Mark Sermon Week 20 - The Cost of Discipleship

Intro/Welcome

Good Morning One Hope

Welcome 1st Time guests — ONLINE

Good to be with you

We are continuing in Mark and today we come to the turning point in the whole book

Today’s text is literally the hinge of the entire gospel.

Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah

But no sooner is Peter Confessing Jesus as the Messiah (The Christ) than Jesus is correcting peter’s misconceptions.

Isn’t that true of all of us at some point?

We all have these misconceptions about who God is and what he is like

we have our opinions about how God is running things.

Today

Today we are looking at the very core of the gospel,

the core of what it means to follow Jesus.

Jesus has perhaps the most important lesson of all for his followers today:

here it is:

Following God is not about Him conforming to our ways, but rather our ways conforming to His.

It that’s true, then we really need to learn his ways, and understand how we can possible live them out in our lives.

Sermon Structure

So today, Jesus will unpack His Way, and the Way of those who follow him.

We’ll be looking at:

The Question of Christ

The Confession of Christ

The Correction of Christ

The Call and Cost of following Christ.

Bible

We’ll be in Mark 8:27-9:1 today

Go there in your Bibles

Let me pray for our time.

Pray

Luke 4:18–19 (ESV)

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Isaiah 61:1–4 (ESV)

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

4 They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

The Question of Christ

It has been building to this.

[slide - structure of Mark]

The call of the Twelve in Mark 3:13-19.

From that point on it is about Jesus training the twelve in discipleship

The Commission of the Twelve in Mark 6:7.

Their training continues on a new level with the commission to go and do the very works Jesus has been doing

Declaring the Kingdom of God

Demonstrating it’s Power

Calling more disciples.

The Confession

Caesarea Philippi

Mark 8:27 (CSB)

27 Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

Two things on Caesarea Philippi

Pagan Worship

CP was known for it’s pagan worship of the Nature God, Pan among others

In fact, there are ruins there today with the remains of one of these shrines

[Pic of Pan of CP]

Many different God’s were worshipped there

we may not have expected Jesus to visit a place like this

Perhaps this is why Jesus chose this place for the occasion.

Journey to Jerusalem

This is on the far border of Israelite Territory

[MAP]

CP is about as far as you can go from Jerusalem and still be in Israelite Territory

It is also significant becuase from here on out Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem

Slingshot — Bow and arrow

And so the rest of the book is Jesus on the Road to the Cross.

On the Way to Jerusalem, Jesus is going to teach us about the ways of God.

Two Questions

Mark 8:27 (CSB)

27 Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

I wonder why he asks them that?

We’ll see in a moment

Their Response:

Mark 8:28 (CSB)

28 They answered him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”

We’ve this already from Herod

He thought it was John the Baptist raised from the dead, whom he had murdered

Perhaps his point is everyone has an opinion about Jesus

but his next point, is that it doesn’t matter what others think of ME,

what do you believe about me?

Mark 8:29 (CSB)

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

This has been a growing question all along.

“Who is this that can calm the wind and waves with his voice”

This is the most important question any of us will ever answer, as we’ll see in a bit.

The point is, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks or believes about Jesus.

What matters is what you believe about him?

What you confess about Him?

Sometimes we get caught up in this philosophical dilemma and ask “what about people who have never heard of Him?”

It is a valid question but ultimately has no bearing on what you believe about Him.

What is important is not what others believe about Jesus, but what you Believe about him.

Gospel Call

So have you answered this question yet?

maybe you have heard about Jesus but never confessed him as Lord and Savior

I want to let you know you can do that, right now, right here, today.

You do it in your heart.

You can talk to a leader right after the sermon

Peter’s Confession

Peter’s response?

Mark 8:29 (CSB)

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

Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah.

It is interesting how the other Gospel writers capture this moment:

Luke 9:20 (CSB)

20 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

Matthew 16:16–19 (CSB)

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

This is a momentous occasion.

Finally Jesus has been correctly identified by a human being!

Matthew adds that it wasn’t flesh and blood that revealed this, the Father in heaven.

But how does Jesus respond in Mark’s account?

Does he congratulate them?

Does he rejoice that they finally see?

No, he responds by rebuking them!

Jesus Rebukes them

Mark 8:30 (CSB)

30 And he strictly warned (rebuked) them to tell no one about him.

Why would he do that?

Think about that for a minute

Answer:

Following God is not about Him conforming to our ways, but rather our ways conforming to His.

gods ways are not our ways

Jesus power demonstrated

Think about this:

They have seen Jesus demonstrate extraordinary power

he has healed the sick, raised the dead, restored sight the blind, hearing to death

He has cast out demons, still the storm and walked on water.

This is like having a Jedi master in your pocket / on your team

You are feeling pretty invincible

Expectations of the Messiah

If Jesus is the Messiah then he is going to do what was anticipated and expected of the Messiah

He going to crush all the enemies of God

He’s going to right every wrong

He’s going to punish the guilty

Enact perfect Justice

If you are on God’s team, things are looking pretty good.

The Messiah’s Mission

It wasn’t so much that the misunderstood the messiah, but they had a misconception about the manner in which he would do this

the process

the road that he would walk

they way he would go

The disciples wouldn’t...couldn’t.

believe that the mission of the Messiah WAS NOT

to crush all God’s enemies, but rather to be crushed for them.

to destroy all God’s enemies, but rather to die for them.

so that they too could become the people of God

To Peter and the disciples, and the Jewish Nation this was an impossibility.

Yet that is exactly what Jesus needs to correct

this misunderstanding of the messiah’s mission

he came to give mercy, not judgment

You see God’s greatest desire was not to eradicate evil in the world (it is that, and he will do it) but rather bring home his lost sheep

He doesn’t want the Twelve to go around promoting a misunderstanding of the messiahs’ mission. / misconceptions of the messiah

They need to learn the truth.

The Correction

So we’ve had the CONFESSION, great

Now the CORRECTION

Mark 8:31–32 (CSB)

31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. 32 He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

Jesus is very clear

then he began — Matt “from then on he began to point out”

The Son of Man, the Messiah, must (dei = strong language)

suffer many things

be rejected by the leadership

be killed (word here is to bring intentional harm)

And to RISE after 3 days.

They were confounded.

They heard nothing Jesus said, so strong was their expectation of the Messiah.

So much so, that Peter famously rebukes Jesus.

Peter Rebukes Jesus

Mark 8:32 (CSB)

32 He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

Now this is the same word used before by Mark.

Jesus rebukes the disciples / Peter rebukes Jesus.

So Peter begins rebuking Jesus.

Not Peter’s best moment

he takes him aside

But why does he do it?

He is so blinded by his own visions and expectations of the Messiah

that he completely disregards God’s Word

i.e. what Jesus just told him.

Chosen portrayal of Peter

We are Peter

And if we are honest with ourselves,

we do the same thing

We go around rebuking God all the time, don’t we?

We say God you can’t do that

God this isn’t how the world should be

God why don’t you do something

God why don’t you answer me

God why don’t you meet my expectations

You see, we are Peter, all of us.

I’m not saying there aren’t hard things to understand

I’m not saying it’s not ok to be angry, sad, and to cry out to God

But there is a line we can cross, and often do,

as Peter does,

and we begin to demand of God how things should go.

So where in your life, have you rebuked God lately?

why? We think we know better

How has the Lord answered you?

Following God is not about Him conforming to our ways, but rather our ways conforming to His.

Look at how Jesus responds, b/c this is really important

Jesus Rebukes Peter Publicly

Mark 8:33 (CSB)

33 But turning around and looking at his disciples,

he rebuked Peter and said,

“Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”

To the Disciples

Notice, it says “turning around” and “looking at his disciples”

This is emphatic and intentional.

Like telling my girls not to run in the street.

Jesus doesn’t correct him privately, but rather turns to face all the disciples

it sp. says ‘he looked at them’

I imagine him making eye contact with each one in a moment of intense silence

To Peter and Satan

Then he addresses Peter, in a rebuke

Listen to what he says:

Mark 8:33 (CSB)

33 But turning around and looking at his disciples,

he rebuked Peter and said,

“Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”

“Get behind me Satan”

Satan isn’t the one in Charge

Satan isn’t the one who is making the calls

Satan isn’t the one leading the way

Get behind me!

he says — I am the Lord

Satan shows up after this wonderful moment

Satan or Peter?

He’s talking to Peter but talking to Satan

What does this mean?

Is Peter possessed by Satan?

NO

But Satan does what Satan does

he incites, he prompts, he whispers in Peter’s ear

That can’t be true, the messiah won’t die

that would mean an end to your movement

to your position

surely, Jesus has misspoken

now is your chance to be the leader

go and correct him.

And Peter falls for it, hook line and sinker.

Satan incites us and draws on our fleshly desires

about control, power, prestige etc.

That’s why Jesus says

You are thinking only about human concerns, not God’s concerns.

You know what? We all do the same thing.

Satan and demons

whisper in our ears all kinds of lies about God and his ways

they incite our fleshly desires to think only about ourselves rather than God’s purposes and power

He’s probably doing it right now

Satan’s Mission

Satan is always trying to destroy the Work of God

He wants us to focus on human concerns rather than God’s.

He turns us back to ourselves, our fears, insecurities

Satan tries to keep you from God, then he tries to keep you from serving God

especially in the life of Jesus

He’s already shown up in the desert to attempt to thwart Jesus mission

and he shows up again here and now, right after the critical confession of Peter.

This is often how the enemy will work.

You may experience this spiritual high, or new insight or understanding, or new passion

and Satan and demons show up to kill, steal and destroy

that’s what they do.

DRVING IN THIS MORNING

how do we respond to satan?

but you know we can do the same thing Jesus did

“Get out of here Satan”

b/c Jesus has given us that authority (Luke 10:17-20)

And he has to listen.

So if you are bombarded with these kinds of thoughts, accusations, doubts, anxieties

perhaps a quick prayer could help.

Importance of this

Jesus wants us to learn the way of God so that we will share God’s concerns rather than our own concerns.

This is so important that he deliberately stops, turns, looks at the disciples and publicly rebukes Peter.

Following God is not about Him conforming to our ways, but rather our ways conforming to His.

This is for them to see the way of Jesus, because they soon would follow in his path

The Call and the Cost of Discipleship

But Jesus isn’t finished yet.

To the Crowds

Evidently there were crowds near by

We’ve seen the CONFESSION

then the CORRECTION

now instruction on THE CALL AND THE COST

Mark 8:34 (CSB)

34 Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them,

“If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

What does it look like to have our ways conformed to His?

He says four things:

If anyone wants to (desires to) follow after me

that is declare me as Lord of their life

Leader of their life

Here’s what that will look like:

you must deny yourself

you must take up your cross

you must follow me

this is the heart of discipleship

And this is to the crowds, so it is for all people.

Deny yourself

This is really at the heart of following God

This isn’t ‘denying yourself’ like food, or drink or luxuries

It is not the denial of something to the self but the denial of the self itself.

It is to deny one’s own will

The reflexive (form) use implies perhaps to refuse to be guided by one’s own interests, to surrender control of one’s own destiny

The heart, the center of who we are

3. Not a season of life but a way of life

It is to say “no” to self, and “yes” to God

And these aren’t always in conflict

and it is to do it in every aspect of your life

It is “not my will, but thy will”

Not my way, but your way

APP

Every day we must open ourselves up to God’s initiatives and control.

Self-denial takes shape in many ways.

For some, it may mean leaving job and family as the disciples have done.

For the proud, it means renouncing the desire for status and honor.

For the greedy, it means renouncing an appetite for wealth.

The complacent will have to renounce the love of ease.

The fainthearted will have to abandon the craving for security.

The violent will have to repudiate the desire for revenge.

Individuals know best what hinders them from giving their lives over to God.

Entire churches too may need to learn to deny themselves.

Where do we get the power to do this?

We cannot do this on our own

We are absolutely dependent on the Spirit of God to live this way

Part of that denying your self-determination will be the embrace and endurance of suffering

Take up your Cross

So to follow Jesus is to say no to ‘self’ and yes to Him

But it is also, taking up your cross

What does this mean?

we must be ready to endure suffering, hardship and persecution just as Jesus did

This can be in the form of persecution for the gospel itself

it can just be the result of living in a fallen and broken world.

b/c we have an enemy that is constantly attacking us as we try to follow Christ

Following Jesus means enduring suffering with Him

or rather he will endure suffering with you.

2 Timothy 3:12 (CSB)

12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

by the world, the flesh and the devil.

Jesus told his disciples

John 15:18–21 (CSB)

18 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. 20 Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don’t know the one who sent me.

This is persecution YES

but also living in a fallen and broken world

where we are constantly accused and persecuted by the powers of darkness

We must cling to our Cross as Jesus did

The Beautiful thing is , God is with us in the suffering

I will be with you

I have gone before you

he carries our cross with us

Follow Me

Denying the self, enduring suffering

following me

This means obedience his word

this means following his direction in your life

it means becoming like Him

this is what following Jesus results in,

you become more like Him

your heart becomes more like his

your life begins to look a lot more like his.

Why follow Jesus

maybe you say, that sounds terrible

Who would sign up for that?

who wants to sign up for suffering?

Jesus is going to answer you.

He’s going to give you FOUR reasons

It is simply this: there is no other way to true life.

The Path to Gain

The only path to gain, is to give it all up.

Mark 8:35 (CSB)

35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it.

he says “FOR” underline that — that means he is giving us the reason

He says the more you try to save your life

to give it meaning

to live it according to your understanding

to achieve success, status, and wealth

you will lose it — in the end

But if you lose your live, if you give it to ME and for my mission (the gospel)

then you will save it

then you will find life

It is completely opposite of the way of the world

The world says try harder, keep going, keep pushing, you can achieve, you can succeed, you can arrive

Jesus says, give it all up and trust me, and I will give you life.

The Price of your Life

he asks us a question then the emphasize his point.

Mark 8:36–37 (CSB)

36 For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? 37 What can anyone give in exchange for his life?

What if you gained the whole world?

Got everything you wanted

money, wealth, kingdoms, cars, wives, husbands, children, servants, etc.

But lost your life, your soul?

If you achieved great things, but then died, what does it matter?

He’s pointing to the reality that we were not made for this life, but for the next

don’t get rich in this life, get rich in the next

The price of your life, of your soul, is priceless

You are eternal

ironically, we do know the price of your life, it cost Jesus his life.

and what you decide now , has eternal consequences.

which is his third reason

The Pronouncement of Judgment

Mark 8:38 (CSB)

38 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

whoever is ashamed of me and my words

whoever despises me and my words

I will be ashamed of Him

He’s reminding us, that the Messiah will come and judge the whole world

we talk more about that when we get to Mark 15.

but He’s saying that day will come.

no one is getting away with anything

it will cost you your life, or it will cost the life of the son of Jesus.

Where is the power?

How am I going to do this?

Where am I going to get the power to live this way?

to deny my own will

to embrace and endure suffering

to give it all

to not be ashamed.

This is Jesus’ final reason.

The Power of the Kingdom

Mark 9:1 (CSB)

1 Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”

the POWER of the KINGDOM OF GOD

They have been witnessing the power of God in the ministry of Jesus

now they are seeing it as God’s work - spiritual eyes

They will see it come in power and in fullness of the Kingdom of God, when Jesus comes back

But what does it all center all? What does the entirety of Christianity hinge upon?

Where was the power of God supremely manifested?

He’s actually already said it

The disciples missed it

and we often miss it.

Remember what Jesus said

He will rise

Mark 8:31 (CSB)

31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days.

He will rise

that changes everything.

3 days - standard phrase for the time when God intervenes (see Gen. 22:4; 42:17; Ex. 15:22; 2 Kings 20:5; Hos. 6:2; Jonah 2:1).

Jesus lived a perfect life

He will give his life for ours

that is the cost of our life

then He will RISE

all the power of the Kingdom of God is in the Rising of the Son of God.

it is resurrection power

It’s what they couldn’t see

It’s what we often don’t see

Jesus Christ has the power to redeem and resurrect

and only Jesus has that power

We shake our fists and rebuke God

we forget that God hates evil and suffering infinitely more than we do

but he has the power to redeem

to turn evil for good and the saving of many lives

This is the power of resurrection

It’s what will change everything about you

Gifted the life of Christ, the power of Christ

through the Cross and Resurrection

Through the Holy Spirit, which is Christ in US

Closing

So are you ready to follow Jesus?

not becuase you fully understand

but because he died and rose from the dead

you believe in his power

Where does your life need to be conformed to his?

lacking joy and power?

suffering for the sake of the gospel

Where do you need to experience the power of resurrection in your life?

the resurrection has the power to redeem every part of your life

students

young professions/single/married

young families

Those in ministry

Call to Salvation

Following God is not about Him conforming to our ways, but rather our ways conforming to His.

Let’s Pray