Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 17A)
August 30, 2026
Text: Matt. 16:21-28
Peter had just made the great confession, “You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16; ESV), revealed to him, not
by flesh and blood, but by God the Father Almighty Himself. But from that
great height, a great fall. As the Lord Jesus preaches to His disciples what
He must do as the Christ of God… namely, go to Jerusalem and suffer many
things at the hands of chief priests and scribes, be killed, and on the third
day rise again (in other words, the work of our salvation… the Sacrifice of
Atonement for our sins)... As the Lord Jesus preaches that, Peter takes
Him aside and rebukes Him! “Far be it from you, Lord!”
Over my dead body. “This will never happen to you” (v. 22).
He had the best of intentions, here, didn’t he? He loved Jesus, and he
wanted to protect Jesus. He wanted to save Jesus. But that’s
just it, isn’t it? Peter is not authorized to save Jesus.
Jesus has come to save Peter, and save us all. And He will
do that by means of the cross. His blood. His death. There is
no other way. But Peter doesn’t like it. “There must be
another way for You to be the Christ, my Lord. Do a miracle. Snap
Your fingers. Just say the word. Or, lead an army. Or a
public relations campaign. They’ll get behind you. You don’t have
to suffer. You can sidestep the cross. Straight to the glory.
Straight to the throne.” Whose voice has Peter become? Who else
tempted Jesus to take such a shortcut? You know. “Get behind me,
Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind
on the things of God, but the things of man” (v. 23).
Peter wanted a cross-less
Christ. That is our temptation, too. We don’t want the Christ of God’s
design, of our Father’s sending. We want a savior on our own
terms. See, if we could be the designers of our salvation, it
wouldn’t be much different than Jesus’ disciples expected. A charismatic
Leader who gains a following, takes over governments one by one (probably by
military force, or in our case, perhaps, by popular election), eventually
becoming Lord of the world, rewarding those loyal to Him with honor and eternal
life (and that means us), but crushing and eternally damning all those bad
people who (unlike us) are His enemies. According to this scheme, Jesus would
never have to suffer. And we would never have to
suffer, either. Jesus would win… we would win by the sheer and
obvious righteousness of our cause. And, because our Jesus is
all-powerful. No cross. Oh, we want the cross around as a
decoration, to dress up our triumphalism. Just no actual blood and agony
and death.
But see, that is setting our mind on the things of man,
rather than the things of God. That is not the salvation God
designed. Among other things, it’s far too optimistic about ourselves (as
though we’re in the special club of those those get it, as opposed to
others who will never get it), and far too pessimistic about God’s mercy
in Christ (as though there are sinners beyond God’s mercy in Christ
because they are worse sinners than us… failing to see that we are
those worse sinners). And when we turn this into a theology… what
we call the theology of glory (as opposed to the theology of the
cross, where God’s Son suffers, and we suffer with Him, as He has
promised)… when we turn this into a theology, we become… whose voice?
You know. “Get behind me, Satan!”
Contrary to every fallen
human instinct and expectation, Jesus doesn’t save the world by winning wars
and elections. He doesn’t come in a blaze of glory to obliterate His
adversaries and rescue us all by sheer might. Jesus saves the world by giving
Himself up to it… up to us… and for us. In
sacrifice. That is the theology of the cross. Jesus surrenders
Himself into the hands of His enemies. That’s how He does it.
It probably disappoints you. It disappointed Peter, too. And the
other disciples. And me. Because we think the things of men.
Tread carefully, here, though, beloved. Do not resist this (that would be
resisting the Holy Spirit). This does not call for your resistance, but
repentance. A turning. A change of mind from the
things of men, to the things of God. The cross. It is the only way.
The rebuke is hard to
take, isn’t it (“Get behind me, Satan!”)? Considering Peter meant
only good? Considering that now the rebuke is aimed at you and
me? But this is something we need to understand about God’s rebukes,
which is to say, the raw and honest preaching of God’s Law… not just to those
others (the bad people), but to us (turns out, the bad people, i.e. the
sinners). When God… when Jesus Christ, God’s Son… rebukes us, it is an
extraordinary act of His love for us. He is calling us back.
Back to Himself. He is calling us to turn. He is changing our
mind. It hurts. Yes, it does. It is death to Old Adam.
But He is bringing us to repentance. So that we don’t cling religiously
to this earthly life, and so lose our life entirely. But that we lose our
life with, and in, Him, and so save it eternally. The cross.
Jesus tells us plainly: “If
anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me” (v. 24). See, it’s not even a case of, “Yes, Jesus had to
suffer and die to win the Kingdom, but now that that is over with, we
can live triumphant and victorious lives where we only win all the time.”
Beloved, if you think that (the things of men), what does that say about the
Apostles and martyrs who suffered for the rest of their lives, and died horrendous
deaths for the Name of Jesus? What does it say about those who will be
killed this very day because they go to Church? What does it say about
Peter, himself, of whom our Lord said, “when you are old, you will stretch
out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want
to go” (John 21:18)? John tells us Jesus said this “to show by
what kind of death [Peter] was to glorify God” (v. 19), and that is crucifixion.
This is to say, beloved, that the Christian life is cruciform. The
disciple is not above his Master. The disciple follows the
Master. He goes the way of the Master. And that means the
way of the cross. If Jesus suffered, you will suffer. If
Jesus was crucified, you will bear the holy cross.
Now, His cross is
for your salvation, and the salvation of the world. His cross alone
makes atonement for sins. Why, then, does He lay crosses and suffering on
you? Not to make satisfaction for sins. That is, He isn’t punishing
you. But He is disciplining you… discipling you. He
is forming you. Molding you. Shaping you. So that you look
like Him. He is toppling your idols. Especially your
self-righteousness, and your self-sufficiency. He is burning away the
dross. Lutherans don’t believe in Purgatory, because it’s not in the
Bible, and it contradicts the biblical doctrine that Christ alone makes
satisfaction for our sins. But we do believe in a purging, a cleansing, a
purifying as through fire. That doesn’t happen after this life,
but in it, here, now. God robs you of all the things you fear,
love, and trust above Him. So that you’re left only with Him. And
that’s the point, isn’t it?
It is eternally good for
you. And it is eternally good for your neighbor. Jesus
suffered the cross for you, and now, as you walk in His train, bearing
His image, you suffer the cross for your neighbor. That is
all the stuff St. Paul is talking about in our Epistle (Rom. 12:9-21). It
is the continuation of last week’s preaching of our bodies as living
sacrifices. That is, giving yourself for the sake of the neighbor.
Genuine love. Abhorring what is evil (even, and especially, when that evil is
in you). Honoring one another. Yes, even that person (you
know). Zelous for the things of God. Fervent in spirit.
Serving the Lord, by serving His people (service… self-giving).
Rejoicing in hope. Patient in tribulation. Constant in
prayer. Contributing generously to your neighbor’s needs, and showing
them hospitality. And lest we deceive ourselves, we’re not talking about
loving theoretical neighbors in general. We’re talking
about the flesh and blood people in your life, including especially those
sitting around you at this very moment. And even, and especially the ones
that hardest to love. Jesus never loved those who were easy to
love. He didn’t sacrifice Himself for those who deserved it. Only
for the hardest to love, and least deserving. You. And me.
But what is the goal of
all of this? Suffering to what end? Not for its own sake. God
is not sadistic. Jesus’ suffering has two purposes: 1. It is the
fulfillment of justice. Someone has to pay for the sins of the
world. Someone has to pay for your sins. You
should, but you don’t. Jesus did. Because He loves you, and
wants you to live, and be His own. And 2. Had Jesus not died, He couldn’t
be raised from the dead. There is no resurrection without death. So
He was crucified, dead and buried, that on the Third Day, He be raised from the
dead. And you are crucified with Him in your Baptism into Christ,
so that you can live even now in His resurrection, and be raised by Him,
bodily, on the Last Day. The goal of the cross, beloved, is eternal
resurrection life! Who could imagine that? Well, not you and
me. Not Peter. Because, these are the things of God. God has
to reveal them to us. Think those things. Set your mind on those
things. Not your own things.
Because that is your life
and salvation. Christ crucified. St. Paul declares, “we preach
Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those
who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God” (1 Cor. 1:23-24). Don’t try to save Jesus from it. Or
yourself. This is how Jesus saves you. Surrender to it, as
He did. And what will be the result? You’ll find your life.
It all flows from the cross. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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