Do you have in mind the things of God or the things of men? This is the question that flows out of Matthew 16. The Pharisees and Sadducees of all people should have had the things of God in mind, but they were too busy defending their positions of prominence against the threat they saw in Jesus. They had in mind the things of men. Jesus warns his disciples of this small-mindedness but, ironically, they miss his point because they are being too small-minded. They are still, even after two miraculous acts of provision, obsessed about provisions. In this context Jesus asks his famous question: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter acknowledges Jesus to be the Messiah (Greek: ‘Christ’) but, at the same time, he cannot accommodate the idea of Jesus suffering. Why? Because he is still thinking from a human point of view. He wants Jesus to take power in the human way by rising up and forcing change. But Jesus was not fighting with the weapons of man. He was fighting with the weapons of God. He would give up his life as a sacrifice and this would become the key to the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth. God wants to give us the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven in every situation but to use these we must forsake “the things of men”. He calls us not to assert ourselves for success but to sacrifice ourselves for service. The one who wins is not the one who keeps his life but the one who gives it.
Reflect on where your attitude might reflect the things of men rather than the things of God.
Read Matthew 16
