Things of God, things of man

Matthew 16 : 13 - 23

There are times when a passage is so familiar that I wonder what I'll 'hear' from it. I tend to remember what I've heard before, or what I've heard in a sermon or read in a book. But God does speak afresh in surprising ways when I am ready to hear. It is not always so fruitful, of course. There are days when the passage is dry as dust, and nothing comes forth. That could be God wanting to teach me patience and perseverance or just a time when my spiritual antenna is turned to some other channel (what they call 'distractions in prayer').

This passage was one of them. I remembered what struck me before. So I asked God, now what? I read it through a couple of times not trying to focus on anything too soon. As I neared the end of the second reading, the last verse stood out: "for you are not on the side of God, but of men".

It suddenly fell into place for me. Jesus had been talking about going to Jerusalem, suffering, being killed and then raised. This journey is the journey according to the pattern of God. There is no shortcut to resurrection. It will involve 'suffering and death'. This is the way of God.

I wish I could share this thought with more Christians. It is not easy to live in a triumphalistic church, where power, riches and honor rule the day. We are told that those are the blessings of God. Those who lack are somehow not in the right place with God (though this may not be said outrightly).

The suffering and death does not always mean a physical one, but it is there for every Christian if we are serious about transformation into Christlikeness. No short cut to glory. In fact, the 'blessings' of power, riches and honor could be a detour, a distraction. The things of God are not always so obvious to us. Our perspective can be clouded by our own attachments. Peter was challenged by Jesus for his well meaning but misguided words. So might we be when we really allow God to show us what his ways are.

Anyway, the verse was a reminder as well as 'comfort' to me. When I struggle with allowing the Lord to transform me, I am encouraged by the thought that it is a 'suffering and death' (to the false self or fleshly nature) that I should gladly bear for God and in order to be aligned with Christ. This is easy to think about, but there are many tests to go through, and I will not always get full marks. But God who begun the work will bring it to completion.