Jesus does not end his conversation with Peter with a
rebuke. Rather Peter’s challenge to Jesus’ mission serves as the impetus for
Jesus to make his clearest statement about the nature of discipleship in the
Gospel of Matthew. In 16:24, Jesus articulates clearly and positively what it
means to live as a follower of Jesus Christ.
NIV Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If
anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me.
Verse 24 serves as the center of Jesus’ portrait of
discipleship.
A Key Assumption
Before looking at the details of this verse, we need to put
this passage into its proper context. The Gospel of Matthew needs to be read in
a missional context. Discipleship at its heart is missional. Jesus calls
disciples in order to multiply his own work of making disciples. This is clear
in the climactic passage of Matthew (28:16-20). This text, better known as the
Great Commission, centers on Jesus’ exhortation to “Make disciples.” Thus, we
need to read 16:24 and its call to discipleship within this overarching
framework of mission which undergirds Matthew’s portrait of discipleship.
Movement
Discipleship implies movement. Look at our text. “If anyone
would come after me…follow me.” This verse begins and ends with words about
movement. At its heart, being a disciple of Jesus involves movement. Why
movement? If we desire to be missional, we have to embody a “go to” mentality
rather than waiting for the world to come to us. As we read through the Gospel,
Jesus was always on the move. He didn’t wait for persons to come to him. He
moved around the countryside and served the people as he met them in their own
contexts. Furthermore, when large crowds did surround him, Jesus slipped away
and moved on to others who needed him.
Discipleship simply means following Jesus. Too often today
we think of “following Jesus” as “following Jesus’ teachings.” This is correct
as far as it goes. As Jesus’ disciples we are to be shaped by a Jesus ethos.
Yet, Matthew goes out of his way to make it clear that the Risen Christ resides
with His Church on Mission. Matthew’s Gospel is framed by two references to
Jesus’ presence: 1:23 and 28:20.
NIV 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to
a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”
NIV Matthew 28:20b And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age.”
Thus, following Jesus involves literally following our Risen
Savior into the world for mission. Jesus resides with his people.
To where does Jesus ask us to follow him? As we read the
Gospel we find many clues:
1) To those desperate for the things that only God can
provide. Jesus routinely interacted and served those on the margins of society:
lepers, blind, tax collectors, demoniacs, children, etc (see especially Matthew
8-9).
2) To the crowds who were “harassed and hurting as sheep
without a shepherd.”
Jesus served those neglected by the religious and righteous of his day. Jesus
motivated by compassion (9:35-38) called on his disciples to look upon the
fields ripe for harvest and to pray that God would send additional workers. In
10:1ff, Jesus empowers and sends out the twelve to serve the world.
3) Perhaps most radically for his original Jewish audience, Jesus
reached out to all nations. This is subtle in most of the Gospel. Jesus’
earthly mission was to the people of Israel. There are exceptions, such as the
healing of the Centurion’s servant (8:5-13). The Genealogy also suggests that
Jesus has a wider mission by tracing his lines back to Abraham. As Son of
Abraham, Jesus lived to fulfill the promise to Abraham from Genesis 12:3 “all
peoples will be blessed through you.” The scope of Jesus’ mission becomes clear
in 28:16-20. There the Risen Jesus unleashes his disciples into the world to
“make disciples of all nations.”
Thus, we may conclude that if we seek to follow Jesus, Jesus
will lead us to serve and make disciples of all peoples. He will call on us to
break down boundaries that separate people. He will push us to pay attention to
the very people that polite society and self-absorbed religionists are happy to
ignore.
Reflection:
1) To whom is Jesus leading me?
2) Have I embraced mission as the principle function of
following Jesus
3) How would my life be different if I embraced movement as
essential to discipleship?
©
2015 Brian D. Russell
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