Matthew 16:21-17:13
Dear RTB’ers,
All four gospels have specific “turning points” in Jesus’ earthly ministry. Here’s Mark 8:31: And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. Luke’s turning point is in 9:51, When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set his face to go to Jerusalem. John has his turning point in 12:23, And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Finally, today’s first verse has Matthew’s turning point, very similar to Mark’s: 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 on the third day be raised. (v. 16:21) This is the first note that we get from Matthew of Jesus’ death and resurrection. And, not surprisingly, in the very next verse we see that the disciples don’t get it – in this case, specifically Peter!
Then, Jesus’ Transfiguration is the first incident after his turning point in Matthew’s gospel. I think it would have been tough to be Peter. First we saw Jesus rebuking him in the previous chapter. (v. 16.23) Then Jesus takes Peter up with Him to the top of the mountain for His Transfiguration. In the midst of that glory, Peter stumbles again, wanting to build tents and hang around a while. (v. 17:4) Then on His way down Jesus tells these three disciples not to speak of this revelation until He has been raised. How could they possibly keep quiet at what they just saw!! Then He tells them again of the suffering that He must undergo: But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. (v. 17:12) Another message of suffering, after seeing Jesus in all His glory! Yes, for Peter, confusion. For us, salvation!
Blessings!
See also:
“Yes, for Peter, confusion. For us, salvation!” Very true, Fred! At this point in the story, how could the disciples not be confused? The only reason we aren’t confused in the same way is that we already know the rest of the story — the Cross, the Resurrection, the Second Coming. But even though we know the rest of Jesus’ story, I daresay that many of us remain confused about suffering — our own suffering, that is. We swallow whole swaths of the “prosperity gospel” heresy, buying such books from Christian book stores. We look for health and wealth and happiness, and we think that anything that smacks of difficulty or pain must be eradicated. We are sure that God never causes suffering and that if He “allows” any such suffering in someone’s life then it’s obviously because of sin in their life or a lack of faith on their part. We are like Job’s friends, confident that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. And so our faith crumbles when we experience pain and difficulty. Let’s not be so confused. Let’s believe the real Gospel. As we approach Lent, let’s consider the full meaning of Matthew 16:24-26 and whether our ideas of suffering fit into what Jesus says.