Series: The Book of Mark
Man’s Way or God’s Way
Text: Mark 8:31-9:1
What does it mean to be a Christian? Some people think that just because members of their family are Christians, then that automatically makes them Christians. Others think that just because they were baptized then they are Christians. Some people think that just because they go to church, then they are Christians. Well, I’m here to tell you that none of these things make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car!
There are a lot of different ways that we could describe what it truly means to be a Christian but I think the best description is found in our passage tonight. Simply put, a Christians is someone who follows Jesus. Now that doesn’t mean that we are perfect, or that we won’t ever mess up. Everyone of us struggle with sin in our lives every day. It means that we’ve place our trust in Jesus Christ, we’ve confessed and repented our sins, and we’ve decided to follow Jesus and the commands set forth in God’s Word. That’s what it means to be a Christian.
The text that I’ve selected for tonight’s reading can also be found in Matthew and Luke. It’s the account where Jesus challenges his disciples, the crowd and us to surrender ourselves to what God has planned for us, rather than holding on to worldly things for our own comfort.
Read Text
Now apparently, Peter didn’t like it when Jesus told them that He was going to suffer and be rejected and killed. The text tell us that Jesus said these things openly, almost as if He wanted it to happen and Peter wasn’t going to stand for it. Sometimes I think that Peter was afraid that if Jesus suffered and was killed, then as followers of His..they would too. So he began to challenge the Lord, using the same authoritative tone that the serpent used in the Garden of Eden.
Jesus looks at the rest of the disciples and he had to have known that they were thinking the same thing as Peter, and so when He silences Peter he says, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (v. 33)
It’s important for us to understand that our desires, our wants, have real consequences. If we choose to follow Christ, then we need to understand that it’s extremely possible that we might suffer temporary pain, temporary rejection, and even physical death. But in return, we get to enjoy eternal life, eternal gain, and eternal honor.
However, if we choose to deny Christ so that we can be comfortable and enjoy our temporary life here on earth, seeking to gain everything this word has to offer, then we will surely suffer permanent loss, permanent rejection and eternal death.
Jesus calls even more people to come a little closer because He wants them to hear what He has to say, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Vv. 34-35)
Again, the consequences of our desires are a matter of life and death. If you want to save your life now, then you will lose eternal life. But if you’re willing to lose your life now, then you will save it for eternity.
If someone were to hold a gun to your head and ask you if you were a Christian, what would you do? That’s the implication of our text. If you confess Christ, you will die, but if you deny Christ, you’ll be set free to enjoy your life…for now.
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Vv. 36-37)
Jesus goes on, using a metaphor of profit and loss to pretty much say the same thing. He says that if you gain the whole world but lose your soul for eternity, you lose…because your soul is worth more than anything this world has to offer.
Some people spend their entire life seeking material gain or worldly fame; in the majority of these cases they end up neglecting their eternal souls. Even if they were able to buy everything in the world, even if they were loved by every single person in the world…if they’ve neglected their soul in the process, they end up being a loser because a person’s soul is more valuable than the whole world. They will suffer a net loss in the end.
Finally, Jesus tells them that the consequences of their desires are a matter of honor and shame.
Read V. 38
You remember how when you were in school you had the cool kids and the un-cool kids? Some of y’all are getting to experience that right now. The cool kids are the ones who hang out together and make fun of the un-cool kids. They whisper amongst themselves, they point, they make jokes and laugh at all the un-cool kids. They wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with the un-cool kids. They seem to run the school; they seem to be in charge.
But what I’ve come to realize over the years is that they’re scared, much like I was. They’re scared to stand up for what they know is right – afraid to stand up for the weak ones, the poor ones, the geeky ones. They’re afraid of their own “so called” friends – the cool kids.
I think that’s what Jesus is talking about here…to be ashamed is the same as being scared - reluctant, lacking courage. We have a lot of “so called” Christians that are scared to stand up for Jesus because they’re afraid of what their “so called” friends are gonna think.
But let me tell you something, the day is coming when the tables are gonna be turned. One day that nerd in high school won’t be so small and weak and poor and ugly – and one day, when Jesus comes again - He will come in power and glory as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Then, all those people who were scared about what their friends would think, will have a real reason to be scared. Because Jesus will no longer be the suffering Servant, He will be the righteous Judge.
Now I’m not trying to discount what it means to be a Christian, because the fact is that it takes real courage to confess your faith in Christ. Why? Because we live in a world where being a Christian is not popular and we’re too worried about fitting in…it’s a lot like high school. But you know what…God didn’t create us to fit in, He created us to stand out. C.S. Lewis once said, “When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.” Well Jesus wanted to assure His disciples, and us, that His day would come. So He promised them a foretaste of that glory.
Read 9:1
There are a lot of different theories about what Jesus was talking about here, but the most likely scenario is that He was referring to the Transfiguration which would take place six days later. It’s found in three of the four Gospels immediately following this, and it was witnessed by only three of the disciples – Peter, James and John. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus gave them a foretaste of the glory that would be His when He comes again.
I believe that Jesus provided them with this experience to assure them that His promise to return in power and glory was true; that they shouldn’t be afraid to confess their faith in Him now because when He comes again, He would reward them for their obedience and trust in Him.
Jesus’ ultimate desire here on earth was to please God. He proved this when He said, “Not my will, but Yours, be done.” Not only was He willing to lose His temporary life in order to gain eternal life, but He did it so we could have eternal life as well. He wasn’t scared of what others would do to him, He stood up to the scribes, Pharisees and the religious establishment of His day because He trusted in God to deliver Him from death and to reward Him for His obedience.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, 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. (Heb. 12:1-2)
This is what the disciples finally ended up being able to do; it’s what Paul did; it’s what all of us, as followers of Christ, can do because Jesus did it first.
