“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).
Our text strikes at the heart of the self-centeredness we see so often today in the Church of Jesus Christ. There are many people who profess to be Christians and are members of a church, but their only concern for the church is what they can get out of it. The words that come from their lips are, “What’s in it for me?” They’re what we call consumers. They take as much as they can for themselves, but they never contribute to the life and health of the church. They don’t understand what Jesus teaches about true discipleship and how He calls every believer to live a life of self-denial. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” Self-denial is a mark of a true disciple of Jesus Christ, and it’s a principle Jesus taught many times to His disciples. Jesus is not talking about how to be saved, but rather how those who are already saved demonstrate the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in their heart by living a life of self-denial.
In Matthew 16:21 Jesus said, “I have to go to Jerusalem to be killed and be raised the third day.” But the disciples didn’t hear “be raised the third day.” All they heard was “be killed.” Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan.” Jesus wasn’t saying that Peter was Satan, but he was the instrument of Satan’s attack. Satan had been trying to turn Christ away from the cross since the first temptation in the wilderness, and Jesus knew where this attack was coming from. Jesus then says at the end of vs. 23: “You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Peter was thinking the way the world thinks. He was thinking about the crown without the cross, the glory without the suffering, the reward without the sacrifice!
And so, once again, Jesus teaches His disciples the principle of self-denial. The word “deny” in our text means to disown or renounce one’s self. Jesus is teaching His disciples what it means to be in union with Him. In other words, to be a believer is to be spiritually united to Jesus Christ by true faith, and because of this union you now live a different life. You’re a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17); you’re born from above by the Spirit of God (John 3); you’re a true branch engrafted into the vine, Jesus Christ (John 15). Simply put, you now belong to Christ, and as a result you begin a life-long journey of forsaking your sinful passions and desires in order to follow after Jesus. As a true disciple of Christ, you recognize you’re not your own, but you belong to your faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all your sins (Heidelberg Catechism #1). 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Does your life demonstrate that you’re a true disciple of Jesus Christ? “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.”