Matthew 16:21-27

We are all brought up to believe certain things about the world. Most of us were taught that our solar system is made up of nine (or more recently, eight) planets, each of which has an orbit that revolves around the sun. But if we had been brought up 500 years ago, we would have been taught that the earth rests at the center of the universe and that everything, the sun, the moon, all the planets, revolve around us.In the 1500’s none of us would ever have believed Copernicus when he said that the earth revolves around the sun. That was completely upside down!But every so often there comes along some thinker who is able to see the world differently from the rest of us, and who eventually changes everything about the way we think. Just think how differently the generations after us might think about the world we live in now. Remember we also used to think that the earth was flat. Do you really suppose that somehow, in our generation, we’ve figured it all out? I don’t think so. I think there is yet a great deal that we believe about the world that future generations will find silly. There must be things that we look at upside down that someone will eventually turn right-side up.

It can be easy for us to lose sight of just how revolutionary a figure Jesus really was. He really did turn the world upside down. Look with me, if you will, at the passage that we just read from Matthew. This is the story of when Jesus called our patron, St. Peter,“Satan.” “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus says. Pretty harsh. I mean, I’ve been called some pretty nasty things in life, but no one has ever called me Satan … at least not yet. So what’s going on here? What would make Jesus call one of his best friends such a despicable name? What was so wrong with the way that Peter saw the world that Jesus needed to turn it upside down?

If you remember back to last week, just before this passage that we read today, Peter has just confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, which is a good thing to confess. But the argument that Peter and Jesus are having today is an argument about what it means for Jesus to be the Son of God. Jesus says plainly that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer and die and then be raised to life again on the third day. But Peter doesn’t like that at all; Peter has a different idea about what it means for Jesus to be the Son of God. So, Peter takes Jesus aside gives him a piece of his mind, he “rebukes” him. (Can you imagine “rebuking” Jesus!?) You see, the way Peter sees the world, what Jesus should do is ride into Jerusalem, and take the city over by force, and rule the world as a successful king. But Jesus turns Peter’s world upside down: Jesus would ride into Jerusalem, and suffer and die, and save the world as a sacrificial king. This is the difference between looking at the world spiritually, as Jesus does, and looking at the world like Peter, as if all that mattered was worldly success. The things of God versus the things of men.

You see, contrary to Peter, Jesus had a deep faith that there is a way above all this worldly chaos, God’s way, a way of true life. And Jesus knew that the most powerful thing you can do with your life is sacrifice it to God. And in sacrificing his perfect life, Jesus bought us freedom, and spiritual communion with God, and everlasting life. And compared to the violent takeover that Peter had in mind, Jesus’s vision not only turned the world upside down, but also ultimately saved the world from sin and death. Peter wanted Jesus to go the way of the world, but Jesus knew that it is the way of the cross that leads to true life.

Now, you may be wondering what all this has to do with you. What different does it make that, two thousand years ago, Jesus chose the way of the cross? And I want to end on this note, just by saying two things. First of all, Jesus’s death and resurrection is the only thing powerful enough to be able to save us from as big a spiritual problem as sin and death. If Jesus had had the things of men in mind instead of the things of God, if Jesus had raised an army and marched into Jerusalem to be a worldly king—which is surely could have done if he wanted—this would still not have solved the problem of sin and death in the world. Only Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross can deal with our sin and wipe us clean; Jesus’s precious death is the only thing worth enough to purchase us everlasting life. So, for Jesus it had to be the way of the cross instead of the way of the world. And that had everything to do with us and our eternal salvation.

But there is another thing that we have to learn from this story. Immediately after talking about his own death on a cross, Jesus tells his disciples that if we are to follow him, we too must take the way of the cross. We too must allow Jesus to turn our worlds upside down. Naturally, we want to “save” our lives; like Peter, we want to have security and success and happiness in this world. It can be so easy to lose sight of God in the midst of the constant, hectic motion of our lives. But Jesus warns us that if we bury ourselves in our own lives, we will actually lose ourselves. Because the world does not in fact revolve around us, Jesus says, it revolves around God. And therefore, the most meaningful thing you can do with your life is present it as a sacrifice to God, give it back to him, spend your life with Christ for the sake of his kingdom. Because if we give our lives to God, as an open sacrifice to him, we will find that in the end, when the Son of Man returns in his Father’s glory with all his holy angels, we will enter into everlasting life, by the mighty power of his cross and resurrection. Amen.

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