Are You Willing to Pay the Price?

As a father I am always aware of my children’s friends. Beth and I have decided that we want to at least know a little bit about our kids friend’s families. How is their home life? Are there any issues in the home? Not just so we can protect our kids, but so we can pray and be helpful to the families of our kids friends.

Booker T Washington, African-American educator, author, speaker and advisor to presidents once said, “Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone then in bad company.”

Who we associate with is important.

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Booker T Washington once said, “Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone then in bad company.”

Proverbs 13:20 ESV

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Scripture is full of admonishment against being around people who are of bad character. So it is understandable that the Pharisees passed this terse judgement on Christ.

The disciples have “associated” themselves with a man from Nazareth who has performed many miracles and has proven to them that He is the promised Messiah. They have traveled many miles with Him and Jesus is now going to reveal to them where those many miles are leading.

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Mark 8:31–9:1 ESV

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.” 1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

Passion Resurrection Prediction V.31

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This is the first time in Mark that we see Jesus’ “passion prediction.” While the idea of Jesus being rejected and crucified seems startling and not possible to the disciples, there is bit of hope.

What Jesus begins to teach them opens up a new direction of teaching. As we move forward from this point we will see fewer miracles in the next few chapters. Jesus shares with His disciples who will reject him, the elders, chief priests, and scribes. This is the Sanhedrin who will ultimately put Jesus on trial and condemn Him to death.

This is the Sanhedrin who will ultimately put Jesus on trial and condemn Him to death.

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Notice that Jesus not only predicts His death, but his resurrection, “after three days rise again.” With Jesus there is always hope.

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Jesus says something that was probably lost on the disciples, as reflected in their response. Jesus says this “must” happen. What Jesus is predicting is the will of God and will fulfill the prophecy of Scripture. Death must come and be followed by resurrection.

esus says something that was probably lost on the disciples, as reflected in their response. Jesus says this “must” happen. What Jesus is predicting is the will of God and will fulfill the prophecy of Scripture. Death must come and be followed by resurrection.

The Disciples are Confused V. 32-33

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The disciples had just confessed their faith in Jesus. Peter had openly proclaimed that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. How can this be? They were stunned. Didn’t the Old Testament promise that the Messiah would defeat Israel’s enemies and restore Israel to its former glory under King David? There was something wrong here and the disciples were confused.

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Again it is Peter who speaks up and rebukes Jesus. His rebuke is not because he misunderstands what Jesus said, but because he understands him and loves him. Peter pulls Jesus aside and presumes to tell Jesus He is wrong. Peter goes from being led by God to confess his faith in Jesus to thinking like an unbeliever and expressing the thoughts of Satan himself.

Peter openly rebukes Jesus.

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Peter openly rebukes Jesus. The word here for rebuke is the same word that Jesus used to rebuke demons, epitimao. Every other time this word is used it has been associated with demons. This is more than just a hey I think you are mistaken. Peter is responding from his deep love of Christ and is adamant that Jesus must not be killed. But remember that Jesus said this must happen.

The word here for rebuke is the same word that Jesus used to rebuke demons, epitimao (ep-ee-tee-mah’-o). Every other time this word is used it has been associated with demons. This is more than just a hey I think you are mistaken. Peter is responding from his deep love of Christ and is adamant that Jesus must not be killed. But remember that Jesus said this must happen.

So Jesus in turn rebukes Peter and addresses him as Satan. Now when Jesus calls Peter Satan he does not mean that Peter has been possessed, what Jesus is saying is that Peter’s thoughts are human thoughts (which are Satan’s desire), not divine thoughts.

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Jesus tells Peter to opiso mou, or fall in behind me, the same term Jesus used when He called Peter. Jesus is telling Peter to return to his position behind Christ as a disciple.

If one of your five friends that you thought about earlier came to you and said that they were going to be arrested, condemned, and killed you would probably react the same as Peter, in a very human way.

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Isaiah 55:8–9 ESV

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The issue that Peter and the disciples have with Jesus’ prediction is more than theological, it is based on more than just their understanding of the prophets. Their rejection of Jesus’ words are also practical.

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Jesus had called them to follow Him, and consequently whatever happened to Him would happen to them. Wow, try to wrap your head around that one. Your friend tells you that they are going to be killed, and by the way so are you. I think you would reject that prediction and try to find some way to not make it happen.

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The disciples were following Satan’s way of glory without suffering instead of God’s philosophy of suffering transformed into glory. Which philosophy you accept will determine how you live and how you serve.

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The Nature of Discipleship v. 34-38

Jesus calls the crowd that was nearby over and teaches them all about what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. There is a price to pay for true discipleship.

Jesus lays down three conditions:

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#1 Self-Denial v.34

Mark 8:35 ESV

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.

Self-Denial

#1 Self-Denial v.34

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

We can no longer live for ourselves. If we do so we will lose ourselves, but to loose ourselves for the sake of the Gospel, we will find ourselves.

Self-denial does not mean denying things to ourselves. We deny ourselves as the controlling center of our lives. We have two options:

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Live for our self

Live for Christ

There is no in-between.

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If we are living for our self, we are tied to human things. The things of this world control our actions and our thoughts. We live for entertainment, possessions, pleasures, self-glory, power, and prestige.

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If we are living for Jesus our focus is on divine things. We set our sight on the thing s of God and not the things of man.

We cannot save ourselves. Our possessions, power, pride, or prestige will never save us. We can only lose ourselves, or deny ourselves, hand over the control and focus of our lives to Jesus, and then we find salvation in Jesus, the one we follow.

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To be saved, to follow Christ, we must surrender ourselves and determine to obey His will. Once we determine to do this, then we must daily “die to self” as we identify with Jesus by taking up our cross.

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#2 Identifying with Christ/Taking Up Our Cross

This idea of carrying our cross is loaded with meaning and has brought understanding to suffering Christians throughout history. Cross-carrying can mean being willing to suffer even martyrdom for our faith. It can mean crucifying the flesh:

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Galatians 5:24 ESV

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

It contains the idea of accepting and proclaiming the Gospel, committing to not getting vengeance on those who persecute us, being a peacemaker, having freedom from the law, etc.

Historically carrying our cross has a more restricted meaning.

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It stands for being willing to submit to God’s will (and the teachings of Jesus) no matter what the cost. That is what Jesus did as we carried His cross. No matter what our friends say, no matter what our family thinks, no matter how much it might embarrass us, to take up our cross daily is to submit our will to God’s will.

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#3 Obediently Follow Jesus

As Jesus journeyed toward Jerusalem, closer to his rejection, arrest, trial, death, and resurrection, the disciples would be identifying with Jesus more and more. There could be no more hiding the truth of whose they were. The disciple who denies self, and takes up the cross is now free to follow Jesus. Free to keep in step with Jesus as He models and teaches God’s way.

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These three elements define what it means to be a true disciple. If we do not choose Jesus, if we are ashamed of who Jesus is, He will be ashamed of us. If we are too ashamed to proclaim Jesus to a world that is here today and gone tomorrow, a world that is lost and on a path that leads to destruction, Jesus will be ashamed of us in front of the Father and the Angels which last forever.

Pray that we are not ashamed of Jesus.

A Vision of the Kingdom 9:1

Jesus ends his teaching on discipleship with a promise.

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Mark 9:1 ESV

1 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

There has been much discussion and misunderstanding pertaining to this verse. Some believe that Jesus is predicting some future event from the crucifixion to the destruction of the temple and that there are some of His disciples who will not die before they witness this event. There are some that even argue that Jesus is talking about His second return.

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The best solution is to read Jesus’ words as a prediction that in the future some will have eyes that see that the Kingdom of God has already come in power. Jesus is promising that whatever difficulties the disciples are having now seeing clearly, one day their eyes will be opened.

Pray that God would help us be true disciples of Christ and that our eyes would be opened to see that the Kingdom of God has come in power and may our eyes be open to our mission in His Kingdom.

Are you willing to pay the price? Being a true believer and disciple of Jesus is costly, but he alternative is much worse.