THE LIFE OF CHRIST - THE MINISTRY OF WITHDRAWALS
Fourth Withdrawal
-Jesus Teaches Regarding His Upcoming Death, Burial, Resurrection and Kingdom
-Matthew 16:21-28; Mark 8:31-9:1; Luke 9:22-27
-From this point forward, Jesus began to teach the disciples about His upcoming death, burial and
resurrection.
-Upon hearing this information, Peter rebuked Jesus. With his expectations of a triumphant
establishment of an earthly kingdom, Peter did not want to accept the fact that Jesus would be
killed by the hands of men.
-“The prediction that Jesus had just given was so foreign to the impetuous Peter’s conception of
the Messiah that he would not admit that Jesus has spoken the truth. Peter was in earnest; his
love for the Master, and his courage and determination, with his misconception of the
nature of the kingdom of God, would not let him accept such a program for Jesus” (Dorris, p349).
-Quickly, Peter digressed from his wonderful confession of Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of
the living God” to boldly rebuking Jesus.
-The disciple thought that he knew better than the Master.
-Jesus then turned, looked at the disciples and rebuked Peter.
-In His rebuke of Peter, Jesus applied the same word to Peter as He did to Satan himself in Matt. 4:10.
-Coffman, in his commentary on Matthew aptly pointed out the following: “There was kindness (and
a reprieve) for Peter in the Lord’s reply. Instead of saying, ‘Get thee hence!’ as he said to Satan
previously (4:10), he said, ‘Get thee behind me!’ Peter was commanded to forsake his role as
instructor and resume that of a follower. Peter’s place was behind Christ, as a devoted disciple, not
in front of Christ, a position as assumed when he objected to Christ’s words about his approaching
death and resurrection” (pg 256).
-Peter had become an offense (stumblingblock) toward Jesus in the fact that he was opposing His
Divine mission and purpose - to serve as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.
-“He was unconsciously trying to dissuade Jesus from the death on which the salvation of the world
depended, and this was working into Satan’s hand” (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 416).
-Let’s remember that Jesus’ path toward His death upon the cross was certainly not an easy one!
He did not need those closest to Him urging Him to follow a different course. Such urging
would make a very difficult path even worse.
-In rebuking Jesus, Peter was pursuing his own will (the will of men) in accordance with his own
thoughts and understanding, not in accordance with the will of God carried out in God’s wisdom.
-Using Peter’s pursuit of self-will, Jesus then called the people together with the disciples (Mark 9:34)
and utilized the opportunity to teach a valuable lesson.
-In order to properly follow Christ, we need to set aside self-will. Jesus must become the priority,
for whom we are willing to put forth an effort and pay the necessary cost - always knowing that it
pales in comparison to what He set aside for us and the cost He paid on our behalf!
-Physical life itself should not be placed above/before our service to the Lord. To preserve physical
life by turning from Christ is to forfeit what is most important - spiritual life. If we remain
faithful, even to the point of forfeiting physical life (Rev 2:10), we have the promise and assurance
of spiritual life.
-“The love of this temporal life is a great temptation to men to deny Christ, and to renounce his
holy religion. To save one’s life means to deny Jesus in order to enjoy present ease and comfort
and to escape persecution, prison and death. Whosoever will suffer the loss of all things earthly,
and even life itself, for Christ’s and the gospel’s sake will save his soul. This is the only way to
be saved. (2 Tim. 2:11-13.) This is self-denial. The life that is preserved or supported by
disobeying Christ is a lost life” (Dorris, pg 200).
-Nothing ranks as more important or more valuable than eternal life for the soul. Everything - the
accumulative value of all that is in the world - still pales in comparison to such importance and value.
-“Peter and the rest of the apostles had been thinking about a worldly Messianic kingdom, with
its profits and rewards. Jesus shows the worthlessness even of the whole world in comparison
with the rewards of the true kingdom ” (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 416).
-Nothing can be given or bartered for one’s soul. A person “…cannot possibly find an
equivalent; the ruin will be irretrievable, and therefore perpetual. He can never redeem it.
He is lost forever” (Dorris, pg 201).
-We must live our lives in view of the fact that Jesus will one day return with His holy angels.
-At that time, all will be held accountable and judgment will be rendered to every person.
Let us always strive to live in such a way that, at that great day, our Lord will not be ashamed
of us but, rather, will claim us as His own!
-At this point, Jesus then shifted the focus to His “coming in His kingdom”. This is clearly a reference
to the establishment of the prophesied kingdom. Notice, it would take place during the lifetime of
some of those to whom Jesus was speaking.
-This serves yet another crushing blow to the false doctrine of premillenialism. The prophesied
kingdom is not yet in our future but was established long ago. The kingdom is the church.