Following Jesus is not easy! The disciple Mark knew this well and so he traces for his readers in his gospel the cost of discipleship. Three passages in particular stand out on this subject. We looked at one last week and saw how the beheading of John the Baptist is a foreshadowing of what may happen to all Christians. This week I want to look at another passage in Mark and see how the author continues to develop this theme. Again we are reminded by this author that following Jesus is not easy, but it is worth it.
In Mark 8:27-9:1 we read of Jesus foretelling his impending death. The scene takes place as Jesus and the disciples are walking along the road towards their next stop on Jesus’s missionary tour. He turns to his disciples and asks them an important question. We read:
And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. 31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 34 And he called to him the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 37 For what can a man give in return for his life? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” ESV Mark 9:1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
This text reveals several important things about the disciples. It indicates that they have some idea who Jesus is. The Lord asks them “who do people say I am,” and they answer with the list of theories that their culture had about Jesus. Our culture has a list of theories too. But ultimately what matters most is who they believe Jesus is. So he probes and Peter answers, saying “You are the Christ.” Now Christ is not Jesus’s last name, it’s a title that means anointed one or chosen servant. There is an indication here that Peter understands something unique about the person and role of Jesus. But, as is often the case in the Gospel According to Mark, the disciples are missing something.
You see, while Peter acknowledges that Jesus must be the messiah, Peter has in mind who he thinks this Messiah should be. For him, and for many others in the first century, the Messiah was thought to be a political hero. Someone who would come and lead a rebellion and overthrow Roman rule and free Israel to be their own kingdom people again. So when Jesus foretells his death in the adjacent scene Peter becomes annoyed. After all, how can Jesus lead a rebellion from the grave! He is so annoyed that he even takes to rebuking our Lord. “Jesus, stop saying your going to die!” But Jesus does not operate according to man’s plans and man’s schemes. He has come as the King of a different Kingdom! The Messiah must die!
So Jesus rebukes Peter, even calling him Satan, and then he uses this opportunity to correct all the disciples. He tells us that Peter is not following the ways of God and then he explains what it looks like to follow him. To be a follower of Jesus, we are told, means to die to yourself and to take up your cross. This is a text packed with meaning; it is a troubling and humbling text too. For at the heart of the passage is an acknowledgement that I do not live for myself anymore. To be a follower of Jesus is to surrender any claims to my own life that I have.
It’s natural for many of us to read this passage and think that it means we should be ready to die for Jesus. After all it is talking about a “cross,” which was an awful form of torture and murder in the ancient world. But the truth is that I think both Jesus and Mark have something more in mind than just a willingness to die. We saw with John the Baptist that death is a real possibility for disciples, but I believe that this passage is about the way we live. It’s easier, at some level, to talk about a willingness to die for Christ. If someone holds a gun to my head and says denounce Christ, I don’t fear that I will. But when it comes to daily surrender my wants, my dreams, my desires to follow King Jesus that is much, much harder. Taking up my cross is about dying to myself. It is about declaring my allegiance to King Jesus and accepting that I am called to do his bidding, not my own. True disciples must die to self!
Following Jesus isn’t easy, and we need to be honest about that. I fear that if we are not honest about it we will set up new and young believers for failure. Far too many people believe that if they just become Christians then God will work out all the details of their lives in a flash. They will have an easy, happy, and comfortable existence. But of course that doesn’t happen, and God never promised us that. So when it doesn’t happen many young Christians become depressed thinking they must be bad followers of Jesus and God must be angry with them. Others will tend to become angry with God, thinking he owes them something and when he doesn’t deliver they abandon the faith. We must be honest about the hardships of following Christ. We must own it and express it to one another. Following Jesus isn’t easy…but it is worth it.
Look at what Jesus adds to this discussion of taking up your cross in verse 35: For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. Jesus gives us hope and a promise. It is worth it to lose everything for his sake! At one level we may say it is no sacrifice to follow Jesus, for in the end we get great reward (namely the very eternal presence of Jesus himself). Do you want to save your life, friends? Then give them away for Jesus’s sake. True disciples must die to self! Following Jesus is not easy, but it is worth it!
Sparrow & Heart Soul Care 