{"id":26599,"date":"2026-08-26T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T06:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=26599"},"modified":"2026-08-25T12:33:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T10:33:50","slug":"matthew-1621-28-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/matthew-1621-28-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 16:21\u201328"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost | 30. August 2026 | Matthew 16:21\u201328 | Luther H. Thoresen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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21\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.\u00a022\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, \u201cGod forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.\u201d\u00a023\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>But he turned and said to Peter, \u201cGet behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance\u00a0to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

24\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Then Jesus told his disciples, \u201cIf any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.\u00a025\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.\u00a026\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?<\/em><\/p>\n

27\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>\u201cFor the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.\u00a028\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Scripture quotations from: New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright \u00a9 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.<\/p>\n

Note: <\/strong>The initial paragraphs in italics<\/em> of this sermon might be used as the basis for a Children\u2019s message. If not used that way, one might adapt it as the beginning of the \u201cusual\u201d sermon or insert part of it later in the sermon\u2026or elsewhere in the service.<\/p>\n

[The preacher may want to have a few children\u2019s puzzles on hand.]<\/em><\/p>\n

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Good morning! Do you like puzzles? These can be challenging and fun and frustrating. Right? When we are young we begin with puzzles that have complete shapes that need to fit into the same shape cut in the board, right? Then, as we grow, we get puzzles with large pieces to fit together to form a picture\u2026and then as we grow older the puzzles get larger and the pieces get smaller. Would you agree? [allow answers] What do you think we learn with puzzles? [allow answers] Yes, with all this, we learn about shapes, about how pieces fit together to create a larger picture, and how to look for how pieces fit into a particularly shaped hole. One other thing, what do you think when you are putting a puzzle together and you get to the end and there is a piece or two missing? <\/em><\/p>\n

I may talk about puzzles a bit more in the regular part of the sermon. But, for now, would you pray with me? God, Thank you for gifts like puzzles that can be fun and challenging and frustrating, and help us learn. Thank you for the joy of playing together, the joy of putting puzzles together alone and with another person, and the joy of completing a puzzle. Thank you for the people who give us gifts like puzzles. Thank you especially for sending your Son that we might have life and love\u2026even when life is confusing like a puzzle with missing pieces. <\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll talk about this more in the regular sermon. But for now, would you pray with me? God, thank you for gifts like puzzles that can be fun, challenging or frustrating, yet also help us learn. Thank you for joy in playing together, joy in putting puzzles together alone or with someone else, and for joy when a puzzle is completed. Thank you for people who give gifts to us like puzzles. Thank you especially for sending your Son with his gifts of life and love even when our life seems to be missing some pieces. In Jesus\u2019 name, Amen<\/em><\/p>\n

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s gospel story and this week\u2019s gospel story are closely connected. They are side by side in Matthew\u2019s gospel. In fact, todays reading connects to last week with the simple phrase, \u201cFrom that time on Jesus began to show his disciples\u2026\u201d The characters last week and this week are the same \u2013 Jesus, Peter and the other disciples.<\/p>\n

Yet the connections are deeper than having the same characters and proximity in Matthew\u2019s book. \u00a0Last week asked the question, \u201cWho is Jesus?\u201d This week we think about who Peter is and the other disciples. Last week was about a good confession concerning Jesus, and this week\u2019s reading addresses how disciples are to live, disciples then and disciples now.<\/p>\n

Though we heard the two stories a week apart, in Matthew it feels like they are separated by a day or less\u2026maybe just moments apart. One moment Jesus asks, \u201cWho do you say that I am?\u201d and Peter answered, \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.\u201d The next moment, Jesus speaks plainly about his suffering, death and resurrection, and Peter says, \u201cNo, never!\u201d One moment Jesus says to Peter, \u201cBlessed are you Simon\u2026\u201d In the next moment Jesus says to Peter, \u201cGet behind me, Satan.\u201d\u00a0 One moment Jesus says to Peter, \u201cFlesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.\u201d The next moment Jesus says, \u201cYou are setting mind not on divine things but on human things.\u201d One moment Jesus says, \u201cYou are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.\u201d The next moment Jesus says, \u201cYou are a hindrance\u201d or literally, \u201cYou are a stumbling block.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is as if Peter moves from being sooooo right to being dead wrong. It is as if Peter moves from being a rock, a building block to becoming a stumbling block. It is as if Peter moves from being useful and on the way to being a hindrance and in the way. It is as if Peter moves from being part of the team to being part of the opposition.<\/p>\n

What comes between the two moments? Between Peter last week and this week? What moves Peter from being on the side of God and the side of Satan? What gets stuck in Peter\u2019s ears so that he gets stuck in Jesus\u2019 way? You heard it! Jesus bean to show the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering\u2026and be killed and on the third day rise.<\/p>\n

Peter resists so strongly, saying, \u201cGod forbit it, Lord. This must never happen to you.\u201d Why does he resist so strongly? Good question. We don\u2019t really know. When I have talked about this story with confirmation students, I usually note three possibilities\u2026and there could be more. One of them is this, and it has to do with losing a friend and companion. Peter may not want to lose his friend. Jesus is someone he had heard teach and perform miracles. Jesus had lifted Peter up from the water when Peter had sunk into the sea while walking on it.<\/p>\n

Another possible reason for Peter\u2019s resistance to Jesus\u2019 words might have to do with his expectations about any messiah. Peter probably held common Jewish expectations in his day of the anticipated Messiah, or God\u2019s anointed One. Peter probably expected the Messiah to lead a revolt against Rome and WIN. Peter probably expected if Jesus went to Jerusalem, it would be to go to celebrate as a victor in battle. But to die? To lose and not be victorious? That\u2019s not Messiah to Peter.<\/p>\n

A third possible reason for Peter\u2019s opposition might be about what this might mean for Peter himself. That is, if Jesus said, \u201cFollow Me\u201d to Peter some months earlier along the Sea of Galilee, to follow now might mean suffering and possible death for Peter, too. But if Jesus will not suffer and die, Peter would not have to do so either. Anyway, it could be any one or a mix of all three of these. Somehow, for Jesus to die, for the Messiah to suffer just did not fit.<\/p>\n

Back to puzzles for a minute. Have any of you done puzzles as an adult? 100 pieces? 500? 1,000 jigsaw pieces? Many adults do these for fun, for enrichment, to make as gifts for others, for intellectual engagement and more. Can you imagine this scenario? You have a 500-piece puzzle. You do the edges first (like most people), looking at the picture on the box. Maybe you sort the pieces by color and begin putting portions together. Next you connect the portions. It\u2019s coming together\u2026just a few miscellaneous pieces. Finally, you are down to the last piece, and it does not fit. What???? Would that be frustrating? You better believe it!<\/p>\n

With Jesus\u2019 ministry, Peter was putting the pieces together \u2013 call, preaching, teaching, healing, casting out demons, eating with tax collectors and sinners. It was coming together, and Peter said, \u201cYou are the Messiah.\u201d Now, there is one more piece, and it does not fit! Jesus must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed and rise. It just does not fit.<\/p>\n

We may find ourselves being and behaving like Peter. One moment we may make a good confession, and the next moment we may be telling Jesus what God forbids. One moment we might be a building block and the next moment we may be a stumbling block. One moment we may be open to God\u2019s revelation and the next moment we may be thinking of human things. One moment we may be following Jesus and the next moment we may be in the way.<\/p>\n

Next Jesus speaks to all the disciples, and all of us. As Jesus speaks about following, he wants all disciples to know that this conversation is not only for and about Peter, but for and about all of us. Jesus uses these words \u201cIf any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.\u201d<\/p>\n

What might that mean for disciples then and now? In the reading from Romans chapter 12 we heard about 20 things that Paul encourages his fellow Christians to do and ways he wants them to think. Jesus may have had those kinds of things in mind. I won\u2019t read that whole list again, but here are some of them, \u201cLet love be genuine\u2026hold fast to what is good;\u00a0love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor\u2026Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer.\u00a0Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you\u2026Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep\u2026do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly;\u00a0do not claim to be wiser than you are.\u00a0Do not repay anyone evil for evil\u2026If it is possible\u2026live peaceably with all.\u00a0Beloved, never avenge yourselves\u2026\u201d Yes, with that kind of living, we deny ourselves, we take up our cross and we follow Jesus. Is that an easy path? Not on your life. It requires your whole life. It requires my whole life.<\/p>\n

We live in a world that does not value that kind of living. To live this way is to \u201cswim upstream.\u201d We don\u2019t need to draw attention to ourselves as if to say, \u201cLook at me.\u201d Rather, we let our living speak for itself. To live this way is not easy. Amen? To live this way requires a life, a power, a Spirit beyond ourselves.<\/p>\n

This life, this power, this Spirit comes to us as a gift. (period)<\/p>\n