Matthew 16:24, the word yourself, Jesus is not calling the body evil, he is not calling emotions evil, he is not calling gifts, personality, intelligence, memory, laughter, creativity or desire evil in themselves, Scripture gives no permission for contempt toward what God created. The self being confronted in Matthew 16:24 is the human will curved inward, the part of you that wants the things of men when God’s way becomes costly, it is the self that prays, your will be done and then quietly adds, as long as it does not touch this, it is the self that can sound spiritual, while resisting surrender.
Peter sounded loyal, that is what should unsettle you, his words were not vulgar, they were not atheistic, they were not obviously wicked, they were protective, reasonable, emotionally understandable and Jesus still called them a stumbling block, sometimes the most dangerous form of self-rule is not open rebellion, it is religious concern that refuses the cross. Paul later gives beliers language for the life that follows Christ into death and life, Galatians 2:20, Paul does not vanish from his own letters, his mind, affection, grief, boldness and personality are everywhere, but the old center of command has been crucified.
Christ now rules, Romans 6:11, dead to sin, alive to God, not less human, more rightly human, but Jesus does not stop with the word deny, he gives the image no 1st century listener could misunderstand, take up his cross. You hear that phrase through centuries of Christian art, architecture, jewelry and songs, they did not, a Galilean disciple hearing cross would think of Rome’s public terror. Crucifixion was not only a way to kill someone, it was a way to display power, it was shame made visible, a condemned person could be forced to carry the crossbeam through public streets while people watched.
The message was simple, this person no longer controls his own life, so, when Jesus says take up his cross, he is not talking about a bad day, an annoying co-worker or every ordinary hardship of life, scripture does not call every pain your cross. The cross in this context is tied to allegiance to Jesus and the cost of following him, Matthew 10:38; Luke 14:27, imagine hearing that before Calvary. The disciples do not yet have a polished theology of the cross, they do not yet sing about it as glory, they know what Rome does, they know what it means when a man carries wood toward execution, he is not negotiating terms, he is not protecting reputation, he is not managing a comfortable future, he is walking toward death.
Peter sounded loyal, that is what should unsettle you, his words were not vulgar, they were not atheistic, they were not obviously wicked, they were protective, reasonable, emotionally understandable and Jesus still called them a stumbling block, sometimes the most dangerous form of self-rule is not open rebellion, it is religious concern that refuses the cross. Paul later gives beliers language for the life that follows Christ into death and life, Galatians 2:20, Paul does not vanish from his own letters, his mind, affection, grief, boldness and personality are everywhere, but the old center of command has been crucified.
Christ now rules, Romans 6:11, dead to sin, alive to God, not less human, more rightly human, but Jesus does not stop with the word deny, he gives the image no 1st century listener could misunderstand, take up his cross. You hear that phrase through centuries of Christian art, architecture, jewelry and songs, they did not, a Galilean disciple hearing cross would think of Rome’s public terror. Crucifixion was not only a way to kill someone, it was a way to display power, it was shame made visible, a condemned person could be forced to carry the crossbeam through public streets while people watched.
The message was simple, this person no longer controls his own life, so, when Jesus says take up his cross, he is not talking about a bad day, an annoying co-worker or every ordinary hardship of life, scripture does not call every pain your cross. The cross in this context is tied to allegiance to Jesus and the cost of following him, Matthew 10:38; Luke 14:27, imagine hearing that before Calvary. The disciples do not yet have a polished theology of the cross, they do not yet sing about it as glory, they know what Rome does, they know what it means when a man carries wood toward execution, he is not negotiating terms, he is not protecting reputation, he is not managing a comfortable future, he is walking toward death.