Jesus Makes Demands & Un-Masks His Deity

Matthew Series | Matthew 16:24-17:13 | Pastor Duane Smets

This week is an exegetical sermon on Matthew 16:24-17:13 where Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship, the meaning and purpose of life, and then peels back the veil and shows a few of the disciples a glimpse of his full deity. This sermon was originally preached on July 25th, 2010 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.

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The Resolved Church
Pastor Duane Smets
July 25th, 2010

Jesus Makes Demands & Un-Masks His Deity
Matthew 16:24-17:13

I. The Cost of The Christ (16:24-28)
A. Killing Yourself to Live
B. Living For The King
II. The Christ of The Cross (17:1-13)
A. The Beloved Son
B. The Beaten Son

Introduction

Today for the time when we show and express our love and worship to God by reading, studying and preaching through his book, The Bible, we’re back in Matthew and we’re looking at sort of the second half a sequence of events and conversation that Jesus has with his disciples right after a major shift has taken place in his three year ministry on earth. In chapter 16 we entered into the last phase of Jesus’ life and ministry, probably the last few months. In just three chapters we will enter Jesus’ last week of life on earth before his death and resurrection.

So what we see in these chapters really from here on out is a ramping up from Jesus. He ramps things up by being a lot clearer than he’s ever been about who he is and what he is after and all about. So some of his words are harder and more demanding and some of his deeds are more fantastic and revealing.

In our last time together in the book of Matthew we looked at this phenomenal passage where Jesus queries his disciples and asks them…”what are people saying about me, who do they think I am?” They give various responses and then he says…”okay, now who do you think I am?” Peter then speaks up for the rest of the disciples and says “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus seems somewhat excited at this response and basically says, “Yes! That’s it. That’s who I am and what I’m going to do is start a church and the gates of hell won’t prevail against it.” But Peter and the rest of the disciples mishear and misunderstand Jesus because they think Jesus wants to start a war instead of a church and they get all excited and are ready to fight. That’s what Peter basically tells Jesus…they’re ready to fight and they won’t let anyone kill him, their leader. I think maybe all he heard was the “gates of hell” part and his inner dude complex came out and he was like…”Yeah, now we can finally fight!”

Sadly, some people think that’s what being a Christian and being part of a church is all about…going to war with the culture and people and fighting against them…thinking we’re the good guys and they’re the bad guys, it’s us versus them, and we got to protect ourselves from them and if they ever come near us either run away or throw our Bible at them.

Where we left off two weeks ago with this story was with a summary of Jesus strong statements to the disciples.  He is the Christ, the Messiah. His main mission on earth was to create the church. The way he creates is by giving up his life to death and then rising again. Whoever and whatever attempts to stop or stand in the way of that comes from Satan and will not be successful.

This week, we pick up the second half of a whole sequence of conversations and events which go together…so today we look at what Jesus’ strong statements mean for his followers, like us, and then one of the most sublime scenes of Jesus where he shows who he really is in all of his glory. So let’s read the text and pray over it and work through it. Matthew 16:24-17:13.

I. The Cost Of The Christ (16:24-28)

First let’s look at “The Cost Of The Christ.” The disciples have just confessed Jesus as the Christ. Jesus has admitted that he is in fact the Christ. The disciples have said they are willing to fight to keep Jesus from being killed. But Jesus says fighting to keep him from being killed is from Satan. Now Jesus goes a step further, flips that on its head and pretty much says says if you really want to be my disciples you have to willing to kill yourself in order to live. Let’s check it out.

A. Killing Yourself to Live

In verse 24-25 Jesus says, “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.” What’s he mean? That sounds kinda of cryptic at first glance doesn’t it? Sort sage, wordsmith, philosopher status or something…

Let’s break it down into parts…that makes it easier. “If anyone would come after me…” This is clearly discipleship language. Remember Jesus goal is not just to get people to confess his name and pray some prayer as some sort of magical spiritual trick that gets you into heaven. He is after people who will follow him…”come after me” means a life of following Jesus. That’s what it really means to be Christian, you follow Jesus…not just following him on Twitter and Facebook but you are living life with Jesus day in and day out just as if you were physically there on earth with those disciples and Jesus literally following him around.

That’s not easy. Which Jesus knows. So he says, look if you’re going to come after me, you’re not going to be able to unless you deny your “‘self’ and take up (your) cross” in order to follow me. What’s that mean? This is a radical statement. Probably one of the most gnarly things Jesus has said to the disciples yet in his entire ministry.

First, what is to deny one’s self? Does that mean if you ever feel good or get any pleasure from something or do anything for yourself that is bad and you shouldn’t do it? No. As we’ll see in a second in Jesus’ logic he is really appealing everyone’s true for life, for happiness and satisfaction in life. Even the man who hangs himself does so pursuing a happy and better existence. Plus, on top of it God is a God who is all about pleasure.

In Isaiah 46:10 God says, “I will accomplish all my pleasure.” And in Philippians 4:4 he commands us to be happy. “Rejoice in the Lord, I say it again Rejoice.” So Jesus can’t mean here, don’t do anything you like…anytime you think you might enjoy something, just deny yourself and that’s the way you follow me. If that’s true then what does he mean?

There’s a key word here, which will actually make things worse for a minute. Look at the word “cross” there. This is big. I mean Jesus says this before he even went and died on the cross. But crosses and crucifixions were common. It was the most common form of execution in the land. And often times in war they would crucify their enemies…so you could go outside the city gates and just see fields with hundreds and thousands of crosses up at one time. Everyone knew about crosses and most had eyewitnessed crucifixions. They had seen many solider make men physically pick up a cross and drag it up on a hill to a place where they would then be crucified on that very cross.

We are so detached from this. Let me try and make it a little more real for you. In the US, which does practice Capital Punishment, the two forms of execution are electric chairs and lethal injection. The last person executed in California was in 2006 for killing three people and he was put to death by lethal injection.

So let me read Jesus’ words this way…for our culture. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up lethal injection needle and follow me.” “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his electric chair and follow me.”

What!? What are you saying Jesus? Is Jesus some crazy cult leader who is telling us all to drink cyanide in hopes that we catch a ride on Haley’s Comet like the Heaven’s Gate group up in Rancho Sante Fe a few years back?

That’s what he could’ve sounded like here, initially. But he helps us out here. Look at verse 26, “For 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?” These are rhetorical questions. The answer to both is ”nothing.”

If you gain the whole world and yet miss out on the meaning and purpose of life itself…you gain nothing. What can a man give in exchange for life? What object or relationship is more valuable than life itself? Nothing. The cross then, here, according to Jesus, is not only a physical reality but also a metaphor for the meaning and purpose of life itself.

HBO has a new documentary out called “Lucky” which follows the lives of five people who win the Lottery. Seventy percent of people who come into large sums of money end up squandering it and thirty percent end up committing suicide.

Quang, was a Vietnamese immigrant who won $22 million dollars. Before winning the Lottery his family was close, worked hard and loved and depended on one another. Now he and his wife don’t know what to do with themselves so they built five houses in a row on the same cul-de-sac just to try and keep the family together…but everyone is lost and confused.

James was a homeless bum who won $5 million. He got himself cleaned up and bought a house…but didn’t know what to do with himself. So he decided to sell the house and now he’s a bum again and lives in a motel and gets a different hooker every night.

Kristen and Steve were a middle class couple who one $110 million. They ended up buying all kinds of stuff and moving to Florida to live on the beach. But now they admit they have no idea who they are anymore and can relate to no one and are extremely lonely.

Robert was a professor, a Mathematician, who won $22 million. His wife ended up divorcing him, he lost his job, so he decided to move to California and just start life all over again.

Buddy was from a small town. He won $16 million and spent money on all kinds of crazy stuff. Several people including family members tried to kill him to get his money. But then he ran out and ended up in debt. He ended up having to get rid of everything and now lives in a shack and works for a minimum wage sorting mail for a old friend.

Every single one of the people in these stories gained the whole world and yet seemed to forfeit their soul. A few years back Chuck Klosterman actually wrote a book titled, “Killing Yourself To Live” which asks this question by taking a trip to the death sites of two famous rock and roll musicians who committed suicide, Duane Allman from the Allman Brothers and Kirk Cobain from Nirvana.

Some of you probably remember where you were when they died. I remember. I was a Sophomore in High School in the middle of pottery class when we heard about Kirk Cobain’s death. Girls literally started crying. Klosterman’s underdeveloped thesis in the book basically boils down to classic postmodern existentialist cry that we are all searching and longing for meaning but there is none to be found. For Klosterman, he would agree with Jesus…if you gain the whole world, you gain nothing…but for Klosterman there is no alternative, there is no difference in how or what you live for, there is no soul to be redeemed.

Jesus offers an alternative…another way to live and something much greater to live for. For him. For his sake. “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

B. Living For The King

Let’s look at this closer, “Living For The King.” Verse 27-28, “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.”

First, notice Jesus says, “for.” “For the Son of Man is going to come.” “For” then means that because the Son of Man is going to come with all his glory, we don’t have to gain or give anything in order to get life…because if we have the Son of Man, Jesus…then we have everything. He is life itself from heaven. Do you see that? You can’t gain the whole world get life and you can’t give to get life FOR life comes the Son of Man who is the author of life. He must give it.

Life is not something we can gain or acquire. You can try, you can try until you amass everything the whole world has to offer and you still will not gain life. You see you cannot earn your own salvation. Salvation comes from the Son of Man from heaven.

Neither is life something you can give anything for. There’s nothing you have, no material or immaterial possession you can give to God in order to get life. Salvation is not for sale from God, it is the gift the Son of Man brings.

If this is true, then what it implies is we don’t need riches and we don’t need health for happiness, because when it comes down to it those things are not the substance of life. Life is something more, something greater and that greater thing, the heart and the essence of life and happiness itself…is Jesus!

This passage holds out something greater for us to live for than just life here on this earth. Jesus! With excruciating pictures of death and a cross Jesus tells us the meaning of life is not found in stuff but in him. Everyone will die and no one takes anything with them.

Matt Chandler is a well-known fellow Acts 29 pastor who re-planted a church in Texas called The Village. Last year he developed a tumor on his brain that turned out to be cancer and has had surgeries and chemo and all kinds of stuff. In a recent interview he talked about his experience with cancer, you can go check it out on the Act 29 website. In it he says something interesting the doctor told him.

The doctor said, “You could get killed in a car wreck on your way home today…nothing’s really changed for you – you just get to be aware that you’re mortal. Everyone is, but they’re just not aware of it. The gift that God’s given you is that you get to be aware of your mortality.”

So here’s Jesus point. He says something here to help remind us of our own mortality and calls us to give up the pursuit of anything but him. Give up thinking anything will satisfy us and give a greater joy than him. Denying one’s self doesn’t mean living a sad and poor life without any joy, it means denying the temporary fleeting pleasures which most often end up causing pain and destruction. Denying one’s self means denying the temporary joys in order to hold out for the greater joys that come from knowing Jesus. If you have Jesus than you can handle anything and your life is not over because your life is not about you…it’s about him, you exist for his sake!

The thing really before us today is…what we do with Jesus? Notice Jesus says, when he comes with his angels, he will repay each person according to what he has done. Well Jesus already said there’s nothing we ourselves can do to gain life. So what’s he mean? I think he means we will be repaid according to what we did with him.

Jesus just gives a few of the details here in verse 27, other places in the Bible give a lot more details out. The Bible says there is a day when Jesus will return to earth a second time and when he does he will not return in a poor carpenter’s robe as a humble suffering servant. Revelation 15 says that when he returns he will return as a warrior with a warrior’s robe dipped in blood and that he will come with an army of angels from heaven blowing trumpets, with a golden sash around his chest, he’ll have a sword, he’ll be riding a bright white horse, and his eyes will be glowing with the light of the sun.

On that day Philippians 2 says every knee will bow, Christians and non-Christians alike, and the one question Jesus will have to ask us each and every one is what did you do with me? Did you love me and believe in me and trust me? Did you deny yourself and follow me? Or did you deny me and follow yourself? What did you do with me? And Jesus will repay each according to what he has done.

Let me just pause and ask you…where are you at with Jesus? Are you living for his sake and his fame and success…or your own? Are you seeking the greater joy of knowing and being known by him or have you been pursuing other things hoping and thinking they might satisfy you? Have you been indulging in things you know do not please God and only bring destruction and misery to your soul or are you losing everything in order to have Jesus and not letting anything keep in the way and come between you and him? I’ll hit up a couple specific areas real quick.

Jobs…it is so easy to find an identity in a job. Think if you had just the right job with the right people and made the right amount of money and things went just right…then you’d be happy. We have to deny ourselves thinking any job can give us the life that only Jesus can.

Relationships…it is so easy to find an identity in a relationship, a boyfriend or girlfriend, a husband or wife, a son or daughter…thinking that if you just had the right guy or girl, or if your marriage was going just the way you wanted it too, if you just had the kids you wanted or if your kids would just behave the way you wanted them too…then you’d be happy. We have to deny ourselves from thinking any person can fully satisfy our need for a close relationship that never fails…only Jesus provides that.

Money…how about this one. We have to deny ourselves from thinking riches and things will make us happy. Debt and consumerism is a huge problem in America and in San Diego…we buy buy and buy even when we don’t have the money which just put it on the credit card. I’ve fallen into the trap with this one before.

Have you ever done this? Have you ever gone out to a meal and you just live it up, order whatever you want…you’re tired of saving and being careful about money…so you just let go. And then you’re sitting there eating and drinking like a king and you even start to wonder what the waiter thinks…You start to think I wonder if the waiter is wondering who I am and thinks I might be someone famous or important? You see how easily our wicked hearts creep in and corrupt things and why Jesus tells us to deny ourselves and know that life is not found there.

We must deny ourselves things that will not satisfy but only scar and warp us. C.S. Lewis once said, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

We all have areas we need Jesus to work in us in and to work deeper in us. Holy Spirit press God’s word into our hearts.

II. The Christ of The Cross (17:1-13)

Well, after Jesus mentions his second coming he turns to the disciples and tells them some of them standing right there would not taste death until they saw the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Now Jesus has not returned yet to earth for his second coming at this point. He hasn’t even left yet from his first coming…he’s still there. So what is Jesus doing here speaking of his second coming right then?

What he’s doing is actually quite phenomenal…instead of getting a taste of death Jesus gives them a taste of his heavenly glory to come. When he says some standing there would not taste death until they saw the Son of Man coming in his kingdom…the “some” refers to Peter, James, and John whom we read about right away in the next chapter who get to see a glimpse of the full glory of King Jesus as it will be when he comes.

I’m calling this section “The Christ of the Cross” because that’s really where the story ends up and also because I think when we read the stories of Jesus in the gospels we tend to get a picture or a view of him as merely being a man, a human being like you and I and he’s so much more.

In this next section, in verses 1-13 of chapter 17 we get to listen in and watch what happens when Jesus literally peels back the veil of his deity and allows his glory as the eternal son of God to shine forth. It is essential, utterly crucial that we recognize that the Jesus who died on the cross is the same Jesus we’re about to see…the one who underneath his human skin suit is the divine son of God who created the world and in whom dwells brilliant light and majesty.

A. The Beloved Son

So first let’s get the story in our heads and then we’ll look at what Jesus says about it. Jesus takes three of his disciples, Peter, James and John up on a high mountain. I’m not sure how all this went down exactly…maybe they all finally reach the top after an all day hike, it’s probably dark by then. Peter, James and John are tired and maybe they sit down.

But not Jesus. Jesus looks up to heaven and all the sudden his face starts beaming brighter than any light they have ever seen, like the sun. They can’t even look at him and make out his face because it is so bright. And it’s not just his face but his clothes. And then all the sudden two other dudes appear and are standing next to him talking to him.

This is nuts. It’s straight out of something from Comic-Con. Like some Jean Gray, Green Lantern, or Neo from the Matrix action. Matthew here uses the word, “transfigured” to describe it. Verse 2 says Jesus was, “transfigured” before them. The Greek Word behind the English Word “transfigured” here is literally “metamorphisis.” It’s literally saying Jesus metamorphisized before them.

What do you do with that? I mean you’re there, you’re one of the disciples. You’ve seen Jesus do some pretty crazy stuff, some pretty phenomenal miracles. But nothing like this. You’re sitting there and you’ve got to be thinking who is this guy.

Then…then all of the sudden there’s a voice telling you who it is. “This is my beloved Son with who I am well pleased, listen to him.” This is the exact thing you the heard a voice from heaven say when Jesus first started his ministry and was baptized by John. But now seeing Jesus blazing there in brilliant light…you’re realizing this guy is God’s Son is a way far beyond anything we have ever dreamed.

It’s stuff like this which helped the disciples realize that Jesus was really and fully God. It’s memories like this that got burned in their brains and passed down to the church so that songs, like the one in Colossians 1:16 were sung. Colossians 1:16 says, “By (Jesus) all things were created in heaven and one earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created by him and for him.”

The disciples here realized Jesus was God, the same God who created the world. They realized it. There’s a little textual clue. It’s in verse 6 of chapter 17. It says they “fell on their faces and were terrified.”

Why did they do that? Apparently they’re not worshipping, they’re downright scared. They are hiding their faces and are terrified because these three guys are Jews. They know the Torah. They know God says in Exodus 33:20 “no one may see my face and live” and they have just seen the face of God shining like the sun. They figure it’s done time. They weren’t supposed to see this. Somehow they did. The voice is upset. We’re gonna die.

But then there’s this beautiful little foretaste of the gospel and redemption. They are on their faces in fear and Jesus walks over to them and touches them, tells them not to be afraid…and then look at what Matthew says, verse 8, “When they lifted their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.”

In literature and writing that’s called a double entendre…where you are saying two things with the same words. Here, seeing Jesus only not only describes what happened but puts out a call to see Jesus only. These words have an imperative beneath them don’t they…do you hear it? See Jesus only. See who he is. Behold the fullness of all that Jesus is and put your trust in him. Jesus is the beloved and only Son of God.

This story is so good it seems almost too good to be true…you couldn’t dream up a better story because right after this majestic revelation of the deity of Jesus, when they’re coming down the mountain Jesus connects the dots for the disciples and tells them just how human he is as well and what he’s going to do for humans. Basically he says the Beloved Son is going to become the Beaten Son to the point of death.

B. The Beaten Son

“The Beaten Son.” It arises out of a discussion about Moses and Elijah and some questions the disciples have. I don’t know how they knew it was Moses and Elijah who were up there with Jesus, I’m guessing when they heard Jesus talking to them he heard them use their names. Essentially the disciples’ questions are one about sequence and order of events…which they’re all messed up on.

It’s usually what happens whenever Christians try to figure out what’s going to happen in the future…you get screwy ideas, like people disappearing out of airplanes and crazy movies called “Left Behind.” Here there’s some questions about Elijah’s return, the Messiah forerunner and John the Baptist.

We’re not going to get into any of that today. The final thing I want us to see this morning is Jesus prophecy of his own death here again…which is really the most important thing Jesus says in response to their questions and in lieu of all that just took place.

So look at verse 11-13, Jesus says, “I tell you Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.” John the baptist was killed. Jesus is saying here that he…the divine God-man…the one he has just peeled back the veil and allowed them to a glimpse of a his full glory…he is going to allow himself to be killed.

This is the wonder and the beauty of Jesus that “though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant…(and) humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Jesus never calls us to do anything he has not already done for us. Earlier he calls us to deny ourselves and pick up our cross and follow him. Here we see and hear Jesus deny himself all his heavenly rights and glory…all the acclaim, all the angels, all the light and recognition…and allows people to think him a mere human and a poor carpenter one at that…and then, and then allows weak, dumb, poor, sinful humans crucify him on a cross. What humility! What self-denial! What a God who would do such a thing for us to save us! The Beloved Son allows himself to become the beaten son.

Conclusion

Here’s how I want to conclude today. There are two basic thrusts to today’s text. Our self-denial and the splendor of the person and work of Jesus.

I think if we’re honest with ourselves we know we are all very self-centered and that it’s not good. We know we need to deny ourselves…and to a certain extent we may even try. Here’s the thing. If my message concluded by just saying, “so deny yourself, because that’s what you’re supposed to do” I think that would be crushing…because you won’t really be able to do that…at least for very long.

And that’s where the true power of this story comes alive in our lives because where it lead us to Jesus…to see him as he is, in the full force of who he is and what he has done for us. The more the that this amazing gospel grips our hearts…the message that God set aside his right to eternal glory and fame, denying himself and taking on our nature and then dying for us in our place…the more that gets ahold of us…the more it will change us and enable us to truly deny ourselves too and live for the greater glory of God.

We’re going to go to the Lord’s Table now and let’s go in these ways. Let’s remember who Jesus is, fully, and all that he has done for us, completely. Let’s repent of our own self-centeredness and fails attempts at self-denial. And let’s receive his grace for us, his body and blood given up on the cross to once and for all deal with our sin and unrighteousness.

Let’s pray.