True Life

During the season of lent, in the weeks leading up to Good Friday and Easter, we will be exploring the cost of salvation: what it cost Jesus, and what it costs us. We see both in our passage this morning.

But before we jump into that, a couple of things worth noting:

So, instead, we will focus on a few important questions. Whenever you approach God’s Word, it is important to ask a few basic questions: What does this text teach us about God? Knowing this, how are we changed? Those are the fundamental questions I ask and seek to answer in every sermon. But there are other questions, such as, who wrote this portion of scripture? Why did they write this book, or letter, or poem, or narrative? Which leads to another question, what kind of genre is this? What did the original hearers understand? In this case, what did the twelve disciples understand? What do those answers mean for us today, because God’s Word is eternal, it is relevant for each and every generation, regardless of what century we happen to be living in.

So, to answer some of these things, and to get us up to speed, Mark wrote his gospel to teach people that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Mark wrote in a very quick, fast paced style, think like a documentary and a drama mashed together, where you’re quickly jumping from one scene to another, and there isn’t a tonne of setting, and style, and explanation.

Jesus and his disciples have traveled from Bethsaida on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, to Caesarea Philippi, about 25km north. Caesarea Philippi was known as very old, traditional place of worship. It was where people had worshipped Baal, then later people worshipped the Greek god Pan, and at the time of Jesus visit, people worshipped Caesar.

On this backdrop of Gentile worship, on this location where the emperor of Rome was worshipped, Jesus asks the question, “Who do people say that I am?” And he followed that up with, “Who do you say that I am?”

Jesus was very intentional in choosing this location. You could say that it represented all the greatest examples of human wisdom and understanding. It represented all the hopes and dreams human beings have: in Baal, but, no, after a while, Baal failed to deliver. How about Pan, maybe Pan can give us what we want. No, Pan failed too. Now, Caesar, he’s powerful, he’s the ruler of the greatest empire known to man! Rome is greater even than the Greek empire! Caesar is the most powerful person on the planet. Surely he is a god. Surely he will give us what we want: peace, happiness, prosperity, health.

In contrast, we have Jesus. Suddenly, this carpenter’s son bursts onto the scene. He had no pedigree—at least not as it concerned the powerful and influential people. Instead, he preached with total authority and truth. He performed miracles that proved his divinity. Illnesses as a result of humanity’s fall into sin, diseases that render a person unclean if you touched them, at Jesus touch, disappeared. The uncorruptible one, rendered those who received him in faith as clean, healed, restored, redeemed, revived, raised from the dead. You think Baal was someone, something? You think Pan was? You think Caesar is? No, none of them are the answer, says Jesus, “I am”.

Jesus knew what people were thinking, he knew what the disciples were thinking. So he asked a couple of questions, to make them speak aloud, what they were thinking. Who do people say I am? In light of my ministry, preaching, teaching and healing, what do people say about me?

Well, people are guessing. People like Herod Antipas are hoping that you’re John the Baptist, come back to life, mostly to assuage their guilt. Others are suggesting you’re Elijah, come back, since he was taken up to heaven, maybe he’s back now. Still others, aren’t sure, since your teaching is a call to repentance, they think you’re like one of the prophets of old, who also called God’s people to repent.

Okay, great. How about you? Who do you say that I am?

Peter speaks total truth, but doesn’t understand what he’s saying.

You are the Christ. You are the messiah. You are the one who has come to set us free, to redeem Israel. You are the promised one.

Jesus commanded all the disciples not to tell anyone else what Peter had just said. He said this because such knowledge could cause the leaders to move up their timeline, but they didn’t know that Jesus was in control of that.

Then Jesus began to teach them that he must suffer many things, be rejected by the very ones who should have been able to recognise him, but because of their infatuation with their own power and authority, they rejected him, he just didn’t fit their expectations of who the messiah would be.

That their jealousy would drive them to kill him. But Jesus promised that he would rise again after three days. Jesus stated this point blank, pulling no punches.

And Peter, not understanding, having in mind his own idea of who the Saviour was and is and would be, rebuked Jesus.

We need to be kind and gentle with Peter, as Jesus was. Peter was living in the moment. He had given up his career. I wonder what his wife thought of him traipsing all over the country with this self-declared rabbi. Peter, when are you going to come home? I know Jesus is great and all that, and please understand, I’m so grateful that he healed my mom. But really, when are you going to go back to fishing, and start providing for us? We have car payments, mortgage payments, and don’t forget, private school to pay for!

But Peter was living in the moment. He was loving witnessing Jesus’ teaching and healing. He didn’t want it to end. It was great. It was like playing shinny hockey with the greatest player ever, you just wanted to live in the moment of being with the greatest person who has ever lived. What Jesus was talking about made no sense, why would he do anything to jeapardise the great thing they had going. If Jesus could just stay under the leader’s radar, if he could just keep some of the harsh words he had to say to himself, consider how many people still needed healing, how many still needed to learn from Jesus!

But Jesus stopped him in his tracks. “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Peter wanted to maintain the status quo. But that wasn’t what Jesus came to do. All his healing and teaching pointed to the fact that he is God, in the flesh, come to seek and to save the lost. Jesus came to suffer and die in order to pay for our sin. Jesus came to die. Jesus came to take up his cross in order to save others. Jesus came to die, for you, for me.

Now, drawing in those who were with them, but were not part of the 12, Jesus addresses them.

This is where Jesus draws us into the story. This is where we get to put ourselves into the Bible. Jesus looks at each one of us and says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

At that point, no one knew that Jesus would be crucified on a cross. We know. Jesus is saying to me, to you, to all of us. You say you want to follow me. It will cost you. It will cost you far more than you can imagine. You will suffer. You will lose your health. You will lose your wealth. You will be rejected. You will be mistreated, you will be shunned, you will be faced with things that are way more than you can handle. But you won’t face anything that I haven’t already handled. You won’t face anything that I can’t handle.

“For whoever would save his life—that is, whoever, like Peter, would try to preserve things as they are, whoever chooses to keep following after the things of this world, they will lose their life for eternity. But whoever loses his life—that is, whoever chooses to turn his back on the things the world holds as dear and important: health, wealth, worldly pleasures, whoever rejects those empty and false delights, whoever dies to them, will truly live. So what if you make all the money in the world, but in the process give up your soul? Who can pay for his soul? Whoever rejects Jesus, will be rejected by the King of kings and the Lord of lord’s the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So, there we are. The cost of salvation was Jesus perfect, sinless life. He willingly offered it up, and by offering it up, paid for all your sins, all my sins, every single one.

The cost of salvation the cost we must pay is that we must lay down this life. We must so prefer Christ and our future with him that we are willing to go and do anything, anything He asks of us. We must totally reject our self. We must totally let go of our own will. We must stop being selfish, self-indulgent, self-idolising. This is not an easy thing to do in our self-obsessed culture.

So, what can compel us to sacrifice the idol of self? Is it fear of eternal damnation? Is it the peer pressure of the people around us? Is it the desire to preserve ourselves?

No, none of those reasons will compel us for very long. None of those reasons will sustain us.

No, the only thing, the only thing that will move us to endure is Jesus. puts it this way: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Set before you the joy of Jesus. Trust him to write and to perfect your faith. Endure whatever trial you are in, have been in, will be in one day. Endure it, take up your cross, endure the suffering and shame, because you are focussed on the joy of Christ, that is set before you, and by the Holy Spirit is in you right now!

Jesus, our cornerstone, we are weak, yes, but we are made strong in Christ. Rest in that strength! Amen.

Now, who could make such a demand as this? Who can demand of someone, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me?

Well, let me tell you! A king, a Prime Minister, a president, a world leader can. When Britain declared war on Germany in World War II, many people voluntarily joined the armed forces. They were compelled to deny themselves, their safe, quiet, comfortable life, and willingly took up the call to serve their king and country, knowing that it would put their life on the line.

The question we need to ask is this, “What compels people to do such a thing? Why would anyone sacrifice his or her life and go to war?”

Some would say, “Patriotism, honour and glory, propaganda.”

These are compelling reasons for going to war.

But what compelling reason do we have to take up our cross and follow Jesus? What was it about Jesus that caused Peter, James and John to walk away from their life as fishermen? What caused Matthew, a rich tax collector, to follow Jesus?

Why did they believe that their sacrifice was worth it? What compelled them, after Jesus died and rose again, to become preachers? What compelled them to continue life as servants of Christ? What compelled thousands to listen to what they were saying, and give up their religious acts they had lived with their whole life?

Now, let’s jump back up to the earlier part of the passage.

Who do people say Jesus is? John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets.

Okay, Jesus continued, in some sense, John’s ministry. He definitely had some stuff in common.

He called people to true repentance, just as Elijah did. He smashed the false teachers and cast out demons.

But then Jesus asked them, “Who do you say that I am?”

Peter says, “You are the Christ.” Peter says, “You are the anointed one, the messiah, the one who will redeem Israel.”

And then Jesus began to