The Suffering of Jesus
You may be seated. And no, I am not Brad! My name is Joe. For those of you who don’t know me, I am from the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. I need to tell you a little bit about who I am so you understand why I preach the way I preach and why I do the things I do.
I am Hispanic, and God made Hispanics with something called sabor. Say it with me: sabor. That means flavor. And yes, I’ve got a little bit of flavor in me! Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, right behind Haiti. It is the poorest country in Central America. If you know Central American history, you know Nicaragua has been filled with war and poverty. Man, I am so grateful to be in this country. Yes, we have our issues here, but this country is great, and I am grateful to God to be here.
People ask me, “Pastor, why do you preach with such passion? Why do you lift your hands in worship like that?” Let me tell you: because I’ve gone through some things in my life. I’ve been broke. I’ve walked through poverty and war. When you go through stuff like that and you see God bring you out, you can’t help but give Him the honor and the glory! Is there anybody in this room who has gone through some things in life? Amen. You can clap! That’s fine.
Now, I must warn you before you send your emails: I am high energy. I speak fast and I talk fast. We Hispanics don’t do things halfway. When you go to a Hispanic party, you’re going to get a lot of food and a good time! I’m that neighbor keeping you up at 10:00 at night with the music going boom, boom, boom. That’s me. I went through therapy, I went through Re:Engage, I went through Celebrate Recovery—and this is just how God made me. On top of that, God allowed me to serve on staff at an African American church for eight years, so I bring a little soul when I preach. Every Sunday at Iglesia La Fuente, our Spanish ministry, they talk back to me. They tell me, “Come on, Pastor! Preach, Pastor!” I’m used to preaching with a choir and an organ. So don’t be scared if this feels different. When you get to heaven, you can ask Jesus why He made this Latino a little loco, and you can take it up with Him!
The Question That Changes Everything
If you have your Bibles, open them to Matthew chapter 16. We are in our series called Made Ready. Say it with me: Made ready.
If you were with us recently, you learned about a choice you have to make. Choosing to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior is a one-time event, and it comes down to the question Jesus asked Peter and the disciples: “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The answer to that question determines the entire destiny of your life. You can try all the diets in the world and try to better yourself, but if you don’t answer that question, you will end up with the exact same results year after year.
Who is Jesus to you? Is He just a religious leader? Is He someone you visit on Sundays or Thursdays? Or is He truly the Son of God who changed your life?
Let me make this very clear: you will not get into trouble just for talking about “God.” Believing in a generic “God” is safe. Everybody is comfortable believing in some concept of God. But believing in Jesus as the resurrected Christ—the One who took your sins to the cross—will get you into trouble. The moment you step out in faith and confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, your world gets turned upside down. A lot of people play it safe. But I hope you can say today: “Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. He redeemed me, He is changing me, and He is the Lord of my life.”
Let’s read from God’s Word in Matthew 16, beginning in verse 21.
Matthew 16:21-28 (NASB)
From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid [it], Lord! This shall never happen to You.’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.’ Then Jesus said to His disciples, ’If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ’For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ’For 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? ’For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS. ‘Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.’
When you were growing up, whether in Latin America or California, you probably played the game Follow the Leader. Remember that? Follow the Leader was great until the leader decided to jump a fence or do something you were terrified to do. It’s easy to follow when the leader does things you like, but the moment they ask you to do something uncomfortable, it gets hard.
In this passage, Jesus is going to tell His disciples what it really means to follow Him. He is blunt and alarming. Peter doesn’t want to hear it, but Jesus gives them a lesson on following the Leader—Jesus’ style.
Jesus Takes the Cross
Look at verse 21. The writer marks a major shift in direction. From that time on, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised on the third day.
Matthew 16:21 (NASB)
From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
From this point forward, everything points to the cross. Jesus teaches them that the cross was necessary.
Understand this: Christianity without the cross is satanic. In Roman times, the cross was the ultimate symbol of shame and execution for criminals. Today, people want a Christianity centered only on social justice and good deeds. There is nothing wrong with good deeds and social justice, but true Christianity is far deeper than that. Some people say, “I don’t need the cross. I’m a good person. I do nice things.” But the Bible says all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
That’s why the old hymn says, “At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away…” Without the cross, you and I would still be at war with God. Without the cross, we would stand condemned, deserving judgment and hell. I am so grateful for the cross of Jesus Christ!
Nothing was of greater importance to the Apostle Paul than the message of the cross.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NASB)
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Paul made it clear that he had nothing else to boast in.
Galatians 6:14 (NASB)
But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
People boast about their sports teams—the 49ers, the Dodgers, or in my case, the Giants. But I want to boast in the power of the cross! At the cross, my sins were wiped away. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, I am redeemed. Tell your neighbor: “I am redeemed by the cross of Jesus Christ.”
The Trap of Our Own Expectations
There are two people I can’t wait to meet in heaven: Jesus, and Peter—or as we say in Spanish, Pedro. I want to meet Peter because he is a classic Type-A personality who constantly put his foot in his mouth, just like me.
Look at verse 22. Jesus starts talking about suffering and dying, and Peter pulls Him aside and actually tries to rebuke God! He gets spiritual and says, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!”
Matthew 16:22 (NASB)
Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid [it], Lord! This shall never happen to You.’
Peter believed Jesus was the Messiah, but he wanted a Messiah who existed to fulfill Peter’s personal expectations. Before we judge Peter, how often do we do the exact same thing? We want a Messiah who provides us a spouse, boosts our self-esteem, advances our career, and fills our bank account. As long as He does what we want, we’ll carry our cross. But the moment He doesn’t measure up to our agenda, we push back.
Look at how Jesus responds in verse 23:
Matthew 16:23 (NASB)
But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.’
Jesus rebuked him harshly because Peter was focused on man’s agenda, not God’s will. Peter didn’t yet understand that the path to glory goes through the path of suffering. The Messiah receives His kingdom by way of a Roman cross and an empty tomb.
Jesus had thousands of fans who showed up for the miracles, but He had very few disciples. A disciple is someone who has decided that following Jesus takes precedence over everything. A disciple looks and acts like the One they follow. If you choose to be a disciple, you will experience conflict. The moment you surrender your life to Jesus, you enter into the conflict of discipleship. Who is going to disciple your life?
The Cost: Deny Yourself and Take Up Your Cross
Look at verse 24. Jesus says, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.”
Matthew 16:24 (NASB)
Then Jesus said to His disciples, ’If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Notice He says, “If anyone wishes…” Not everyone will want this. Lots of fans say, “I love Jesus,” but when they encounter the cost, they pull back.
The first requirement of a disciple is to deny yourself. That means you must be willing to say no to yourself when what you want contradicts what God wants. That is completely countercultural. We are taught from childhood that life is all about me, me, me. But Jesus says, “Say no to you.”
He is not telling you to give up football or makeup. The focus is not on external things; the focus is on your will. For example, I worked in food service for twenty years. I can cook tuna any way you want, but I still hate it. I will give up seafood for Jesus any day of the week! But if you come to this sweating preacher and tell me I have to give up my four tacos with habanero salsa from Don Pepe’s—now we’re going to have a conversation!
We love to follow Jesus when He asks us to do things we already like. But the real question of discipleship is this: Do you choose Him when what He asks is not what you want? Does the buck stop with Jesus? To say yes to Jesus, you have to say no to yourself.
You have to hand over the keys and say, “Lord, You run my life. I renounce my right to be the chief authority.” We do this by yielding to the Holy Spirit rather than living by the flesh.
Next, Jesus says we must take up our cross. In the first century, the cross wasn’t a piece of jewelry or a metaphor for a bad day or an annoying in-law. It meant one thing: excruciating, humiliating death.
Luke adds a crucial detail in his Gospel account:
Luke 9:23 (NASB)
And He was saying to [them] all, ’If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Carrying your cross is a daily decision. In order to experience a resurrection, something first has to die. I cannot carry your cross, and you cannot carry mine. We must each crucify our flesh daily.
Galatians 2:20 (NASB)
’I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the [life] which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Why did Satan use Peter to try to talk Jesus out of the cross? Because Satan knew the cross would be his total defeat! By going to the cross, Jesus dealt the decisive blow to the enemy. That’s why Satan tries so hard to keep you away from the cross. He wants to keep you living in shame, guilt, and bitterness. But when you take those burdens to the foot of the cross, you find complete forgiveness.
Hospital or Hospice?
Jesus says, “Follow Me.” To follow means to walk in His footsteps and go wherever He leads. It will cost you your comfort, your pride, and sometimes even your relationships.
Matthew 16:25-26 (NASB)
’For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ’For 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?
If you are critically ill and go to the hospital, the doctor tells you that you need surgery. If you refuse surgery, how can you expect to get well?
The church is a hospital for the wounded. In a hospital, the goal is healing and transformation, even if the surgery is painful. A hospice, on the other hand, is designed merely to keep a dying person comfortable. Too many believers are looking for a hospice church—a place to keep them comfortable in their spiritual condition—when what they desperately need is a hospital where God can perform open-heart surgery.
Every time you sit under the Word of God, He wants to put you on the operating table. He wants to cut out the bitterness, the pride, and the sin. But when the scalpel touches us, we pull back and say, “Wait, Lord, that hurts! I don’t have time for this.” Are you looking for comfort, or do you want true transformation?
Jesus reminds us that eternity is real:
Matthew 16:27-28 (NASB)
’For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS. ‘Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.’
Judgment is coming, and Jesus will return in glory. Those who lose their lives for His sake today will share in His eternal reward. The disciples caught a glimpse of that kingdom power on the Mount of Transfiguration, in the empty tomb, and at the Ascension.
There is no cheap, lazy way to follow Jesus. But there is no greater, wiser, or more rewarding path in all of eternity.
Total Surrender
Don’t waste your life on things that don’t matter. Pursue the cross.
There is a massive difference between commitment and surrender. We break commitments all the time—just look at our broken New Year’s resolutions! God isn’t looking for a casual commitment; He is looking for total surrender. Surrender means raising the white flag and saying, “Lord, I come to Your operating table. Deal with my past, deal with my present, and take my future.”
In India, there is a Bible institute led by Dr. Samuel Thomas. At their graduation ceremony, the climax comes when the entire graduating class stands and recites a declaration that goes like this:
“Today I stand as a dead man. I declare that Jesus is the Christ. I am saved by His blood, dead to sin, and no longer dead in my sin. Today I declare that I surrender my will and my life to His will. I shall go where He sends me without asking questions. I shall go without seeking fame. I shall preach to everyone, even if they hate me. I am an ambassador of the cross and must deliver the message. I shall pour my life out to reach my family, my friends, my neighbors, and my city. I embrace the shame of the cross, and I fear nothing but God. I welcome suffering, shame, and persecution.”
You cannot find God’s purpose for your life while you are still clinging to your own agenda. Let this be the season where we die to self so that we may experience the power of Christ’s resurrection.
Let’s pray together.
Father, we love You and we thank You for Your Word. We thank You because You are good. Many of us in this room, including myself, have areas of our lives that we need to put to death. We bring them to the cross today. Break our stubborn will, Lord. We step onto Your operating table and ask You to heal us, change us, and transform us. We don’t want to be mere fans; we want to be true disciples of Jesus Christ. We surrender our lives to You today. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray, Amen.