“Become Like Me”

Scripture: Matthew 16:21-28

Last week, we began a four week series with the thought that “Believing” in all that Jesus was and taught was the first step that we had to take in his name. But believing in Jesus involves more than just accepting who He is – just as important is our submitting to His authority, as well as staying in communication with Him through a rich and meaningful prayer life. But as vital to our faith as following Him and talking to Him is, this is far from being the “end all” of faith.

Today we consider the second aspect of faith – that of “Becoming” more like the Lord as we strive to live like him, trust in him, serve like him, and love like him. Of course, this has been the call on the Church for 2,000 years, and for 2,000 years, the Church has endeavored to do that very thing. But as we all know, during those 2 millennia, the Church has never come close to “Becoming” like Jesus, even though we claim his glorious name as “Christians”.

Becoming like Jesus is easier said than done. But still, we must try.

Read Matthew 16:21-23

The theme of “Suffering Servant” is a significant part of the gospel message. All of the gospels treated this issue in similar ways – some approached it more directly than the others, but it was still an obvious premise for them all. But it is also true that God’s prophets have always had a difficult time in proclaiming the Lord’s truths to the people of earth. Their words have been ignored, these messengers themselves have been attacked, the message has been torn apart and changed to suit the needs of earth, and the people have become confused over which direction they should follow and believe in.

Even the disciples struggled in understanding and accepting Jesus’ words. In today’s text, Peter, who in the previous few verses had just proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ, the long awaited Messiah, had now apparently forgotten what the prophets had said about their Savior - Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is especially direct in proclaiming the “suffering” that Messiah would endure. The image that Israel always seemed to focus on was reflected in Isaiah 9:6-7 – that the Savior would be known as “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” But in spite of what the entirety of scripture proclaimed, Peter was committed to only a portion of them.

And when he expressed his objection to Jesus’ suffering at the hands of the priests and Pharisees, the Lord quickly informed him that not only was he completely wrong, but that in denying the fullness of his mission to earth, he was acting like the people of Satan’s world, and not one of God’s own.

Peter, and the subsequent Church, has always struggled with the fact that God’s plan, including the part that would place Jesus in the hands of the Romans who would lead him to the horrors of Calvary, had been in place since the Beginning. None of us wants to be the reason that our Savior would be hated, that he would have to take our punishment upon himself, that God would have to die for our sins, but this is the only way for us to know the Lord and his eternal life.

While Peter may have intended his statement to be one of love and support for his Master, it was actually an obstacle, coming against what Jesus had to do, and against the very essence of his divine being. Peter had, unwittingly, moved to a position that stood in direct opposition to all that Jesus stood for.

Read Matthew 16:24-26

Peter had been expressing his own desires – he didn’t want Jesus to be persecuted, he didn’t want Jesus to be hated, he didn’t want Jesus to die, but the Lord was now telling him that if he ever wanted to be one of the Master’s own, he had to set his own desires and ways aside, and to be committed to following the same road that the Lord was on. Notice, though, that the disciples weren’t being told to pick up Jesus’ cross – they were to carry their own cross, whatever that may entail, and to follow him regardless of where it may lead them.

“Reject all of those things you once held dear, accept the new life that comes by faith in me, regardless of what that may require, and follow in the same direction that I walk.” Jesus’ way and our way, our Savior’s life and our life, the way of Messiah and the way of his disciples must be inseparably linked, and must extend throughout this life and into the next

And the Lord’s statement that “whoever loses their life for his sake, will find it” isn’t simply referring to a physical death – it is actually about surrendering the ways of this life and all of the pleasures and promises that revolve around it, in favor of coming to know a new life that is centered on Jesus and his ways and promises. The point is that these two types of lives are mutually exclusive – that while they both may exist, and while both may be calling us to live in their way, we have to choose to follow either one or the other. Each must exclude the hopes and promises that the other offers, and if we don’t choose, the world’s way will prevail.

Psalm 49:5-9 expresses this very sentiment – that our trust in the things of earth is nothing more than evil, and that our escape from this dependency is nearly impossible! It is costly beyond imagination, and none of us is capable of paying the penalty for release. And while the psalmist doesn’t specifically say so, it is only by God’s grace that we can be freed.

Read Matthew 16:27-28

Matthew’s proclamation is directly and obviously focused on Christ’s return for the Judgment. And it is, without question, the answer to Psalm 49’s condemnation. Jesus tells us that each and every person will receive the judgment that we individually deserve. And before anyone thinks that our own perfection in this life will be the deciding factor, it is not. The “doing” that is mentioned is whether we have traded, surrendered, lost this life on behalf of Christ, or not.

The question at Judgment will be this - have we made a commitment to do all that we can to become more like Jesus? Not in some superficial way, not in some modified way, not in some misinterpreted way, not in some other god’s way, but in the one and true way of Christ. So the question remains – what must our life look like if we are truly becoming more like the Lord Jesus?

I think the secret, and for most people it is, lies in Matthew 22:34-40, in which Jesus tells us that there are two commandments that we must follow, and which are the basis for every other commandment that God has given us – that above all else, we are to love our God with every ounce of our being (Deuteronomy 6:5), and when we do, we are to also love our neighbor as well as we love ourselves (Leviticus 19:18). In Luke’s version of this command, he follows up with the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:28-37), which Jesus uses to clarify just who our neighbor is, and how that second love must be tied to the first!

Loving God and his ways, and not just some fluffy, frilly, simplified version of him, is about as easy and clear-cut as loving our neighbors of earth! But that is what “being like Jesus” is about – letting his life define and describe that very love for us. And what did he teach and demonstrate?

First, in Matthew 5:17-20, he addresses the thought that he had come to overturn every law that the nation had depended on. And in response, Jesus said that the Law of God and the word of the Prophets would always be intact, and that his coming was solely intended to explain what each meant for us.
Second, he demonstrated what Godly love truly looks like, when he forgave the woman caught in adultery (John 8:2-8:11), when he taught what being unclean (sinful) was really about (Matthew 15:1-20), when he revealed the way of salvation to Nicodemus (John 3:1-21), and through the many other truths that he taught during his ministry.

“Becoming like Jesus” can never be described or achieved through our own understanding and purpose – it can only be revealed and gained by discovering and following the life and love of Jesus Christ Himself. And when we commit to that love, and begin to love and live like Jesus did, and grow in that example every day, it is then that we will be well on our way to “Belonging” to Jesus.

But more on Belonging next week.