The meaning of “Taking up our cross”.
**Jesus told his disciples” If you want to follow me, pick up your cross”!
Such a powerful statement made by Jesus!
3 Powerful things we can learn from Ch.16:
1. What did Jesus mean by “Take Up Your Cross”!
2. We are also going to see the Powerful Revelation Given to Peter and confession he made
3. and the Declaration Jesus made about the church!

Mathew Ch. 16:13-28

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
13  When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son
of Man is?”
14  They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the

prophets.”
The Disciples mentioned to Jesus, the crowd were referring to Him as:
 John the Baptist – a fanatic, crazy person – if know the story of John the Baptist, he was not your
ordinary man – wore clothing made of camel’s hair, he ate locust and honey.
 Others say Elijah – a powerful prophet
 Or Jeremiah – Just another prophet.
Note: Then Jesus makes it personal and asks the Disciples a personal question:
15  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17  Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and
blood, but by my Father in heaven.
18  And I tell you that you are Peter, [b]  and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades [c]  will not
overcome it.
19  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be [d]  bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be [e]  loosed in heaven.”  20  Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that
he was the Messiah.
 Note: What did Jesus mean by “and on this rock, I will build my church”?
 Peter means rock – but Jesus was not referring to Peter
 Jesus – was referring to the declaration that Peter made earlier” you are the Messiah, the Son of the
Living God!” This came by revelation from God to Peter!
o In Ephesians 2:20 Jesus is referred as the stone
o In 1 st Corinthians 10: Paul refers to Jesus as the Rock
 Basically Jesus was saying: – He is the foundation, and His Church is built on Him and no attacks
from Satan will defeat the Church Because Jesus is the Foundation!

Lets go on to Verse 21
Jesus Predicts His Death
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, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and
on the third day be raised to life.
22  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23  Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in
mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
 Why did Jesus rebuke Peter?
o You are probably thinking, “Jesus is mean”, a few moments ago He was recognizing Peter,
giving him recognition about the revelation God had given Peter, and now Jesus is rebuking
him?
o Was Jesus saying Peter was aligned with Satan or demon possessed? NO!
 Jesus rebuked him because Peter’s words came from emotion – Peter expressed what
he wanted for Jesus – what he thought his plans should be for Jesus.
 Jesus knew His purpose and mission and it was Calvary, to die on the cross and He
was not going to let anyone, or anything get in the way.

o Note: – And it should be the same way with us, Satan will try to come to distract you, friends,
family, your flesh, but we have to stay on course and be committed to our relationship with
Jesus!

24  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up
their cross and follow me.  25  For whoever wants to save their life [f]  will lose it, but whoever loses their life
for me will find it.
26  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give
in exchange for their soul?  27  For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then
he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Meaning of Verse 26-27:
o What good will it do if someone becomes so successful in this life,
o They dedicate all their time to pursing the things of this world, and when they die they leave everything
behind.
o Jesus was never in the picture, never in their life. – They will not have eternal life in heaven
28  “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in
his kingdom.”

What Jesus mean by verse 28? – In Mathew chapter 17 – Peter, James, and John saw Jesus’s body
transfigured just like He will look in the 2 nd coming.
On the Mount of Transfiguration (Mathew Ch.17)
o Jesus’s face shined like the sun.
o His clothes white as light! – In all His Glory and Splendor, talking to Moses and Elijah, the disciples
(Peter, James, and John) were given a glimpse of Jesus’s glorified body, just like we will have when we
are raptured.

What did the cross meant in Jesus’s time
 To a person in the first-century or at that actual time, the cross meant one thing and one thing only:
death by the most painful and humiliating way.
Two thousand years later, Christians view the cross as a symbol of forgiveness, grace, and love
which it is.
 But in Jesus’ day, the cross represented nothing but torturous death. The Romans forced
convicted criminals to carry their own crosses to the place of crucifixion.
Carrying a cross meant carrying their own execution device while facing ridicule along the way to death.
What does it mean to “Take Up Your Cross”?
Jesus mentions 3 things in being His Disciple – a true follower, a true believer
1. Self Denial – Deny your self, meaning not want you want, but what He wants for you!
2. Take up cross = Sacrifice – you will be ridiculed, made fun of by friends, family, co-workers, you will
be rejected at times for sharing the gospel, it will cost you time in prayer, reading the Word – but stay
the course.
3. Follow Him – means Submission – Full surrender to Him, not one foot in for Him and one foot for the
world. He wants all of you!
This is called real discipleship – theses 3 things mentioned above!