I read the larger context of this passage because it is so important to understand what Jesus is teaching us about what is known as his call to discipleship. I am going to focus on the 3 things that Jesus referenced in this call. Deny Yourself. Take up Your Cross. Follow Me.
But the context is important because Peter and others had a mistaken idea about what it meant to follow Jesus or to be a disciple. Because Peter was thinking incorrectly Jesus was making sure that everyone in the crowd that day, not just Peter, understood the terms of discipleship. So, Jesus addresses the entire crowd which means this is for everyone!
First DENY YOURSELF
In a world that focuses on self-expression and self-realization and self-acceptance, Jesus in talking about something radically different than what might be popular or culturally promoted both in his time and especially in our time. Our culture thrives on self-expression and self-promotion. But again, Jesus is teaching something radically different.
So, what does it mean to practice self-denial? Self-denial normally means that we “give up” certain things.
We are approaching Advent, believe it or not. Advent and Lent are two church seasons that emphasize self-denial. During these seasons we are called to practice self-denial in prayer and fasting and other means. Typically, people give up more superficial things, like sodas, candy or even miss meals or fast for a day or more with a focus on spiritual formation, prayer and scriptural reading and meditation.
Several years ago, I experienced my one and only Caribbean cruise thus far in my life. It was a Disney Cruise. And it just so happened that it was in the Spring coinciding with Lent. My expression of self-denial was to give up chocolate and sweets for Lent. I could not help but think of the irony of this event which was just the opposite of self-denial… it was more self-indulgence, right? Going on a cruise is not the best way to practice self-denial! And to my great dismay they had a chocolate bar one night with sculptures of animals and ornate flowers, all made from chocolate. It was exquisite, and the table of chocolate sculptures lined up the entire room. It was a chocolate lovers’ greatest fantasy! But though I was strongly tempted, I did not eat any chocolate. On top of this, little did I know that they put chocolate on your bed each night when they cleaned your room. Again, I was true to my fast from chocolate!! However, I received a great surprise later. My father-in-law had saved all those chocolates placed on my bed and gave them to me at Easter after my fast was over!! It was an incredibly thoughtful gift.
Now this is a more superficial example of giving up small or more superficial things out of self-denial. Why? In the words of Paul, we do these things so that nothing except Christ can claim mastery over our lives. We do this because Jesus called us as disciples to DENY OURSELVES.
But some people have given up much more costly things. Some people have given up their careers to follow Jesus like the first disciples Jesus called to leave their fishing boats and follow Him. People like Barnabas sold their homes for the needs of the early church. Sometimes you must give up certain friends who have a negative influence on your life. You may give up certain TV programs or social media outlets that conflict with your values or ethics. Paul expressed it well when he said the things I consider gains; I count as a loss (Philippians 3:8). He gave up his reputation and heritage to follow Jesus.
Jesus practiced self-denial in the most ultimate manner. He gave up heaven and paradise and perfect peace to enter this broken and imperfect world. He gave up his perfection to take up our sin and despair. He gave us his riches and became poor so that we may know the riches of God. Isn’t that amazing!
There is a spiritual law in effect here. If we follow Jesus, we cannot follow our own desires or others desires or opinions. As you reflect over your life you might ask:
What might you need to give up to truly follow Jesus with our life right now?
But there is a second part of this call to discipleship that we often overlook…
Second, TAKE UP YOUR CROSS
Now we see crosses all around us. Many of us have cross necklaces. Cross anklets. Some people have cross tattoos. I knew a young girl who had a golden cross placed in her front tooth. We are very good at wearing crosses. I’m not sure we are good at bearing crosses. We embrace wearing a cross with great popularity. But when you think about it wearing at cross seems odd because it is an instrument of cruel and torturous death. Of course, our focus on the cross is not the pain and torture but the result. The cross where Jesus suffered and died is the very means of our salvation.
Is 53 put it like this, “he was wounded for our transgressions, our sins, he was bruised for our iniquities and by His stripes we are healed.
In the words of the modern chorus… I’m forgiven… Because He was forsaken. I’m accepted… He was condemned… I’m alive and well, His spirit is within me… Because He died… and rose again.
In simple terms, Jesus died for our sins and took our place on the cross. Jesus’ cross was the final sacrifice for sin. Jesus’ cross was once for all and covers all time and eternity. He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world…Yet the cross reaches into eternity giving as an imperishable and unfading inheritance.
I hope we wear and display crosses today with the understanding of Jesus sacrifice for us. But Jesus’ cross was unique to him as He is the only One who could take our place and die as a sinless sacrifice for our sins. In the words of Wesley’s great hymn… Amazing love how can it be that thou my God shouldst die for me!! That was Jesus’ literal cross that he endured for us!
I think one of the greatest temptations of Jesus was not to endure the cross. Rather, to use his power to seize control and rule the world. I think this corresponds to the temptations of Satan mentioned in the scriptures. Further, in the Garden, Jesus prayed for the cup of suffering to be removed. He was wrestling about taking up the cross. There were 10 thousand angels camped around to come at His command! But he yielded His will to God and chose the cross for us! I believe this is why he spoke so harshly to Peter here saying, “Get behind me Satan”. Peter was thinking the wrong things about the nature of the Kingdom of God and why Jesus came. Peter did not want Jesus to go to the cross!
But Jesus turns from his personal conversation to Peter and wanted EVERYONE to know what it means to follow Jesus. This is true today for modern day disciples who wear or display the cross. We must also be reminded from Jesus words… that IF ANYONE wants to follow me…. He must deny himself…. Then what is next??? TAKE UP HIS CROSS and follow me.
What does it mean for us to take up our cross? If self-denial means we “give up” something, bearing a cross means we “take up” something.
Dietrich Bonheoffer wrote in the Cost of Discipleship… (Read this book) that Jesus was literally saying to those early disciples… Come and die. They would face literal persecution and suffering for following Christ. Peter was hung upside on a cross. James was beheaded. Paul was beheaded. Many of those early Christian followers would undergo tremendous persecution. So, many disciples in the first century faced literal crosses and literal persecution.
Let us not forget the statement, “In the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church”. This quote was attributed to Tertullian Early Church Father from second century.
When you look at our world today the persecution of Christians is as large as it has ever been. We are so blessed to live where we experience relative peace and to freely express our public worship of God and our faith in Christ. But for many others in our world following Christ means suffering, being put in jail or being physically persecuted.
Let’s look at John Calvin and some of his commentary on this scripture.
J. Calvin wrote, Whomever the Lord has adopted and deemed worthy of his fellowship ought to prepare for a hard, toilsome and unquiet life, crammed with many kinds of evil. Now who would want to sign up for this, right?
Yet I find that too often we expect the opposite!! Don’t we want things to be comfortable… convenient and easy! And when they are not, we think something is wrong or God is absent. But that is the opposite expectation of what Jesus is teaching here!
John Wesley in his sermon on Self Denial shared that it is easier to give up pleasure, which is self-denial, than to endure hardship which is taking up a cross.
For instance, let’s take dieting and exercise. We may give up certain high calorie food or “junk food” to lessen our calorie intake…This is good. This is self-denial. We are giving up something that may bring us pleasure for a greater purpose of health improvement.
But then at the same time we are dieting… let’s say we take up jogging or some physical exercise like walking! Now we are actively working and sweating and burning even more calories! This is enduring hardship to accomplish a greater purpose. Obviously, taking up a cross is a deeper and more costly part of discipleship. In spiritual terms, Jesus is saying that you must be ready to practice self-denial as in fasting and then taking up a cross which means enduring hardship or pain like cardio exercise.
I truly think what Jesus was saying here is that you need to make sure you have the heart and will to follow me because your world is going to be turned upside down or right side up. The devil and all the world are fixing to break loose against you… Are you ready to be my follower? Are you ready to truly face the enemy? Jesus is saying that we are right in the middle of spiritual warfare when you come to follow Him.
At very least taking up a cross means that we will be tested. Our world will be turned upside down. This was true for Jesus and will be true for his followers then and now.
Heb 5:8 Jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered? Are we any better than Jesus? He is the master we are His servants. And Jesus asked this, Is the servant greater than His master? NO! Jesus set a model for us to follow. Jesus was perfectly obedient. He never faltered from doing the will of God…even when it meant enduring hardship or taking up a cross. But this applies to everyone of His disciples.
One of the dangers of prosperity is that it causes us to become self-reliant and forget about our utter dependence on God. Have you noticed through history that in prosperity the church struggles? In times of war, strife, or calamity, the church is full of people who are hungry for answers and in need of assurance. When crops fail, when infirmity takes our health, when tragic things happen in our city or in our personal lives… then we begin to get serious in our faith and Christian practice.
When the Twin Towers collapsed and our Pentagon was struck on 9/11, churches were filled with people. In Chicago the city streets were flooded with people and the caption for the picture was “PRAYING”. But when the crisis was over and the danger subsided how quickly we go back to trusting in our own selves and not trusting in God.
Charles Kean in Making Sense Out of Life gave this imagery about the cross.
When I look at the cross I see it first without a crossbeam. There is only a vertical bar. What I see is a capital “I”. Here is the symbol of my own problem and the problem of my world. Here is the symbol of my egotism and the collective egotism of social groups, races and nations. Here is the root cause of anxiety and misery in every situation down through all ages of history. When I look at the cross seriously, I have to look at myself in my self-concern and its tragic consequences.
Then… The cross beam is put in place, and I see the “I” is cancelled. It is not suppressed or held back for a while. It is crucified with Christ. But now I can see what it means to be a “WE”. But without the cancellation of the “I”, without the crucifixion of my own egotism, there can be no “WE”. Herein I am confronted with my true self and how I will live in relationship with other people. The cross symbolizes the “cancelled I”.
By the way, as I recall last week’s sermon…This is the only way we can live out those 2 greatest commands… Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself.
What is your cross?
It might be a trial or test of faith
It might be some cleansing or purification of your heart
It might a true physical persecution as those early disciples and even modern-day disciples in places where Christianity is basically illegal. But the words of the old gospel song still ring true, “Must Jesus Bear the Cross alone and all the world go free. No, there’s a cross for everyone. And there’s a cross for me.” (Show picture of man carrying a cross here)
Third, FOLLOW ME
As I was reflecting over the points of the sermon the thought occurred to me that you can practice self-denial and give up certain things. You can take up a cross and endure pain or hardship. You can do many different things related to those areas but still not be following Jesus. These steps of discipleship are not meaningful if you are not following the right Person. Many different religious groups and even social groups practice spiritual disciplines. But they are not necessarily following Christ. All your efforts are vain if you end up following the wrong person and you are following the wrong direction, ultimately bringing you to the wrong place. Jesus wanted to make certain that they were following Him. And let’s face it, it is easy to follow the path of others or popular opinion or what is socially popular or accepted.
Remember the Apostle Paul was formerly a zealous Pharisee. Before he met the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus while he had papers in his hands to imprison Christians. But when he met Christ, his life was totally transformed and redirected. He was no longer following a religious group or keeping laws, but he began following Jesus.
Very often the path of following Jesus is the opposite of the things the world thinks right or good. Proverbs put is like this, “there is a way that seems right to a person, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12 KJV
A man was visiting an old cemetery in England, and he came across some unusual words on a gravestone marker reading, “Remember, friends, as you pass by, as you are now so once was I. As I am now, so you must be. Prepare yourself to follow me”. (Show the image of the tombstone). But wisely someone etched the words beneath it. To follow you I’m not content until I know which way you went!
We must be very certain about Who we are following. Then not get distracted from following once we start following Jesus. Hence the continual need to deny ourselves and take up our cross to follow Jesus.
My hope is that each of us will give up those these that prevent us from following Jesus. And that you might take up those things which might be difficult for you right now and through them you might continue to follow Jesus even when he calls us to embrace hardship and do hard things. I was seriously considering retirement but God had other ideas and I’m so glad He did!
Leslie Weatherhead… (Wrote the popular text, The Will of God) taught a new beatitude, “Blessed are those who do not try to make the best of 2 worlds. Those who are not wicked enough to be happy in wickedness and are not disciplined enough to find joy in God. They feel guilty when enjoying sin for a season and they look at carefree sinners which seem to be having a better time than them. This is one of the curses of Christianity in our time. We have made no real decisions for one world or the other. We have enough of Christianity to make us miserable”.
Denying ourselves and taking up our cross means, we have made a decision, a conscious commitment to follow Christ! And then whatever happens, though it may be painful or difficult, we WILL follow Christ. The cross cures me of mediocrity. I cannot hold on to the things of the world if I am holding on to a cross. In the call to discipleship, we stand firm in our faith and say or sing: I have decided to follow Jesus…no turning back…no turning back. The world behind me, the cross before me. No turning back.
Will you answer the call to discipleship and decide now to follow Jesus?