Deny himself

Matthew 16:21-28

This is the first of four times when Jesus predicts His arrest and death. Things were going well and then suddenly Jesus is saying He must suffer and die. This was a bolt out of the blue for the disciples. In this time you would not question the Rabbi. Peter took on the role of leadership and rebuked Jesus. He should have listened and accepted what Jesus was saying, which is why Jesus had to rebuked Peter. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces. How do we know the difference between ‘Good will’ and ‘bad will’? We have to make sure our minds are on God and not earthly things. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow God. These verses are a pivotal part in Jesus leading His disciples towards His death on the cross. Christ needs to come first in all things. He has to be the one in the driving seat and we must follow Him and where He is leading. Jesus gave the ultimate example when He said, “Not my will, but Your will be done”. How can we follow Jesus when we are in front? When we leading the way we get it wrong and go the wrong way. We need to fix our eyes upon Jesus (Hebrew 3:1).