Confess Jesus, Deny Self

Some of the biggest points in our lives are marked by Questions.

Is it a boy or a girl?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Are you going to college, trade school, military, or job force?

Will you marry me?

Where are you going to be buried?

These questions highlight some of the biggest choices and life decisions we have to make as we live this life.

And admittedly, they can be overwhelming and sometimes we don’t know the answer to the questions.

I also don’t want to downplay the answers to those questions.

But as heavy and life altering those questions can be, there’s one question that has eternal ramifications and implications.

That’s the Question that Luke has been addressing for the last 2 chapters in his gospel.

The question of Who is Jesus?

We read about it through the eyes of the crowds?

John the baptist had questions about who Jesus is?

We have read it on the lips of the disciples?

And even from Herod who was a governmental authority in the Region?

And the answers varied from each of those who asked it.

Some didn’t have an answer.

Some thought he was a good teacher.

Some thought he was a prophet.

Some thought he might be John the Baptist Raised from the dead.

And the thing about people is that we as humanity never really change.

Remember what the author of Ecclesiastes said, “there’s nothing new under the sun.”

We still need to ask and answer this question.

Who is Jesus?

And the answers remain the same.

Many people and even other religions believe that Jesus was a prophet from God. This includes Islam, Hindu, and other belief systems.

The problem with this view is that Jesus saw himself as more than a prophet. He believed himself to be God in flesh.

So what are we supposed to do with a prophet from God who also believes he is God?

Some believe that he is completely fictional.

He was made up by the Roman Empire to control the masses.

Or he’s simply a fictional character that people use as a crutch to feel better about their place in this world.

The problem with this view is that most scholars, even non-believers, contest that Jesus actually existed.

They don’t believe in his miracles, but they do believe that there was a man named Jesus who walked this earth and his followers believed they saw him after he was crucified.

Other’s believe that he is simply a good moral teacher.

Jesus said some stuff that makes them feel good or gives them good guidelines to live by, but overall he was only a good teacher.

This falls short b/c of who even Jesus said he was.

If he was just a good moral teacher that thought himself God, then there’s a major problem in his thinking.

I like what C.S Lewis said about this category of Jesus.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice.

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.

But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

The question that looms over this morning is Who is Jesus?

And Even more than that, Who do you say Jesus is?

B/c the answer to that question changes Everything.

Spoiler alert: The only correct answer to that question is He is the Son of God. The one who gave his life so that we can be saved. He is the Christ. Savior of the World.

Now if that is who you say he is, then your life needs to reflect that truth.

So this morning’s Sermon is going to be broken up into three parts.

First, we will see how the disciples respond to Jesus asking them “Who do you say that I am?”

Then, we will look at Jesus’ prediction of his death.

Finally, we will see the cost of following after Jesus.

But before we get into it, let’s pray and ask for the Lord’s Guidance

Luke 9:18–20 CSB

18 While he was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 They answered, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, that one of the ancient prophets has come back.” 20 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

Confession of Christ

It can be easy to overlook, but I want us to pay attention to how Luke introduces this momentous occasion.

He begins by telling us that Jesus asks this question while he was praying.

Remember, throughout the gospel of Luke, prayer always occurs before Jesus makes a decision or something big comes along.

So here, Luke is hinting at the fact that as his readers we need to pay special attention to what is about to happen.

This isn’t a simple teaching of Jesus.

This is significantly weighty.

Jesus begins his questioning of the disciples by asking them who do the crowds say that “I am”

Now we already know who the crowds say he is.

The disciples already know who the crowds say he is.

Jesus even knows who the crowds say he is.

Theres a lot of talk around town.

Like stated earlier.

There are a lot of opinions.

John the Baptist, Elijah, or another ancient prophet come back.

It is easy to see why they would assume Jesus is a prophet.

The connections are there.

Like Moses and Elijah, he provided a meal of bread for the crowds.

Raising the widow’s son was something that Elijah also did.

Jesus performed miracles similar to other prophets, therefore, he must also be a prophet.

And though this is not an incorrect answer.

It is an incomplete answer.

Jesus is a prophet sent by God to proclaim the kingdom of God.

But he’s so much more.

So he asks the disciples who do you say that I am.

This is an emphatic question.

He’s not asking rhetorically.

He wants an answer.

Who do YOU say that I am?

Forget what everyone else says, Jesus wants their answer.

Jesus is asking the disciples for some personal commitment.

What mattered wasn’t what others said, but what they said.

Peter answered “God’s Messiah”

Depending on the translation you are looking at it may say, The Christ or it may read messiah.

Both words mean the same thing.

Jesus is God’s Anointed one.

That may not mean a lot to us, but to these first century Jews it did.

To be God’s anointed meant that Jesus was set apart for a specific work.

In the OT, there are many who are anointed.

Prophets, priests, and Kings.

They all served a unique purpose in the plan of God.

Now when Simon responded to Jesus, that he is God’s Messiah he did have a particular thought in mind.

God had promised his people that one day he would send his Messiah to save his people from oppression and establish his own kingdom.

The coming of the Messiah would be accompanied by signs and miracles.

All of which Jesus Did.

Now to the Jewish people of Jesus’ time they believed this messiah would come as a mighty king to overthrow Rome and free them to establish their own physical kingdom.

Many of Jesus’ followers at this point in his ministry thought that this is what Jesus came to do.

Their expectation was that Jesus would reign on the throne of David and overthrow Rome.

So though Simon and the Disciples answered the question rightly, they still had an incomplete understanding of what Being the Messiah actually meant.

Jesus did come to establish his kingdom, but it wasn’t going to be a physical kingdom yet.

Instead he came to stand in the place of sinners and endure the wrath of God on our behalf.

He came to offer forgiveness and healing to those who are by nature children of wrath and enemies of God.

His message is a message of Hope and salvation.

There will be a future kingdom, but his primary focus during his first coming in salvation.

And as I stated it wouldn’t be til after the resurrection that the disciples would understand Jesus’ mission.

In fact, he’s about to drop a bomb on them that would probably shake them to their very core.

The confession of Peter and the other 12 are a turning point in Jesus’ Ministry and teaching.

From this point forward Jesus begins to prepare his disciples for his death and the road they will have to travel as his followers.

Luke 9:21–22 CSB

21 But he strictly warned and instructed them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “It is necessary that the Son of Man suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.”

Death and Resurrection

Jesus announces to his disciples that he has to die.

That he is going to suffer under the religious elites.

He is going to be rejected by the ones he came to save.

He will be killed and then on the third day he would be raised to life.

A few observations about this hard teaching from Jesus.

First, Jesus addresses his suffering 6 times in Luke’s gospel. So this isn’t something that we need to gloss over.

Jesus’ suffering is a poignant piece of his mission.

This fulfills the prophecy found in Isaiah about Jesus’ purpose

Isaiah 53:3–12 CSB

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. 4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. 6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment, and who considered his fate? For he was cut off from the land of the living; he was struck because of my people’s rebellion. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully. 10 Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished. 11 After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him the many as a portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.

From the very beginning, the messiah that was promised to be sent by God was going to have to suffer.

He wasn’t coming as a king to rule and overthrow, he was coming as a servant to be rejected, crushed, and murdered by the people he came to save.

One of the critiques that Christianity receives from the outside is the accusation that the life of Jesus is simply Cosmic or Divine Child Abuse.

That the Father sent his son to die and that is a wicked thing to do.

To address this critique, we have to understand a couple of things.

The God of the universe is triune.

Meaning that there is one God in Three Persons.

The Christian Doctrine of Jesus isn’t that he is part God, or a lesser God, but that he is fully God and fully human.

So when in eternity past before the creation of the universe, God knew that Jesus was going to come to Earth and offer up his life.

This means that before Jesus was born to Mary, he knew that he was coming to live with us and that he was going to suffer.

And yet, he willingly came down to die.

He gave up his position with the Father and humbled himself to come to live with and among his creation.

Submitted himself perfectly to the Father’s will and went to the cross.

This is important Jesus willingly went to the cross.

He didn’t go begrudgingly.

He didn’t go tepidly.

He went willingly.

He wasn’t forced.

He wasn’t coerced.

He wasn’t tricked.

He went to the cross of his own volition.

Why?

B/c it was the plan of redemption.

B/c without the shedding of Blood there is no forgiveness of sin.

He went b/c to accomplish redemption and salvation he had to go.

His death was not a mistake or tragedy.

It was a divine necessity.

In order to bring about redemption Jesus had to die.

But the good news is.

He didn’t stay dead.

He rose on the third day.

The Jesus we worship and follow did not stay in the grave.

He isn’t in a casket.

He isn’t impotent.

He’s alive.

And today he is ruling and reigning from his heavenly throne.

Now all this talk about Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection would have confounded and confused the disciples.

We don’t see it in Luke’s account, but in Matthew’s account of this interaction, Peter pulls Jesus to the side and says

Matthew 16:22–23 “22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.””

Jesus was well aware of what he came to do.

He was also willing to do it.

For the sake of the salvation of many, Jesus died for you.

Jesus’ understanding of his mission also serves as an example for those who wish to follow him.

He uses this revelation to instruct the disciples.

Listen to what Jesus follows up this prediction of his death with.

Luke 9:23–27 CSB

23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it. 25 For what does it benefit someone if he gains the whole world, and yet loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and the holy angels. 27 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

Deny Self

These are some hard words that should be thought about and pondered on when it comes to wanting to be a disciple of Jesus.

Here Jesus gives three conditions of discipleship.

Denial of Self.

Taking up the cross.

And following him.

These three conditions do all interconnect around the same Ideal.

That is a radical self denial.

This means that we reject our life based on our own self-interest and self-fulfillment.

I want to start off by acknowledging that following Jesus isn’t for everyone.

He does begin with a condition.

If anyone wants to follow after me.

This cannot be overlooked.

There has to be a desire to follow after Jesus.

These commands of radical self-denial are only for those who want to follow him.

So when we are looking at Jesus and considering his call to salvation, we must also consider that we aren’t going to be simple bystanders.

We are called and saved to let go of our lives and cling to his example.

This is why Paul can write in Galatians 2:20 “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.”

This living for Jesus first begins with a denial of self.

When following Jesus we construct a whole new Identity.

We lay aside relationships that cause us to lose focus on God.

We fight against the sin that so easily entangles us.

The things we once loved that were opposed to God, we now shun.

The things of God that we once hated we now embrace.

To go even one step further, this denying of oneself isn’t simply denying certain things.

It’s actually giving up personal control of your life.

In denying yourself, you recognize that you aren’t in charge.

Jesus is.

And he is calling you to a life of holiness and devotion to him.

This may mean that he will ask you to give up parts of your life that you want to hold on to.

You may have to sever relationships that aren’t good for your growth.

You may have to start being generous toward the church and others with your finances.

You may have to submit your life to the ministry.

Denying yourself is looking at Jesus and giving him all control.

I want to be honest with you.

This isn’t easy.

This is costly to your own desires.

But it is also necessary to follow after Jesus.

Think about it this way.

If you tell Jesus you want to follow him, but don’t deny yourself, you are essentially following him with a corpse handcuffed to your wrist.

Jesus is telling us here that there is no room for you to follow him and follow your own way.

If you want to follow Jesus, you must step off the throne of your own life, and let him take over.

In addition to radical self-denial, Jesus warns his followers that following him may cost them their lives.

Taking up their cross wasn’t simply a metaphor.

Jesus knew that his earlier followers were going to face the same type of persecution he faced.

Taking up the cross means they were willing to lay their lives down for the sake of the message of the gospel.

Sure there can be some metaphor about crucifying your flesh and abdicating your throne.

But we also have to recognize that we live in a very special time in history.

In the west, our lives are rarely on the line for following Jesus.

However, we have brothers and sisters around the world where this is a real threat.

Every time they talk about Jesus or gather together to worship may be their last time.

So the threat of death is real for many Christians in the world.

For us, we need to look at this taking up our cross as a call to stand unashamedly for the gospel.

We don’t need to worry about how people will view us.

Or how family and friends my accept or reject us based on our commitment to Jesus.

We need to be okay being uncomfortable and even in danger for proclaiming the gospel.

We should be willing to lay our lives down if it means telling people about the good news of Jesus Christ.

The final condition to following Jesus, is just that following him.

For those first disciples it meant actually following him around as he taught.

Where many of them will watch, imitate, and then go on to teach what they learned.

For us today, the command is a little different.

Walking in his footsteps.

Living life imitating him.

Love, compassion, and grace to those who don’t deserve.

I know some of you have heard me say it before, but following Jesus is a lot like that child’s game of follow the leader.

We have to do what he did.

We have to teach what he taught.

We need to love like he loved.

And the only way we can do that is if we know how he lived.

We know how he taught.

And we know how he loved.

Meaning we have to listen to and read his words.

We have to gather together and learn about him.

This is the essence of following Jesus.

And to imitate him we have to know him.

Jesus’ life becomes the pattern for our life.

You may be asking yourself, does this apply to me?

I want to assure you that:

“A life of sacrifice and self-denial is not just for super-Christians who share the gospel door to door or travel to a dangerous mission field; this life is for anyone and everyone who wants to be his disciple.”

Now you may be thinking that this is hard teaching.

Radical Self-Denial doesn’t sound easy.

And you are right.

It isn’t easy.

But I want to comfort you with this thought.

Jesus isn’t asking you to do anything he hasn’t done.

Jesus radically denied himself.

He gave up his life for you.

And he submitted to the father all the while.

Jesus is our example and if we are to learn from him then we need to let him lead.

Just think about it.

If the God of the universe can willingly offer himself up as a sacrifice, who are we to hold on to our lives?

Who are we to selfishly and greedily say, thanks but no thanks?

And to top it off, Jesus gives some spiritual insight to help us realize the weightiness of this calling

Luke 9:24–25 CSB

24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it. 25 For what does it benefit someone if he gains the whole world, and yet loses or forfeits himself?

The cost of following or denying Jesus isn’t just temporary.

Our soul is at stake.

Your soul is at stake.

Our natural tendency is to try everything we can to save our own lives.

Meaning that we chase the things of this world.

We seek out money, pleasure, and comfort.

And as I’ve state these things are inherently bad.

But what Jesus is fighting against here is the idea that these things save or provide meaning to life.

And chasing after these things here and now may provide some comfort and some joy, but at what cost?

Here’s what we have to understand:

everyone is sacrificing something. Either they are sacrificing their future for their present or they are sacrificing their present for their future.

So you are either focused on the here and now.

That the only thing that matters is today fighting to keep the status quo that you sacrifice your eternal life.

And to give some perspective, eternity is way longer than what ever life you are going to live here on earth.

Just to be blunt, If what Jesus says is true. If he is God’s Messiah.

Then living for the here and now is wasteful and ignorant.

Because there is so much more to come.

Jesus is saying if you come to him.

Repent of your sins and follow after him.

Though you may miss out on some of the comforts of the world, you will gain something far superior.

So much greater.

You will get eternal life.

Life in the love and light of the father.

And that is our future hope, but right now we get to receive peace, comfort, and love from him as we follow after him.

The presence of Jesus is so much better than anything we can ever imagine.

What are you going to sacrifice?

Are you going to deny yourself and follow Jesus.

Knowing that it will cost you something.

Or are you going to keep chasing after the things of this world deny Jesus knowing that it will cost you everything.

This morning is a call for you to come and die to yourself and live for Jesus.

Jesus tells us in v. 26, that if you are ashamed of him or ignore him.

Then he will not recognize you before the father.

He’s the only way to get to the Father and have eternal life.

he’s calling out to you…will you answer him.

Let’s pray.