"Moving beyond our adversaries"

Matthew 16:21-28

Pastor Tom Johnson, August 31, 2014

Jesus just praised Peter for living up to his name and being a rock. Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah and the eternal Son of God is a solid foundation to build his church. Now Jesus puts a negative spin on the same metaphor. Peter is not behaving as a foundation stone now but a stumbling stone to Jesus’ mission. Jesus mission is to go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, and rise again from the dead. You can hardly blame Peter for being against such a plan—especially since it includes pain, distress, and loss of life. But this is Jesus’ mission. It’s why he was sent by our heavenly Father—“not to be served but to serve and give his life a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28).

Scripture says that “Jesus was tempted in all things” (Heb 4:15). And I think that is the point of Jesus’ rebuke of Peter. Peter stumbled into saying something that added to Jesus’ struggle. Through Peter, he hears the voice of the adversary—which is what Satan means. Jesus heard the voice of the adversary before. Satan put three stumbling blocks before him while in the wilderness for 40 days. Jesus confronts each temptation with Scripture and faithfulness to his mission. Jesus will pray in the garden just moments before his arrest, “Lord, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will but your will be done” (Mt 26:39). He will pray for a way out of pain and loss. In his humanity, he will tempted again to neglect the very purpose for which he was born, which is to confront evil and death in his body and soul. That is why Peter’s words add to Jesus’ distress. “Get behind me Adversary,” Jesus says to Peter “I will not fall into the trap of thinking that the cross and empty tomb are optional.” His rebuke tells us it is absolutely necessary for Jesus to fulfill his mission.

Poor Peter! Foot-in-mouth syndrome again! Like Peter, I don’t want other people to suffer and die—let alone Jesus, Messiah and Son of the living God! I find that particular frightening, don’t you…that even out of the kindness of our hearts we can align ourselves with the powers of evil? It seems enough that we not maliciously tear people down with our words or put up obstacles that prevent them from fulfilling their calling. This is the voice of the adversary—a hostile opponent—someone whose words tear us down. You know that voice—the voice of the adversary—that says, “You disappoint me. You are a failure. You will never amount to anything. You are undesirable—unwanted. You don’t have what it takes to succeed. You will never fulfill the mission God has called you to.”

God forbid that we be the mouthpiece and personification of pure evil to those around us! We are called to speak well of others, build them up by truthful words, putting the best construction of everything, and relating to those around us with empathy and compassion. James says something disturbing about our speech as well. He says “the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness…set on fire by Gehenna” (James 3:6). Our tongues, as it were, are ignited by the spiritual refuse of the world. There is something truly evil going on when we cut others down by our words, our actions, or even a disapproving look.

God forbid that we, in the privacy of our own hearts, speak or entertain adversarial thoughts to ourselves! I’m not just talking about low self-esteem here. I am talking about something far worse—meditating upon and taking to heart lies about ourselves. The devil does not need our assistance at beating us down that we should beat ourselves down. I believe this is what Jesus means when he says to Peter, “You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” There are enough adversarial voices out there in the world ready to speak a discouraging word. That choir needs no new members! And here is where I, like Peter, ought to raise my hand and say, “Guilty as charged.”

It may be tempting for us to think that Jesus is overreacting when he confronts Peter—that his words are just the wrong words at the wrong time. But Jesus’ reaction reveals just how high the stakes are when we carelessly speak. They can be part of a diabolical attack. You’ve heard the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” That too is a lie. Words hurt like…well, you get the point. Jesus reminds us that the words we choose to use with one another are the weaponry of spiritual warfare. Jesus reminds us that this is not just a battle over our vocabulary; it is an assault on our very souls. It is a battle over and for our minds, bodies, and spirits. And so, Jesus calls us to govern our minds—to set a watch over our thinking—to put a guard over our mouths—to make sure we are living our lives free of satanic lies and worldliness. As the Apostle Paul says, we are called “to hold every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:5). Or, as Jesus calls us, “take up your own cross and follow me.”

Jesus refuses to be hindered from going to the cross. And here we learn a great lesson about divine wisdom. By his suffering, being killed, and rising again from the dead, Jesus overcomes all stumbling stones. By Christ’s obedience on the cross, he defeats all our adversaries—the stranglehold sin has on our lives, guilt, and death itself.This is the good news! This is the Gospel! In Christ we are set free, adopted as God’s royal children; we are accepted, forgiven; we have the assurance of his love and eternal life! In exchange for an adversary we now have an Advocate. He is on our side. He suffers, dies, and rises again for us. When the reality of divine things start to filter through and overcome the human obstacles of our thinking, we begin to take up our cross and follow Jesus. And I believe one thing this means is following Jesus’ example of overcoming our adversaries as he did. When we hear the voice of the adversary—when someone tries to cut us down, belittle us, diminish us with their words and actions we ought to remember Jesus’ example: “Get behind me, Adversary!” “Out of my way, stumbling block! To my rearview mirror, lies and temptation! In Jesus’ Name, I will not let those words stick or keep me from moving forward! My eyes are on the cross where I have true joy, a new identity, worth, purpose, and the assurance of the grace of God. In his cross, we have the victory over our most wicked adversaries—sin and death. In the empty tomb, we have eternal life. Jesus must go on to the cross. And so must we.