Title: You Can’t Walk with Jesus with Eyes Wide Shut
Text: Mark 8:31-38
Thesis: To walk with Jesus is to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him.
Overview
Riding on a wave of impressive demonstrations of power Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" Then he asked them, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Messiah."
Given the Messianic expectations of the disciples and the Jewish people Jesus wanted to make sure they knew what he was really about. They were following him with eyes wide shut... unable to see where Jesus was really going. Jesus wanted them to follow with eyes wide open.
Do he outlined his path of suffering, rejection, death and resurrection.
Peter objected with eyes wide shut... resulting in a rebuke from Jesus.
Jesus went on to let his followers know that to follow him with eyes wide open meant denying oneself, taking up one's cross and following him.
Introduction
There was a man sitting at a table in a very nice restaurant waiting for someone to take his order. Seated at the table next to him was a very pretty lady who happened to sneeze… and when she sneezed her glass eye popped out. He deftly caught it and returned to a very embarrassed but appreciative lady.
She invited him to join her saying, “I really would like to buy your dinner as an expression of my appreciation.” So he moved to her table.
They had a delightful dinner and as she paid the tab she asked him if he might see her again. Being a little taken-aback the man asked, “Do you ask every man if he would like to see you again?” To which she replied, “Of course not, but you caught my eye.”
Our eyes are a dead give-away as to what we are thinking.
At the Inaugural Luncheon Michelle Obama was sitting between the President and John Boehner. John Boehner leaned over and asked President Obama is he’d had a cigarette before the luncheon and then joked that someone probably would not let him… a stab at humor regarding the President once remarking that he had quit and if he should ever start again, his wife would kill him. The cameras caught Michelle Obama rolling her eyes at his remark.
Not long ago when Prince William and Kate visited the United States… Kate Middleton was attending an event in Harlem where she was seated at a table with several women. They were all wrapping gifts for the poorest children in the city. As they were working away Kate was chatting with the ladies when a supervisor walked by and said, “Keep wrapping” after which Kate raised her eye-brows and rolled her eyes. People do not generally scold the Duchess of Cambridge.
We can do all kinds of things with our eyes: We can see eye to eye; turn a blind eye; feast our eyes; blink; twinkle; open and close our eyes. We may also perceive with eyes of understanding.
Jesus wanted his disciples to see who he really was and for us to see who he really is.
I. The Need to Know Who Jesus Is, Mark 8:27-30
Our text today comes out of a rather striking context in which Jesus was on what we call a roll. The idiom “on a roll” means things are going great. On a roll means a person is on a winning streak or riding a wave. To be on a roll means to be moving from success to success. And the way Mark tells it good things were happening rapidly, one after the other.
• Jesus fed 5,000 men and their families, Mark 6:30-44
• Jesus walked on water, Mark 6:45ff
• Jesus took the religious leaders to school regarding their hypocrisy, Mark 7:1-23
• Jesus delivered a little Gentile girl from demon possession, Mark 7:24-30
• Jesus healed a man who was a deaf mute, Mark 7:31-39
• Jesus fed 4,000 people, Mark 8:1-21
• Jesus healed a blind man, Mark 8:22-26
This series of demonstrations of power had resulted in a considerable amount of public attention. People were thinking. People were speculating. So as Jesus was walking with his disciples from Bethsaida to Caesarea Philippi Jesus casually asked them:
“Who do people say I am?”
A. Another Prophet?
Jesus asked, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “…some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.” Mark 8:27-28
But then Jesus brought the question of his identity closer to home.
B. The Messiah?
“But who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “The Messiah.” Mark 8:29
Peter’s response was a major confession of faith in as to who Jesus was and is… more than a great teacher. He is more than a John the Baptist or the Old Testament Prophet, Elijah. Jesus is the promised Messiah.
The very thought of Jesus being the Messiah conjured up all kinds images and expectations in the minds of Peter and the other disciples, making it necessary for Jesus to clarify those expectations.
Jesus needed to make his agenda clear. He needed for this followers to know who he was and what he was really about.
II. The Need to Understand What Jesus Is About, Mark 8:31-33
It started in January of 2014 as a local project in Chicago. The American Friends Service Committee displayed 500 pairs of empty boots citing the fact that 500 men and women had given their lives in the Iraq War. Each pair of boots is tagged with the name, age, rank and home state of each soldier. The display grew to 3,400 pairs of boots in 2007 and currently would number more than 4,000 pairs of boots.
“Eyes Wide Open” is intended to be a visual reminder of the “human cost” of the Iraq War and provide a place for public mourning.
No one should think of war or go into war with eyes wide shut… no one should go into war with any delusions about the cost.
The people of Israel have always thought of themselves as the people of God or God’s chosen people. They believe they have a special place in the world…
Historically they have believed that one day a King from the lineage of David would come to power… the Messiah would make Palestine the center of the world with all other nations subject to the nation of Israel and from there the Messiah would then institute a new age of peace that lasts forever.
This was their expectation… Jesus, as the Messiah, would go to war against the other nations of the world, conquer them and restore Israel to a place of world prominence and dominance and then institute a reign of peace that would last forever.
As I said earlier, no one should think of war or go into war with eyes wide shut… no one should go into war with any delusions about the cost.
No one should follow Jesus with eyes wide shut or with any delusions about the cost.
A. Jesus was about: Suffering, Rejection, Death and Resurrection
Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer terrible things, be rejected by the religious leaders, be killed and three days later he would rise from the dead. Mark 8:31
• Suffering is associated with discomfort but leans more toward anguish, misery, hardship and despair.
• Rejection is to be denied or dismissed or repudiated or renounced.
• Death means to cease to be. To die is to have come to one’s end.
While Jesus was about suffering and rejection and death… Peter was about something else.
B. Peter was about: The Restoration of Israel to Prominence and Power
• Comfort, ease and advantage.
• Acceptance, favor and approval.
• New beginnings, life and living.
“Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed.” (Friedrich Nietzsche)
We only see what we want to see; we only hear what we want to hear. Our belief system is just like a mirror that only shows us what we believe. (Miguel Angel Ruiz)
The Conservative Political Action Conference was held last month, February 26-28, at the Gaylord Resort and Convention Center in Maryland. When you attend CPAC you expect to hear what you want to hear. The event was jam packed with speakers who spoke to conservative political interests. Among the speakers were Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Marco Rubio, Rick Perry, Joni Ernst, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Rick Perry, Ben Carson, Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson and Donald Trump. It was pretty much a love fest until Jeb Bush spoke about immigration reform. While there were many supporters Jeb Bush was booed and two dozen people walked out, objecting to his views on immigration reform.
We all want to hear what we want to hear…
Our text says that when Peter pulled Jesus aside to let him know that suffering and rejection and death were not things he or anyone else wanted to hear, Jesus gave him “the look.” And then he said, “Get away from me Satan! You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” Mark 8:33
Having heard who Jesus is and what Jesus is about we need to get what he asks of us… this is where the rubber meets the road.
III. The Need to Do What Jesus Says, Mark 8:34-38
“If anyone wants to be my follower, you must deny yourself, i.e., turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34
Google is likely the primo place to work in the world… 2.5 million people fill out applications to work for Google every year. That means 6,849 people apply every day at the rate of 5 applicants per minute. Googles philosophy is to create the happiest, most productive workplace in the world.
They make it a place where people want to come to work. Free gourmet breakfast, lunch and dinner meals; free health and dental; on site physicians; subsidized massages with massage rooms on every floor, free eye-brow shaping; free yoga and fitness consulting; free haircuts; a $6,000 subsidy if you buy a hybrid car; gyms and swimming pools; play rooms; nap pods; $12,000 tuition reimbursement per year; fully stocked beverage and snack stations within 150 feet of where you work. They even have back-up child care right on campus. Employee work spaces range from wide-open to tiny nooks… all designed to make it easy to talk and collaborate. (James Stewart, Looking for a Lesson in Google’s Perks, The New York Times, March 15, 2013)
And then there is Jesus, “If anyone wants to be my follower, you must deny yourself, i.e., turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34
Jesus does not want any delusional followers. Jesus wants his followers to follow him with eyes wide open!
In the NFL they may expect you suffer broken bones and addled minds but at least they pay you well for it… Peyton Manning may have to play in a bone-chilling blizzard and get knocked around but despite a pay-cut this year (to help out with the Bronco salary cap) he will still make $15 million with incentives that amount to the original $19 million dollars. Demaryius Thomas may have to take some hard knocks and make miraculous catches in the most adverse of game circumstances but he will receive $12.8 million for it.
But Jesus recruits his followers by demanding they deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow him, sans signing bonuses.
Jesus said his followers must:
A. Deny Self – What does it mean to deny yourself?
B. Take Up Your Cross – What does it mean to take up your cross?
C. Follow Me – What does it mean to follow Jesus?
William Barclay does not attempt to parse denying self and taking up one’s cross and following Jesus as three different steps one must take.
He wrote, “We will understand the meaning of this demand best if we take it very simply and literally. Let that person say no to himself and yes to Jesus.
That person must say no to his own natural love for ease and comfort. That person must say no to every course of action based on self-seeking and self-will. That person must say no to the instincts and the desires which prompt him to touch, taste and handle forbidden things. That person must say yes to the voice and command of Jesus Christ.” (William Barclay, The Way of the Disciple, The Gospel of Mark, P. 203)
Jesus is right-up-front about it. He doesn’t want anyone to have buyer’s remorse like the little boy on his first day in 1st grade. Ryan was accustomed to going home from kindergarten at noon, so he was busily getting ready to go home when he was supposed to be lining up to go to lunch with the other kids. So his teacher asked him what he was doing and he said, “I’m going home.” She tried to explain that he was now in 1st grade and 1st graders have all-day school. She patiently explained that it was time for the class to go to lunch and then after lunch they would come back to the classroom and do some more work before going home. Realizing he was had, Ryan put his hands on his hips and demanded, “Who signed me up for this program anyway?”
Why so rigorous? Why is Jesus so demanding? It seems like a lot to ask…
We are familiar with what it means to serve God and Country. A soldier gets it when he or she is asked to risk everything to serve and defend in the darkest and most dangerous places in the world.
Maritime tradition dictates, "The captain goes down with the ship." A sea captain holds ultimate responsibility for both his ship and everyone embarked on it, and he will die trying to save them. In most instances the captain of the ship forgoes his own rapid departure of a ship in distress, and concentrates instead on saving other people. It often results in either his death or belated rescue.
That’s why the Captain of the Costa Concordia received a 16 year sentence for manslaughter for his role in the 2012 shipwreck near Italian Island that resulted in 32 deaths. He was accused of causing the shipwreck and abandoning the Costa Concordia while many of the 4,200 passengers and crew were still on board.
When a soldier makes a commitment that soldier does not go AWOL. When a Ship Captain makes a commitment that Captain does not jump ship.
And then there is marriage… When a man and a woman fall in love and commit themselves to love each other vowing to comfort, love, honor and keep one another for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish and forsaking all others, to keep yourself only for the other, so long as you both shall live – that man and that woman have made a commitment. When one does not love and cherish and stick with it through thick and thin or when one is unfaithful to the other, that commitment is broken.
Is that so unlike, “if anyone wants to be my follower he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me?
If you are unwilling to give your life for God and country don’t sign up. If you don’t want to assume responsibility for passengers, crew and cargo, then don’t stand behind the helm. If you are unwilling to give up other lovers and be fully devoted to your spouse, then don’t get married. If you are unwilling to accept the challenges and character changes and the commitments and the causes of Jesus willingly and joyfully, then don’t sign up, so to speak.
But if you are… Do!
Conclusion:
Jesus never suggested that following him would be a life of leisure or luxury. It is a life of self-denial and cross-bearing in pursuit of living for Christ. Of that pursuit, someone wisely said, “Life is too valuable to waste on lesser pursuits.”
Schutt Sports, a major supplier of football helmets for the NFL, issues the following warning label on all their helmets and on their web site: “WARNING… NO HELMET SYSTEM CAN PREVENT CONCUSSIONS OR ELIMINATE THE RISKS OF SERIOUS HEAD OR NECK INJURIES WHILE PLAYING FOOTBALL. TO AVOID THESE RISKS, DO NOT ENGAGE IN THE SPORT OF FOOTBALL.”
“TO AVOID THE RISKS OF DISCIPLESHIP, DO NOT ENGAGE IN FOLLOWING Jesus.
OTHERWISE…
FOLLOW JESUS WITH EYES WIDE OPEN!
