Sermon File

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (2026)

Carry Your Cross!                                                                                                         Rev. Toby Byrd

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24, ESV) 

Shortly after Jesus had asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15, ESV) St. Matthew tells us that, “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Matthew 16:21, ESV) Jesus reveals the truth of His ministry; He must suffer many things and be killed. He must die to complete His mission! This truth is a turning point in the ministry of Jesus.

Up to this point in His ministry Jesus had already done much to save those who would be given the gift of faith to believe in His atoning sacrifice, which saved them from sin, death, and the devil. As the true Son of God, He takes the place of sinners, becoming their substitute, taking their sin upon Himself in the waters of His Baptism in the River Jordan. As the true Son of God, just as Isreal of old who was led into the wilderness by God to be tested by Him, Jesus is led into the desert to face the temptation of Satan. For forty days and nights He is challenged by Satan, but unlike the people of Israel, who failed God’s test in the desert, Jesus, as their representative cannot be led astray. He is tested and prevails, proving He is the One who will overcome Satan by His death on the Altar of the Cross to which He now tells His disciples He must go.

As the peoples Messiah, Jesus performs miracles of healing, overcomes demon possession, feeds the hungry with meager means, and faces the opposition of evil men such as Herod and the temple leaders. All this while preparing for His eventual death; His atoning sacrifice on the Altar of the Cross so that the sin of mankind would be forgiven, left nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14) when His dead body is taken down. But up to this point, He had never spoken of His impending death, He had never mentioned the waiting cross of suffering, pain, and death. But now it is time to let His disciples know, this is His destiny; death on the Altar of the Cross which is necessary to save the world from sin.

What? He must be killed? This cannot be. Who would dare suggest such a thing? So alarmed and shocked by this news are the disciples, that St. Peter takes Jesus aside and says to Him, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” (Matthew 16:22, ESV) Jesus is too important to die!

This Peter, who had just identified Jesus as the Messiah, who was blessed by Jesus for his confession of faith, now rebukes Jesus for saying that He must die! This Peter, who’s faith was singled out as the “rock” on which Jesus, “will build [His]church” against which, “the gates of hell shall not prevail,” (Matthew 16:18, ESV) now is the “pillar” which seeks to stand in Jesus’ way. The death of His Lord, “the Christ” is unthinkable! St. Peter has not yet understood that it will require the death of “the Christ” to fulfill God’s plan for the forgiveness of men’s sins bringing about His reconciliation with the world.

As a Jew St. Peter is familiar with the words of Isaiah in his description of the Suffering Servant; “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4–5, ESV) And although St. Peter recognized Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16, ESV) he had not yet connected the Suffering Servant of Isaiah with his Lord Jesus. So, we should not be surprised that St. Peter fails to understand; “Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:23(ESV)). We cannot expect St. Peter and the other disciples, who were all Jews, to understand the necessity of our Lord’s crucifixion until they see the resurrected Christ (John 20:20, 28).

Hearing St. Peter’s words, Jesus turns to him and says, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Matthew 16:23, ESV) As most men, St. Peter’s thoughts are not on heavenly things. Instead, his thoughts, controlled by his corrupted nature, are on the world and his flesh; those things driven by Satan’s influence. His thoughts are focused on the honor, and the glory Jesus will receive as a man in this life for His great teaching, and the honor he will receive as a disciple of Jesus.

In rebuking St. Peter, telling him, “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus is saying more than simply move behind Me physically, Jesus is also commanding St. Peter to move behind Him spiritually. In the wilderness Jesus told Satan, "Away with you, Satan!" (Matt. 4:10), meaning to depart, to leave forever. But now when He tells St. Peter to get behind Him, He is saying to St. Peter you have forgotten your proper place, move behind Me. This is a true disciples place, behind Jesus, following Him. When St. Peter took Jesus aside to rebuke Him, he moved in front of Jesus, seizing the initiative, he sought to lead Jesus rather than follow Him. He violated the First Commandment putting himself before God.

Looking St. Peter squarely in the eye, Jesus says He wants nothing to do with him or his words. He tells him; you are like Satan; you are my enemy. You are trying to dissuade Me from completing My mission. You think you know better what’s for Me than I do. Poor Peter, unwittingly he had made himself an agent of the devil. This is a warning for us, because too often we, too, moved by our best intentions, become unwitting allies of Satan. Too often, we are led by the false understanding of our feelings, our human desires, and we get in front of Jesus. When this happens, we find ourselves unwittingly agreeing with the devil and standing in opposition to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thereby, we become a hindrance to God’s plan of salvation in Jesus, and a serious hindrance to those who desire to live their lives following the Word of God and Jesus to the Cross.

But Jesus says to us and to all who would be His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24, ESV) But, like St. Peter in the Gospel for today, far too often we want to define what the cross is. Far too often we want to exchange the Cross of Christ for our human understanding. This, therefore, begs the question, what does Jesus mean when Jesus says, Carry Your Cross and follow Me?

Some believe this is our Lord telling us to live a life of self-righteous piety. Seeing in the words of today’s Gospel, “take up [your] cross and follow me,” that Jesus means we must live a life dedicated to stringent rules and regulations. But St. Paul warns us against such piety, saying, “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:20–23, ESV) Martin Luther describes such people as those who “select their own cross.”

Those whose faith is based on living a life of self-righteous suffering have a serious misunderstanding of what taking up the cross and following Jesus truly means. These people want to choose the crosses they bear, this way they can flaunt their suffering, claiming their suffering is praiseworthy. But such an understanding blasphemes God. God’s Holy Word tells us we cannot earn salvation by our suffering; therefore, we dare not frame suffering in such a monstrous self-deceiving way.

When the Scripture speaks of suffering, it speaks of suffering for the Gospel, suffering for the Word of God. It speaks of the suffering one experiences while trying to live a life that conforms to the Word of God, suffering that holds fast to the Gospel truth of the forgiveness of sin while holding fast to the Law which points out our sin. Luther used a Latin word to describe such suffering: tentatio, meaning the affliction one experiences while being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The affliction one experiences while learning how true, how sweet, how lovely, how mighty, and how consoling God’s Word is. For as soon as the Word of God becomes your guide for living Satan will be at your door, visiting you, tempting you, afflicting you by every means at his disposal, becoming an impediment to your faith. Furthermore, there is no impediment he delights in using more than other people. Through them he desires to bring stress into your life, especially those who call themselves Christian. But God intends that as you Carry Your Cross seeking to adhere to His Word, to the forgiveness won for all by His holy and precious Son on the Altar of the Cross, the Word will grow within you, bending your will to His, leading you in the midst of your suffering to seek the love of God in Christ Jesus. This is rightly Carrying Your Cross. Saying with St. Paul, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to [me].” (Romans 8:18, ESV)

But ask yourself, how often have you acted just like St. Peter, rebuking the Lord when your expectations were dashed? Now, I don’t mean that like St. Peter you are taking Jesus behind the woodshed. No, I’m asking, how many times in your life have you questioned Jesus? Too often, I’m sure!

Martin Luther, describing anyone who “prefers works to suffering, glory to the cross, strength to weakness, wisdom to folly, and in general, good to evil” are those who do not know Christ and do not know God hidden in suffering. They are those whom the apostle Paul calls, “enemies of the cross of Christ.” (Philippians 3:18, ESV) They hate the cross and its suffering while they love works and the glory which works bring. They look at the cross and call it evil while at the same time calling the evil of works, good. But Scripture clearly shows that the cross is good and works are evil. It was through the cross that our Lord and Savior, Jesus, “the Christ,” destroyed works while crucifying the old Adam within us. All who believe that works are superior to the cross are those who cling to the theology of glory. They are those who look for a smooth ride through life just because they call themselves Christian.

But what happens when their lives run into a brick wall, those walls which Satan loves to put in our path? They cry out, “God, how could You have let this happen?” Just like St. Peter telling Jesus, “No way, You can’t let this happen! You cannot die on the cross!” They say, “No way, You can’t let this happen! I believed in You, I expected You to protect me. Didn’t You die on the cross to bring comfort and peace to all who believe? Where is my comfort? Where is my peace?” Their problem is they expect to receive perfect comfort and peace in this life, while failing to understand that God only promises it in the life to come.

St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, but he seeks to impose his will on Jesus, he tries to superimpose his vision upon God's vision. Jesus reminds him that he is, “not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men" (v. 23). When we faithfully Carry Our Cross and follow Jesus, it should not be surprising that it leads us to a life where, if not everything, at least most things, are the opposite of what we expect. Life becomes a paradox as suffering supplants happiness and peace.

“Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?” (v. 24-26).

Jesus is now addressing His disciples, His Church. The shift is subtle but significant. Jesus is the rabbi, instructing His disciples concerning the meaning of discipleship, telling them what lies ahead, not just for Him, but also for them. A cross for each of them looms on the horizon. Jesus calls the disciples to a disciplined life. Earlier these disciples had left everything to follow Jesus, now Jesus tells them what it will cost to follow Him. They thought that following Jesus would be a road to glory, but now He tells them the road they will walk will be a road of self-denial; the road of the cross. But the self-denial of which Jesus speaks is not easy to understand.

As I said earlier, it is not zealous piety. It is not merely giving something up for Lent, or abstinence, or self-sacrifice, or selflessness. It is not denying yourself some material gratification today so that you can splurge tomorrow. No, Jesus is not explaining the benefits of material self-sacrifice. As has been said, “Just giving things up will not make one a Christian; it will only make one empty.” Rather than self-denial of material possessions, Jesus is talking about self-renunciation. That is, before the Cross of Christ nothing is hidden, everything is laid bare.

The Cross of Christ exposes our souls, shining the light of God’s truth onto the depth and condemnation of our sin, upon the utter helplessness of our flesh to overcome the ravages of sin. The Cross of Christ shows us the way to true salvation through Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God. When we are blessed with the gift of faith to pick up our cross and follow Christ, we are given the gift to deny ourselves and believe in the One who has rescued us from the ravages of sin, death and the devil: Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Picking up your cross means to accept the suffering poured out upon you by the world and Satan for your faithfulness to the Gospel. It willingly accepts suffering for Christ, for your faith, and for the Church. To accept the slander of unbelievers, schism within the church, and rejection of the world because of your faith. Moreover, it also means to understand and accept the sufferings which come from war, famine, sickness, poverty, slavery, and all those things which go wrong in this world, for “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matthew 24:8, ESV) It cannot be otherwise; everyone who calls themselves a disciple of Christ must bear their cross, their suffering. For it is far better to suffer in this life than in the next.

Jesus says, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” From the very beginning of His teaching, Jesus taught the Great Reversal. In His Sermon on the Mount He said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10–12, ESV) The kingdom of heaven is a place where the value system of this world no longer applies. It is a place where God rewards self-denial and cross-bearing. God's purpose is not to deny us life but to give it eternally.

The disciples did not fully understand the cost of discipleship when they first followed Jesus. Now, after Jesus clearly states what lies ahead, that He must, “be killed, and on the third day be raised,” He is slowly unfolding the meaning of discipleship for them.

If the Twelve, who walked, talked and lived with Jesus, were slow to understand, we need not be troubled if we are also slow to understand. Spiritual growth takes place slowly and painfully. Our spiritual journey takes a lifetime. Even as we near the conclusion of that journey, our understanding is less than complete. St. Paul says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12 (ESV).

For those who have eyes to see, the evidence is overwhelming that Jesus is right when He said those who want to save their lives will lose them and vice versa. People who pursue happiness through selfish means are constantly looking for something they can never find. However, Jesus does more than just warn us that living selfish, self-gratifying lives will not only lead to unfulfilled lives, but He reminds us that there is also the issue of judgment—heaven and hell. He gives us a picture of people who reach the end only to find that everything they own is gone and everything that they need is beyond their reach. We see this in the lives of Lazarus, the poor beggar, and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31)—the great reversal that each experienced after death—the gulf between heaven and hell that separated them—and the hopeless despair of the formerly Rich Man. How much would he now pay to escape his suffering? A tithe? Fifty percent? Everything? It doesn't matter, because it’s too late! He is now in the place of eternal agony! But the reward of Carrying Your Cross is eternal life.

Losing one’s life to gain life, means living the Christian life of faith on earth with its costs while knowing the reward; eternal life in heaven. But such a life cannot begin until you take up your cross and follow Jesus. One who Carries Their Cross and follows Jesus is: the person who is freed from the fear of eternal death, it is the one who loses their life in service to Christ, it is the person for whom Christ is more important than material possessions, it is the person who relies on Christ to help them resists temptation, it is the person who sacrifices self to help others, it is the person who accepts the suffering of this world for the glories of heaven, it is the person who understands the consequences of sin and their inability to rescue themselves, and it is the person who looks only to Jesus to rescue them from sin, death and the devil.

“Take up your cross.” When we hear these words, we usually ask, “But the cross is too heavy, how can we carry it?” The beauty of Carrying Your Cross is that you don’t have to bear the weight alone. Jesus not only helps you bear the weight, He has also already carried the heaviest portion of the load for you. He endured the suffering of the cross to save you from sin, death and the devil, thus He can say to you, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV). 

Having been blessed by the Spirit, help us Lord Jesus to rely on Your yoke to make the burden of Carrying Our Cross light and bearable. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.