Taking Off The Crown

1. The Hook

Several years ago, I heard the story behind one of the most beloved songs in Christianity: “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.”

According to tradition, the story takes us to a remote village in northeast India. A man had become a follower of Christ through the influence of missionaries who had brought the gospel to his region. His decision was not welcomed by everyone.

As opposition grew, village leaders demanded that he renounce his faith. They brought him before the community and gave him a choice. He could abandon Jesus and return to his former life, or he could face the consequences.

Imagine standing there.

The eyes of your neighbors fixed upon you.

Your family beside you.

Your future hanging in the balance.

All he had to do was say a few words. All he had to do was walk away from Christ.

Instead, he reportedly declared, “I have decided to follow Jesus.”

The threats intensified.

The pressure increased.

Yet he refused to turn back.

As the story is told, he continued to affirm his faith even as everything he loved was being taken from him. And from that testimony came words that would later become part of the song many of us know so well:

“Though none go with me, still I will follow.”

“The world behind me, the cross before me.”

And perhaps the most powerful line of all:

“No turning back. No turning back.”

When we hear that song, we often think about commitment.

We think about faithfulness.

We think about courage.

But I want you to notice something deeper.

That man was not simply deciding to follow Jesus.

He was deciding who would wear the crown.

Would he remain king of his own life?

Would comfort be king?

Would safety be king?

Would popularity be king?

Would self preservation be king?

Or would Jesus be King?

You see, following Jesus always requires surrendering something.

Before there can be discipleship, there must be submission.

Before there can be a cross, there must be the removal of a crown.

And that is exactly where we find Peter in Mark 8.

Peter is willing to confess that Jesus is the Christ.

What he is not yet willing to do is surrender his own expectations of what that means.

Peter wants a Messiah with a crown.

Jesus says there must first be a cross.

And before this conversation is over, Jesus will teach that every disciple must make the same choice.

Who will wear the crown?

2. The Context

— We have had 20 miracles recorded with the last 2 being recorded here in Chapter 8.

— The healing of the blind man almost seems as a object lesson that leads into this pivotal moment in Chapter with the questions he asks.

3. The Text

Mark 8:27–38 “27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. 31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.””

4. The Application

Purpose: Move from understanding to transformation.

Elements:

Show what this truth means for our lives today [Describe practical, real-life application]

Use stories or examples that make obedience concrete [Add modern illustration or testimony]

Appeal to both head and heart—conviction and hope [Write your emotional appeal or challenge]

5. The Invitation

Purpose: Unite the congregation around the shared call of God.

Elements:

Summarize the key truth in one simple, memorable sentence [Rephrase your main point or truth here]

End with a vision of what life looks like if we all live this truth together [Picture of kingdom life]

Invite response—repentance, baptism, prayer, encouragement [Describe call to action or invitation moment]