Matthew 16:24-28 – The cost of following Jesus

Immediately after rebuking Peter, Jesus issues the challenge. He spells out what it entails to follow Him. The Lord is talking about something far larger than life itself. It’s not about comfortable living. Hence He made the demand: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” Herein is the cost. To follow Jesus will cost everything. It requires that we give everything. He does not want half measured commitment.

Here Christ our Lord calls for a commitment to His cause. We need to divest of self-interest, self-trust and self-sufficiency. All self-effort must come under the subjection of His will.  It is only as we seek to do His will that we will find the essence of true life.  This requires us to look at things with eternal perspective. We are not just temporal being for the here and now. We are made with a soul to live eternally. There is absolutely no point to gain everything in this world and forfeit a life with God.  There is no cause worth our every effort if it meant giving up an eternity with the God we love.

Verse 27 is a prediction of His resurrection. It is not about the second coming as most people would see it. The Lord was telling His disciples that they would see Him vindicated after His suffering. For then all authority in heaven and on earth will be His. Verse 28 is another puzzling verse. Many saw verse 27 as a prediction of His second coming, hence this verse is confusing because He had not returned as yet, and all those who were with Him were long dead and gone. However, if we follow the drift of the event that follows in Matthew 17, we will realize that Christ was referring to His transfiguration. Peter, James and John were given a preview of Christ’s coming glory at the mount of transfiguration. It was a manifestation of His coming into His Kingdom with power.

The call is for us to take the call of Jesus seriously. We are to divest of self and to be fully committed to His cause. When we give everything we have to Jesus, including life itself, we will win it. Over the years many had taken Jesus seriously and gave up everything for Him. The question that confronts us today is: would we?