The Way of the Cross

Introduction

Last Week:

We looked at some of the slip-ups on the disciples part

Feeding of the 5,000

Jesus’s teaching on leaven

And we ended reflecting on God’s patience with the disciples—but also his patience and gentleness with us

This week:

A turning point in the Gospel of Mark

8/16 chapters

Jesus has been moving forward in power

Growing popularity, growing ministry

But today’s scripture is the turning point

Jesus isn’t heading to success as the disciples imagine it

Jesus is headed to the cross

Scripture Reading

Mark 8:27-9:1

Answering Important Questions

These verses are central to the gospel of Mark

And deeply important in our lives

(SLIDES)

Outline:

Who is Jesus?

What is our mind set on?

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

Who is Jesus?

(SLIDES)

Mark 8:27–29 CSB

27 Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 They answered him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”

Jesus had gone viral (everyone was talking about him)

But the consensus wasn’t out on who Jesus actually was

Some thought John the Baptist was back (from the dead)

Some thought he was Elijah

Others thought he was a prophet from Old Testament

A great teacher

A miracle worker

A fraud

A problem

But while everyone has heard about Jesus and formed an opinion… Jesus asks his disciple “Who do you say that I am?”

And this questions rings throughout history

This is the most important question in each of our lives

Who do you say that Jesus is?

Or Who is Jesus to you?

We also live in a time where opinions about Jesus are plenty

A great teacher

A myth

A prophet (Muslims)

A created being (Mormons)

An example or role-model

Social-Justice Jesus

Conservative Jesus

God himself

But even with all of those opinions…

The true question Jesus is asking here is deeply personal

“Who do you say that I am?”

YOU

Not who do you parents say that I am?

Who does you pastor say that I am?

Who do your friends say that I am?

So we start this morning, with such a big question…

Who is Jesus to you?

Do you know Jesus personally?

This is one of the most difficult questions for us to answer

Not what are other people saying about Jesus

But what does he actually mean to you?

And I think we know some of the ‘right answers’ but are they true for you

Savior

King

Friend

Brother

Shepherd

Teacher

Counselor

Redeemer

Bread of Life

You only get to know someone by spending time with them

Not hearing about them

Not reading about them

And this question has to be at the forefront of our minds

In every Bible study

Every time we pray

Every time we share Jesus with others

Am I operating based on what I know about Jesus?

Or from Who I know Jesus to be?

Jesus isn’t inviting us to think a certain way about him

He’s inviting us to be in a relationship with him

Who is Jesus to you?

But the next question that comes up is equally as important:

What is our mind set on?

You see Peter had the right answer (Who is Jesus), but the wrong idea

(SLIDES)

Mark 8:31–32 CSB

31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. 32 He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

Peter knew Jesus was the Messiah, but what that meant, was totally different than what Peter expected

Put yourself in Peters shoes

Traveling with Jesus

Ministry & Miracles

You don’t know where its headed but you know that Jesus is the Messiah

But this idea of where Jesus was headed was completely incompatible with what Peter thought about the Messiah

The messiah comes to SAVE us from the Romans

Not to be publicly humiliated in an execution

Again like the blind man last week

Peter can see that Jesus is the messiah

But his vision is blurry, it’s not until after the cross that he will see Jesus’s mission clearly

But we see that Jesus has some harsh words to say to Peter:

(SLIDES)

Mark 8:33 CSB

33 But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”

Woah

But here Jesus alludes to Peter’s problem

Its what he was concerned with

NLT “You are seeing things merely from a human POV, not from God’s”

ESV “You are setting you mind on the things of man, not the things of God”

This way of viewing things is not from above, but demonic

The way of Satan is glory without the cross

He was focused on Jesus’s plan for his life

Not Jesus’s plan

What can I get out of following Jesus?

Not following Jesus regardless of the results

And guys, we are in the same danger as Peter

We might have the ‘right answer’ to who Jesus is

But what are our minds set on?

Are we set on how Jesus can make our life better and easier?

Or are we concerned with what God is up to in the world?

This goes against the grains of our culture:

We worship and idolize comfort and success

Not every culture has been like this

But that is not what Jesus has come to give us

We may have it, but it is not guaranteed

We have it deeply engrained that what it means to faithfully follow Jesus means that everything in our lives will go well

And this idea is not found in the Bible

I have seen many people walk away from the Church and Jesus because they were disillusioned

(If you have the wrong idea going into something… you won’t be able to handle hardships) - Hike

They thought following Jesus meant He would fix all of their problems

That following Jesus means a life of ‘blessing’

But these things are human concerns…

God has a much deeper vision for our lives

You see, Jesus came to save us—rescue us from sin

It’s like we are on our deathbed—he’s come to save us from death, not give us a comfier bed as we die

Because if we think that Jesus has come to make our lives easier and more comfortable

We will be disappointed

CHEMOTHERAPY is not easy

REFINING METAL is not easy

Cutting and Polishing a Jewel

So the second question is: What is our mind set on?

Are we set on our circumstances and our discomfort

Or are we concerned with the things God is concerned about

The amazing thing is…

If our minds are set on the right things…

Everything else will be provided and taken care of

(SLIDES)

Matthew 6:33 CSB

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

But lastly we’ll look at:

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

We talk about following Jesus a lot here… but what does that actually mean?

What does that look like?

Let’s see how Jesus defines it:

(SLIDES)

Mark 8:34–35 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.

Let’s look at the three things he says:

Deny Himself

Take Up His Cross

Follow Jesus

(SLIDES)

Deny Yourself

Self-Denial is a central theme of what it means to be a Christian

What it is not:

Hatred of self (self-loathing)

Mustering enough willpower

At it’s core its about rejecting the temptation to believe that you are at the center of the universe

We are selfish creatures

We often act and behave as if we are the center of the universe

Someone cuts me off

Something doesn’t go my way

Orbits

So Jesus says, if you’re going to follow me

You can’t go off on your own path

There’s times you have to do stuff you don’t wan’t to do

If you want to follow me, you can’t be the center of your life

NLT translates this: “give up your own way”

If we want to follow in the way of Jesus

We have to give up our own way

We can’t have both

A simplistic example:

Health journey

(SLIDES)

Take Up Your Cross

The second thing we are called to do to is take up our cross

And before we talk about this, I have to say that these words do not carry the same weight they did when Jesus spoke them

The horror of the cross—the oppression of Rome

Public humiliation - outside cities

Death for the lowest of the low

We just don’t understand the terror of the cross

So when Jesus says these words… it is shocking

We don’t have an equivalent

His audience’s hearts must have sunk

And Mark was writing this to the early Church

Where Christians were literally being crucified for following Jesus

But what does this mean for us?

We must be willing to suffer and be humiliated for Jesus

Although it might not looks the same as it did 2,000 years ago… It is still the call to each Christian

Like I said earlier: We idolize comfort

People in the past had to learn to live with suffering

But we have very weak skin

Following Jesus and carrying your cross goes against the way of the world around us

The world always wants to keep suffering at a distance

Because it is a direct affront to our comfort

But the way of Jesus is embracing suffering

It’s not masochistic

But as Henri Nowen puts it “Befriending our suffering”

It is seeing hardship and suffering not as the things that will destroy us… but we see a purpose through it

Our suffering isn’t meaningless

It is not hopeless

But it actually grows us in our walk with Jesus

Again just like refining metal

Suffering is working in us—it’s doing something

Gym

Suffering does a work in us—cleansing and purging our character

But suffering also makes us better suited to serve others

We grow in empathy and love when our hearts are tender

So we are to give up our way of doing things

Welcome and embrace suffering because it is the way of Jesus

(SLIDES)

And Follow Jesus

Up until this point, following Jesus seems pretty rough…

But Jesus isn’t telling us to do anything he is willing to do

Following him entails that he has gone before us

We don’t serve a God that bosses us around from above

He has not only become a human in Jesus, but a servant to all

When Jesus is asking us to deny ourselves and carry our cross

He has done the same

The best leaders, lead by example

But its not just following Jesus aimlessly, I think there is a very important aspect of this that we tend to overlook

I remember in my early years as a Christian, I thought self-denial and carrying my cross was it…

Things we enjoy are bad…

Christianity is about doing what I don’t want to do

(How do you know God is telling you to do something?)

But we have to ask the question… where are we following Jesus to?—Where are we going?!

Right, if you’re following anyone, you’re going somewhere

Where is Jesus asking us to follow him?

And I think when we focus on this: we hit the real gold

Jesus is headed through death… into resurrection life

All of the suffering isn’t pointless

The only way into eternal life is by following Jesus into death

This world is tainted by sin and passing away

But Jesus is inviting us to the new creation

Jesus even says:

(SLIDES)

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?

We are tempted to try and gain the whole world

But in the end it will leave us empty

None of your possessions, achievements, titles, follow you in the grave

But Jesus is offering us a new way

C.S. Lewis writes that we are like “an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Conclusion

So let’s follow Jesus

It’s not easy

But it’s worthwhile

Those we are following Jesus are headed into eternal life

Reflection Questions

Who is Jesus to you?

What are your concerns in life?

What areas of your life is Jesus calling you to deny yourself or carry your cross?