A guy was on a business trip and thought it would be nice to come home with a little gift for his wife. He stopped off at a perfume counter in a nice store. “How about some perfume?” he asked the clerk.
She showed him a bottle of really nice perfume - $120.
“Oooh, that’s too much. Do you have something smaller?”
She came back with a smaller bottle - $78
“That’s still pretty steep.” She came back, annoyed with a little bottle - $35.
“You know, I guess I’d just like to see something that’s really cheap.”
The clerk handed him a mirror.
Many people are approaching their relationship with the Lord this way. It’s nothing new. 500 years ago, Martin Luther wrote, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.” A little over 70 years ago, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in The Cost of Discipleship, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
There’s a risk involved in this subject today. The risk is that someone might get the idea that life in Jesus is something we are earning. There’s the risk that we might somehow think that salvation – Heaven – is something you earn by being good enough or doing enough of the right things. It isn’t. Scripture is very clear on that point.
At the same time, there’s a risk that somehow we would downplay what Jesus said and manage to ignore it completely. My hope, instead, is to understand what Jesus was saying in Mark 8, to understand it in the light of all Scripture, and to leave with a grasp of what we’re supposed to do about it. The question is about the cost of living – eternal living. What does eternal life cost?
More than one person came to Jesus with the question “What do I have to do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus answered them. He didn’t say, “Nothing. I’ve got that covered and you don’t’ have to do anything at all.” While being saved is a matter of God’s gift to us, there’s clearly some action to be taken on our part when it comes to accepting that gift. There are conditions to receive it.
Ill - Let’s say I’m a benevolent person, and I’m also stinking rich. I tell you I want to give a gift of $100,000. You just have to show up to receive it. Any questions? Yeah! Where? What day? What time? What should I wear? Do I have to do anything else? We understand this, don’t we?
The passage we’re looking at in Mk 8 is one of the few teaching passages in Mark. Here, as He works His way toward Jerusalem, Jesus begins to prepare His disciples for His approaching death. Mark uses this part of his gospel to prepare his readers for the same thing. Jesus is about to pay the cost for us to inherit eternal life, to offer it to us as a gift. So, what does it require of us? The answer to that begins in v27:
Mark 8:27-30
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" 28 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." 29 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
The cost of living requires that we:
I. Know Who He is (27-30)
One of the main goals of the gospel writers is to plainly tell us that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of God.
This is “the good confession”; the confession that Peter had learned from following Jesus, the confession that made the Pharisees so angry, the confession that Jesus made before Pilate, the confession that Jesus says we must make before men.
Eternal life, Heaven or Hell, your whole salvation, centers around this question: Who do you say that Jesus is?
Jesus was heading for Jerusalem where He would be crucified. His disciples needed to understand Who this was. Lots of people had opinions. There were a lot of ideas about Who Jesus is – JB, Elijah, one of the prophets. What if He were just a great man? What if He were just another prophet? That would make His death on the cross a tragedy, just like the death of so many of the prophets of years gone by. But, if he really was the Anointed One of God, His death would have a whole other meaning.
I could offer to die for the world. That would be noble, but it wouldn’t change the fact that we all need a Savior. A lot of human blood has been spilled to give us freedom and better lives here and now. But if the blood that is spilled is Divine blood, perfect blood, it means life for every person who will accept it. Remember: (14:25) the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
Did you ever wonder where all the other ideas about Jesus’ identity came from? I know.
Oh, I don’t know which people first thought them up, and then who first spoke them and suggested them to others. I just know that those false ideas about Jesus came from Satan, because every idea about Jesus that replaces the truth about Jesus is a way that Satan keeps people away from Him. Every person who remains convinced that Jesus is just another man is a person kept from Heaven.
Sherm, that’s a very narrow view. No, it’s a very broad view, because it’s open to everyone…
Romans 10:13-15
for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!
The cost of living involves knowing Who Jesus is.
Do you know who Bob Beamon is? He set the oldest standing Olympic record – Mexico City, October 18,1968, long jump, 29’ 2½”. 44 years, 11 Olympiads later, no one has beaten it in the Olympics.
Go ahead and make your list of great people of the past – teachers, political leaders, military heroes, scholars, discoverers, Olympic athletes – once we’re standing before God’s throne, He’s not going to quiz us about if we know who those people are. But I see Jesus giving this pop quiz in Mark 8, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be on the final!
In Jn 9, Jesus had healed a man who was blind from birth. As a reward for his testimony, the religious leaders threw the guy out of the synagogue, and therefore out of the Jewish community. The man had never seen Jesus. He simply knew that Jesus had healed him and then had disappeared in the shuffle – that he was once blind, but could now see.
John 9:35-38
Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36 "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him." 37 Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." 38 Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.
Who do you say that Jesus is? That’s a question that has to be addressed in every person’s life. Without knowing Who Jesus is, there’s no salvation.
There is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
His name is Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God.
II. Accept Who/What He is (31-33)
Mark 8:31-33
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. 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 things of God, but the things of men."
There’s this thing in the world of theology we call a “Yabbut.” You’ve heard yabbuts, and have probably even used them.
• “You’re supposed to remain faithful to your spouse.” Yabbut, doesn’t God want me to be happy?
• “Here is what God has said!” Yabbut I was brought up thinking something else is true.
• “The Lord says to forgive the person who has wronged you.” Yabbut he hasn’t said he’s sorry.
• “You should know by now that being a disciple of Jesus means growing up in your faith.” Yabbut I think just being here each Sunday morning is good enough.
• “Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal…” Yabbut I have a certain standard of living I’d like to maintain.
• “You can’t follow after Jesus and be ashamed of Him.” Yabbut I don’t want to be labeled a fanatic or anything.
Jesus never fit anybody's mold. So many people had their ideas of what the Messiah and His Kingdom should be like. Peter has just confirmed and had it confirmed that Jesus is the Promised One of God Who was to come. So Jesus began to rather frankly tell His disciples He would suffer and die. Peter wasn’t on board with that. “No, Lord, You have it wrong!” Peter scolded Him! But Jesus in turn scolded Peter because he was thinking too much like a man. Peter certainly could say Who Jesus was, but he didn't want to accept what Jesus came to do. He was wrestling with a Yabbut.
Don't try to force Jesus to fit into your mold. He was living His life on purpose, to fulfill His purpose. He came to suffer. He came to serve. He came to judge. He came to divide. He came to fulfill prophecy.
Don't try to limit Him to a picture you saw of Him once in your Bible. Listen to what He frankly says about Himself, and accept it. That’s part of the cost of the life Jesus has to offer us.
The cost of living involves accepting Who Jesus is.
III. Identify with Who He is (34-37)
Mark 8:34-37
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (34=key verse)
This is Jesus spelling out what it means to be His disciple.
It’s not enough to merely agree that Jesus is Who He said He is. It’s not enough to merely accept the kind of Lord He is.
The cost of living also involves identifying with Him in an intimate way.
Ill - Chemotherapy has cost many a person their hair. Now, there are some of you guys who were already there, so it wouldn’t matter to you so much! But when it happens to someone who would otherwise have a head full of hair, it can been tough. How many times have you heard of a group of people – a basketball team, a youth group, a class in school – who decided as a group to shave their heads as their friend underwent chemotherapy?
April of this year, Perrysburg, OH, Boy Scouts Pack 110. 2 different boys in their pack were undergoing chemotherapy. So, the pack leaders and all the boys in the pack had a single head shaving pack meeting - all 22 of them. Why do people do that? It’s a way of saying, “We care about this person, and we’re with this person. See that shiny head up there? I’m with him!”
Jesus makes it clear that if we’re going to follow Him, we have to identify with Him. We need to do something that says to the world, “See Jesus there? I’m with Him!” How do we do that? Jesus says there are 2 things we have to do:
A. Deny self
Not "deny yourself of something." Lots of people have denied themselves something. This is deeper.
Remember, Peter was told by Jesus he would "deny" Him; disown Him, claim he didn't know Him at all. That’s what it means to deny someone. Now, apply that to your SELF.
We must get into the throne room of our lives and drag ourselves off of the throne. When Satan says to us, "Why worry about God's plans? Take care of yourself!" we need to be able to say "Self? Who is self? I really don't know him; don’t know who you’re talking about!"
B. Take up your cross and follow Him daily
As Mark wrote this gospel for the 1st century Christians, many would see their own brothers and sisters in Christ as they were crucified along the roads, each one having carried his own cross to the place of torture. They would understand what Jesus meant when He said we must take up our cross and follow Him. They knew what it meant to lose their lives to find real life.
We too often take this word from Jesus and turn it into a cliché.
Having a hyperactive 2 yr old isn’t your “cross.” Having a car that requires a tetanus shot to drive it isn’t your “cross.” Having really bad seasonal allergies isn’t your “cross.” Having a nagging spouse, or a crummy job, or a mortgage on your house isn’t your “cross.”
Jesus was talking about identifying with Him to the fullest extent – to be willing to lose our life, no strings attached, the way He did.
-Ill - Dennis the Menace comes into the room: "Does anyone want to finish painting the basement floor? A can of paint fell over and started it!" Just like a can of spilled paint can't be scooped back in once it is spilled out, just like the ointment Mary poured over Jesus could not be put back into the bottle, our very inner selves, the seat of our emotions and thoughts need to be irrevocably poured out and handed over to God.
The cost of living means being able to identify ourselves with Who Jesus is.
By the way, let me point out that’s another reason that baptism isn’t ever referred to as just some “public profession” of our faith in Jesus. It’s a union with Jesus. In Romans 6, Paul says this is where we are united with Jesus, where we are buried with Jesus. Paul said to the Philippians,
Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV)
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
You know Jesus. You accept Who He is. OK, are you willing to be identified with Him? Take up your cross and follow Him? That brings us to the final cost of living…
IV. Don't Be Ashamed of Who He is (v.38)
Mark 8:38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
Perhaps part of Peter's problem was pride. No one likes to be a part of a losing time. No one likes to be the writer of songs like "75 Trombones" or "Tea for One." And many people shun the idea of following a Lord Whose idea of winning seems to be losing everything.
What an appropriate place for us to remember this: Jesus' plans won’t be like our plans. So what? So we shouldn’t be ashamed!
2 Timothy 1:8 (NIV)
So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,
2 Timothy 1:12 (NIV)
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
Romans 1:16 (NIV)
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Maybe it will help you to be reminded that Jesus extends the same to us
Hebrews 2:11 (NIV)
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
Ill – There are a lot of churches and colleges that have dropped Jesus from their names. I’m talking about places that used to call themselves “Christian” but who removed that because it was somehow offensive, or might be. Then there are people who are asked to pray in public, but they’re told not to mention Jesus in their prayer – wouldn’t want to offend.
The world wants us to be ashamed. They stumble over the foolishness of the cross. Don't ever be ashamed! We don’t serve a weak, Casper Milquetoast Lord! Instead, be like Jesus Who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God!
I’m not ashamed of a Savior like that! I’m not ashamed of the One Who loves me so much that He gives His life in my place and then rises from the dead! I’m not ashamed of the One Who one day is going to return and take me to live with Him forever! And I’m not ashamed of the gospel message that is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes!
The cost living? Don’t be ashamed of Who He is.
Conclusion:
There was no bait & switch in Jesus’ words.
He invited people to assess up front what it costs to live forever. No fine print. No hidden fees. We need to take an honest-to-goodness look at what He wants of us.
Many don't even know Who He is. Many who do know don't want to accept what He did. Many are ashamed. Where are you?
We’re not talking about paying for eternal life. Jesus already covered that. What we’re talking about is accepting what He has bought for us on the cross.
There’s a verse in the old hymn “At The Cross” that shows this understanding:
But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away, ‘tis all that I can do.
