What Does it Mean to Follow Jesus? (Mark 8:34–9:13)

CPT: Jesus instructs his followers to lose their life for him, have courage in his words, and strive for the kingdom of God.

Purpose: To build the church doctrinally in Christology and being kingdom-minded followers of Jesus.

CPS: Follow Jesus and strive for his kingdom above all.

Introduction

Attention

What does it mean to follow Jesus? I’ve been thinking about this as I’ve meditated on the text that we will go through today in the book of Mark. We know we are to believe in Jesus. Many of us can think back to a time or have a general idea of a place in our lives where there was an old life we lived, and a decision made to believe in Jesus. There was a transforming point in time in our life of salvation where you put your faith and trust in Jesus.

But what does it mean to follow Jesus? How do we follow him? Where is he leading? How do I get these directions?

My family and I went on a trip from New York to Lynchburg, Virginia. I was graduating from college, and I wanted my kids to see me graduate college. I had completed my Bachelors degree online at Liberty University, but it was important for me to bring my family to a physical graduation.

So we head down to Lynchburg, Virginia to make it for the graduation. Now, this was before I would use my phone for directions. We had a GPS navigation in the car, and some people may still have this. I set the destination in the GPS to the address for Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and we started driving there following the directions.

It started taking us a predictable way, which if you are on the east coast, you take the 95 down. We drive for hours heading towards Virginia. We got into Virginia and were getting close to the hotel. It was getting late and dark, but I wanted to get us to the hotel so we could make it to the graduation the next day.

As we were in Virginia and getting close to the hotel, the GPS had us take this weird left turn. Now, it felt weird, but we were following the navigation tool. Now, in the navigation tool, you get a picture of the road. Typically, the line in the navigation will be straight, and you drive straight. Sometimes, the lines starts to curve to the right, and when you’re driving, the road curves to the right.

The lines in the navigation started getting artistic. The road was getting squiggly. Even more, the road is getting dark, as there is no lighting on this road, and we start driving into this thick fog. As we’re driving, this sign appears through the fog that says, “Beware of steep cliff.” I start to realize that we are driving into a mountain, with no lights, in the dark, through a thick fog. I started picturing animals coming out at the car, and us driving over this cliff. In fact, there were deer starting to cross in front of us.

What were we going to do? We were already here. We kept going. I was driving slow, honking my horn, making a ton of noise. But we kept following the navigation, until the road straightened, the fog cleared, and we got to our hotel.

If following Jesus something like that? I think it is. He gives us his navigation tool, his Word. He leads us by his Spirit. Sometimes life gets foggy, but he leads us through it. We keep going because, we know at the end where he is leading us.

What does it mean to follow Jesus? We are going to look at that today in the book of Mark 8:34-9:13.

Scripture Reading

Mark 8:34–9:13 CSB

34 Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. 36 For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? 37 What can anyone give in exchange for his life? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 1 Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.” 2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured in front of them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling—extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them. 4 Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good for us to be here. Let’s set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— 6 because he did not know what to say, since they were terrified. 7 A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him!” 8 Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept this word to themselves, questioning what “rising from the dead” meant. 11 Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 12 “Elijah does come first and restores all things,” he replied. “Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written about him.”

Pray

What does it mean to follow Jesus? The Lord gives us three distinct directions that we see in this text.

First,

Following Jesus is a death to self and a new life in him.

The Lord gives directions in this text that are clear and straightforward. This message that he gives is a message that is clear throughout the New Testament. He says this in Mark 8:34:

Mark 8:34 CSB

34 Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

He uses three imperative verbs in this statement. If you don’t know what an imperative verb is, they are basically instructions or commands. It’s a verb that tells someone how to do something, or what to do. For example, “Go!” “Stop!” “Listen!” “Sit down!” You can think of it this way: It’s the thing you keep yelling at your kids who don’t listen to you.

There are three imperative verbs in this statement. Jesus says that if anyone want to be his follower, to follow after him, you should do three things: Deny yourself, take up or pick up your cross, and follow him.

Jesus says that if anyone wants to be his follower, he needs to deny himself. What does that mean? Jesus goes through great lengths to clarify his statement. The next three verses, Mark 8:35-37, are clarifying verses for verse 34.

In case there is any confusion on what it means to deny yourself, he clarifies that by saying:

Mark 8:35 CSB

35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it.

“Whoever wants to save his life will lose it.” Before Christ, we all had a life that we were holding on to. You said, I am going to live my life the way I want to live it, and no one is going to tell me otherwise.

Before I became a Christian in 2006, I remember what I thought of being a Christian. I knew the Gospel, no one really needed to tell me it. I had heard it growing up. I knew that, if I was going to be a Christian, a believer in Jesus, there was a lifestyle that I was going to need to give up. I didn’t want to give up my lifestyle.

It took a certain amount of desperation within me, and God to work in my life to bring me to a point of faith. God got a hold of my life. I remember a year later looking back and saying, “That was the stuff I was holding onto? That stuff, that’s what was killing me.”

“Whoever wants to save his life will lost it.” There is a way the world tells you to live that is killing you. “But whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it.” Take a look at what else he says.

Mark 8:36–37 CSB

36 For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? 37 What can anyone give in exchange for his life?

You take this life that is leading you to destruction. It is a pathway leading you to destruction in this life and the next.

Now, you take everything that the world says that will make you happy and you pile it on. All the riches. All the power. All the fame. All the things and the people that you lust after. All the things the world tells you you need to be happy and free to live your best life now.

Now, I give you all of those things in one day, wave a magic wand and say, “Poof, it’s yours.” You have gained the entire world. You are able to do anything you want in this world except to know God.

What benefit would that be for you? What good would it do if you can’t know that God who created you, if you had no connection to who made you?

Here are these two options: On the one hand, you listen to all the talking heads in the media. You listen to all of the words in the social media posts. You listen to all of these people trying to tell you how to live your best life now. You try to save your way of life. Jesus says, those who save their life will lose it.

But here’s the other side: Whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it. Paul says it this way. He says, “You know what my life is like as a Christian? Let me tell you.”

Galatians 2:20 CSB

20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

He also says this in Romans 6:6:

Romans 6:6 CSB

6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin,

Also in 2 Tim. 2:11

2 Timothy 2:11 CSB

11 This saying is trustworthy: For if we died with him, we will also live with him;

It is the clear message of Scripture that following Jesus is a death to self and a new life in him.

What does that actually mean? What does it mean to die to yourself? It is a death to those things in this world that used to attract us. It is a death to those feelings on the inside that draw us away from God.

There is an argument in culture today that if someone has a feeling on the inside, that if someone is attracted to something or someone, it is a terrible thing to deprive them of that. The world says that if you have a feeling inside, if you are attracted to someone, you should go with it, because after all, “Love is love.”

That is not just in a homosexual sense. The world has been preaching this to heterosexuals for a long time. You know, as a man you fall in love with a woman. You both get married and you’re in love. Then, you start getting upset at your wife. You start wondering, “Am I falling out of love?” Then there is some woman at your workplace, and you start being attracted to her. The world says to go with it, because “love is love.”

You say, “Pastor Jason, are you saying that you should deny those feelings that you have on the inside?” Yes! Why is that? Because there is a life that you have on the inside that is corrupted by your sin nature. It’s not a surprise that anyone would have a desire for sin. Wherever that lust for sin takes you, whether its sexual sin, lying, cheating, greed, slander, whatever it is, there is a corruption within the human soul that needs the reforming, transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

Following Jesus is a death to self and a new life in him.

There is a young man that got involved with the wrong crowd. His friend comes to him one day and says, “I am starting a gang, and we want you to be a part of it.” So this teenager, he starts hanging around with this new gang, and cutting school with them.

One day his friend says to him, “There is another gang that is mad at us.” The gangs in the Bronx have these colored beads. He says, “They say we have the same color beads. But our beads are in a different pattern then their beads, so don’t worry about it.”

So this teenager is hanging around with this new gang, but hasn’t officially received his new beads. He turns and sees this large crowd. It’s the other gang, the one his friend said not to worry about. The one gang starts to push the other gang into a clearing, and one by one the teenager starts to see his friends get beat by the other gang members.

His turn comes up to get beat, but they stop. They look and see that he doesn’t have beads. His friend steps in and says, “He’s not in the gang.” They let him go, and he starts running away. He gets out of there, and quickly he begins to pray. It’s amazing how quick you learn to pray when you’re afraid. He says, “God, thank you for getting me out of there.”

That teenager was in a gang heading for destruction, and he was heading toward that same path. In the same way, we are in a world heading for destruction, and we make choices in life that lead us in the same path. But there is a God that rescues us.

In a way, those missing beads on that teenagers neck is like the missing old life that no longer exists for a believer in Jesus. Someone else has taken that punishment for you. The Lord says, “Stop living like the world. You don’t belong to this world. That life you were living, I have taken on that sin on the cross so you can be free.”

It’s interesting that Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, uses the term, “take up your cross.” The cross was not Jewish. The cross was from the Romans. For a Jew, if you were going to talk about capital punishment, you would talk about stoning. They would pick up stones in the road and stone someone to death. The Romans used the cross.

So why is this Jewish Rabbi talking about the cross? Certainly, Jesus is making a reference to the coming cross in his life. Jesus was going to the cross. When Jesus picked up that cross, and took on the cross, the Jews and the Romans believed they had won. The Jews saw Jesus submitting to their power. The Romans saw Jesus submitting to their power, the power of Rome.

But Jesus was not submitting to the power of the Jews or the power of Rome. Jesus submitted to the power of the Father when he said, “Not my will, but yours be done.”

Jesus says that if anyone wants to be his follower, let him pick up his cross and say, “Not my will, but yours be done.”

Following Jesus is a death to self and a new life in him.

Second,

Following Jesus is courage and boldness in his Word despite the culture.

Jesus says this in Mark 8:38:

Mark 8:38 CSB

38 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

The Lord does not mince words when he is describing the culture. He says, you know what this generation is? It is an adulterous and sinful generation. We live in a world that is adulterous and totally corrupted by sin.

For those of us who are older, we look out at the world and say, “Man, things are getting worse! It’s just getting worse and worse.” I think what’s happening today in this cultural moment is that the rot and filth of the human condition has more exposure than ever before. Never before have we had the opportunity to hear so many voices at one time on the news and in social media. You scroll through your social media feed and there is just one sinful heart after another sinful heart after another. The sinfulness of the human condition is blatant.

We live in this segment or dispensation of time called the church age. As Christians, we are called to be a light to the nations, a light in a dark world. We live in a world that is dark, and will continue to live in a moral darkness until Jesus returns.

The light in the world, the church, is not meant to look like the darkness. James says this in James 4:4:

James 4:4 CSB

4 You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God.

The church is meant to be countercultural. There should be no confusion on where the church stands. Following Jesus is courage and boldness in his Word despite the culture.

I was reflecting recently on Catalyst. Why is it important for Catalyst to be here? Activities and programs are all nice and good, but what is it that makes this important?

Catalyst Church will be relevant and important only if we remain true to the whole preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Charismatic messages or pretty stories will not change a human soul. God uses the preaching and teaching of his Word to change people.

San Diego is a beautiful city. We have the ocean, the waves, the perfect weather, who wouldn’t want to live here? Yet the most tragic thing about the beauty of this city if the beauty of the Creator who many people in our city don’t know. They will not get to know him by pretty stories wrapped up like a gift, but when you open it up, there’s nothing inside.

I commit to you that, as long as I’m here, myself or any pastor up here will preach God’s Word, nothing more and nothing less, so help us God. We will preach the Word of God in its totality, without reservation, without fear, and without compromise.

We believe there is a God who exists. He revealed himself through his Son, and he reveals himself through the message of his Word, the Scriptures.

Listen: If God has spoken through his Word, and the world is lost in sin, the message of his Word is expected to be countercultural. Whenever the message of the perfect God goes out to corrupted humans, his message is going to go against the culture.

God’s Word goes directly to the heart of where the culture is at, because it speaks directly to their sin and to his salvation. God is not here to make the culture comfortable. God transforms people and rescues them out of the corruption of the culture.

I’m not one to speak of other ministries. There are many brothers that I respect, that are preaching God’s Word, without fear and without reservation. And I know that there are many teachers in the world, in the church and out of the church, that will tell you what you want to hear. The Scriptures say it! Paul gives us this encouragement:

2 Timothy 4:2–4 CSB

2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. 4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.

People run to teachers who make them feel good. They run to teachers who will tell them what they want to hear, who will not speak about sin or things that make them uncomfortable.

We may never be the biggest church in San Diego. We may never have the fanciest lighting or the largest amount of programs. But we commit to be a church that will love you, and we commit to being a church that will be faithful to preach the Word of God to the culture without fear, so help us God. That’s why Catalyst is important.

Following Jesus is a death to self and a new life in him.

Following Jesus is courage and boldness in his Word despite the culture.

Third,

Following Jesus is living a life that strives for the kingdom of God.

Jesus makes a statement at the beginning of Mark 9 right before he takes a small group of his disciples up a mountain. Jesus instructs about taking up your cross, talks about having courage in his words, and then makes this statement:

Mark 9:1 CSB

1 Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”

What does Jesus mean about seeing the kingdom of God? Many theologians look at this, and come up with different interpretations. But I believe the Gospel writer Mark explains to us what he meant by the story of the transfiguration.

Right after Jesus makes this statement, Mark tells us that six days later, Jesus took this small group of disciples, Peter, James, and John, up a mountain. This was a small inner core group of disciples. Jesus preached to the multitudes, had a group of twelve disciples that he spent life with, and then had this inner core of three, Peter, James, and John. He took them up this mountain, and it says that he was transfigured before them.

I believe Jesus’ words of “taste” and “see” in Mark 9:1 are intentional. You know what taste is, right? You see your friend eating a big meal in front of you, and it looks great. So you say to your friend, “Give me a taste. Just a little bit. I just want to see what it tastes like.” And you get that little morsel, and it tastes good.

Jesus is giving this picture to his disciples in the transfiguration of the kingdom of God. It’s a little taste so they can see what the kingdom of God will be like. Let me let you see where you are headed.

They go up to this mountain, and the Lord is transfigured before them. There is a description here that is unique to Mark where he says whiter than any launder on earth could make them. When you read the Gospel of Mark, Mark is a disciple of Peter, so you are getting an account from Peter. Peter is on this mountain and probably remembered it this way, which is why Mark writes it like this. The Jerusalem dry cleaners couldn’t make his clothes any whiter.

The Lord is painting a picture to the disciples about the kingdom of God. They see the Father with the Son. A cloud appears above the Son, and the Father says, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” There is a perfect, divine fellowship between the Father and the Son. The Son is glorified before his people.

We have this picture of Moses and Elijah speaking with Jesus. The Lord will have perfect communion with his people in the kingdom of God.

Children of God, there is a future coming where we will see the Son of God in his perfect glory. Perfect in his power. Perfect in his wisdom. Perfect in his love for his people.

We will see a perfect God who knows you by name, and seeks to have communion with you.

As Christians, we appreciate our country. I appreciate that we can still live in a country where I can preach the Word of God, where people can hear the good news of Jesus. We don’t have to hide in basements. We can preach on the street corner and in our churches.

We pray for people in power. We pray for Republicans and Democrats. We want to live peaceably in our nation.

We appreciate our nation, but we are part of a bigger kingdom. We are citizens of a bigger kingdom, and we love our King.

At the end of the text today, Jesus explains about John the Baptist fulfilling the role of Elijah at his first coming. John the Baptist pointed the people to Jesus. After he was arrested, Mark wrote:

Mark 1:14–15 CSB

14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: 15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

We live in a nation filled with people who need Jesus. I want to see them in the kingdom of God, too.

God wants more people to come into his kingdom. If you put your faith in Jesus today, if you repent and believe, you too can become part of his kingdom, and know what it is to have life in him.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

Conclusion

Following Jesus is a death to self and a new life in him.

Following Jesus is courage and boldness in his Word despite the culture.

Following Jesus is living a life that strives for the kingdom of God.

Conclude

Prayer

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!