21<\/sup> 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. 22<\/sup> And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, „God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.“ 23<\/sup> But he turned and said to Peter, „Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.“ 24<\/sup> Then Jesus told his disciples, „If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25<\/sup> For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26<\/sup> 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? 27<\/sup> „For 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. 28<\/sup> 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.“ (Mat 16:21-28 NRSV)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Martin Luther began his Treatise on Christian Liberty<\/em>, often called The Freedom of a Christian<\/em>, in this way:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many people have considered Christian faith an easy thing, and not a few have given it a place among the virtues. They do this because they have not experienced it and have never tasted the great strength there is in faith. It is impossible to write well about it or to understand what has been written about it unless one has at one time or another experienced the courage which faith gives a man when trials oppress him. But he who has had even a faint taste of it can never write, speak, meditate, or hear enough concerning it. It is a living \u201cspring of water welling up to eternal life,\u201d as Christ calls it in John 4[:14].[1]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In this writing, Luther explained a paradox in how he viewed Christianity.\u00a0 First, a Christian is a free Lord of all things and a servant to no one.\u00a0 Second, a Christian is a servant in all things, and is subject to everyone.\u00a0 Luther would go on to explain that mankind has a twofold nature, a bodily one and a spiritual one.\u00a0 Last week we heard Peter\u2019s confession that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.\u00a0 Today, as we hear Peter\u2019s rebuke of Jesus, we find an example of this two fold nature staring us right in the face.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You may recall that after Peter\u2019s confession last week Jesus told him that it was God himself who had revealed that knowledge to Peter.\u00a0 Here we find the spiritual side on mankind: someone who believes; someone who follows where God is leading.\u00a0 The spiritual side is where we find the Word of God dwelling in us.\u00a0 Luther wrote in his treatise \u201cIf (the soul) has the Word of God it is rich and lacks nothing since it is the Word of life, truth, light, peace, righteousness, salvation, joy, liberty, wisdom, power, grace, glory, and of every incalculable blessing.\u201d\u00a0 And so it was the soul in Peter that proclaimed \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.\u201d\u00a0 God dwelled in Peter\u2019s soul for that most important confession.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In our Gospel today, Jesus explains how he must go to Jerusalem and die.\u00a0 And for this explanation he is rebuked by Peter, not by the God-filled soul of Peter, but instead the flesh and body of a sinful human.\u00a0 \u201cGod forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus rightly calls out Peter for his sin filled flesh ambitions:\u00a0 \u201cGet behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.\u201d\u00a0 Sin mixed with the flesh is a stumbling block to the Word that is rooted in the soul.\u00a0 But the Word overcomes this sin.\u00a0 Peter and the rest of the disciples followed Jesus to Jerusalem.\u00a0 They saw him hang on the cross.\u00a0 They saw him buried.\u00a0 However, they saw the empty tomb as well and the post-resurrected Jesus.\u00a0 They saw the grave and sin overcome by the Word of God.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jesus then turns to his disciples and tells them that if they want to be his followers, they must deny themselves, pick up their crosses and follow him.\u00a0 Here is where we find the soul and the flesh tugging in different directions.\u00a0 It is easy to come to church on a Sunday.\u00a0 It is easy to say your prayers at night.\u00a0 It is easy to help fellow man.\u00a0 It is humbling and hard to be a Christian.\u00a0 We are stuck in a place where the Word of God seeks to take a permanent root in our souls, while our sinful flesh tries to free us from that tug.\u00a0 We look around and find crosses everywhere\u2026things that are burdens on us.\u00a0 Work, sports, school, spouse, children.\u00a0 All those are crosses in our life.\u00a0 All those tear us from the obedience of being a Christian because they pull us in a direction away from God.\u00a0 But no matter how much sin tugs at us, the Word of God feeds our souls.\u00a0 We are called to humbly follow Jesus, to be that servant of all and subject to all, so that the Word of God may infect other souls.\u00a0 As we struggle to find that balance between flesh and soul, we find the Spirit at work in us.\u00a0 We find freedom to be able to proclaim \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!\u201d as Peter had done.\u00a0 We also find freedom to tell Satan to get behind us and not be a stumbling block any more.\u00a0 For we belong to the kingdom, body and soul, as servants of the Most High God, and his Son, Jesus the Christ.\u00a0 This is our confession of faith, as we patiently await the arrival of the Son of Man and his kingdom.\u00a0 So no matter how much the flesh pulls us away from God, we know that the Word is rooted in our souls, and with that comes all the freedom that we will ever need.\u00a0 In the name of the Father, and the +Son, and the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n