“Get Behind Me” and “Follow After Me” (Matthew 16:21–27)

It’s one thing to hold a membership at a fitness centre, it’s another thing to use it. It’s wonderful to belong to a gym but its potential benefits are more fully experienced if time, sacrifice, sweat, and a bit of pain are exerted. Similarly, there are many people who have become saved members of God’s household who, for countless reasons, are not experiencing all of its familial blessings. They are redeemed by Christ but not abiding in Christ. They are converted to new life but not committed in their whole life. They are Christians but they are not disciples.    Last week we were reminded that to be saved one must believe in the person and work of Jesus, that he is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). This week we are going to see what it means to follow Christ, what it costs, and what it provides those who take up the call.