YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG

SETUP

SCRIPTURE

Mark 8:27–29 NLT

27 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.” 29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”

SUBSTANCE

“You are the Messiah!”

Messiah = A future deliverer, savior, and king who would rescue his people and usher in a time of prosperity and blessing. (Messiah = Hebrew // Christos = Greek = Christ)

Fun Fact: Christ is not Jesus’ last name

Flashback

1,000 years before this moment (1 Samuel 8)

Israel wants a king (not God) to lead them

1,000 years before that...

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob = Moses - Joshua - The Judges (Gideon, Samson, Samuel)

Victory after victory came from God, not human effort.

Moses parting of the Red Sea

Joshua and the walls of Jericho or when the sun stood still in the sky

Gideon and his 300 soldiers defeat an entire Midianite military using only trumpets, torches, and clay jars.

Samson and his unbelievable strength killing enemies with a donkey’s jawbone

Samuel tells them: You don’t want a king!

He’ll make you serve him like a slave, he’ll tax you, he’ll take your best fields, crops, and animals, and he’ll make you fight for him whenever he feels like it…

So why does Israel want a king now?

1 Samuel 8:19–20 NLT

19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. 20 “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”

We want to be like everyone else...

We want someone else to fight for us…

So… God gives them what they want…

They get King Saul, King David, King Solomon, and then it starts going down hill quick...

Eventually Israel breaks out into civil war and then they’re exiled by the Babylonians and Persians.

Eventually we find ourselves back to Mark 8 where Israel is a shell of its former self occupied by the Romans

Mark 8:29 NLT

29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”

The deliverer, savior, and king who will rescue us from the Roman occupation and usher in a time of prosperity and blessing.

If He heal blind eyes, raise the dead, turn water into wine, and multiply a sack lunch into enough food to feed thousands, just think what He can do as King!

When Peter utters these words, he’s envisioning Jesus on a throne with Peter as His right hand man… Not a suffering servant dying on a cross.

In the words of Lee Corso every time someone picks UT to beat Florida -

NOT SO FAST!

Mark 8:31–33 NLT

31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. 33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

“Suffer many things? OK, we can deal with a little suffering…”

“Rejected by the elders, priests, and teachers? Yea, I don’t really like them anyway...”

“Going to be killed..? But how can you be king and me be your number 2 if you’re dead!?”

So Peter does to Jesus what we all do when life start going differently than our perfect plans and expectations…

He tells Jesus whats up… Reprimands him… Rebukes him…

Jesus returns the favor and rebukes Peter:

“Get away from me/behind me Satan...”

“You are seeing from a human perspective, not from God’s”

When Peter sees Jesus as Messiah, he sees a throne, not a cross.

He sees enemies defeated.

When Jesus says I’m the Messiah, he sees an empty tomb, not a cross.

He sees the enemy defeated.

To the crowd…

Mark 8:34–37 NLT

34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul?

Give up your own way

Take up your cross

Follow me

What you try to save you’ll lose, and what you give up you’ll save. (Kingdom economics)

SHUTDOWN

I use to read that passage and feel like Jesus was telling me I need to do more to be a better Christian…

Sometimes we ignore his message because we misinterpret his meaning!

How many times a week do I see my kids struggling with something

But the older I get the more I realize that everything He says and does He does so because He loves me and wants good for me.

Give up you own way (because I love you)

You know… that way that isn’t working no matter how many times you set a new resolution, and try harder

Take up your cross (because it is the one I made specifically for you)

Stop living your life comparing it to everyone else’s.

Follow me (because I know what’s best for you)

Where I go, you go.

It may not always be easy, but it will always be worth it.

Give me what you have, and I’ll give you what I have (the best trade in history)

3,000 years ago God’s people made a mistake - they told God what they wanted and said we want this even if you say it’s not good

2,000 years ago, Peter and the disciples tried to make the same mistake again.

Jesus do it my way!

PRAY FOR GREATER DEVOTION TO JESUS

Today, as the Holy Spirit asks you “Who do you say Jesus is?”

Not with your words, but with your life?

PRAY FOR THOSE STRUGGLING

Matthew 11:28–30 NLT

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Give up your way for my way

Take my yoke (cross - the one I made for you)

You’ve been carrying things you were never meant to carry.

Explain a yoke for oxen

The reason why his yoke is easy and light is because He carries the weight - we just follow along!

If life feels heavy — YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!

Because you’re pulling against Jesus, not walking with Jesus.