Following Jesus
Text: Mark 8:31-9:1
Core Idea: Jesus Christ had to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and rise again so that our sins can be forgiven, and we can have life. Then following Jesus means that we too must take up our cross and die to ourselves.
INTRODUCTION
Good afternoon, Lighthouse. It is good to be with you all. We’ve been looking at the life of Jesus through the eyes of Mark – and we are finally at the halfway point in this book. Last week, I shared that the first half of the book revolves around this crucial question: “Who is Jesus?” Then chapter 8 really is the climax of the first half, because here, the disciples were finally beginning to see the true identity of the One they’ve been following. In verse 29, Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah. We’ll discuss more on this later but the word that Peter used is the same word as Christ (Messiah is a Hebrew word and Christ is a Greek word) which literally means “the Anointed One” – the King. Now, this wasn’t just any king, the Messiah was to be the King of kings, the King who was going to put everything right. Now, what we’ll see in our passage is that Jesus accepts this title (He doesn’t correct Peter) but then begins to say things that would absolutely be shocking to everyone. And this is what we will examine together. So, if you have your Bibles, please turn to Mark 8:31-9:1. Let me read this for us.
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” He said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 34 Then He called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.” 9:1 And He said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
There are three things I want us to see from this passage:
THE MESSIAHSHIP (what kind of Messiah Jesus is)
THE MISUNDERSTANDING (how detrimental it is to misunderstand the nature of Messiahship)
THE DISCIPLESHIP (what it means for His disciples to follow Jesus and how the nature of Messiahship shapes the nature of discipleship)
1) THE MESSIAHSHIP
Jesus must have been waiting for this moment – a moment when His disciples would finally get it so that He can begin to share more specifically about the ultimate reason for His coming. So far, Jesus was intentionally teaching in parables so that those who get it will deepen their knowledge but those who don’t will continue to be blinded – it either opened your eyes or left you in the dark. But verse 32 tells us that Jesus spoke plainly about His mission because He didn’t want any misunderstanding. He wanted His disciples to clearly know what kind of Messiah He was going to be, which is why He was very careful and intentional with the choice of His words. We see this from the beginning when He referred to Himself, not as the Messiah but as the Son of Man in verse 31. Peter just declared that Jesus was the Messiah – He didn’t reject it; then why doesn’t He just use the same title for Himself? Why the Son of Man? Because the word “Messiah” created a certain image for the Jews – it described a political King, someone who will crush their enemies and bring glory back to Israel. But this was not why Jesus came – He wasn’t going to be that kind of King. In other words, Jesus didn’t use the title “Messiah” because He didn’t want to mislead His disciples. Instead, He used the title “Son of Man” which was drawn from Daniel 7:13-14, which says, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven… He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” According to Daniel, the Son of Man was a divine figure who would come to establish God’s Kingdom – the One who would have authority on all people, whose rule would be everlasting, whose Kingdom will never be destroyed. Then Jesus was claiming that He was the fulfillment of that prophecy – that He was the Lord of glory. But the way He will establish this would be radically different from what the people expected. Listen to what Jesus said: “The Son of Man must suffer, must be rejected, must be killed, and must rise again. He didn’t say the Son of Man may suffer; He used the word “must.” Think with me – death wasn’t an obstacle to His mission; it wasn’t an interruption or a diversion from it. His death was the very reason why He came. Then it begs the question, “Why? Why was it absolutely necessary for Jesus to die?”
In order to make sense of this, we must start from creation. The Bible tells us that in the beginning, God created man and woman in His image. Unlike anything else, we were made with the capacity to know God, relate to God, and enjoy God. In other words, every single one of us has been created for a relationship with God. The problem was that as Paul says in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We rebelled and turned from God’s ways – wanting to take control over our lives. And as a result of our sin, we were separated from God and were waiting for His righteous judgment. All of us were justly destined for eternal death. But the Bible also tells us that our God is a God of love who just won’t turn His back against us, which is why He found a way to bring us back to Him, though this would be incredibly costly. Listen to what Pastor Tim Keller said, “There’s nothing easy about real forgiveness. When you want to harbor vengeful thoughts, when you want so much to carry out vengeful actions, but you refuse them in an effort to forgive, it hurts. When you refrain, when you forgive, it’s agony. Why? Instead of making the other person suffer, you’re absorbing the cost yourself. You aren’t trying to get your reputation back by tearing their reputation down. You are forgiving them, and it is costing you. That’s what forgiveness is. True forgiveness always entails suffering.” This is exactly what God did for us – in order to forgive us, He sent His one and only Son to die for us, paying the penalty for our sin. This is why Jesus had to die. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “‘He Himself bore our sins’ in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by His wounds you have been healed.’” Dying for our sin wasn’t an accident in Jesus’ life – it was the very reason for His life. And if that wasn’t good enough, it gets better because Jesus didn’t stay dead for long.
Jesus tells us that the Son of Man must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and after three days rise again. We’re talking about resurrection, not resuscitation or reincarnation. Jesus really died but came out of the grave. This is significant because it shows us that death could not hold Him down – Jesus was victorious over death. Then why is this good news for us? Jesus explains in John 14:19, “Because I live, you also will live.” Isn’t that amazing? He didn’t just forgive us of our sin; if we place our trust in Him, He says that we too will overcome death and receive life and life to the full. This is what the gospel is all about. And this is the nature of Jesus’ Messiahship – the one that was filled with suffering, rejection, and death. Christianity makes no sense apart from the cross. Then, friends, I pray that God will open your eyes to see this today – the necessity and the beauty of the cross. I pray that your hearts will be moved by this truth and that you’ll respond in humble repentance and joyful acceptance of Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And if you’re a Christian, I also pray that your hearts will be refreshed by this truth – that it will continue to shape your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Let the cross and the empty tomb humble you, stir your hearts, and fill you with hope for your lives.
2) THE MISUNDERSTANDING
In order to make sense of what happens in verse 32, we need to know their historical context. You see, for centuries, the Jewish people have been waiting for a Messiah who would deliver them from their oppressors (in this case, the Romans) and make their nation glorious again like in David’s days; a Messiah who would restore their wealth, power, and fame – in essence, a Messiah who would make their lives better. This is who they had in mind when they thought about the Messiah. No wonder Peter responded the way he did when Jesus described the nature of His Messiahship – “How can He establish all this by suffering and dying? Impossible! Maybe Jesus is overwhelmed, intimidated, doubtful, and discouraged. I better talk some sense into Him.” Notice that it doesn’t say, “Peter was frightened and urged Jesus to hide” nor does it say, “Peter was compassionate and empathetic toward Jesus.” No, it says that Peter took Him aside and rebuked Him. Matthew 16:22 tells us what Peter actually said, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to You!” He was saying all the things Jesus said must happen should not happen – and he was prepared to do anything to “protect” Jesus. He must have thought his way was more honorable, better than Jesus’ way.
Now, before we look at how Jesus responded, let’s pause and reflect on the fact that if we’re not careful, we could begin to misunderstand Jesus just like Peter did. Not that we’ve been waiting for a Messiah who will make our nation great, but we certainly want Jesus to make our lives better – to give us wealth, power, and fame. Just like Peter, many people today unfortunately believe that Jesus would end all suffering in our lives – that if we’re still suffering, it shows that either we are not doing something right (that we’re not being faithful, that we’re not holy enough), or God is not keeping up His end of the bargain. It’s ultimately to believe that Jesus Christ came so that I wouldn’t suffer, which really is at the heart of what we call the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel is a perversion of the gospel that claims God rewards an increase in faith with increases in health and wealth, which is why the teachers of the prosperity gospel encourage the people to pray for and even demand material flourishing from God. But this really is no gospel at all because it’s based on lies that only feed our idolatry. It degrades God into a genie in a bottle, personal cheerleader, or financial advisor – a God who exists solely for our purpose, desires, and ambitions. But Jesus never promised a pain-free life – in fact, the nature of His Messiahship shows us the opposite. Jesus was telling Peter, “No, Peter, I’m not going to save you from suffering but save you through suffering. I’m not going to promise you that your pain will cease; but I promise you that I will redeem your pain, give it meaning, and use it to bring life to your soul. And most importantly, I promise you that I will be with you in your pain. You will never go through it alone.”
Brothers and sisters, then let me ask you: “Why are you following Jesus? Are you following Him because of the things He can offer or because He is more valuable than life itself? In other words, are you longing more for the gifts or the Giver Himself?” If we’re not careful, we might act like Peter – rebuking Jesus because we think our ways are better, because we think we know what’s best for us. That is tragic. What will you do when Jesus doesn’t fit your expectations? In John 6:66-69, we actually see a lot of people abandoning Jesus because He wasn’t who they thought He was – they were saying, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Then let me read you what happened next, “From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that You are the Holy One of God.’” Friends, I pray that you will choose life. This is not easy – who doesn’t want the glamor, the riches, and the comfort of life? But with His help, I pray that we will continue to fight the good fight – to choose Jesus because He truly is the King that we need.
Okay, let’s see how Jesus responded in verse 33, “But when Jesus turned and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind Me, Satan!’ He said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’” Why did Jesus speak so harshly against Peter? Why couldn’t Jesus just say something like, “Peter, you’re not seeing this clearly. Let me explain it to you again”? Why did He call Peter Satan? Because Peter was presenting the same temptation the Devil brought to Jesus when He was in the wilderness. Let me read that account for us from Matthew 4:8-10, “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”’” There in the wilderness, Satan was offering a kingdom that didn’t require a cross – “forget God’s plan, forget what God has ordained, forget that You were sent to die. You can have Your kingdom without suffering, rejection, and death.” And here, Peter was essentially doing the same thing – Peter was tempting Jesus to get to the throne without suffering. And Jesus saw immediately that those were the words of the Devil, He saw that Peter was challenging the very heart of His mission – the core of the gospel; so, He rebuked Peter. To deny the cross was to lose the gospel, and to lose the gospel was to lose salvation. No wonder Jesus’ response was decisive.
By the way, here, Jesus was showing us how to deal with temptations in life – we don’t slowly run from it; we must decisively cut it off at the root as we continually occupy our minds with the things of God. We must seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. How do we do that practically? By immersing ourselves with the Word and looking for ways to apply it in our lives – “What does the cross mean for me right now? How can I grow to become more like Jesus? How can I think like Jesus, feel like Jesus, and love others like Jesus? How can the gospel truth shape me as a parent, as a husband/wife, as a friend, and as a member of this church? How can the cross help me to respond to my pain? How can I honor God in this or that situation?” This is how we stand against temptations that aim to derail us from the path of God. This is how we guard ourselves against misunderstanding who Jesus is and the nature of His Messiahship.
3) THE DISCIPLESHIP
The point I want to make here is that understanding Jesus’ Messiahship is vital to our discipleship because it informs us what it means to follow Jesus. In other words, Messiahship and discipleship go hand-in-hand. Then with that in mind, listen to what Jesus said in verse 34, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.” In other words, following Jesus means that we must die. This is true because the cross wasn’t just a symbol of hardship, it was a cruel symbol of death – that’s how Mark’s audience would’ve understood it. And this wasn’t surprising because many of them were already being persecuted and dying for their faith. Then just as the Son of Man must die, anyone who follows Him must die as well. He was saying, “You cannot follow Me and still hold onto your life.” Let me say that again: you are not following Jesus if you’re still holding onto your life. Paul summarizes this clearly in Galatians 2:20, where he says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Did you hear that? You no longer live but Christ lives in you which means that He must dictate how you live, not you. Pastor J.D. Greear describes following Jesus as having a Copernican Revolution. Up until the time of Copernicus, everyone thought the universe rotated around the earth. But Copernicus discovered that the sun was at the centre, not us. In the same way, following Jesus means that we now revolve around God, not the other way around – we now exist for Him. Jesus is our life – He is more important, more precious, more valuable than our comfort and safety, than our wealth or reputation. Brothers and sisters, it’s true that our salvation was free; it cost us nothing – but following Jesus will eventually cost us everything. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When Jesus bids a man to follow Him, He bids him come and die.” Then let me ask you: what does it mean for you to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him today? How does this look in the way you manage money and time, in the way you work and study, and in the way you relate to people around you? Are you dying to yourself every single day?
Now, something you don’t see in the NIV is that verses 35-38 all begin with the Greek word “for” which implies that in each of these four statements, Jesus was giving a reason or a motivation to come and die. Three motivations. First, by dying to yourself, you will have life – verse 35, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me and for the gospel will save it.” Jesus was saying, “When you try to save your life by trusting your own sense of direction, you will fail – you will lose your life. The only way to find life is to lose your life by offering all of it to Me.” What does this mean practically? It means to choose the suffering that comes with obedience over the comfort that comes with disobedience. This is not easy because obedience to Jesus honestly at times feels like death. Think about it. Forgiving someone who had wronged us is incredibly painful – every fiber of our being cries out for justice, wanting that person to pay for their action. Giving generously our money or time means that we’re putting ourselves at risk – we become vulnerable. Not engaging in certain activities at our workplace can put our careers in jeopardy. Serving at church can feel unbelievably overwhelming and exhausting. But what Jesus is saying is that through our obedience, He will bring life – not just for others but to us as well. The forgiveness we offer can restore broken relationships and release us from bitterness. God will use our money and time to bring life to others and fill our hearts with joy. Not engaging in certain activities can either offer us an opportunity to shine the light of Christ at our workplace or it could be His grace leading us out of that place because He wants to use us somewhere else. And by serving, we’re breathing life into this community, and it keeps us humble. You see, obedience can certainly feel like death at times but it’s an instrument of God to bring life to you and those around you. This is the first motivation for calling us to die to ourselves.
Second, nothing from this world is eternal, but your soul is – verse 36, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” Think about the whole world – all the money, all the possessions, all the beauty, all the glamor, all the success, all the fame in the world. What if you can have it all, but lose your soul for eternity? Would you rather have temporary pleasure and eternal suffering or temporary suffering and eternal joy and life? I hope you’ll have faith to choose the latter because whatever you’re holding onto right now (the very thing that may be keeping you from surrendering your whole life to Jesus, the thing that’s preventing you from going deeper in your relationship with Jesus), He is telling us that we will inevitably lose it – that’s His point. Then really ask yourself, “Are those things really worth more than my soul?” In his book, Don’t Waste Your Life, Pastor John Piper shares a story that he calls a tragedy, “Bob and Penny took early retirement from their jobs five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now, they live in Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot fishing boat, play softball, and collect shells. They collect shells. Come to the end of your life – your one and only life – and let the last great work before you give an account to your Creator be, ‘I collected shells. See my shells, God?’ That is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. I want to plead with you, don’t buy it.” Jim Elliot summarizes this thought this way: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Friends, nothing in this world is worthy of your attention, your love, your longing, your pursuit – only Jesus is.
Last motivation, if we are ashamed of Jesus, He will be ashamed of us – that’s what verse 38 says. The truth is that because we don’t want to be embarrassed, because we don’t want to stick out, because we don’t want to create tension, we’re often tempted to hide our devotion to Christ from the world. We try so hard to blend in. But Jesus is asking us, “Whose affirmation matters more – your parents’, friends’, co-workers’, the world’s, or Mine?” I pray that we won’t live for the praises of people that mean nothing in the eternal sense – live for His praises. Live in such a way so that when you stand before Him, you’ll hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21).
I’ll close with this: I read somewhere that when our relationship begins with Jesus, Satan simply puts a calculator in our hands. And when we begin to calculate things in our love for Jesus, it’s no longer love, it becomes an investment. And once this happens, we’ll never be satisfied, we’ll never be able to surrender, we’ll never be able to die because we’ll never give more than what we need to give, which means that we’ll never be able to “waste” our lives for the Lord – give extravagantly to the Lord. Of course, when I say “waste,” I’m talking from the perspective of the world because when we “waste” our lives for the Lord, it’s not really a waste, it’s just an expression of our love and devotion for the Lord. Right? When we do extravagant things for the people we love (our spouse, children, parents, friends), we don’t consider it a waste, we don’t see it as an investment (hoping that they would return the favor) – no, we give, we serve, we sacrifice because it’s an expression of our love for them. Brothers and sisters, I pray that you’ll throw away that calculator today. Don’t view your relationship with Jesus as an investment. I pray that you’ll joyfully surrender your life to Christ because that’s exactly what He did for us – Jesus “wastefully” gave us all.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, Jesus Christ had to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and rise again so that our sins can be forgiven, and we can have life. Then following Jesus means that we too must take up our cross and die to ourselves. Knowing this, may we run to the cross of Jesus Christ daily as we lead others to the cross where they will find hope and life for themselves.
Discussion questions
Immediately after Peter’s confession comes an explanation from Jesus about what it means for Him to be the Messiah. What is the nature of His Messiahship? Why is this important for us to know?
Why did Peter begin to rebuke Jesus? What was it about Jesus’ teaching that he could not accept? In contrast, why did Jesus in turn rebuke Peter so harshly? How can we make sure we have in mind the concerns of God and not merely human concerns?
What does it practically look like to deny yourself and take up your cross? Where in your life specifically do you need God’s help to deny yourself and take up your cross? In what ways are you tempted to save your life rather than lose your life for Jesus and the gospel?