Prophesized death and resurrection (3)
[Matthew 16:21-23]
Matthew 16:21-23 say: “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.’” Here, “that time” refers to the time when Simon Peter confessed his faith, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16) through the revelation of God the Father in heaven, and received many compliments from Jesus. After hearing Peter's confession of faith, Jesus said, "I will build my church on this rock (Peter's confession of faith), and the powers of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and you will Whatever you loose in heaven will be loosed in heaven” (vv. 18-19). Also, “Jerusalem” (v. 21) here is the place appointed by God: (1) It was Mount Moriah in the time of Abraham (Gen. 22:2, 3, 9; 2 Chron.3:1), (2) It was a threshing floor of Araunah during the time of David (2 Sam. 24:16), (3) It was Mount Moriah in Jerusalem as the place where the house of the Lord was built during the time of Solomon (2 Chron.3:1). We, too, must give praise and worship to God in the place God has appointed.
‘The elders, chief priests and scribes’ mentioned in Matthew 16:21 were the people who made up the Sanhedrin Council. And since the Sanhedrin was the highest legislative body of the Jews at that time, it exercised great authority (even killing people). Jesus prophesied that when He went to Jerusalem, He would suffer many things, be killed, and be resurrected on the third day. Also, in Matthew 16:21, it says, “Jesus began to show His disciples,” and here, the word “began to show” refers to what He said “the matter plainly” (Mk. 8:32). Until this time, that is, until Peter's confession of faith, "You are the Christ, you are the Son of the living God," Jesus did not speak openly about his death and resurrection but spoke privately (in parables). Look at Matthew 9:14-15: “Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.’” In Jesus' answer to the question of John the Baptist's disciples (v. 14), there is no word of prophecy that Jesus would die publicly, but the phrase "the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away" (v. 15) means that Jesus would die. Look at John 2:18-22: “The Jews then said to Him, ‘What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.” When the Passover was approaching, Jesus went up to Jerusalem and saw in the temple those selling oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers sitting. He lifted up and overturned their tables and cleansed the temple (vv. 13-16). At that time, the Jews asked Jesus, “What sign will you show us, since you do these things?” (v. 18), and Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Here, the “temple” refers to Jesus’ body (v. 21), “Destroy this temple” is a prophecy of Jesus’ death, and “in three days I will raise it up” is a prophecy of Jesus’ resurrection. However, even Jesus' disciples did not know the meaning of the words at that time, and only after Jesus died and was resurrected did they remember Jesus' words and believe in the Scripture and what Jesus said (v. 22). In this way, before Peter's confession of faith, Jesus did not openly speak of his death and resurrection but spoke only in parables (privately). But after Peter's confession of faith, Jesus spoke openly. At that time, “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You’” (Mt. 16:22). When Jesus spoke only in parables, His disciples did not know the prophetic words of Jesus' death and resurrection. But when Jesus spoke openly and plainly, they understood the meaning of the words. That's why Peter grabbed Jesus and protested: ‘Lord, you can't do that. This should never happen” (v. 22, Korean Modern Bible). Then Jesus turned and looked at Peter and rebuked him: “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's” (v.23). How cunning is Satan's temptation? This temptation was not only the Apostle Peter, but other disciples also fell into it. How can we know that, we can find out by looking at Mark 8:33 – “But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.’” In Mark 8:33, “But turning around and seeing His disciples ….” (In Matthew 16:23, “But He turned and said to Peter …”). Because the other disciples had the same mind as Peter, Jesus looked at not only Peter but also the other disciples and rebuked Peter as the representative.
How are we today? Aren't we, like the disciples of Jesus, being tempted by Satan a lot? Aren't we often, like them, tempted by Satan and “not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's” (Mt.16:23; Mk. 8:33)? Apostle Peter and the other disciples thought about human affairs, but they warned Jesus that the death of Jesus should never happen (Mt 16:22). This is the purpose of Satan's temptation. Satan tempted Jesus three times even when Jesus was hanging on the cross because he thought that Christ should never die for our sins (1 Cor.15:3) according to the Scriptures: (1) The first temptation: (Lk.23:35) “And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, ‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.’” (2) The second temptation: (vv.36-37) “The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!’” (3) The third temptation: (v. 39) “One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’” The core of these three temptations of Satan is that Jesus saved Himself on the cross and did not die. In other words, Satan never wanted Jesus to die on the cross, bearing our sins. So, he tempted Jesus three times to save Himself using “the rulers” (v. 35), the “soldiers” (v. 36), and “One of the criminals who were hanged” (v. 39). Satan's cunning temptation keeps us focused only on Jesus' death and not on Jesus' resurrection. In other words, Satan left out the words that Jesus would be resurrected on the third day from Jesus’ prophecy (Mt. 16:21), He must suffer many things, be killed, and be raised on the third day. He tempts us by emphasizing only suffering and death. In particular, Satan comes to us when our loved ones die and tempts us, making us mourn like hopeless unbelievers (1 Thess. 5:13). In order for us not to fall into Satan's temptation and to win the spiritual battle, we must stand firm in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must firmly establish our faith in the word of truth that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4). The reason is because this gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe (Rom. 1:16). Jesus died as prophesied and resurrected on the third day, fulfilling the prophecy. Therefore, even if we suffer death, we must resist and overcome the temptations of Satan with the assurance and hope of resurrection. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:42-44: “So also is the resurrection of the dead It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” Just as Jesus was resurrected with a glorified body, we too will be resurrected with a glorified body. By firmly believing in this, we must fight and overcome Satan's temptations. And we must diligently preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.