Matthew 16:24–17:8 Passion prediction, bearing the cross, Transfiguration
(Psalm 41:7-10)
This passage is really all about the previews. This is what’s coming,
people. Coming soon to a theater near you… These previews are approved for all audiences…
Take up your cross and follow, has become a byword, and a slogan.
Things are just our cross to bear. Listen to more than the soundbite. Deny
themselves (ourselves) and follow Christ. Desire to save our lives, and lose them. Lose our lives for the sake of Christ, and gain them.
We focus on this as a discipleship passage. And it is. It is a passage
the should refocus us on what Jesus does, and that we are to be like
Jesus. Jesus gives up his life. Jesus carries his cross. For Jesus to save
his life would be to make his life a lie. We hear that temptation from the foot of the cross, though. Jesus manages to shift the focus off of himself and onto those around him. They (we) are the reason for his actions and for his life. How do our lives change when we are no longer at the center, but have chosen to place others at the center?
