“Want to Know Who Jesus Really Is? Follow Him”
Mark 8:27-38
Jewish Rabbis are teachers and their students are called disciples or learners.
They hang on the rabbi’s every word.
They follow the rabbi around.
They imitate the rabbi.
They are trying to become like the rabbi.
I heard of someone who saw a Jewish Rabbi with several disciples following him.
They followed the guy so closely that when he headed for the bathroom, they followed him right in.
(pause)
Jesus is Savior, Lord.
He is God-Become-Flesh.
But He was also, when He walked this earth, a Jewish Rabbi.
And His disciples, those guys and gals who were following Him around—were His students.
And they were trying to become like their teacher.
One day, Jesus asks these students who have been following Him for probably about a year and a half by now: “Who do people say I am?”
And they came up with a list of different names they have heard people give Jesus as they have traveled throughout so many villages and towns.
But then, Jesus turns to them and asks: “But what about you? Who do you say that I am?”
And Peter gives the correct answer: “You are the Messiah.”
And by saying this, what Peter means is: “You are the one who will purify our society, re-establish Israel’s supremacy among the nations, and usher in a new era of peace and holiness.
Yes.
I’m expecting big things from you.”
No wonder Peter lays into Jesus in verse 32.
Suffering?
Rejection?
Killed?
Wasn’t Jesus paying attention when Peter called Him the Messiah?
Everything Jesus describes in verse 31 would appear to disqualify Him from being the Messiah.
Good thing Peter is there to straighten Him out and show Him the path the Messiah is supposed to follow.
Peter gets the title right, but the meaning wrong, does He not?
And don’t we all?
What is our understanding of Who Jesus is?
Is He Santa Clause?
The Resident Policeman?
The Party Pooper?
A Living Vending Machine or Wishing Well?
Peter and just about everyone we’ll ever know wants a God Who heals our every sickness, brings us prosperity, guarantees our security, urges our military and sports teams on to victory, and generally keeps us happy, healthy and wise.
But that is not Who Jesus is—is it?
Jesus is not a “Nationalist” nor is Jesus a “Santa Clause.”
And Jesus is not a televangelist preaching some-kind of “prosperity Gospel.”
It’s important for us—as Christ’s followers, learners or disciples—to understand Who and What Jesus is and Who and What Jesus is Not.
“Get behind me Satan!” Jesus said, “You do not have in mind the concerns of God…”
And then He called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
And here, for the first time, Jesus uses the word “cross.”
And that phrase has been so misunderstood.
It doesn’t refer to the ordinary sufferings that are associated with human life in the world—sickness, pain, grief, and loss—everyone experiences that stuff as a result of the Fall.
It also doesn’t mean a contrived kind of humility.
We don’t follow Jesus by demeaning ourselves.
Nor are we to view Jesus’ language of cross-bearing and self-denial through the lens of—say—Weight Watchers.
You know, have a little less of the things you like, don’t overindulge in the things that make you happy, cut enjoyment calories whenever possible.
No.
What Jesus is saying is that the life that has been packaged and sold to us isn’t real life and we need to die to those illusions to be born into the abundant life God wants for us.
Here’s the thing, many of us tend to think that life is something we can go out and get or earn or buy or win.
But it turns out life is like love, it can’t be won or earned or bought, only given away.
And the more we give it away, the more we have.
In fact—and first-time parents experience this in a profound way—only when we love others do we most understand what love really is.
In the same way, only when we give away our lives for the sake of others do we find our lives.
Somehow, in thinking about how to fulfill the needs of others our own deepest needs are met.
Call this the mystery of life and the key to the Kingdom of God.
To “deny oneself” means to keep one’s priorities in harmony with what Jesus told us in the two “great commandments”—love God and love your neighbor.
And of course, discipleship, says Jesus, is first and always a matter of following.
It’s not just talking the talk or getting the words right—it is walking the walk.
After Peter gives Jesus the right title with the wrong meaning in mind Jesus starts talking about His fate: “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.”
Then, in verse 34 Jesus speaks not only to His disciples but to the crowds as well and He invites “any” who want to follow Him.
Whispered discussions about Who Jesus is result in an open invitation to become a part of it all.
Jesus calls us to follow Him.
Want to see Who Jesus really is and what He’s about?
Join Him.
Follow Him.
Live like Him.
Learn to love like Him.
And you will be transformed by Him.
And that is because self-denial leads to self-fulfillment.
Self-giving love leads to deep self-satisfaction.
“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.
What good is it,” Jesus asks, “for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
It’s been said that “self-denial” is not a distinguishing feature of North American Christianity these days.
Someone is quoted as saying, “In some ways, the church distinguishes itself as exactly the opposite—this is the corrosive acid of the world-wide phenomenon of the ‘Prosperity Gospel’” which claims that Jesus wants people to be rich in the worldly sense and promises them just that if they will follow Him and give their money to certain ministries.”
A cushy lifestyle is not what Christianity is about.
Serving others out of love, giving of oneself for the sake and well-being of others, becoming lost in love for the sake of the hungry, the poor, the spiritually lost, the mentally and physically ill and forgetting self in the process—this is what it means to follow Jesus.
Giving without seeking a reward—loving without expecting to be loved back—that is discipleship.
Some Christians today want to make sure their religious liberties are respected, their “rights” guaranteed.
But this isn’t what Christianity is about.
This isn’t the Way of the Cross.
This isn’t what Jesus expected nor experienced.
It isn’t what the first disciples experienced or demanded either.
There can be no doubt that religious tolerance is a good thing.
But that is not what we ought to demand from the world.
Instead, we are to love the world with a love that does not demand things for oneself.
Love is not arrogant, it keeps no record of wrongs…
“Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered…
…it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it so well: “As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death—we give our lives to death.
Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.
When Christ calls a [person], he bids them to come and die.
In doing so, he bids them to come and live.”
What could be more exciting???
Have you pursued the things of this world only to find them lacking?
Have you ever stopped and asked the question: “Is there more to life than this?”
Do you wake up in the morning or go to bed at night feeling as if something is missing, as if something in your life is incomplete?
Do you ever feel as if the world is headed toward a cliff and you are along for the ride?
Ever feel like your life lacks meaning and purpose?
Ever wonder if there a God; if there is a Savior?
The answer is: “Yes. There is.”
Praise the Lord there IS—there REALLY IS!!!!
When Christ calls us, we are not only called to come and die to the selfish desires and empty promises we have bought into…
…but the journey to the cross is also a journey of Resurrection, and this fundamentally shapes how we understand what it means to live right here and right now.
Remember, we don’t follow a dead Jesus.
His journey didn’t end at the Cross.
His journey led to victory over sin, death and the devil.
His journey led to eternal life for Christ and all Who will follow Him…
…become His disciple…
…die with Him, be Resurrected with Him…
…become like Him!!!
We learn Who we are by learning Who Jesus is.
After all, we were created in His image to love and be loved.
We are more fully ourselves when there is less of Self and more of God in us—when we embrace the will of God daily, hourly, continually—when we move forward in the way of the cross toward the Resurrection life.
Jesus is calling you, calling me to follow Him, to learn from Him to become like Him.
But it is a choice.
The Cross was a choice for Jesus and it is a choice for us.
The choice is to choose a close, intimate, and transformative relationship with God—as demonstrated in Jesus Christ’s life and death and Resurrection.
Or to choose to continue heading toward the inevitable cliff…
…to embrace self, to live for self and to die alone with self.
Or to give self away…
…and in doing so—to find more than we could ever imagine.
What is your decision?
It must be made one way or the other.
