Power Up Your Discipleship Series

Introduction

An estimated 113 million viewers watched the Super Bowl. What do people always talk about after a Super Bowl? Ads! Most expensive ever - at $7 million per 30 seconds.  The most memorable ad I saw? Tubi - the one where everyone scrambled to find their remote control.  Also, this year there were two ads of interest - the ones that made the effort to tell America about Jesus: He Gets Us. This one showed scenes of conflict that definitely stir emotions - ending with the slogan Jesus Loves the People We Hate. According to Christianity Today this is thought to be the biggest-ever Christian advertising campaign (Baer). The video ads have accumulated millions of views on YouTube. This is a national campaign that will run through the end of this year.  Although it is not without some controversy, it is an effort to get a new generation of unchurched people to think about the question: Who is Jesus? 

Jesus once asked a question about identity: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Interestingly, he got several responses. John the Baptist - Elijah - Jeremiah - one of the prophets. Isn’t that interesting? That people would identify the living Jesus with prophets who had passed? There’s one crucial question, though, when it comes to the identity of Jesus: Who Do You Say that I Am?

Who is Jesus to you? (Wallace)

Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet held in high regard.

Judaism acknowledges Jesus existed and had a mother named Mary. He is respected, but not the Messiah.

Hinduism and Buddhism teach that Jesus was a holy man / enlightened teacher and one of the gods.

I think those ideas are pretty much embraced by many today.  Peter’s answer:

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” - Matthew 16:16

Jesus: “...Upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. "Matthew 16:18 Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) is the foundation of our faith.  Jesus says he will build his church upon that confession. Nothing - not even death - can destroy it. Jesus is our Savior - and we have committed our lives to follow Him. Matthew tells us what it means to follow Jesus.

1. Follow His Interests (Matthew 16:21-23)

From that time Jesus began to show 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 up on the third day. 22 And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Jesus communicates his Kingdom Mission:

He is a teaching Savior - he shared with them his plan.

He is a Suffering Savior - at the hands of the religious elite he would experience suffering, the cross, and death.

He is a Risen Savior - on the third day!

Peter goes from making the confession of a lifetime to telling Jesus what he will and will not do! The response from Jesus is that this will not be tolerated. The interest of Discipleship is always the Jesus Agenda.

2. Carry His Cross (Matthew 16:24)

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

If we are ever under the impression that Christianity is the place where all our problems are solved and we just get to feel good all the time - we are living in a dream world! Just listen to what Jesus is saying here - it cost him his life. The cost of discipleship is our life. And that’s what makes it hard for many to follow. 

Three realities of Discipleship

It is about self-denial. Barclay: “To deny oneself means in every moment of life to say no to self and yes to God. To deny oneself means once, finally and for all to dethrone self and to enthrone God … The life of constant self-denial is the life of constant assent to God.”

It is about Carrying the Cross. We say “that’s just my cross to bear” pretty lightly. For Jesus, it was a death sentence. 

It is about following Jesus wherever He leads us.

3. Experience His Reward (Matthew 16:25-26)

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Jesus offers us life that is really life. YOLO - you only live once - a saying meant to free us from constraints or worries about consequences. 

“…I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” - John 10:10