon 
Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the 
living God. Jesus answered and said to him, 
blessed are you Simon Barjona. It's an intriguing passage. You 
go from blessed are you Simon Barjona to get behind me, Satan? There's a quick shift here in 
terms of the script. It's pretty amazing. And we'll 
look at that in just a moment. But Peter takes him aside and 
began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you, Lord, this shall 
not happen to you. There's a degree of respect there. 
He takes them aside. Perhaps he learned what I learned 
growing up and having jobs. Praise in public and reprove 
in private. Don't praise bad performance 
or don't rebuke bad performance in front of everybody. Take them 
aside and rebuke them privately. Not that this was bad performance, 
just an analogy. He takes them aside. And then 
notice, he basically says, God be merciful, or literally, far 
be it from you, Lord. And it's a strong negative. This shall not happen to you. France says the strong negative, 
translated by never, conveys that it is not just undesirable, 
but unthinkable. So he's not just saying, I don't 
want you to do this. He's saying, it's unthinkable 
that you would do this. You're Jesus. You're the son 
of God. You're the one that the prophets 
have talked about. Your arrival is upon us and we 
are esteeming you. And the fact that you suggest 
you're gonna go suffer, you're gonna go die, you're gonna go 
be raised again. No, it's not gonna happen, Lord. Perhaps he thought he had one 
up here. He had been pronounced blessed. 
Perhaps now this gave him a bit of insight into the scheme here, 
and he wants to register his disapproval. Now, Jesus, we love 
you, we've come to esteem you, but this is crazy talk. You're 
not going to Jerusalem. And again, brethren, on one hand, 
you get it, right? I mean, if you love somebody, 
you don't want to hear them say, yeah, I'm going to go to Jerusalem, 
because there I'm going to suffer, and I'm going to die. You'd probably 
be inclined to say, no, we don't want you to do that. Remember 
when Agabus takes Paul's belt and then binds his own hands, 
and then he says, the owner of this belt, according to the Holy 
Spirit, is going to be bound in Jerusalem? He's going to suffer 
in Jerusalem? What do Paul's companions do? 
Do they say, oh, that's great. That's awesome. Isn't that wonderful? No, they weep. They're sad. They're 
grieved over that. They love Paul. They don't want 
him to go to Jerusalem and be bound. They don't want him to 
go to Jerusalem and be hurt. So when Peter says this, far 
be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you, it demonstrates 
or underscores the love that he had for Jesus. I'm not knocking 
that. I think it's admirable. I think 
it's glorious. I think it is wonderful. But as well, it shows 
the understanding he had of the Messiah. And his understanding 
of the Messiah was not altogether rounded out. Remember this morning 
in the Psalm, Psalm 45, when it says that Jesus rides prosperously 
in truth, humility, and righteousness. We understand truth, don't we? 
The Messiah advances his kingdom and his cause through truth. 
We understand righteousness, don't we? The Messiah is going 
to govern his kingdom in righteousness. But humility? That's not something 
you typically long for in a civil leader. If it is, you will never 
get it. You get just the opposite. You 
get sanctimony and virtue signaling all in proud arrogance. But why 
humility? He rides prosperously in truth, 
humility, and righteousness. Well, I think the humility points 
to something that we see throughout the Old Testament. Christ is 
going to have absolute dominion, empire, and power. Christ is 
going to shatter the nations with a rod of iron. But Christ 
is going to be the servant of the Lord. Christ is going to 
have the state of humiliation where He assumes our humanity, 
where He is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. When 
He says that the foxes have their holes and the birds of the air 
have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His 
head. We're going to see, or we see rather played out, this 
state of humiliation wherein Christ assumes the humanity, 
or assumes our humanity, and he's treated poorly. He's treated 
with disrespect. So it's not necessarily the perfection 
or the virtue, though I think that's involved, but it's that 
state of humiliation. So perhaps Peter, musing on the 
45th Psalm, sought truth and righteousness. He muses on the 
second Psalm, shattering them with a rod of iron. He muses 
on Psalm 110. Yahweh said to my Lord, sit at 
my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Well, 
brethren, we know that the path to that glory and exaltation 
is through the cross, right? They missed that in the first 
century. That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1, the Jews, 
they request a sign. You see it in this very passage. 
Jesus upbraids the Pharisees and the Sadducees because they 
want signs. The Jews seek after signs, Paul 
says, in 1 Corinthians 1. The Greeks seek after wisdom, 
but we preach what? Christ and him crucified. To 
the Jews, a stumbling block, an offense. Same word that Jesus 
uses in verse 23, a scandal. So Simon Peter goes from being 
the chief confessor to now trying to block up the means by which 
the church is going to be built. So Riles says, there may be much 
spiritual ignorance even in a true disciple of Christ. So we're 
not treating Peter here as a reprobate. We're not suggesting that Peter's 
godless or that he's damned to hell for this sort of brief interruption 
in terms of the agenda. But I think Ryle's right, brethren. And I think that that ought to 
temper the way that we deal with one another. There may be much 
spiritual ignorance even in a true disciple of Christ. Now that 
doesn't mean we have to point all of that out. That doesn't 
mean we have to say, there, see, you're not as bright as you ought 
to be. Hopefully it gives us a good dose of humility and charity 
as we live in this present evil age, knowing that our fellows 
may not be the brightest bulbs in the chandelier on particular 
articles of the faith. Matthew 11, 2 and 3, we see John 
the Baptist struggling with the messianic agenda, not the identification 
of Jesus as the Messiah, but as far as the Baptist is concerned, 
if he is in fact the Messiah, which John believed, why am I 
in jail? John sees that Jesus is out there 
doing glorious and wondrous things. Well, certainly he can bust me 
out of this jail that I'm in for not having committed any 
crime. So even John the Baptist has 
a perplexity there in Matthew's gospel in chapter 11. I've already 
alluded to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, the Jews seek signs, the Greeks 
seek wisdom, but we preach Christ and Him crucified. But as well, 
look at 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 8. The apostle summarizes this 
well. And he does it, I think, in a 
very charitable way. 1 Corinthians 2, it gives them, 
as it were, the benefit of the doubt. Had they known he was 
the Lord of glory, I'd like to think they wouldn't have nailed 
him to a tree. They obviously didn't know that He was the Lord 
of Glory. That's why they did nail Him to a tree. Notice in 
verse 8, which none of the rulers of this age knew. Well, back 
to verse 7. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the 
hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory. 
which none of the rulers of this age knew. For had they known, 
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." They would 
not have crucified. If they had known who he was, 
again, benefit of the doubt, I'd like to think they wouldn't 
have put him up on a tree. But then notice as well the statement 
here. I don't want to leave this passage 
without admiring the turn of phrase. They crucified the Lord 
of glory. How do you possibly put that 
sentence together without the hypostatic union? How do you 
possibly put that sentence together without what Cyril would later 
identify as the communication of idioms? How do you talk about 
crucifying the Lord of Glory? Well, you do so based on the 
nature of the Redeemer, based on the person, rather, of the 
Redeemer, one person, two natures. You crucified the Lord of glory. You put to a miserable death 
the one who is, in fact, the Lord of glory. So Peter objects, 
and that brings, thirdly, and finally, the affirmation of the 
divine plan. So Peter says in verse nine, 
far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you. Jesus 
doesn't ignore him. Jesus doesn't just let this slide. 
Jesus doesn't say, well, you know, he's just a bit of an ignorant 
fellow. Hopefully he'll learn once we go through the rest of 
the gospel narrative and I do my thing, then he'll see. It'll 
be crystal clear. No. Jesus wants to nip this in 
the bud. This is godless thinking. This 
is satanic thinking. This is trying to block up the 
progress of God Most High, the plan and purpose of God Most 
High. Notice what he says in verse 
23. He turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You are 
an offense to me, a scandal, a stumbling block to me, for 
you're not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. So the nature of the rebuke is 
a sharp one. Get behind me, Satan. Again, 
he goes from, blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and 
blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven, 
to get behind me, Satan. Can you imagine the look on Peter's 
face? Huh? What? I don't know what 
just hit me here. This is quite the move or quite 
the shift in terms of the particular narrative. J.C. Ryle says, the 
error that drew from so loving a Savior such a stern rebuke 
to such a true disciple must have been a mighty error indeed. 
Brethren, as we've moved our way through John's gospel in 
the recurring emphasis on Jesus' identity with the Father, the 
Father sent me, I am the one sent. Jesus certainly calls them 
children of the devil. I don't want to diminish that 
in John 8, 44. But I haven't seen yet where he tells these 
Jews, get behind me, Satan. Now, they're challenging him 
at the level of nature. They're challenging him at the 
level of divinity. He's claiming the man to be God. He makes himself equal with God. He doesn't rebuke them, not that 
he doesn't rebuke them, but he doesn't rebuke them in this manner, 
the way he does with Simon Peter. This isn't according to the humanity 
thing. This is a covenant of redemption 
thing. This is the surety of a better 
covenant thing. This is the means by which he 
comes to save us from our sins. If he takes Peter's counsel, 
if he listens to Peter's rebuke, if he does not go to Jerusalem, 
if he does not suffer at the hands of godless men, if he does 
not die and be raised again the third day, then we're all dead 
in our trespasses and sins. Ryle goes on to make that statement. He says, error on many points 
is only a skin disease. Error about Christ's death is 
a disease at the heart. You cannot be wrong here. You 
can be wrong in some heads of theology. You can be wrong in 
some articles of religion. But you cannot be wrong on the 
death of Christ. You cannot be wrong on substitutionary 
curse bearing. You cannot be wrong on atonement. 
You cannot be wrong on behold the Lamb of God who takes away 
the sin of the world. Those are sufficiently clear 
doctrines revealed by God. Now, intriguingly, Jesus uses 
this language with the devil himself in Matthew chapter 4, 
verses 8 to 10. He rebukes the actual devil, 
and there the particular temptation. The Son of God was promised universal 
dominion. The devil says it can be his 
right now if he bows before Satan and rejects the plan of God. 
In other words, he can receive the crown without the cross. So he says, get behind me, Satan. He rebukes the devil. Now, when 
we come back to Matthew 16, he's not actually identifying Peter 
as the devil. He's not looking through Peter 
at the devil. He is using a very stern and 
strong rebuke to show the necessity laid upon him by the Father for 
us men and for our salvation. He is declaring his resolution. 
He's declaring his resoluteness, rather. In Luke's gospel, it 
says that he was steadfast, or he set his face steadfast to 
go to Jerusalem. I like the old King James. He 
set his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. That invokes 
the servant song of Isaiah. He does this, again, because 
this is the plan and the means by which he saves us from our 
sins. So the Lord does not look through 
Peter to the devil behind him. The Lord does not actually identify 
Peter as the devil. The Lord rather does rebuke him 
for objecting to the divine plan. In other words, anything that 
would throw Jesus off the mission, anything that would throw Jesus 
off the divine necessity that he must suffer, that he must 
die, and that he must be raised again is satanic in its origin. It is absolutely devilish. It 
is contrary to the plan and purpose of God Frantz says the same Peter 
who had just spoken what God had revealed to him, verse 17, 
is now speaking for Satan. Just as the third temptation 
in chapter 4, 8, and 9 had been to achieve worldly power by accommodating 
himself to Satan rather than attacking him, so now Peter's 
vision of Messiahship represents the easier way to power and authority. He says, the gains without the 
pains. And that was never the plan, 
never the purpose of God Almighty. That first announcement in the 
garden, that first statement concerning the gospel, we have 
a deliverer, a man born of a woman, and a man born of a woman that 
would affect salvation for his people. He would affect the crushing 
of the serpent through his own suffering and through his own 
death. So from the outset, the very first announcement of gospel 
salvation, We see the suffering and the death of the Messiah. 
Now notice, Jesus says, get behind me, Satan, you are an offense 
to me, for you're not mindful of the things of God, but the 
things of men. Peter was pronounced a rock when 
he confessed the truth about Christ. Now he is called a stumbling 
block when he tries to block up the truth about Christ. He 
goes from essentially being a good rock to a bad rock. He goes from 
being a spokesman of the father to a spokesman of the devil. Davies and Allison make the observation, 
Peter, up against what Paul called the stumbling block of the cross, 
himself has become a stumbling block, an obstacle tempting Jesus 
to leave the path that goes through Gethsemane and Golgotha. It makes 
sense, right? No suffering for you. No hardship 
or affliction for you. You're the Son of God. That means 
regal power and glory. It means victory. It means the 
subjugation of all peoples under you. Peter could recite Psalm 
45 in terms of the majesty of the Messiah and his conquering 
power, but it's that humility bit that he missed. It's that 
humility bit that the unbelieving Jews in the first century missed. 
It is that humility bit that the health, wealth, and prosperity 
teachers miss. They don't see that the cross 
precedes the crown. They want Jesus to go from Jerusalem 
straight to heaven while bypassing Gethsemane and Golgotha. And 
then in terms of the rejection of the divine plan, Peter could 
not conceive the necessity of a suffering Messiah. He was not 
alone in the first century. He's not alone in the 21st century. 
There are those who can't see it. They don't understand. They 
don't realize. Why do you Christians follow 
this Jesus? Why do you celebrate his death? That seems a bit macabre. That seems a bit odd. That seems 
a bit grisly. Well, we know without that death, 
there's no salvation. Without that death, there's no 
forgiveness. Without that blood, there There's 
no remission. That's why we celebrate it. That's 
why we sing of it. That's why we remember it in 
a special way with actual emblems and symbols that he gives us. 
Eat this bread, drink this cup. Why? Because you remember the 
broken body of our Savior and the shed blood of the Savior. 
Again, outside the church, that seems a bit bizarre. Did you 
know that in the early church, the Christians were accused of 
being cannibals? They were accused of being cannibals because they 
celebrated the Lord's Supper. And this whole idea of eating 
the flesh of Jesus and drinking his blood suggested something 
odd. It suggested something contrary 
to natural reason. So Peter couldn't conceive of 
that. As well, Peter did not understand the Old Testament 
Scriptures concerning the Messiah. The Old Testament prophesied 
his suffering. The Old Testament prophesied 
his death. The Old Testament prophesied his resurrection. 
Simon Peter doesn't get that. He does, obviously, and this 
is one of the means by which he does, as Jesus is teaching 
him, the divine scripture. But as well, Peter had a triumphalistic 
view of the Messiah. a triumphalistic view of the 
Messiah. This is something that is a perennial 
problem in Christianity. I mentioned health, wealth, and 
prosperity, but it also goes to mainstream churches as well. 
Oh, we're children of the king. No bad thing should ever happen 
to us. Yeah, but the king said bad things are going to happen 
to you, right? If the king said in this world 
you will have tribulation, then guess what? In this world, you're 
going to have tribulation. When the king's chief apostle 
to the Gentiles says all who desire to live godly in Christ 
Jesus will suffer persecution, guess what? There's no bypassing 
Gethsemane and Golgotha. that we would ever go through 
Gethsemane and Golgotha. But the point is, is that we 
must pass through a veil of tears prior to entrance into the celestial 
city. That's paradigmatic. That's the 
way it goes. The last sinner saved is probably 
the most fortunate sinner on the face of the earth. Notice 
I didn't say lucky. Fortunate. Peter tells us, consider 
the long-suffering of our Lord to be salvation. What does that 
mean? It means there's a specific number of sinners needing to 
be saved before Jesus comes again in glory. What's holding up the 
plan in terms of Jesus' return? There are sinners to be saved! 
Imagine being that last sinner, confessing faith in Jesus Christ, 
and then the Son of God returns. That sinner doesn't know as much 
of the pain and affliction and the hardship in terms of the 
veil of tears that the rest of us go through. So Peter had a 
triumphalistic view. Spurgeon says, the pith, that 
means sort of the focus or the center of the error, was that 
Peter looked at things from the point of view of human honor 
and success, and not from that grand standpoint in which the 
glory of God and the salvation of men swallows everything. Peter was operating under that 
mindset that you see later in chapter 20. Lord, grant that 
we may sit on your right and sit on your left. Again, I'm 
not picking on these disciples. They are new in terms of Messiah's 
presence. They are new in terms of Messiah's 
influence. They're obviously new in terms 
of some understanding of those Old Testament Scriptures that 
spoke of the suffering and that spoke of the death. We're not 
going to chastise them. Jesus does later. He says, if 
I've been so long with you and you still do not understand, 
So in the best of men, there's still that remaining, not corruption 
even, but that ignorance. Well, in conclusion, we ought 
to appreciate, in the passage, the commitment of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. When He says He must do what 
He does, He is doing that for us men and for our salvation. As well, the Lord Jesus is the 
Christ, the Son of the Living God. That confession is made 
previously in verse 16, and that means consistently with that 
confession, all the things specified by the Father for that Son of 
God, who takes on our humanity must obtain. He must suffer, 
he must die, he must be raised again. The Lord Jesus Christ 
carries out the demands placed upon him, even suffering and 
death on the cross. I had said earlier, you can't 
get the death of Jesus wrong. You just can't. You can get eschatology 
wrong. You can get, you know, baptism 
wrong. I don't want you to, and you 
shouldn't, and there's sufficient data so that you shouldn't, but 
you can go to heaven even if you don't embrace the specific 
teaching of scripture. But you can't when you don't 
understand who Jesus is. Listen to Spurgeon. Now, Spurgeon 
and guys subsequent to Spurgeon had to deal with people who were 
denying substitutionary atonement. I mean, it's so commonplace today 
that to find a church that actually espouses substitutionary atonement 
is the odd thing. Wow, they actually preach Christ's 
name crucified in the manner that's specified by God. That's 
the odd thing out today. But there was a time when the 
church, in her better days, really understood the cross. But at 
the time of Spurgeon and subsequent Machen, you'll see this a lot 
as well, people were denying those things. People were reneging 
on the biblical truth concerning the atoning work of Jesus. Listen 
to Spurgeon. He says, those who at this date 
revile the substitutionary sacrifice of our Lord are fonder of the 
things that be of men than those that be of God. They are allowed 
in their claim to be great philanthropists, but sound theologians they are 
not. Humanitarians they may be, but 
divines they cannot be. They may be friends of man, but 
they are not the servants of God. He's lumping them in with 
this objection, no, far be it from you, Lord. It's not about 
substitutionary curse-bearing. That's precisely what it's about. Behold the Lamb of God who takes 
away the sin of the world. Brethren, hold that doctrine. 
Don't let go of that doctrine. Keep it with you wherever you 
find yourself, because it is that, the doctrine of Christ 
and Him crucified and resurrected, that stabilizes the people of 
God, that solidifies the people of God, that enables them to 
persevere by the grace of God to the celestial city. Well, 
let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
You for Your Word. We thank You for this passage 
of Scripture and for what it teaches concerning that divine 
necessity laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of His 
passion. We thank You that He went to 
these lengths to save us from our sin, and we rejoice in Your 
loving kindness to us. And we pray in His most blessed 
name. Amen.