Bar-Jonah Followers (Matt 16:21-28)

Last spring I climbed Mt Somers with two others.  I was the oldest and the weakest and invited them to follow me.  Once we had climbed the mountain I took them to the edge of the sheer south face.  I marched over to the most exposed rock and sat there enjoying the view.  One of them cautiously followed me but the other became paralysed about five metres behind us.  The fear of falling from that great height over the precipice overcame him.  He never did get within three metres of where we were sitting.  I must admit the first time I approached that sheer face a few months earlier I was also slightly anxious.  However, even on that first event though cautious, I sat on the edge without fear dominating my life.  I was not trying to save my life because nobody was going to take it from me; God and I have a thing going on.

A similar incident happened recently while walking around Mt Maunganui. I was taking a photograph of my son and daughter-in-law with my back foot over the edge of the track to get the right photo of the faces against the backdrop of the mount. The daughter-in-law seemed nearly beside herself with fear I might fall into the rocks below but I had no worries because I knew my capabilities were up to the task; just as I have rock hopped across streams all my life. Nelson Mandela once said that bravery was not the absence of fear that the overcoming of it. Fear is a function of self-preservation and to some with phobias fear is life limiting and to a few it can be completely debilitating.  Jesus has to teach us to trust our Father in heaven and the proving of that trust is faith.

In this passage Jesus is talking directly to his disciples and had just been warning them concerning the wayward teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees, i.e. the religious rule books and worldliness.  Jesus has just asked who the disciples think Jesus is and Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” Jesus praises Peter’s faith recognising that he has received this revelation directly from his Father in heaven.  In that moment the presence of the Holy Spirit has been with Simon Peter and the presence of the kingdom of heaven Jesus realised has birthed heavenly speech from Peter; otherwise known as prophetic speech.  Jesus says, “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah.” Bar-Jonah in fact means 'son of spirit.'  In fact Jesus has just said that Simon is a son of the Spirit and that his name is now going to be Peter (little-rock) and upon this foundation stone Jesus would build his ecclesia and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.  Jesus is praising the fact that his disciple has cultivated faith in the kingdom of heaven, great Peter you are following me!

The next thing we know the disciple Peter has stuck his foot in his mouth trying to forbid Jesus going to his death at Jerusalem.  Jesus is saying to Simon Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” Looking at Peter he is saying, “you are an offense to me for you are not mindful of the things of God but the things of men.” How can this be that one moment the “Little-rock” upon which Jesus shall build his church is prophesying words from God, called son of spirit, yet in in the next paragraph he is speaking the words of a Beelzebub, effectively son of Satan?  Peter is concerned about his master’s future demise and this has made his heart to become troubled. This loss of peace in his heart has caused his lips to come forth with statements from the trouble-maker destroyer devil.  What seems to Peter simple concern is recognized by Jesus as the attempted destruction of God’s plan by Satan.

The disciples are probably still thinking that Jesus will soon free Israel from Roman oppression, that Jesus reign as King will be similar to that of his fore-father David’s kingdom.  But as we know this was not to be the case but rather a kingdom set up in a different realm.  Jesus informs them that he must go to Jerusalem and be killed by the chief priests, elders and scribes, and be raised up on the third day.  Jesus is telling them that he is about to be crucified by the very politicians they think he was about to save them from.  Put yourself in their shoes for a moment and imagine someone telling you these things. Yet all these things were God's plan and had been prophesied many hundreds of years earlier.

Jesus challenges the disciples that whoever desires to follow him will need to consider a similar path even to crucifixion. Here is a paradox here which for a lot of people is hard to understand.  Jesus says to his disciples that if they follow a similar path as his they will find their soul saved.  More than this Jesus says that the saving of one’s soul is far more profitable than even gaining the whole world.  This he says is the reward for similar works; the savings of their soul is the presence of the kingdom of heaven.  It is recorded in the scriptures that Peter volunteered to follow in a similar manner.  Jesus indicated that Peter would indeed be crucified.  Jesus is cultivating in his disciples the ability to bring the presence of heaven into their reality.  Faith comes from presence with the Lord. After the crucifixion Jesus knows there will be the resurrection; death will have lost its sting. Fearing death is not following me stuff is it?

This is how I understand it for my own life; that if I go into a situation cautiously in fear trying to save my own life then not very much comes of it.  However if I go into a situation boldly not trying to save my life but rather being ready for God to handle anything which comes of it.  Some people regard this as brave; others may think of it as foolish.  In this context I believe Jesus was giving his disciples a similar degree of wisdom, knowing as he did the power of God to resurrection.  If I go to a builder and apprentice myself to him I guess he would believe that I wanted to become like him as a builder.  Jesus had invited them to learn from him on a three year apprenticeship and his job was to make them proficient and qualified.  The disciples would have been struggling with dealing with these concepts.  Yet in six days’ time they would witness the miraculous transfiguration of Christ on the mount in the presence of Moses and Elijah.

We have the benefit of history in the New Testament that the disciples did not have.  It all makes sense to us knowing as we do the overall gospel story.  But remember these guys were in the middle of the gospels being written.  Their faith could not get a hold of it all but later they would after the event of the crucifixion and resurrection.  Jesus was preparing the way by telling them what would happen so that when it did they would begin to believe everything Jesus spoke to them.  It is only when one believes the word received from the Lord that one may have faith to believe in what cannot as yet be seen and this is follow me stuff.

We are also being asked to follow him; to learn the shepherd’s voice so that you may follow him to salvation.  Rather than trying to gain the whole world it is the salvation of our soul which is of most importance.  If you are not confident of such salvation and like Peter you swing between things of God and things of Satan, then have regard for the future of your soul is this very day.  If you are at all uncertain about the state of your soul you would be most wise to heed this message and seek the reward Christ has promised those who have trust in God.  Fearing death limits our availability to the Lord.  May we all become Bar-Jonah followers ourselves.