Matthew 16:21-23 From that time forth began Jesus to show to his disciples, how that he must go to Jerusalem… I. A SUFFERING SAVIOUR 1. The suffering was not only great, but peculiar. 2. And all this the text says was necessary. The word "must" is prefixed to all these clauses. We may interpret the word in three ways. (1) There is the "must" of destiny — what is to be shall be, it is vain to fight against it. (2) There is the "must" of prediction. (3) There is the "must" of propriety and suitableness-moral fitness, for atonement trembles in the balance — "Without shedding of blood," etc. 3. It is a very peculiar feature of the Saviour's suffering that He had the foreknowledge of it in every detail. In this respect He stands alone among the heroes of faith. They had no foresight of the time, place, or circumstances of their sufferings. Our Lord alone lived His life under the shadow of the cross. The majesty of the character which could endure the weight of so terrible a prospect, remain calm, self-forgetting, etc., and even say in the fore-view of death by crucifixion: "I have a baptism," etc. II. THE REPUGNANCE OF HUMAN NATURE TO PAIN AND DEATH. Human nature shrinks for itself from the touch of pain, and doubly for its loved ones. The words do not imply any want of love or reverence — it was their ver), motive. Love and reverence spoke; but ignorance and presumption spoke too. Human nature shrinks with special sensitiveness, till it is taught of God, from the idea of a suffering Saviour. The revelation of atonement by sacrifice was kept veiled from Peter. A veil is upon the heart still of multitudes — they see not why a Father should not forgive without the intervention of a Mediator, etc. III. THE REPLY OF JESUS TO THE REBUKE OF HIS SERVANT. This shows the Saviour feeling this repugnance to suffering as a severe temptation, repelling the suggestion of the self-sparing as a cruel aggravation of His great life trial, and making the acceptance of suffering the very point of difference between the carnal mind and the spiritual. We have to accept Christ's suffering, and we have to accept our own. (Dean Vaughan.) Parallel Verses KJV: From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. |
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