15th Sunday after
Pentecost /
Matthew 16:21-28
Rev. Gayle M. Highness
The Real (But Hidden)
Picture
Several years ago, these hidden
pictures called stereograms became quite popular.
They were pictures that looked like a lot of nothing – just a pattern – a hodge podge. But if you stared at
them in a certain way for a time, you’d suddenly see the real picture buried
within the picture.
A group of people might be standing
looking at one of these and all of a sudden you’d hear someone say, “I see
it! Wow!
That is so cool! It’s a ship
sailing on the ocean.” Or whatever.
But no matter how I tried, I could
NEVER see the hidden picture. I always thought it was because I can’t see well
out of my left eye, so I just didn’t have the ability to focus in the necessary
way. In order for me to see that hidden picture, it was necessary for me to
have eyes that could work together properly. And so when it came to stereograms, I was blind.
Today’s gospel starts out with the
statement that, “From that time on, Jesus
began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great
suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
killed, and on the third day be raised.”
This statement is a turning point in
Matthew’s gospel and a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. From this point on,
Jesus became focused on the fulfillment of the mission his Father had given
him. Luke’s gospel says, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he
set his face to go to
Jesus saw before him a picture of suffering
and betrayal and humiliation and death, but through all that, he saw with
spiritual vision, the real picture – the resurrection – the defeat of sin and
death – forgiveness and salvation for God’s people – the coming of the Son of
Man with his angels in the glory of the Father.
But when he held this picture up to
his disciples – all they could see was a messy hodge podge of trouble with no discernible purpose. As
demonstrated by Peter’s response, the disciples didn’t yet see the hidden
picture. They didn’t even hear what Jesus said beyond the first part – about
being betrayed and killed.
Peter looked at the picture Jesus
presented through human eyes and said, “No way, Lord! This does not compute!
This will not happen on my watch.”
Right before this point in the
story, Jesus had asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” and Peter had
responded with a powerful confession of faith, “You are the Messiah, the Son of
the Living God.”
And Jesus said, "Blessed are
you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but
my Father in heaven.”
In that moment, Peter DID see the
real picture, with vision granted by divine revelation. But then he became
fixated on his human understanding of what the “messiah” would look like: one who would triumph over earthly enemies
and restore the earthly
The concept of a suffering and dying
messiah was not any part of that picture. It still isn’t for Jews. The fact
that Jesus suffered and died rules him out as God’s Messiah. But from God’s perspective, the suffering and
death of Jesus was necessary to fulfill the plan of salvation for us.
In these stereograms,
the part we see at first glance is not the hidden picture, but it is still a
part of the picture. It’s not as if the
suffering and dying part wasn’t real.
Jesus DID see the resurrection, but he also saw the cross, and he knew
this was the only path to fulfill God’s mission, and he knew how difficult it
would be.
So when Jesus said, “Here’s the
picture,” and Peter said, “This must never happen to you.” Peter thought he was saying, “You must not
die.” But to Jesus, it was as if Peter was saying, “You must not rise. You must
not fulfill God’s plan. You must fail.”
It’s no wonder Jesus responded as he
did. It would be hard enough to make this journey without his best friends
working against him! When Peter focused on the near term, he was setting his
mind on human things. When he lost his Spirit-filled perspective, he became a
tool in Satan’s hands. A stumbling block to Jesus.
To see the hidden picture in stereograms you first have to have eyes that work, and then
you have to LET them work. You have to
allow yourself to focus beyond the picture itself – to look at it without
looking at it. You relax your vision – and the hidden picture appears.
Maybe there’s a parallel in how we
need to look at the world around us in order to really see where God is leading
us and what God is showing us. First we
need to have faith in Jesus to even have the POTENTIAL for spiritual vision. We
need to be born again of water and the spirit so that the life of Christ is
alive in us. But then we need to keep our focus on Christ.
Jesus said to his disciples, “If any
want to be my disciples, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and
follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who
lose their life for my sake will find it.
As I look at our mission here in
Nauvoo, as we prepare to start another year of Sunday School
and activity, I see a picture with some parts that are messy and difficult:
·
Ministry expense that exceeds income – that if continued
would leave us without the resources to operate with a full-time pastor
·
People who are so busy with the activity of life, that
asking to invest time and energy in a church related activity is like adding
another weight to a burden that is already too heavy.
·
A need for spiritual growth and renewal in people that I can’t
see how to nuture
·
A desire for growth in numbers of people, but no sure way to
bring them in
That’s just me today. You have your
own life pictures in front of you. It can be discouraging.
But God has a plan and a mission for
us as individuals and for our congregation. God sees an end that would take us
through the challenges – even USE the challenges for his glory.
To see our mission from God’s
perspective, it is necessary for us to relax our focus on the immediate,
earthly things around us and allow the Holy ‘Spirit to refocus our vision on
the full Kingdom picture.
The things we see around us, the
obstacles, the suffering, the distractions, the temptations – they are all
there and real from an earthly perspective. We need to acknowledge them, but
let go and look past them, trusting in God’s plan and seeking God’s vision … to
let go of our right to manage our own destiny – to lose our life in order to
save it – to become part of what God is doing.
We need to focus on what really is
important – God’s love for us and for the world – God’s mission and goal of
winning this world back to himself – to restore all people and all creation to
a right relationship with Him, through faith in Jesus.
That is the only thing that really
maters – that is the only reality that has any ultimate worth.
Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind
me.” Let us get behind Jesus – not in the sense of getting out of his way, but
getting behind him to follow him.