J. Albrecht…Lent 1…Feb 22^nd, 2026…Matt 16:21-26…Jesus Chose Sacrifice, Gives You More…

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

²¹ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. ²² Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” ²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

INJ Who sacrificed Himself in order that we are free from sin and death, DFR:

Our nation’s highest military award is the medal of honor. It is given to those who go above and beyond the call of duty. Nearly 20% of all medal of honor recipients receive it posthumously. Many dying as a result of their actions, others performed the act of valor, but died before receiving it.

Petty Officer Michael Monsoor distinguished himself as one who went above and beyond the call of duty. Monsoor was part of SEAL Team 3 Delta Platoon during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Monsoor fought in the Battle for Ramadi in 2006. While in a sniper overwatch position, Petty Officer Monsoor was on a rooftop with three SEAL snipers and three Iraqi Army soldiers. His position on the rooftop made it so that only he had a quick evacuation route off the roof. After a short skirmish with enemy insurgents, a grenade was thrown on the rooftop. It bounced off of Monsoor’s body. Though he could have escaped, he knew his fellow SEALs, only 15 feet away, would not. Monsoor dove on top of the grenade, absorbing its impact. He died 30 minutes later, but in doing so, he saved the life of his comrades on the rooftop. Michael Monsoor was posthumously awarded the medal of honor for his sacrifice.

Millions of men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice and gave up their lives to preserve the freedoms we enjoy in this nation. For many of them, they didn’t have to. They could have said, “Not my fight, not my life.” But they didn’t. They went forward into battle, paying the ultimate sacrifice, so that you and I could live here in peace.

When we turn our eyes to the spiritual war that has been waging on since the dawn of sin, this act of sacrifice becomes even more rare. In fact, it is nonexistent outside of Jesus Christ. At every turn during His ministry, Jesus faced the temptation to say, “Not my fight, not my life,” and He would have been totally justified. Jesus saw the worst of humanity – and not just during His life on this earth, but, as true God, He sees all things – the thoughts and intents of every heart of every human being. I don’t think any one of us could blame Jesus if He decided this human race was not worth saving, especially if it would cause Him such pain, and suffering, the likes of which the world has never seen, and eventually cost Him His life.

That is the temptation before Jesus in our sermon text this morning. It is an attempt by Satan to get Jesus to forfeit the salvation of mankind. But Jesus chose sacrifice. The sacrifice of Petty Officer Monsoor and others like him have provided us with great blessing: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Jesus’ sacrifice provides us with far greater blessing: eternal life, liberty from sin and death, and everlasting peace and joy with God our Father.

Let us pray: Bless our study of Your Word, O God, and may the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

²¹ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. ²² Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

The time had come for Jesus to speak frankly with His disciples. He had warned them before concerning the fate that awaited Him, but they didn’t understand. Nor do they understand here. You might remember what comes immediately before this. Peter and the disciples confess Jesus to be the Christ, the anointed one, the Son of the living God. It was a confession that Jesus was sent by God to be the Savior of His people, a confession that remains ours today as our firm foundation against the gates of hell. However, the disciples were unable to connect the Old Testament Scriptures to Jesus’ words. They couldn’t see Jesus in Isaiah 53 – that the Lamb of God would be led to the slaughter for the sheep that loved to wander. Why? It made no sense.

Why would Jesus, the Son of God, allow Himself to be killed at the hands of such wicked men? He could spend His time preaching and healing, providing for the needy, but instead He is going to walk right into His death? Who would be so dumb? This is what prompts Peter to make his outburst, not willing that Jesus should die on his watch. Peter’s intentions: Good. Peter’s understanding: Led away by Satan.

It’s not new, this temptation. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry Satan came to Him in the wilderness. He tempted Jesus to bow down and worship him and in exchange receive the whole world. The answer seems obvious to us, but there is more to this temptation. Satan is really telling Jesus to forsake His mission on earth. “Don’t worry about paying for the sins of mankind,” he says, “take for Yourself all that is in this world instead and all You need to do is worship me.” It was the easy way out. If Jesus chose the world, He would in fact, lose it for God’s plan of salvation would fail and we all would be lost to our sin.

Peter fell for the exact same temptation. He chose the world, that is, he wanted nothing to happen to Jesus so Jesus could do unspeakable good in the world. Thus, he became a stumbling block to Jesus and is justly called out as Satan. Has not Satan tempted you in much the same way?

The world we live in today is ripe with incentives. A job that can give you everything you always wanted, but you have to work on Sundays. A partner that would make the spouse of your dreams, but want nothing to do with God or church. You receive the recognition and growth in a company that you worked hard for, but you had to trample other people in order to do so. The point is, the world offers you and me so many tantalizing things – some that are just too good to pass up. But what is waiting on the other side of the door? Truly each of those things could be a blessing from God – a great job, a loving spouse, success in your field. If only Satan let you off so easily.

Peter wanted what was best for Jesus, but it would crush humanity forever. God promised the blessing would be given to Jacob and not Esau, but Satan tempted Jacob to take matters into his own hands and he had to flee for his life. David had the whole kingdom of Israel and had the Lord’s hand with him in battle to guarantee victory. But Satan tempted David to stay home from battle, to lust after Bathsheba, and to orchestrate Uriah’s murder. As a result, David’s own child died.

It is easy for us to choose what is shiny and appealing to our heart. But have we become distracted by what this world has to offer, opening ourselves up to temptation from Satan? He doesn’t want you to fail at your job or in your personal life. He would gladly give you those things if he could. He wants you to exchange your soul for the momentary happiness of this life. Satan wants you to say, “Not my fight, not my life,” and walk away from the crosses of the Christian life.

Yes, we face the same temptation that Jesus faced as He moved closer to the cross to be our Savior. The difference? Jesus did not succumb to temptation, but chose to sacrifice Himself. In so doing, Jesus fulfilled our Old Testament Lesson from this morning. We are on the chopping block like Isaac was. God commanded Abraham to offer up his one and only son to show his love for God. Because of our sin and failure to love God, we are deserving of God’s death-blow. But, before the knife comes down, God provided a substitute for Isaac, a ram – a creature strong and powerful, but caught and helpless in the thicket. Jesus, true God in all power and might, humbled Himself to the weak, fragile state of humanity so that He could substitute Himself as the victim of God’s judgment.

Jesus was not a victim of mankind, nor of Satan, but of God. He willingly bore the death stroke that our iniquity wrought so that we are spared as children of God. Jesus walked to Calvary and chose sacrifice. Jesus chose death because He knew what would come on the other side of His death. He had fulfilled everything the Father sent Him to do. He had finished it all. Upon His death, He knew He had won the victory and that He would rise again on the third day. Nothing was left undone, no sin left unpaid for. The Lamb of God overcame your sin and destroyed death.

And the power of Satan that lies behind your door, waiting to tempt you? The Lamb has destroyed His power too. Jesus remains with you through faith as your high priest. That is, He is before God’s throne interceding on your behalf. When temptation lies at your door, He offers you the way of escape through His Word. You may approach His throne with all boldness, on the merits of the Lamb of God, to find help for any temptation. And when we do fail, as we know we will, there the Lamb offers mercy and grace to help you, assuring you of the forgiveness of all your sins through His blood.

These are just a few of the numerous ways God blesses you through Jesus. Jesus choosing to sacrifice Himself meant that, upon His resurrection, He assumed all authority in heaven and on earth. The very temptation Satan used against Jesus; He already had as true God and He now uses to bless you here on earth. God works day and night to bring you blessing – even something as simple as daily bread.

But more than that, Jesus’ blessings go far beyond what the world can give you. Through Jesus, there is a place in heaven for you. You don’t have to worry about heaven’s no vacancy sign lighting up, you will make it.

Jesus gives you an everlasting peace. God’s justice has been fulfilled. When Jesus comes again, it will not be to deal with your sin, but to receive you to Himself.

Finally, Jesus never leaves you. In this life, you will receive opportunities to carry the name of Jesus. These crosses set before the Christian require sacrifice of many different kinds. But, be assured, the sacrifice God calls you to endure is light work because of the sacrifice Christ made on your account. He gives you the strength and power do not only endure, but to grow as a child of God because of it. The secret to success? Deny oneself, that is, deny the world’s temptations and fill your soul with God’s mercy and grace.

Crosses and suffering may not be what you wanted out of your Christian life. Remember your Savior chose to sacrifice Himself to pay for your sin and change your inheritance to eternal life. No cross or affliction in this world can begin to dim the glory that awaits you there. Amen.