Jesus introduces his coming in the glory of the Father (Matthew 16:27) with his command that, if any man should want to follow him, he must deny himself by surrendering his stake in this world, vis-à-vis he must “pull up stakes and follow” Jesus (Matthew 16:24). Moreover, it is implied in the text that, in following Jesus, vis-à-vis denying self and pulling up his stakes in this world’s goals, one saves his life, but if he chooses not to do so, he will lose his life (Matthew 16:25). Such an idea takes Jesus’ “two masters” teaching into consideration.
One simply cannot serve God and mammon at the same time (Matthew 6:24). The rich young ruler believed he could serve God, while his every deed was either commanded or permitted by his desire to be wealthy (Matthew 19:16, 21-22). One is able to either please God or please self/mammon (Matthew 6:24; 19:22). It is impossible to do both. Therefore, in the question of pulling up stakes and following him, Jesus asks: “What would it profit a man, if he gained the whole world, but lost his soul/life? What would any man give up in order to live (Matthew 16:26)?
Judgment is implied in the text. Judgment is coming with Jesus, when he comes in the glory of his Father in heaven (Matthew 16:27). So, have believers made the choice? Have they abandoned their stake in this life, vis-à-vis in this world, so that they could, indeed, follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24)? Peter had made his confession (Matthew 16:16, and Jesus made his confession in response (Matthew 16:21). Jesus’ statement, however, was quite unexpected and contradicted the worldview of his disciples (Matthew 16:22).
Worldviews are what makes sense of our lives, and dying messiahs made no sense in Peter’s worldview. Nevertheless, Jesus’ statement stands: “If any man wishes to follow me, let him deny himself,” vis-à-vis pull up his sakes in this world, “and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). In other words, the Son of Man, vis-à-vis the Messiah, whom you, Peter, claimed is Jesus (Matthew 16:16) is coming in the glory of the Father, and his reward is with him, and every man will be judged according to his works, vis-à-vis trusting in Christ, or trusting in mammon (Matthew 16:27; cp. 6:24).[1] Later, Jesus would state these same things in different terms:
| Matthew 24 | Matthew 16 |
| Immediately after the tribulation of those days (v. 29) | |
| the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (v. 29) | |
| they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (v. 30) | Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father (v. 27) |
| then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn (v. 30) | |
| he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet (v. 31) | with his angels (v. 27) |
| they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (v. 31) | he shall reward every man according to his works (v. 27) |
| Verily I say unto you, (v. 34) | Verily I say unto you (v. 28 |
| This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. (v. 34) | There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see (v. 28) |
| then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven (v. 30) | the Son of man coming in his kingdom (v. 28) |
Changing one’s worldview is a mammoth undertaking. It is neither entered into easily nor is it something we enjoy doing. We come to Christ saying we believe in him, but we cannot even begin to realize what changes will take place in our lives, if we are serious about the choice we’ve made, and the Apostles are no exception. We often criticize their unbelief, but in doing so we are exposing our own sophomoric understanding of the problems they faced, while following Jesus. Jesus spoke of a Kingdom that was brand new to their understanding, and many of the things he said had no meaning in their worldview. How could you speak of the color blue, if you never saw it? Moreover, if someone saw the color, how could he describe it to you, if you never saw it? Messiahs cannot die, if the whole reason why they come is to save us from our enemies. How could a dead Messiah save anyone?
Peter claimed Jesus was the Messiah, but Jesus said he must die—a conundrum, a contradiction in terms! How can this be? The simple answer is the Apostles’ worldview was wrong, and they had to learn to understand Jesus’ worldview of the Kingdom, because contradictions must be solved (John 10:35). The fact remains that judgment was coming in the form of Jesus coming in the glory of his Father, and his reward (for the faithful and the unfaithful) would be with him (Matthew 16:27). Moreover, Jesus’ coming would occur in the first century AD, when some who listened to him that day were still alive (Matthew 16:28).[2] [EB1]
[1] Mammon is not wealth or money. Mamon is our own unrighteous life, the life given to us from birth. See my earlier study in the Gospel of Luke, What Does Jesus Mean by Mammon?
[2] I go into more detail about the Coming of Christ, which we call his Second Coming in the tab labeled, 70 AD Eschatology!
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