For you, Jesus did what He had to do.

 

Sermon for Lent 1, Invocavit, February 21, 2021

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Matthew 16:21-23  ²¹From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised again.  ²²Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “May you receive mercy, Lord!  This will never happen to you.”  ²³But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a snare to me because you are not thinking the things of God, but the things of men. (EHV)

For you, Jesus did what He had to do.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

            Peer pressure and selfish interests have led to many a downfall.  How many parents have warned their children that bad company corrupts even good people?  It’s true, isn’t it?  We all warn our children to beware of friends that might lead them astray.  We don’t tell them that their friends are all bad, but that they need to be on guard against anyone that might try to convince them to experiment with drugs, casual sex, foolish driving habits, and any number of other assorted dangers.

On the other hand, it isn’t just our children that are at risk from peer pressure and selfish interests.  Perhaps, we as adults are even more in danger.  Once we escape our parents’ control, it is easy to buy into the world’s delusion that we are free to do and act and believe in any way we desire.  In our culture, obeying our feelings has become an almost ruling authority.  An “if it feels good do it,” attitude prevails.  If you want something, take it.  If someone offends you, destroy them in any way possible, especially from the safe anonymity of your computer keyboard or phone app.  Bully anyone who disagrees.  If you don’t like what the Bible says, deny its truth, or find some church or religion that takes away the conflict irritating your soul.  All of these are part of modern-day peer pressure. 

Peer pressure and self-interest rule when couples are encouraged to live together before marriage or when hooking up is viewed as just a fun date activity.  If a pregnancy comes at an inconvenient time, kill it.  If a marriage gets boring or tough, cut the cord and move on.  If life gets difficult, find someone else to blame, expect the government to eliminate any hardship, and by all means play the victim card no matter the real cause.  All of these things are evidence of sinful self-interest that rules our world, today, and likely pretty much always has.

We would like to teach our children to avoid all of that, but the reality is the problem isn’t just out there, it is right here inside all of us.  When sin entered the world, real love left us as hearts became cold, loveless, godless, and selfish.  We enter this world corrupted with the original or inherited sin that afflicts our whole world, and without intervention from outside the world, we would leave this life condemned to spend eternity in hell.

Peer pressure and self-interest were right there in the room when the events of our sermon text took place.  Jesus had something important to teach His disciples, but they didn’t like what Jesus had to say.  As so often was the case, it was Peter who spoke up.  He refused to accept His Lord’s prediction.  Self-interest was ruling the moment.  Peter could not accept His Lord, Teacher, and Friend dying, especially dying before His kingdom could be established.  Thus, when Jesus told His disciples that He had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised again.  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “May you receive mercy, Lord!  This will never happen to you.” 

Sometimes, selfishness seems like a good thing.  On the outside, Peter wanted His Lord protected from harm.  He wanted Jesus to be with them always.  Peter wanted to continue learning from the One he knew was his Savior.  In fact, Peter would soon be promising Jesus, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” (Mark 14:31) Still, the disciples suffered from the same affliction that had trapped so many other Judeans.  They expected the Messiah to establish a kingdom on earth, and with it, a grand future right there for those who followed Jesus. 

We see the same type of selfish thought when people question how God can allow suffering to continue in our world.  We see it when we ask why God would let someone we love die.  Peter had the audacity to reprimand Jesus for saying such a shocking thing.  Peter took on the role of one who would instruct God on how God should do things.  But, don’t think any of us are innocent in this type of arrogance.  How many of us are not at least occasionally guilty of telling God how we think things should be done when we pray?  How many of us have not complained when God doesn’t do what we say?

One person in this account would not allow self-interest and peer pressure to rule Him—our dearest Friend and Savior, Jesus.  For you, Jesus did what He had to do.

Matthew reported, “From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised again.”  Jesus told His closest friends that HE HAD TO DO THIS.  There was no other option.  Jesus wasn’t going through all this for vain self-glory.  Jesus didn’t do it because there would be benefit for Himself.  He wasn’t doing anything for any kind of earthly fame or fortune. 

Jesus had to go through this suffering and death, because it was the only way to save you and me from everlasting torment and separation from His Father in heaven.  Jesus had to do this, because it was God’s plan since before Adam and Eve fell into sin.  Jesus had to experience all that evil, betrayal, and pain because the Scriptures had to be fulfilled to the very last dot, so that the devil couldn’t win even one point in his rebellion against God.  Jesus had to do it, because His love for unlovable sinners, like me and you, simply wouldn’t allow the perfectly holy God-Man to do anything less.  Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this: that someone lays down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

When Peter foolishly assumed to protect Jesus and instruct Him in the way things should be, “Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan!  You are a snare to me because you are not thinking the things of God, but the things of men.’”  In that moment of selfish delusion, Peter had become an adversary to his Lord.  It was the devil tempting Jesus all over again to take an easy way out of God’s plan.  At the same time, to give up God’s plan to save would mean handing the victory to God’s enemy and allow the serpent to crush God. 

The peer pressure Jesus felt in that moment was one more terrible pain.  Jesus had been instructing these twelve men and many other followers for a good long time now.  He had never given any indication of setting up an earthly kingdom, and He had told them several times of the sacrifice He would make to save sinners.  Jesus loved all those people with an undeniable love, a love so great He was willing to bear any pain in order to free them from Satan’s chains.  It is the same love Jesus has for you and me.  For you, Jesus did what He had to do.

Because you and I are so often caught in selfish interests, and because we truly have often succumbed to peer pressure encouraging us to violate the commands God gave to protect us from the devil’s lies, and because we were all totally corrupted by the selfish nature we inherited from our parents, Jesus left His home in heaven to live for you and me.  For sinners like us, including all people, Jesus set aside the glory of His divine nature to live among us in poverty and meekness, never once putting His own thoughts or desires ahead of His Father’s will nor over what was needed to save us.

God had more than once declared, “The soul who sins is the one who will die.” (Ezekiel 18:20)  Because we are all born in sin, God told Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no human may see me and live.” (Exodus 33:20)  God’s perfect righteousness and justice could not allow sin in His presence ever.  Thus, without divine intervention, we all would have been lost forever.

At the same time, God is perfect love; therefore, God was willing to sacrifice, not His justice, or His truth, but God was willing to sacrifice His Son in our place.  St. Paul wrote under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “This saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.’” (1 Timothy 1:15)  Jesus did what He had to do, because “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)

If we truly examine ourselves in front of the mirror of God’s law, especially focusing on our thoughts and desires, we will find nothing but selfishness, broken promises, weakness, and rebellion. Yet, this is exactly why Jesus said He had to do what He had to do.  God’s Son recognized that we couldn’t save ourselves.  On our own, we couldn’t hold out any hope for our children.  On our own, we were destined to spend eternity in the pit of despair prepared for the devil and his wicked angels. 

Therefore, in His great love for us, God put Jesus in charge of rescuing us from sin, death, and the devil, and Jesus had no intention of letting you down.  Instead, because God loves each one of you in ways we cannot in this life fully comprehend or experience, Jesus suffered the betrayal and abandonment by all His friends.  He endured an unjust trial in which no one would speak a word in His defense even while lie after lie after lie was spoken against Him.  Jesus endured all the scourging, beating, and mockery that sadistic, trained torturers could dish out, and He willingly allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross to suffer and die, and to be humiliated with burial in a borrowed tomb. 

Then, so that you would know without a doubt that God is satisfied with this punishment for the sins of the world and that Jesus has removed your sins as far from you as east is from the west—so that you would know assuredly that those who believe in Jesus will not suffer God’s wrath but will live with Him forever, Jesus rose from the grave on the third day in glorious victory so that He could share His victory and life with you.  For you, Jesus did what He had to do.  Amen.

Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.