Tradition must give way to the clear statements of the Scripture

 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”  Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!”  So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die . Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but , “If it is my will that he remain until I come , what is that to you?” John 21:18–23 Jesus replie...

For Thou, O God, didst widen my heart,                but they straiten it with affliction                and hedge me about with darkness.            I eat the bread of wailing                and drink unceasing tears;            truly, my eyes are dimmed by grief,                and my soul by daily bitterness.            [Groaning] and sorrow encompass me                and ignominy covers my face.            My bread is turned into an adversary                and my drink into an accuser;            it has entered into my bones                causing my spirit ...

  When a man is humbled by the law, and brought to the knowledge of himself, then follows true repentance (for true repentance begins at the fear and judgment of God), and he sees himself to be so great a sinner that he can find no means how he may be delivered from his sin by his own strength, endeavor, and works.(Romans 3:19; 7:14; 11:32; Galatians 3:22 ) Martin Luther Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Reformation, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).  A very significant event prior to the Sermon on the Mount is recorded in Matt 4:12–17: Jesus hears that John the Baptist has been thrown into prison; he goes as a light shining in dark lands; and he begins to preach that the kingdom of heaven is near. The significance of John’s imprisonment can hardly be overestimated. Matthew. 3 portrays John as an OT prophet, yet John himself tells us that one greater than he is about to come (Mat.3:11–12).  Matthew immediately identifies Jesus, thro...