TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW ME
Today we are considering the risk of following Jesus. But who is this Jesus that we follow?
In a posting in June, 2009, Kevin DeYoung, in his Restless and Reformed blog, describes what people say about Jesus today. (these are just a few samples of his blog)
“There's Therapist Jesus—who helps us cope with life’s problems, heals our past, tells us how valuable we are and not to be so hard on ourselves.
"There's Open-minded Jesus—who loves everyone all the time no matter what (except for people who are not as open-minded as you).
"There's Touchdown Jesus—who helps athletes run faster and jump higher than non-Christians and determines the outcomes of Super Bowls.
"There's Martyr Jesus—a good man who died a cruel death so we can feel sorry for him.
"There's Gentle Jesus—who was meek and mild, with high cheek bones, flowing hair, and walks around barefoot, wearing a sash (while looking very German).
"There's Spirituality Jesus—who hates religion, churches, pastors, priests, and doctrine, and would rather have people out in nature, finding ‘the god within’ while listening to ambiguously spiritual music.
"There's Guru Jesus—a wise, inspirational teacher who believes in you and helps you find your center.
"There's Boyfriend Jesus—who wraps his arms around us as we sing about his intoxicating love in our secret place.
"And then," DeYoung says, "there’s Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Not just another prophet. Not just another Rabbi. Not just another wonder-worker. He was the one they had been waiting for: the Son of David and Abraham’s chosen seed; the one to deliver us from captivity; the goal of the Mosaic law; Yahweh in the flesh; the one to establish God’s reign and rule; the one to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, freedom to the prisoners and proclaim Good News to the poor; the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world...
"This Christ is not a reflection of the current mood or the projection of our own desires. He is our Lord and God. He is the Father’s Son, Savior of the world, and substitute for our sins – more loving, more holy, and more wonderfully terrifying than we ever thought possible."[i]
Our text in Mark 8:27-9:1 asks us the question: What does it mean to confess that Jesus is the Christ?
What I share with you this morning is not an easy answer. To confess that Jesus is the Christ means accepting that the fulfillment of his mission involved dying a death that we his followers would be compelled to imitate.
1. Who is Jesus to you?
DeYoung has given us a few versions of Jesus that the world has conjured up to make him fit their perceived needs. Jesus was aware of the different perceptions of his person in his own day. And after a couple of years leading and teaching his apostles, he asks a very important question.
Jesus brought his disciples to Caesarea Philippi for a retreat. It was Gentile territory under Herod’s jurisdiction. Standing in the vicinity of a shrine to the Roman Emperor who considered himself a god, Jesus asked, “Who do people say I am?” (8:27).
The disciples give three general answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets. Back in chapter 6 where Mark tells the story of the beheading of John the Baptist we find this exact testimony. Herod heard about the power and healing of Jesus and his disciples and exclaimed, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!” (6:16). It sounds as if Herod was being haunted by his own actions.
Others said, “He is Elijah.” Elijah had performed miracles during his ministry that astounded people – the fiery sacrifice at Mount Carmel, the widow’s endless supply of oil, the raising of her dead son to life, etc. – so Jesus must be Elijah returned from heaven. “And still others claimed, ‘He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago,’” (6:15). It seems they actually believed that Jeremiah or Isaiah was supernaturally raised to life and was walking amongst them.
Then Jesus asked them, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” (8:29).
This question had been rolling around in their heads since they started following Jesus. The first boat ride where Jesus calmed the storm left them with the question, “Who is this?” This rabbi they were following had driven out demons, claimed authority to forgive sins which only God could do, calmed the storm, walked on water, fed 5000 people from a small lunch, and then fed 4000 more. For nearly three years they watched this man and collected the clues of his identity and now were at a critical moment of decision. Who shall we say this man is?
This says something significant to us about the journey of discipleship. These men followed Jesus for three years and had not yet come to a conclusion about him. We have been taught from young that when you pray the “sinner’s prayer” you decide for Jesus and you are saved. But some of you have been followers for thirty years and you are still discovering Jesus, or are yet to profess that he is Christ.
As we shall see, Peter confesses, “You are the Christ,” but does not actually understand what that means. Who is Jesus to you? What does it mean that he is the Christ?
For Peter, the title “Christ,” meant a political savior who would make all things right, who would restore the kingdom of Israel, and bring justice while healing, feeding, and changing the world. “Christ” was Messiah, a conglomeration of images from the OT and tradition of One who do all these things. To be honest, the image Peter and the others had was a little fuzzy, which is why Jesus said not to tell anyone about him.
2. Can you accept that Jesus had to die?
Now that the cat was out of the bag - “Jesus is the Christ” – Jesus gives his version of what that means. “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again,” (8:31).
This is the first of three predictions Jesus makes in Mark of his impending death. He addresses this again in 9:31 and 10:32-34. But this is probably only three times Mark records this teaching, meaning that Jesus continually taught his disciples about the Christ dying. And now from the point of Peter’s confession, Jesus aims for Jerusalem and his appointment with the cross.
Note the word “must.” Jesus says the Son of Man must suffer many things, he must be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed. Jesus indicates that he is planning to die – this is voluntary. One writer said this is a “divine passive,” which means that Jesus understands that God requires it – this is God’s plan and Jesus is submitting to it.[ii]
Have you ever asked this question: Why did Jesus have to die? How does the blood of one man save me?
The “must” of Christ’s mission is answered briefly in Hebrews 9:22: “…the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
The word “must” is so crucial to this verse it governs the whole sentence. Jesus must suffer, must be killed – it’s a scary word. Jesus didn’t say “I’ve come to die” but “I have to die. It’s absolutely necessary that I die. I can’t save you unless I die.”
This means that we cannot avoid the bloody cross of Christ. Can you accept that there is no way to God except through the death of Christ?
3. Can you accept “the things of God”?
Peter couldn’t. Peter could not wrap his head around the idea that Jesus had to die. If Jesus led them into battle against the Romans and they died gloriously for the kingdom, that he could accept. But Jesus was going to just give himself over to the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law. And that offended him.
Peter rebukes Jesus for saying this – and Jesus in turn rebukes Peter, and the other disciples for thinking the same thing. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men,” (8:33).
Strong words. Was it necessary to rebuke Peter so harshly, calling him Satan? For Jesus, the cross was ever before him, and it was not an easy road. He was tempted every day from the beginning of his ministry to the night of his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane. Every day the tempter said, “You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to live with the humiliation. You don’t have to be misunderstood. You don’t have to do any of it.” Day after day the temptation dogged him and he always resisted it. Now a friend was adding pressure, and the response from his heart was, “Stop it! This is hard enough. Your voice is adding to the voice of evil.”[iii]
This is the way man thinks. Look out for yourself. Save yourself. But Jesus says, “Yes, I’m the Messiah (the Christ), the King, but I came not to live but to die. I’m not here to take power but to lose it; I’m here not to rule but to serve. And that’s how I’m going to defeat evil and put everything right.”[iv]
The disciples reveal that they don’t get it, even after Jesus explains his mission to die. After the second teaching in 9:31, the disciples begin arguing about who is the greatest. After the third teaching in 10:33-34, James and John secretly ask Jesus for prime seats in the kingdom.
It is then that Jesus says, “Don’t you get it?” “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,” (10:45).
These are the things of God. Can you accept that his kingdom is an upside kingdom where leading means serving and loving means dying?
4. Can you accept the cost of discipleship?
We come to the most critical challenge in the Gospel of Mark. Here at the center of this gospel is the hinge of discipleship. Jesus says to the crowd: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel; will save it,” (8:34-35).
The cross was not merely an instrument of death. It was a way of executing people who were considered a threat to Roman rule. Jewish leaders might want Jesus dead but they had no power to kill him.
To take up our cross and follow Jesus then is to follow Jesus in calling the powers that be, the authority this society obeys, the status quo to repent and believe the gospel. It is a challenge to what our world thinks is worthy or beautiful or admirable and turn it on its head.
What Jesus calls us to do in taking up our cross is a radical abandonment of our own identity and will and a challenge to join the march to the place of execution. This “self-denial” is totally different from giving up chocolates for Lent. It is not the denial of something to the self, but the denial of the self itself.
Are you willing to die for Jesus and his gospel? Are you willing to let your children die for the cause of Christ?
In The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:
“The cross is laid on every Christian. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death–we give over our lives to death. The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
We treat this too metaphorically. Dying to self is simply denying our choice or decision for the sake of others, we say. No, it is so much more than that. It is a literal execution of the sinful self-centered self with Jesus on the cross so that we can live in God’s kingdom according God’s kingdom ways and ethics.
With this in mind, can you accept the cost of discipleship?
5. Can you see the kingdom now?
Two things are odd about the final verse in our text. One is that it begins a new chapter but really belongs with the last chapter. Second, it looks like a new subject but it’s not.
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power,” (9:1).
There is a debate about what Jesus refers to in this verse. Does it refer to the Transfiguration immediately after? Does it refer to the resurrection? Does it refer to the destruction of the temple in AD 70 when Mark was written?
It is tough to say. But looking at Jesus and his upside down ways we have to ask what power in the kingdom sense looks like.
In the parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus said the kingdom of God is like the smallest of seeds which grows and becomes the largest plant in the garden (4:30-32). This marks the subtlety of the kingdom. Something small and insignificant eventually grows to become beneficial and encompassing. It begins as weak and powerless but later becomes so much more.
“For us the kingdom of God begins with weakness, relinquishment, giving up our rights to our own life; it begins with admitting that we need a Savior. We need someone to actually fulfill all the requirements and pay for our sin. That’s weakness. Jesus started in weakness – first, by becoming human, and second, by going to a cross. And if we want him in our life, we have to start in weakness too. The kingdom begins there, but it won’t end there. Someday, when Jesus returns and ushers in a renewed creation, love will totally triumph over hate and life will totally triumph over death.”[v]
Can you see the kingdom now? When we are weak, he is strong. When we humble ourselves, Jesus lifts us up.
The words of this text could not be plainer for us today
If you choose to live for yourself, you will lose yourself in the end. If you pursue the pleasures of the moment as if this life was created just for you, enjoy it, because that is all you get. If you spend your life on yourself you will lose it. Jesus’ words, not mine.
Take up your cross and follow me, Jesus says. This is a radical challenge. In our philosophy of evangelism we want everyone to accept this, but not everyone can. Many have too much to lose. Some think they are following Jesus but are still clinging to their stuff, afraid to lose it. Or they are afraid to lose their power to choose, their “right” to be personally empowered, to be in control.
What does it mean to confess that Jesus is the Christ? It means that you see in his death your own death. It means that you don’t love your own life more than you love Jesus. It means taking a good long hard look at Jesus and asking yourself, “Can I abandon everything I hold dear for him?”
This doesn’t sound very nice, I know, but I am not going to soften his words to make them more acceptable. Jesus is dictating the terms here because he knows what we need. And we desperately need to evaluate our discipleship.
Are you serious? Are you committed to Jesus? Who is this Jesus to you? Can you accept the cost of following after him? He invites you to take up your cross and follow him to the place of execution of the self. Then he can show you who you were truly meant to be in the kingdom of God.
If you feel like a failure as disciple in light of what you have just heard, take heart. I have discovered in my studies of Mark that this gospel was written for failures. If you read Mark you will notice that the disciples constantly fail and frustrate Jesus in their understanding and actions. They come off looking really bad at times. Even after the resurrection Jesus chides them for their unbelief when the women told them he had indeed risen from the dead.
But Jesus never gave up on them. He did not fire them or replace them, throw up his hands in exasperation and quit them. No, he just continued to show compassion. Jesus said to keep following, keep coming to the place of execution of the self, keep taking up your cross and follow me.
So this gospel is written for us. We will fail in discipleship. That’s expected. Just keep taking up your cross and follow Jesus.
AMEN
[i] (Kevin DeYoung, Who Do You Say That I Am? from his DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed blog, posted 6-10-09. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Take A Risk, 11/5/2009)
[ii] Ronald J. Kernaghan, Mark, IVP NT commentary series, p. 159.
[iii] Steve Zeisler, from his sermon “Who do you say that I am?”
[iv] Timothy Keller, King’s Cross, p. 97.
[v] Keller, p. 107.
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