Proper 17
Preaching
PREACHING MATTHEW'S GOSPEL
A Narrative Approach
With this week's text we enter Part Three of Matthew's story. In our outline in the Preface we named Part Three: "Journey of Jesus to Jerusalem," Matthew 16:21--28:20. The key words that alert us to a new phase of Matthew's story are, "From that time on..." (see also 4:17). "From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must undergo great suffering...." The content of this new section of Matthew is not teaching! We enter a journey now, a journey to the cross. The cross of Jesus stands in the near future casting a strong shadow back across the terrain of Jesus' life and ministry.
Jack Kingsbury points out that Part Three of Matthew's Gospel is marked by conflict.
Here the conflict between Jesus and Israel (especially the religious leaders), which was foreshadowed in the first part of the story and which, in the second part, burst into the open (chap. 9) and then crystallized into irreconcilable hostility (chap. 12) runs its course to resolution in the passion and resurrection of Jesus (chaps. 26-28). The verse with which this third part begins, 16:21, prepares the reader already for the resolution of Jesus' conflict with Israel in at least two aspects: (a) it underscores the fact that there are three principals involved in Jesus' passion, namely, God (dei: "It is necessary"), Jesus, and the religious leaders. And (b) it reminds the reader that while all three desire the death of Jesus, the objective the leaders pursue is destructive (12:14), whereas that intended by God and Jesus is to save (1:21).1
Kingsbury goes on to point out that the journey motif is the literary device which gives the remaining chapters of Matthew their structure. This was a common literary practice in the ancient world (cf. Luke's Travel Narrative, Luke 9:51--19:27). Jesus has been engaged in travels in the earlier chapters in Matthew, but in these stories Jesus usually withdraws in the face of danger. From 16:21 on Jesus engages in a journey to Jerusalem, a journey into danger that is "necessary." This is God's plan for Jesus.
The second literary device Matthew employs to lend cohesion to this third part of his story is the passion-prediction. There are three such predictions (16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19), and these in turn are supplemented by a verse in the passion account itself which calls them to mind (26:2). These three passion-predictions are the counterpart to the major summary-passages found in the second part of Matthew's story (4:23; 9:35; 11:1). The function they serve is at least twofold.
On the one hand, they invite the reader to view the whole of Jesus' life story following 16:21 from the single, overriding perspective of his passion and resurrection. On the other hand, they also invite the reader to construe the interaction of Jesus with the disciples throughout 16:21--28:20 as controlled by Jesus' concern to inculcate in them his understanding of discipleship as servanthood (16:24-25; 20:25-28).2
Robert Smith refers to the relation of the cross to this passage as a death shadow that has hung over Jesus' ministry from the beginning when Herod first sought his life: Matthew 2.
Early in his ministry religious leaders charged Jesus with blasphemy (9:3, cf. 9:11) and collusion with Satan (9:34; 10:35; 12:24), and soon they plotted to destroy him (12:14). The execution of John the Baptist (14:1-12), Jesus' forerunner, presages Jesus' own fate. The plot thickened as resistance to Jesus spilled over to include not only local leaders but also Pharisees and scribes who came down from Jerusalem to observe, to debate, to test (15:1-20; 16:1-4).3
The immediate connection with this week's material and that which has gone before is that between 16:20 and 16:21. In 16:20 Jesus charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. One of the reasons that they were not to tell anyone is that Jesus has not as yet revealed to them the entire reality of his mission. In 16:21 Jesus begins to reveal to the disciples the suffering truth of God's plan (dei, "it is necessary") for his life. "I am a Messiah who has come to suffer."
Peter couldn't take this newly revealed reality. "God forbid!" Peter howls. "Let this not happen to you." Peter seems to appeal to the God whom he has just confessed (16:17) to be Jesus' father to rescue Jesus from "the necessity" of the Father's plan. Peter is presumptuous!
He is as presumptuous as he was when he asked Jesus to enable him to walk on water (14:28-33). Peter presumptively supposes that his plan can replace God's plan.
Jesus' reply to Peter is that Peter is driven by Satan when he suggests such a plan. (See our Chapter 4 on the work of Satan in Matthew's Gospel.) Just moments before, Peter has been commended by Jesus for his confession. Jesus had told Peter that his confession was revealed to him by his Father in heaven (v. 17). Now it is Satan who drives Peter's action. Peter is caught between cosmic powers! As such he is the representative of humankind. He is the representative of us all. We are all caught in the struggle of cosmic powers. Life is serious business. We are vulnerable. Sometimes we get it right. Sometimes we get it wrong. With Peter we are often caught in the clutches of Satan.
In their encounter Jesus refers to Peter as a stumbling block (Greek: skandalon). We have encountered this word also in 11:6 and 13:57 where it refers to people being "scandalized" or offended by Jesus. Now Peter is the offender. He is a stumbling block. In one moment his confession is the rock (v. 18) on which the church is built. In the next moment he is a stumbling block. A rock and a block. Such is Peter. We are reminded again of Luther's saying that we as people of God are simultaneously saint and sinner (simul justus et peccator). This word of Luther is difficult to understand and explain in the abstract. It is true, however, to human life. We see it lived out in the life of Peter, rock and block. We see it lived out in our lives as well.
There are interesting parallels between this story of Peter and words we read in 1 Peter 2:6-8. Here Jesus is referred to as the cornerstone of the Christian community.
(Cf. also Isaiah 8:14-15 and 28:16.) Jesus is a stone, however, that is often rejected. He is a stone that makes people stumble (skandalon) and a stone that makes people fall. Jesus is simultaneously stone and stumbling block. It is almost as if Peter's "offense" is a preview of Jesus as the "offending" one who makes people stumble. Our lives are much like the life of Peter. We, too, stumble and fall. Peter survived his stumbling. So shall we. Our "little faith" upholds us as long as we don't stumble over Jesus!
In vv. 24-28 Jesus applies his language of suffering and the cross to his disciples. For the first time the disciples begin to learn the true meaning of following Jesus. Jesus, by the way, had said to Peter: "Get behind me." The problem with Peter was that he was trying to get ahead of Jesus rebuking the very plan of God. Peter's place is not ahead of Jesus. Peter's place, our place, is behind Jesus. We are called to be followers.
We are called to take up the cross. We are called to lose our lives in order to find them. We are called to follow in order that one day we might stand before Jesus, the Son of man, and the angels of heaven and receive our reward.
Matthew pictures Jesus in scenes of judgment sometimes as judge and sometimes as advocate or prosecutor (7:22-23; 13:14-43; 25:31-46), not because Matthew is harsh, demanding, or brooding and not because he is especially intrigued with the future of the world.... Matthew by all means wishes to drive home the overriding value of very practical deeds of mercy and love. He struggled against trends in his environment, such as the elevation of ritual observance (12:1-14; 15:1-20) or boasting about spiritual endowments (7:15-23) or arrogance on the part of teachers and leaders (23:8-10). These and other currents threatened the vitality and centrality of mercy, and Matthew struggled against them.4
Homiletical Directions
There is much to teach from these few verses of Matthew in our sermon for this week. We can teach on topics ranging from the theology of the cross to simul justus et peccator to the nature of discipleship and more! These teaching opportunities are difficult to pass by.
There are some narrative possibilities as well. We'll mention two just briefly. We have in the Gospel text the first passion prediction of Jesus' ministry as Matthew tells the story. We've turned a corner in the tale. Jesus' life began under the threat of death by King Herod: Matthew 2. In his ministry the hostility of the religious leaders grew increasingly: 9:10-12, 32-34; 12:9-14, 22-24. The story of the murder of John the Baptist is told in 14:1-12. The forerunner dies. The die is cast for Jesus. Jesus' life is in jeopardy, too. With today's text we know where we are headed in this story. In the passion story in Matthew 26-27 we hear the details of Jesus' suffering.
These stories could certainly be woven together as a kind of theology of the cross. Jesus' word out of this bracket of stories would be something like: "I am the Messiah who suffers. I am the Son of God who by God's design must be killed and on the third day be raised. I am the Son of God who must be betrayed and denied and tried and crucified. I am the Son of God who must suffer for you. I am the suffering Son of God come to join you in your suffering. Your suffering shall never have the last word. I walk with you in your suffering.
God raised me from suffering and death. God will also raise you from your hour of death and despair. Do not be offended by my suffering. In, under, and through my suffering I offer you the gift of life eternal."
A second narrative possibility would be to track the story of Peter through these middle chapters of Matthew. (See Chapter 19.)
In 14:28-33 Peter as representative of the disciples believes (he walks on water) and disbelieves (he sinks) at the same time. Simul justus!
In the discussion with the Pharisees in 15:1-20 it is Peter who asks Jesus to explain it all to the disciples, v. 15. This same Peter, the representative of the disciples, our representative!, had just affirmed to Jesus that he did understand: 13:51. Now he does not understand. Simul! In 16:13-20 Peter as our human representative confesses Jesus as Son of God. In vv. 22-23 he tries to put himself in the place of God in sculpting the course of Jesus' life. Simul! Peter is a rock and a block in almost the same instant.
Peter is our representative. If his life is simul, our lives will be simul as well. And that's OK. We will survive. Peter has pointed us to the rock, the cornerstone of our lives: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." That is our confession. That is the confession of sinful human beings. And it is enough. Jesus, after all, came to save us from our sins: 1:21. Our confession is enough if we do not stumble over the confession itself. It is enough if Jesus does not become for us a rock that makes us stumble and a rock that makes us fall. Jesus' word is simple: "Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
____________
1. Jack Dean Kingsbury, Matthew As Story (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988), p. 77.
2. Ibid., p. 78.
3. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), pp. 203-204.
4. Ibid., p. 207.
Jack Kingsbury points out that Part Three of Matthew's Gospel is marked by conflict.
Here the conflict between Jesus and Israel (especially the religious leaders), which was foreshadowed in the first part of the story and which, in the second part, burst into the open (chap. 9) and then crystallized into irreconcilable hostility (chap. 12) runs its course to resolution in the passion and resurrection of Jesus (chaps. 26-28). The verse with which this third part begins, 16:21, prepares the reader already for the resolution of Jesus' conflict with Israel in at least two aspects: (a) it underscores the fact that there are three principals involved in Jesus' passion, namely, God (dei: "It is necessary"), Jesus, and the religious leaders. And (b) it reminds the reader that while all three desire the death of Jesus, the objective the leaders pursue is destructive (12:14), whereas that intended by God and Jesus is to save (1:21).1
Kingsbury goes on to point out that the journey motif is the literary device which gives the remaining chapters of Matthew their structure. This was a common literary practice in the ancient world (cf. Luke's Travel Narrative, Luke 9:51--19:27). Jesus has been engaged in travels in the earlier chapters in Matthew, but in these stories Jesus usually withdraws in the face of danger. From 16:21 on Jesus engages in a journey to Jerusalem, a journey into danger that is "necessary." This is God's plan for Jesus.
The second literary device Matthew employs to lend cohesion to this third part of his story is the passion-prediction. There are three such predictions (16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19), and these in turn are supplemented by a verse in the passion account itself which calls them to mind (26:2). These three passion-predictions are the counterpart to the major summary-passages found in the second part of Matthew's story (4:23; 9:35; 11:1). The function they serve is at least twofold.
On the one hand, they invite the reader to view the whole of Jesus' life story following 16:21 from the single, overriding perspective of his passion and resurrection. On the other hand, they also invite the reader to construe the interaction of Jesus with the disciples throughout 16:21--28:20 as controlled by Jesus' concern to inculcate in them his understanding of discipleship as servanthood (16:24-25; 20:25-28).2
Robert Smith refers to the relation of the cross to this passage as a death shadow that has hung over Jesus' ministry from the beginning when Herod first sought his life: Matthew 2.
Early in his ministry religious leaders charged Jesus with blasphemy (9:3, cf. 9:11) and collusion with Satan (9:34; 10:35; 12:24), and soon they plotted to destroy him (12:14). The execution of John the Baptist (14:1-12), Jesus' forerunner, presages Jesus' own fate. The plot thickened as resistance to Jesus spilled over to include not only local leaders but also Pharisees and scribes who came down from Jerusalem to observe, to debate, to test (15:1-20; 16:1-4).3
The immediate connection with this week's material and that which has gone before is that between 16:20 and 16:21. In 16:20 Jesus charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. One of the reasons that they were not to tell anyone is that Jesus has not as yet revealed to them the entire reality of his mission. In 16:21 Jesus begins to reveal to the disciples the suffering truth of God's plan (dei, "it is necessary") for his life. "I am a Messiah who has come to suffer."
Peter couldn't take this newly revealed reality. "God forbid!" Peter howls. "Let this not happen to you." Peter seems to appeal to the God whom he has just confessed (16:17) to be Jesus' father to rescue Jesus from "the necessity" of the Father's plan. Peter is presumptuous!
He is as presumptuous as he was when he asked Jesus to enable him to walk on water (14:28-33). Peter presumptively supposes that his plan can replace God's plan.
Jesus' reply to Peter is that Peter is driven by Satan when he suggests such a plan. (See our Chapter 4 on the work of Satan in Matthew's Gospel.) Just moments before, Peter has been commended by Jesus for his confession. Jesus had told Peter that his confession was revealed to him by his Father in heaven (v. 17). Now it is Satan who drives Peter's action. Peter is caught between cosmic powers! As such he is the representative of humankind. He is the representative of us all. We are all caught in the struggle of cosmic powers. Life is serious business. We are vulnerable. Sometimes we get it right. Sometimes we get it wrong. With Peter we are often caught in the clutches of Satan.
In their encounter Jesus refers to Peter as a stumbling block (Greek: skandalon). We have encountered this word also in 11:6 and 13:57 where it refers to people being "scandalized" or offended by Jesus. Now Peter is the offender. He is a stumbling block. In one moment his confession is the rock (v. 18) on which the church is built. In the next moment he is a stumbling block. A rock and a block. Such is Peter. We are reminded again of Luther's saying that we as people of God are simultaneously saint and sinner (simul justus et peccator). This word of Luther is difficult to understand and explain in the abstract. It is true, however, to human life. We see it lived out in the life of Peter, rock and block. We see it lived out in our lives as well.
There are interesting parallels between this story of Peter and words we read in 1 Peter 2:6-8. Here Jesus is referred to as the cornerstone of the Christian community.
(Cf. also Isaiah 8:14-15 and 28:16.) Jesus is a stone, however, that is often rejected. He is a stone that makes people stumble (skandalon) and a stone that makes people fall. Jesus is simultaneously stone and stumbling block. It is almost as if Peter's "offense" is a preview of Jesus as the "offending" one who makes people stumble. Our lives are much like the life of Peter. We, too, stumble and fall. Peter survived his stumbling. So shall we. Our "little faith" upholds us as long as we don't stumble over Jesus!
In vv. 24-28 Jesus applies his language of suffering and the cross to his disciples. For the first time the disciples begin to learn the true meaning of following Jesus. Jesus, by the way, had said to Peter: "Get behind me." The problem with Peter was that he was trying to get ahead of Jesus rebuking the very plan of God. Peter's place is not ahead of Jesus. Peter's place, our place, is behind Jesus. We are called to be followers.
We are called to take up the cross. We are called to lose our lives in order to find them. We are called to follow in order that one day we might stand before Jesus, the Son of man, and the angels of heaven and receive our reward.
Matthew pictures Jesus in scenes of judgment sometimes as judge and sometimes as advocate or prosecutor (7:22-23; 13:14-43; 25:31-46), not because Matthew is harsh, demanding, or brooding and not because he is especially intrigued with the future of the world.... Matthew by all means wishes to drive home the overriding value of very practical deeds of mercy and love. He struggled against trends in his environment, such as the elevation of ritual observance (12:1-14; 15:1-20) or boasting about spiritual endowments (7:15-23) or arrogance on the part of teachers and leaders (23:8-10). These and other currents threatened the vitality and centrality of mercy, and Matthew struggled against them.4
Homiletical Directions
There is much to teach from these few verses of Matthew in our sermon for this week. We can teach on topics ranging from the theology of the cross to simul justus et peccator to the nature of discipleship and more! These teaching opportunities are difficult to pass by.
There are some narrative possibilities as well. We'll mention two just briefly. We have in the Gospel text the first passion prediction of Jesus' ministry as Matthew tells the story. We've turned a corner in the tale. Jesus' life began under the threat of death by King Herod: Matthew 2. In his ministry the hostility of the religious leaders grew increasingly: 9:10-12, 32-34; 12:9-14, 22-24. The story of the murder of John the Baptist is told in 14:1-12. The forerunner dies. The die is cast for Jesus. Jesus' life is in jeopardy, too. With today's text we know where we are headed in this story. In the passion story in Matthew 26-27 we hear the details of Jesus' suffering.
These stories could certainly be woven together as a kind of theology of the cross. Jesus' word out of this bracket of stories would be something like: "I am the Messiah who suffers. I am the Son of God who by God's design must be killed and on the third day be raised. I am the Son of God who must be betrayed and denied and tried and crucified. I am the Son of God who must suffer for you. I am the suffering Son of God come to join you in your suffering. Your suffering shall never have the last word. I walk with you in your suffering.
God raised me from suffering and death. God will also raise you from your hour of death and despair. Do not be offended by my suffering. In, under, and through my suffering I offer you the gift of life eternal."
A second narrative possibility would be to track the story of Peter through these middle chapters of Matthew. (See Chapter 19.)
In 14:28-33 Peter as representative of the disciples believes (he walks on water) and disbelieves (he sinks) at the same time. Simul justus!
In the discussion with the Pharisees in 15:1-20 it is Peter who asks Jesus to explain it all to the disciples, v. 15. This same Peter, the representative of the disciples, our representative!, had just affirmed to Jesus that he did understand: 13:51. Now he does not understand. Simul! In 16:13-20 Peter as our human representative confesses Jesus as Son of God. In vv. 22-23 he tries to put himself in the place of God in sculpting the course of Jesus' life. Simul! Peter is a rock and a block in almost the same instant.
Peter is our representative. If his life is simul, our lives will be simul as well. And that's OK. We will survive. Peter has pointed us to the rock, the cornerstone of our lives: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." That is our confession. That is the confession of sinful human beings. And it is enough. Jesus, after all, came to save us from our sins: 1:21. Our confession is enough if we do not stumble over the confession itself. It is enough if Jesus does not become for us a rock that makes us stumble and a rock that makes us fall. Jesus' word is simple: "Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
____________
1. Jack Dean Kingsbury, Matthew As Story (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988), p. 77.
2. Ibid., p. 78.
3. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), pp. 203-204.
4. Ibid., p. 207.
