Explore the Bible: March 15
Following Jesus • Matthew 16:13-26
By Joe McKeever
Before looking at this week’s lesson, it’s always a good idea to pause and read the text. The focal passage is Matthew 16:13-26, but reading the entire chapter is good.
In the biography of a hero of the Second World War, I noticed one colleague said of him, “He was a great leader, but a terrible follower.” I’m still mulling that over, not sure whether it’s a compliment or a major flaw. Our Lord seems to specialize in taking faithful followers and turning them into outstanding leaders.
In making leaders, Jesus instructed them first to become followers. “He who would be great among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:26 NASB).
Our text deals with two huge issues: The identity of Jesus (16:13-20) and His expectations for all who would be His disciples (16:21-26).
THE IDENTITY OF OUR LORD (Matthew 16:13-20)
Nothing in Scripture is more basic than this.
Jesus knew it would not have worked for Him to step onto the stage and declare, “Hey, everybody! Look at me! I’m the Messiah.” That was not His way and it would not have worked.
Our Lord did works and preached sermons designed to reveal who He was. He expected people to listen closely, to pay attention, to think matters through, and to come to the right conclusions. For instance, after the two “feeding miracles” (five thousand in Matthew 14, and four thousand in Matthew 15), in Matthew 16:8-11 Jesus admonishes the disciples for not learning the truths those miracles were meant to communicate.
In our lesson today, Jesus is taking a poll, we might say, to see how His message is getting across. “Whom do people say I am?”
Their answers were all over the map.
The gospels depict the disciples working these matters out in their minds. A case in point is Matthew 14, where our Lord walked on water. After the event was over, we read, “And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘You are certainly God’s Son” (14:33).
Don’t rush past this. There is no one “in the boat” but His disciples. We must not conclude that once they became followers of Jesus, these men automatically knew everything there was to know about Him. They were learning more and more all the time.
The gospels and the epistles go to considerable lengths to say how special Jesus is.
As the great Dr. John Bisagno famously said, “Jesus Christ is everything God had to say about Himself!”
C. S. Lewis had a word for those who would say, “I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” Lewis said we cannot let that go unchallenged.
He said, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice…. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (Mere Christianity, the chapter entitled “The Shocking Alternative.”)
Once we learn Who Jesus Is, we look at His call to discipleship.
EXPECTATIONS OF THOSE WHO WOULD BE HIS DISCIPLES (16:21-26)
• The twelve still had so far to go, so much to learn. Even their leader, Simon Peter, failed the test in 16:22. The Lord’s rebuke of him must have been stunning to everyone.
• Those who would follow Jesus will be expected to make the ultimate denials: deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Jesus. Each of us gives up our own plans, we take His agenda for us, and we obey Him.
Our Lord asked two questions of those considering whether to follow Him: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (16:26 NASB)
In the Robert Bolt play (and the movie by the same title) “A Man for All Seasons,” Thomas More repeatedly deals with a sycophant named Richard Rich. Rich is always angling for appointments to high office, even though he is qualified for none. At More’s trial (which was followed by his beheading), Rich testifies against him. More notices Rich is wearing a medallion to indicate high office. “It’s for Wales,” Rich explained. “Oh Richard,” said Thomas More, “It profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. But for Wales?”
There is no greater privilege in this life than to be called a servant of the living God.
McKeever is a member of First Baptist Church, Jackson.