Suffering for Christ is Gain

Greetings

Good morning, my name is Joshua Wagner and I am excited to be here with you, learning from God’s word as we look at Luke 9:23-6. Many of you may be familiar with this passage as Jesus tells us to take up our cross.

Background and Analogy

Before we look at the passage, I want to take us back to the time of Jesus and the disciples and understand the context. The Jewish people have been under the Roman authority and are awaiting the long expected Messiah, the Christ. They believe that he will come and overtake the authorities over them and establish His kingdom. They are excited to see him conquer, as David had. They want to be lead away from Rome, who has been persecuting them and their answer, the solution has always been this man, the Son of David! Here, we find Peter and the disciples, walking with Jesus, learning from Him and when Jesus asks in Luke 9:20 “Who do you say that I am” Peter quickly responds “The Christ of God”. Imagine being in this moment, the excitement! The one who has been said to restore peace is right in front of you, the one that you believe is going to save you and bring about your desires of peace of rule are now at hand. Then, Jesus tells the truth about this reign. He will not rule how they expect, but will actually suffer and be rejected by the Jewish leaders. Confusion must have smacked the disciples in the face. This is not what they expected. Then, Jesus speaks more and this is where we will pick up and be looking at Jesus’ words. Let’s read Luke 9:23-26:

Luke 9:23–26 ESV

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

We are going to be breaking down Jesus’ words over the next fifteen minutes now, but before we do so, let us pray.

Lord,

Your plan is perfect, it is Holy and it is so easy to depend on our own point of view as we look into your word. Lord, help us to understand your will and apply it to our life. Help us to be filled by your spirit not just today, but daily. Open our hearts as we look at your word.

Amen

Deny Yourself, Take up your Cross, Follow me

“If anyone would come after me...” is what Jesus says, but what exactly does he mean? The ending of this sentence has a synonymous sound, “follow me.” Both of these verbs are being used in the present tense and are showing the conclusion of what Jesus is communicating. This literally means to come behind Jesus, to follow in his path, and it’s not a one time deal, it is a continual following of Jesus. I think about myself as a young boy getting in line behind a teacher after she says to. The implications here, though, are a little more consequential. In Kindergarten, I might get yelled at and then a wooden stick would become intimate with my rear end. Here… well, we will get to that. When Jesus uses the phrases, to come after him and to follow him, Jesus is talking about receiving the blessing that He earns. He is telling us that if we want to receive justification or to be looked at by God as righteous, or if we want to be glorified with himself, then we must follow the commands and the premises that have been laid out in between these phrases. We must follow the conditions that Jesus lays our here. Again, this is not a one time deal, but a daily, continuous following of Jesus.

So, what are these conditions and what do they mean? The first step is to deny yourself, but what does this mean and look like in our daily life? Throughout scripture, we can get some assistance as Paul tells us in Galatians 5:24:

Galatians 5:24 ESV

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

What is being said here is that we need to deny our fleshly desires, we need to resist Satan and focus in on the things of God. When we think about an action, we can question who we are trying to glorify, or who is at the center of that action. If you are reminded that you are thinking about your own desires, or you know that God’s word is against your action, you know you are acting on your own fleshly sinful nature and not denying yourself.

The second calling, which sounds very harsh, is to take up your cross. Jesus is using an extreme case here to make his point clear. Taking up the cross was the worst punishment available and for a Jew, would have been very shameful. Deuteronomy 21:22-23 tells us that anyone that is hanged from a tree is cursed by God, so for a Jew to die on a cross.... it was a curse. The punishment, as many know, would have been excruciating. But is Jesus being literal here? Is the way to be accepted to literally take up a cross? Jesus is using an idiom, a device used to make a point. Right now, you may be using some idioms in your head, thinking “this sermon will end when pig’s fly” or “this is all Greek to me” The earlier is making the point that this will take forever and uses an exaggeration to bring about the point that it seems the end will never come, as pigs will never fly. The second is not referring to my speaking in literal Greek, but is an exaggeration that understanding is not clear. I ask you to hold your horses as I make clear what Jesus is speaking to here. Just is exaggerating to make clear the point that we must be willing to endure suffering. He will use this device again in this passage later. Many times we think of Jesus as the peacekeeper, but that is far from the truth. He was telling the disciples and us today that we must fear God and his wraith above man and man’s wraith. Jesus was telling us to be ready for suffering as we will continue to hear from His words. You may be asking, “but what if we don’t have such faith”?

It’s interesting that Peter was the one to exclaim that Jesus was the Christ. Later in Luke, when Jesus is being taken away, we read that Peter follows close behind until he is standing outside as Jesus is being questioned by the Jewish leaders. As Jesus is being spit on and slapped, Peter is recognized and questioned. In Luke 22:56-60, we read that Peter denies knowing Christ not once, not twice, but three times!

Opposite paths equals opposite ends, but thank God for grace!

In verse 24, we come to our first “For”. There are three in total and these could also be translated as “because” as the following gives further insight into what Jesus has already stated. This first for is separated into two parts, the negative and then the positive and is separated by a “but”. The negative is “whoever would save his life will lose it.” Trying to protect our life, trying to avoid suffering for Jesus’ sake will lead to the negative consequence of not following Jesus, not being declared righteous and eternal separation from God. This sounds less than ideal. The positive side is: “whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Again, like “take up your cross”, this passage is an idiom and exaggeration telling us that if we suffer and are willing to suffer “for [Jesus’] sake”, we will gain eternal life with him and “come after him.”

Now, to the second “for”. Rhetoric is used here as Jesus questions what good is it to have all the possessions and everything one could want but to not have the ability to exist? It’s like having a home with a hot tub, a new awesome car parked in the garage, all the toys and gadgets you could ever imagine except for you are unable to get to them. We need to remember Ecclesiastes 3:20 often:

Ecclesiastes 3:20 ESV

All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.

Jesus makes this point clear. We will return as dust and the things of this world we no longer be accessible. Do you cling to the things of this world whether it be possessions, pride, our any other self-centered ambition? Let us remember to “deny ourselves” as Jesus has told us.

The third and final “for” comes and it leaves me on my knees, begging God for forgiveness. I hope it leads you to repent as it has I. Jesus says “whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” Does your fear of man lead you to hide your faith? In a time when truth has become subjective and existentialism reigns, do you hide from God’s word? Too often do I find myself unwilling to speak the Gospel to others in fear of being judged by them, or in fear of ruining relationships. Jesus tells us that this leads to him being ashamed of us. This will lead to Jesus rejecting us when he comes again for the second time, in His glorified state to reign over all the world. This is what is at stake when we deny Christ! There is a cost and it is great! Do we turn and trust Jesus and fear God, or do we fear man?

Peter’s Denials and Jesus’ Grace

Peter started well but failed when tested, as we discussed. When questioned, he denied Jesus. His story doesn’t end there and neither does yours. Peter would hear the good news, that Jesus has raised from the dead after three days. He would then come face to face with the Lord, the one he had denied and be questioned three times if his love for Jesus was genuine. Three times he would repent and state his love for Jesus.

Later, Peter would go on and receive the Holy Spirit and be empowered to spread the gospel and be persecuted for it. God would deliver him over and over, until eventually, Peter would find his end in Rome. Peter would literally take up his own cross and when he did, he requested to be turned upside down as he did not want to be crucified the same as Jesus.

Jesus’ grace reached Peter and it’s reaching out for you today. If you don’t know this grace, speak with one of us who can tell you about it. If you are convicted by this sermon, as I am, repent. The same Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead, the same Spirit that changed Peter from a coward to a martyr, is at work in you, calling for you to deny yourself and take up your own cross. Let’s pray:

Jesus,

Thank you for your grace, a grace so sweet that we want to live more obediently to you and your word. Give us strength, through your Spirit, to endure, to be bold, to make disciples and be obedient. We thank you for this time and praise your mighty name!

Amen!