Turning Point

Matthew 16

Emmanuel Christian Church

4.9.25

INTRODUCTION: Next Sunday, Palm Sunday, marks the beginning of what’s called “The Passion Week”. It begins with the Triumphal Entry of Jesus in Jerusalem and ends with His crucifixion. But what do we know about the weeks leading up to “The Passion Week”? For three years Jesus had preached, taught and healed. In the 16th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, we find a record of events that took place in the days immediately leading up to “The Passion Week”. That record includes what might be termed a “turning point” in Jesus’ ministry- the point where He sets His sights on Jerusalem- knowing full well what awaits Him there. PROPOSITION: This morning, I’d like to take a closer look at the 16th chapter of Matthew not only because of its record of this “turning point” in Jesus ministry, but also because it prompts three important questions about Jesus. The answers to those questions have all the potential of bringing each of us to our own personal “turning point”. FIRST QUESTION: “WHO is Jesus?”

The Pharisees and Sadducees saw Jesus as a PRETENDER.
Matthew tells us… Matthew 16:1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
The word “tested” could also be understood as “attempted to trap”.
The Pharisees and Sadducees perceived Jesus as a threat to their position and power.
As far as they were concerned, He was a target to be eliminated, not a teacher to be followed!
It’s the same word used to describe Satan’s tempting of Jesus during his 40 day fast in the wilderness.
How ironic! At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus was assaulted by satan. Now, as He neared the end of His ministry, Jesus is assaulted by satan’s disciples- the Pharisees and the Sadducees!
The people saw Jesus as a PROPHET.

Matthew tells us Jesus’ disciples reported on the public’s opinion… Matthew 16:14 “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Everybody on the list of public opinion had one thing in common- they were all prophets.
Jesus was indeed a PROPHET, actually- the very WORD OF GOD in flesh!
The disciples knew Jesus was the PROMISED ONE.
Matthew tells us that Jesus pressed the question of His identity to His disciples… Matthew 16:15 am?” Matthew 16:16 living God.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the
Peter, apparently speaking for the Twelve, got it right! APPLICATION: “Who is Jesus?” is the most important question you’ll ever answer. There are only a few answers to that question. Like the Pharisees, you might think Him a pretender. Or, like the casually interested of his own day, you might call Jesus a prophet or good teacher. But to get it right- there’s only one answer that works- “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. NEXT QUESTION: “WHY did Jesus come?”
This is where we encounter the “turning point” statement of Matthew. Let’s look at the entire verse… Matthew 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suﬀer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Jesus’ three purposes in going to Jerusalem:
To “suﬀer”. 800 years earlier, Isaiah prophesied: Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suﬀering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and aﬄicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
To “be killed”. And again, Isaiah prophesied: Isaiah 53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
To “be raised to life” And again, Isaiah prophesied: Isaiah 53:11 After the suﬀering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
What this tells us:
The cross wasn’t an accident, it was God’s pre-set plan. Actually, God’s plan even before the beginning of time (Revelation 13:8)!
The cross was a choice Jesus made. (It wasn’t a secret God sprung on Him at the last moment in the garden of Gethsemane!) APPLICATION: Jesus’ birth, life and ministry, and death on the cross were all part of God’s plan for the rescue of humanity. But almost nothing about it makes sense- at least from a human point of view (Whoever heard of the righteous God CHOOSING to die for sinful man?) Born in poverty to common parents, raised as a carpenter’s son- with only three years of His life dedicated to an itinerant preaching ministry surrounded by twelve other men- that being cut short by His enemies who succeeded in having Him executed on false charges aided by one of his closest friends. If it weren’t for the fact that we know this was all God’s plan- we’d call it “crazy”, even “suicidal”! But here’s the point- God’s ways are not man’s ways. Again, hear the inspired words of Isaiah the prophet: Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. God’s “crazy” plan for our redemption is a whole lot easier for us to accept when we see it from the perspective of the “rear-view mirror”. For those who heard Him say those “turning point” words for the first time, it didn’t line up, make sense or even sound the least bit reasonable. It’s at this point we need to ask our final question this morning… WHAT IS Jesus’ challenge?
It’s contained in His response to Peter. Matthew 16:22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
If we were standing in Peter’s sandals at that moment (not knowing what was ahead and how it would all turn out) we might have said exactly the same thing! Now, look at Jesus’ “shocker” of a response… Matthew 16:23Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Jesus’ challenge is over perspective and priorities: “the things of men” vs. “the things of God”.
Jesus is looking Peter (and us) right in the eye and asking the question “Just who’s side are you on anyway?”
And then, to make His point even more clearly, Jesus says this… Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Jesus presents us with a two part challenge:
“Deny Yourself”
Jesus wasn’t just talking here- He was in the midst of denying Himself by heading for Jerusalem to suﬀer and die!
When Jesus prayed to the Father in the Garden “not my will, but your will be done” it wasn’t something He just thought up! It was the statement of how He had lived His whole life.
“Follow Me”
If someone looked at you and said “Follow me!” what would you say? Probably “Where are you going?”.
Jesus would answer that question: “To Jerusalem to suﬀer and die.” Every human part of us would cry out: “See ya later!”
So what would CHANGE our answer? Our own turning point. Jesus called it “choosing to lose” - our own life, that is. CONCLUSION: You can call it “Surrender”, or “Repentance”, “Taking up your cross”, but it all boils down to the same thing- making God’s thing your thing.