Diego Velázquez: Christ Crucified

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Pentecost 14 2026 Proper 17
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
August 30, 2026
Jer. 15:15-21, Rom. 12:9-21, Matt. 16:21-28

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itunes:                         bit.ly/pastorjud
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            Matthew 16:16 (ESV) 16 … “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter boldly confesses this on behalf of the other disciples in response to Jesus’ question, “Matthew 16:15 (ESV) 15 …“But who do you say that I am?”  Jesus enthusiastically commends Peter and his confession.  Matthew 16:17–18 (ESV) 17 …, “Blessed are you, Simon [son of]-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

            Peter, petros, is masculine and means rock, like a standalone rock or boulder.  Jesus calls Simon the Rock; perhaps for the first time giving him a new name, but we are not sure of that.  Then he says, on this rock, petra, which is feminine, and means a massive rock formation or bedrock, I will build my church.  Simon, you are the rock, and on the bedrock of your confession I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

            The bedrock of the church is Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God.  The Rock said it and Jesus confirmed it.  But then comes the pesky question that Martin Luther uses in the Small Catechism, “What does this mean?”  What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ?  Peter is riding high after being commended by Jesus and called the Rock, but he soon hits a brick wall when he finds out what it means to be the Christ.

            Matthew 16:21 (ESV) 21 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.”  The Christ will suffer… die…. and rise from the dead.  This is what Jesus says it means to be the Christ.

            Peter has a different idea and he rebukes Jesus.  Matthew 16:22 (ESV) 22 … “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” We do not know for sure what Peter was thinking.  Perhaps he wants the Christ to keep on healing and feeding and raising the dead and turning water into wine.  Maybe he wants the Christ to lead a huge army and drive out the Romans and restore the Kingdom of Israel.  Maybe he is not sure what he wants the Christ to do, but one thing is for sure, Peter’s Christ is not going to suffer and be killed and rise from the dead.  Peter cannot accept Jesus’ description of what it means to be the Christ.  Peter is going to substitute his own type of Christ.

            Jesus clearly lets Peter know how wrong he is. Matthew 16:23 (ESV) 23 … “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.” 

            Peter goes from being the Rock…to being Satan.  All because, out of love, Peter does not want Jesus to suffer and die.  Peter’s Christ skips the cross just as Satan tries to get Jesus to do at the temptation.  Satan offers Jesus lordship over all the kingdoms of the world and their glory if only Jesus submits himself and worships Satan.  Take a shortcut – skip the cross.  At Calvary, those who pass by try to get Jesus off the cross…Matthew 27:40 (ESV) 40 …If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 

            To be the Christ means suffering, dying on the cross, and rising from the dead.  To try to keep Jesus away from the cross is antichrist.  It is satanic. 

            We can sympathize with Peter.  He is right there with Jesus in the flesh, and he loves Jesus, and his love for him prevents him from accepting that Jesus must suffer and die. He wants there to be another way…but Jesus has given His way.  The way of the cross.  That is the way to salvation.  St. Paul knows this and tells the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 2:2 (ESV) 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 

            We can understand why Peter, at the time, was resistant to the idea that his teacher and friend would be crucified — it is a natural reaction to want to protect a loved one.  Today, however, we are 2,000 years past Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Christians know that Jesus did indeed, suffer, die on the cross and rise from the dead.  The odd thing is that even knowing that Jesus announced, “it is finished”, there remains a great desire for a different Christ.  It is already accomplished and yet so many want a Christ of their own design.  They seek a cross-less Christ, a cross-less Christianity.  They seek a Christianity that is not about Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins, but about God helping you through the hard times of life. 

One of my seminary professors, the late Dr. Norman Nagel, once said that every sermon should be subject to the Calvary Redundancy Test.  Ask yourself, “Would it be possible to say all that, if Calvary had never happened?  If the answer is yes… then you have not heard an essentially Christian sermon.”  This begs a question.  Why would a supposedly Christian church preach about the cross-less Christ sought by Peter and Satan?  Folks want a cross-less Christ because a Christ who must suffer, die and rise comes with a cost. 

            This week I examined recent sermons from three different churches, one in West Chester, one in Oakley and one in Houston, Texas.  All three had something in common.  All three could be preached without Jesus going to the cross at Calvary.  One was about how, if you are willing to put in the work, God will help you be a better person – kinder…gentler… more self-controlled.  One was about how Jesus invites you to come to Him and give Him your burdens and that God will help you better manage your busy, stressful life.  Another was about how God will make you invisible to your enemies and He will protect you from danger and sickness and trouble.  None of them mentioned Christ on the cross for forgiveness of your sins.

            The seductive thing about these messages is that they are not wrong.  God will help you be a better person and He carries your burdens and He protects you. It is not wrong, but it is not the main point.  It is a different Christ.  A cross-less Christ.  It is Peter’s Christ or Satan’s Christ who skips suffering and death and the cross to go right to power and glory.

            Why would people not want to hear the Good News that Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins?  It is because Christ on the cross comes with a price.  Knowing Christ crucified means knowing that God really does take your sin seriously.  It means your sin is evil.  It means you need daily contrition and repentance.  It means God takes your sin so seriously that Jesus had to shed His blood to make atonement for you.  It means you cannot save yourself.  You really need Jesus. 

Jesus crucified for you means that Jesus is your Lord and Savior and Master and King.  He rules over you and you obey Him.  You obey not in order to earn anything.  You obey because you are a child of God declared to be perfect and holy through the blood of Jesus.  You obey because as a child of God you act like a child of God. 

Jesus Christ and Him crucified means that you are not your own.  You belong to Jesus…you follow Jesus… and following Jesus does not promise of a life of ease.  Matthew 16:24–25 (ESV) 24 … Jesus [tells] his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  The cost of following the true Christ is the knowledge that you too will suffer and die and rise again.

            The cost of Christ crucified for you is that when you gather for worship, the main thing will not be hearing how God is going to comfort you and protect you, and help you be a little better.  Worship of the Crucified and risen Lord is about Jesus delivering forgiveness of sins from the cross to you.  He delivers it to you in your Baptism which you remember as we begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  He delivers forgiveness from the cross to you in His words of absolution and in the spoken and read and sung Word of God. He delivers forgiveness of sins to you in His own body and blood in Holy Communion.  Being the Church is not about you becoming a little better; it is about you becoming a new creation in Christ through the blood of Jesus.  It is about Jesus giving His life to save you.

            What does it mean for Jesus to be the Christ?  It means God loves you in this way — that He gave His only begotten Son to suffer, and die, and rise again, so that you, who believe in Him, will not perish, but have eternal life.  You need Christ…who is crucified and risen for you.  Amen.