Well, good morning. It's good to see you all here. We're glad you have joined us this morning on this
Palm Sunday. You know, on that first Palm Sunday that happened, there was a victory parade. Jesus
came in humility on a donkey, but the crowds looked at him and they said, our king has come.
But in their minds, this king had come to overthrow Rome. They were looking for an army,
whether it be a physical army or an army of angels, to overthrow the great oppressor
that they lived under and to establish a new nation state of Israel with its former glory,
its prosperity, its power. They thought that Jesus had come to bring an earthly kingdom
and they misunderstood him deeply.
I wonder, friends, this morning, as we gather, if we are prone to similarly misunderstanding Jesus
in different ways. In our culture today, maybe we misunderstand Jesus as coming to make our lives
easier and better. Jesus is a self-help, a self-advancement program where we connect with
the divine and that brings us a little bit better life than we thought before. Jesus is like an add-on,
a new app in our phone that helps produce a little bit greater spiritual productivity in our lives.
Maybe we think that Jesus has come to give us a manual for self-salvation. That is, if we can be good people,
good enough in the right ways to the right people, that maybe God will accept us because we've met the standard.
If you were a Jew in the first century, you might think, well, if I follow the law, that will be enough.
Certainly, Christians over the centuries have thought that being good moral people and being a part of
attendance at a gathering like this, isn't that enough?
There are lots of ways in which we misunderstand the gospel.
Today, perhaps one of the great challenges is what I'm going to label an over-realized eschatology.
What does that mean? We think that because Jesus has risen from the dead,
he's come here now to fix everything, all of our problems.
This is what the prosperity gospel promises, that Jesus has come to make you healthy, wealthy, and wise
in this life with all of that.
Why is it such a big deal if we misunderstand?
Well, because misunderstanding Jesus can lead to spiritual ruin.
Because when we think that Jesus is promising something that he hasn't promised us,
those false expectations are disappointed,
and that disappointment leads to despair and a crisis of faith.
How can I believe? Because Jesus hasn't come through for me.
How often do we come to Jesus with conditions?
As long as Jesus says, these things for me, my expectations, my standards,
I will believe.
But if not, I don't know anymore.
So the stakes are high in understanding Jesus rightly.
The stakes are high in knowing what he's actually come to do.
And this leads us to our text today.
If you're visiting, we're in a series in the book of Mark.
We'll be looking at Mark chapter 8.
We'll be looking at verses 34 through 38.
In the Pew Bible, it's page 793.
So you can turn there if you'd like to have that.
And if you remember, as you're turning there,
remember that this is, chapter 8 is sort of the high point,
the apex of the book of Mark.
It is the gravitational center where leading up to it, it is, who is this Jesus?
And then from here on, it's Jesus living out what that calling looks like
and calling his disciples to follow him.
And if you were here last week, you'd remember that the context of verse 34 is,
Jesus has come to the disciples and said, what do people think I am?
And Peter said, you are the Christ.
And then Jesus responded and said, you're right.
And then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer and must die and must rise again.
And Peter said, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's not right.
That doesn't match my understanding of why you've come.
And Jesus rebukes him and says, you are thinking of the things of man, not the things of God.
And that leads us to our text this morning.
So Mark 8, we're going to start in verse 34.
We're going to read through verse 38.
The slides will include chapter 9, verse 1.
Some Bibles put it with this.
I actually think there's a good reason to say it goes with the passage afterwards.
And I'm just not going to deal with it.
Come see me afterwards if you want to know what I think it says.
But Mark 8, verse 34.
And he, that is Jesus, called to him the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it.
But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?
For what can a man give in return for his life?
For whoever is ashamed of me and 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.
Let's pray and ask God to help us understand this text.
Lord, we do come before you and we thank you.
We thank you that you have not left us to grope and grasp to understand you,
but that you have revealed yourself.
Lord, you've revealed yourself in the person of Jesus
and you've revealed yourself in your word, the Bible.
Your revelation to us so that we might know you.
And Lord, we pray now that you will help us.
Lord, help us to understand what you are saying to us.
Lord, help our minds to grasp the truths.
Help our hearts to treasure them and to submit to them.
Lord, I pray for your help that I might speak clearly this morning.
We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Friends, the big idea of this passage is very simple.
And that is that Jesus calls us to walk the way of the cross.
We're going to look at this in two sections.
Verse 34 is the call to walk the way of the cross.
And verse 35 through 38 is going to tell us about the shape of the way of the cross.
So that's what we're going to do for those of you who are taking notes.
Each of our points will have three sub points.
It'll break down really nicely.
So, and hopefully we'll get through this and it will help bring clarity to us.
So in verse 34, Jesus calls us to walk in the way of the cross.
Because of Peter's rebuke, Jesus recognizes,
I need to clarify with these guys and not just with his disciples,
but more broadly, he calls the crowd to him and says,
I need to clarify what I have actually come to do.
And more importantly for, in this context, it's what it means to follow me.
Right?
Because this is the subject of what he's talking about throughout this.
What does it mean to actually follow Jesus?
And Jesus says, there are three things.
If anyone would come after me, he must first deny himself.
Now friends, this is a very simple, but very profound and difficult thing to do.
To say, it's not about me anymore.
It's about something else outside of me.
I have to deny that I am the center of the world.
I have to deny that I am the most important thing about me or about my life.
To follow Jesus is to say, my life is no longer about me.
And of course, we know that this is how we enter into faith with Jesus, isn't it?
Right?
Recognizing that when we come to faith, what we're doing is recognizing,
I have nothing to commend myself to God.
And my sin is so great that he is right to bring judgment upon me.
And so I am undone.
I have nothing by which I might cross this gulf between myself and a holy God.
And yet that holy God has come and done something for me.
But I need to recognize that the way to get to that thing, that person, Jesus, who has come for me,
is by denying myself, surrendering my right, and clinging to him instead.
One commentator mentioned, noticed that denying oneself is not denying the things that the self wants,
but it is denying the self itself.
Jesus calls for a deliberate refusal to be guided by self-interest,
for a conscious surrender of control of one's life,
for an intentional renunciation of self-determination.
Nothing in my hands I bring, only to the cross I cling.
To deny oneself is to say, my life is no longer my own.
I have surrendered it to Jesus in faith.
Jesus then says, not only are you to deny yourself, but you to pick up the cross.
Now what does this mean?
Fundamentally it means you need to embrace a path of suffering.
Now, in the first century, what picking up the cross meant was,
for those who were condemned to die by this horrific means of execution,
they would be paraded through the streets,
and they would be compelled to carry the crossbar of their cross,
that then they would be nailed to when they were crucified and lifted up,
and then hung there in public shame and humiliation,
as well as unbelievable physical pain.
Right?
This is what happened with Jesus.
He was compelled to carry the cross.
And Jesus says, we too need to recognize that we are called to walk in his footsteps,
a path of suffering, a path of humiliation,
in the eyes of others.
So Jesus says we're to deny ourselves, we're to pick up the cross,
and then we're to follow him.
And here's what I want you to see.
This is, in some ways, the pattern of our salvation
becomes the pattern of our life.
We follow Jesus who died for us by dying to ourselves
so that we might live for him.
And the life that we now live, we spend,
not for ourselves, but for Jesus and for his glory.
This is the call that Jesus puts forth before us today.
So what does it look like?
Well, in some ways, the whole New Testament,
all of the epistles and letters,
and even much of the gospel teachings
is teaching us about what does it look like to live in God's kingdom,
to live this path that Jesus has laid out for us.
But that would be too much for us today.
Thankfully, Jesus gives us three things
for us to think about very carefully
as we think about what's the shape of this discipleship,
this following Jesus that we're called to do.
The way of the cross looks like three things.
It looks like dying to self-protection
and giving your life away.
It means dying to self-gratification
and living for a greater good.
It means dying to self-identity,
to be identified with Christ by faith.
So we're going to look at those three things
for a few minutes as we think about what's the shape.
Verse 35, the way of the cross
means dying to self-protection
and giving your life away for Christ.
Look with me at the verse and see what he says.
Right?
Verse 35,
For whoever would save his life will lose it.
But whoever loses his life for my sake
and the gospel will save it.
Now look, Jesus is using life
in two different senses here.
Right?
Because at one level he's saying
he's using life in the first one.
Whoever would save his life,
whoever would seek to save or preserve
this earthly life,
which means both your physical existence,
but also all the things that you call your life.
Everything that it makes up.
Your hopes, your dreams,
all those things.
Right?
So he's saying,
if you seek to save that,
you'll never succeed.
You will lose that.
But if you surrender your desire to protect,
to save,
to promote that
and make your life about that,
you will actually gain a different life,
an eternal life that comes from me.
And this eternal life is,
both in the present world
and for eternity,
something of greater value
than you will ever know.
But he says,
you have to die to saving your life
so that you might receive the life
that I have for you.
You can't have both.
You must give up one
to gain the other.
And he's saying,
saving your life is futile.
Now look,
let's be very clear.
Jesus is not advocating self-martyrdom,
let alone suicide.
He's not saying,
go kill yourself
so that you can have the life with Jesus.
Right?
But what he is saying is,
let go.
Let go of your grasping,
of your control,
of your protecting,
of this life.
And again,
friends,
see,
this is the pattern of Jesus.
Jesus had to die
so that you could live.
So now,
he says,
die to yourself,
join yourself to me by faith,
and you will live.
You will live for what?
For me,
and for the gospel's sake.
This is the good news,
right?
Whoever loses his life for my sake,
and for the sake of the gospel,
this is something worth living for.
Worth giving up everything else
to spend your energy and your life.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously said,
when Christ calls a man,
he bids him come and die.
So Jesus calls us to die
to self-protection
and to live for something else.
Self-protection can take many forms.
We might be obsessed
with our physical life and health,
desperately and fiercely,
protecting it,
promoting it,
in a way that denies God's sovereignty
over our physical strength
and weakness.
Maybe we do it
not with our physical life,
but with the life of our hopes
and our dreams,
in our careers,
in our successes,
in our relationships,
our desire for pleasure
or comfort.
At the center,
we seek to preserve the life
that we are making
rather than allowing God
to give us the life
that he wants to give us.
And Jesus calls us
to do something else.
Jesus says,
don't preserve,
but give your life away.
Let the cause of the gospel
be the cause of your life.
The apostle Paul
talks about himself
and his life
as being poured out
like a drink offering,
simply given away
before God
for the sake of other people.
friends,
in this Easter season,
think about it.
Who are the people
that God has put
in your life?
Your family,
your coworkers,
your suite mates,
your friends,
your neighbors.
What would it mean
for you
to love them
the way Jesus
has loved you?
what would it cost you
in your time,
in your convenience,
in your physical belongings,
in your comfort zones,
to love the people
around you?
Pouring out your life
for others
is what Jesus did
for us.
All that I have
and all that I am
is completely
given over to Jesus.
No halfway,
no one foot in,
one foot out.
Either we save our life
or we lose it.
You may be familiar
with the missionary
Jim Elliott
who in the 1950s
was martyred.
He wrote in his life
that he is no fool
who gives
what he cannot keep
to gain
what he cannot lose
and he lived out
that calling
by going to
an unreached tribe
in South America
who were known
to be headhunters
and he died
at their hands.
Not only was his faith
exemplary
but his wife's faith.
She who sat back
at the radio
and heard of his,
heard of her husband's death
and then
after regrouping
went back
to the same people
to love them.
To raise her daughter
as a single parent missionary
so that they,
these people
who had done
unspeakable harm
to her family
would know
the grace
and love of Christ.
Friends,
if Jesus would ask you
to give up something
to follow him,
would you do it?
Would you do it gladly?
Can you think
of that one thing
that your hand
is so grasped to
that you're like
the monkey in the jar
you won't let go of it
to get your hand out?
Jesus says
you must
lose your life
in order to save it.
But he goes on.
He says
the way of the cross
is more
than just thinking
about our life.
Verse 36 and 37
it's the way
of the cross
means dying
to self-gratification
and living
for a greater good
in Jesus.
Jesus uses
these rhetorical,
he turns from life
to our good,
the things
that we value
and esteem.
And he asks
these two rhetorical questions.
What does it profit one
if they gain
the whole world
and they lose their soul?
And because
it's a rhetorical question
we should know
the answer.
The answer is
what does it gain?
Nothing.
We get nothing
if we have
the whole world
all the riches
all the power
all the success
all the accolades
all the comfort.
If we have anything
that we could dream of
and we lose our soul
what value
does it have?
Nothing.
And he asks
a similar question.
What can one give
in return for the soul?
Nothing
because the soul
the part of us
that is meant
to commune
with the eternal God
our creator
forever.
I'm not going to get
into all the anthropology
about soul
and spirit
and body
and how that all
fits together
but Jesus uses this word
and my translation
used life
right
to save your life
here
right
there is nothing.
Now look friends
we need to be honest
with one another.
the world that we live in
has a lot of allure
and it promises
a lot of goodness.
In our physical life
there is sex
and gluttony
and adrenaline highs
and comfort
beyond compare
that we want
and crave
and long for.
In our professional lives
and in our societal lives
we love for status
the praise of others
the pride of position
the satisfaction
of gaining a title.
in our world
of physical means
we love success
the thrill of victory
the pride of achievement
the justification
that our work is worth it
because it's produced
something good
that I can point to
and say
that's what my life
is worth
that's what I have built.
and we have a world
that says
if you're looking
for meaning
look inside yourself
find what's true
about yourself
your authentic reality
whatever it is
it's in you
and in these things
our souls crave something
we believe
that we can have
a good
apart from Jesus
in them
and they look shiny
and attractive
and we think
and look
here's the thing
they give us
something
right
they give us
a short hit
they make us think
in the moment
hey this is great
this is what I want
but like an addict
we find ourselves
constantly disappointed
it's never enough
everything the world promises
it's never gonna satisfy
it's never gonna be
the thing
that your soul
was made for
Jesus says
to follow me
you must forsake
gaining the things
of this world
in order to gain
your soul
so the apostle Paul
in Philippians 3
says I count
everything is lost
because of the surpassing
worth of knowing
Christ Jesus
my Lord
that I may know him
and the power
of his resurrection
may share in his
sufferings
becoming like him
in his death
that by any means
possible
I may attain
the resurrection
from the dead
I found a great quote
Helen Rosevere
is a missionary
I highly respect
her life is amazing
she spent 40 years
doing medical missionaries
in central Africa
she suffered deeply
for the gospel
in some unspeakable ways
she also lived
she also lived a faithful
life of singleness
despite her desires
otherwise
to do so
and yet at the very end
of her time
at the mission
40 years of service
she was sidelined
and excluded
at the very end
of her service
she said
Jesus really
can I have the victory parade
and this is what
Jesus spoke to her heart
you no longer want
Jesus only
but Jesus plus
plus respect
popularity
public opinion
success
and pride
you wanted to go out
with all the trumpets
blaring
from a farewell
that you organized
for yourself
with photographs
and tape recordings
to show
and play at home
just to reveal
what you had achieved
you wanted to feel
needed
and respected
you wanted
the other missionaries
to be worried
about how they'd ever
carry on
after you're gone
you'd like letters
when you go home
to tell how much
they realize
they owe to you
how much
they miss you
all this and more
Jesus plus
no
you can't
have it
either
it must be
Jesus only
or you'll find
you have no Jesus
you'll substitute
Helen Rosevere
instead
I can think
of my friends
two dear friends
who I know
graduates of the
prestigious
Harvard Law School
I think I've spoken
to them
maybe to you
before about them
but they graduated
from one of the
top law schools
in the world
and they had
the world
before them
but living for
the kingdom
for them
living out
these verses
meant
not living
on two salaries
but on one
so that by
careful budgeting
they freed
themselves up
from debt
within
like three
or four years
taking one
of their
extensive salaries
and putting it
entirely towards
debt reduction
why?
so that they
could give
freely to the church
and so that they
would be freed
from the bondage
of that
to follow
whatever God did
and then God
brought them
a family
and one of them
stayed home
and gave up
their career
to care for
their children
the other one
moved from a
prestigious law firm
with all of the
pomp and circumstance
and the salary
to an in-house
corporate law job
so that they could
serve in their church
so that they could
be involved
in the raising
of their family
so that they could
and they've ended
up serving
as elders
and deacons
it's a very
practical
but profound
way
where someone
looked at the
world and said
I don't want
what you want
that's going to
take my soul
away
this is what
Jesus calls us
to
forsaking the
things that the
world offers
so that we might
instead
pursue the life
that Jesus
wants us to
follow
following him
in the way
of the cross
giving up
the things
of the world
so that we
might gain
him
now if the
way of the
cross includes
this dying
to self
preservation
and this dying
to self
gratification
the third thing
Jesus says
is that the
way of the
cross
means dying
to self
identity
and being
identified by
faith in
Jesus
this is what
verse 38
says to us
why do I
talk about
identity here
I don't see
identity in the
text right
Jesus is talking
about being
ashamed
but what Jesus
is talking about
is being publicly
identified
that is our
identity publicly
what other people
know about us
is being a
follower of
Christ
now we've
already talked
about this
the cross was
the most
shameful means
of Roman
persecution
and oppression
and execution
it was not a
symbol used in
jewelry
or used in
pastel pictures
with sheep in
the background
the cross was
something ugly
and scorned
and shamed
it would be like
us carrying around
an electric chair
you know
in our jewelry
or identifying
with one who
said hey you know
that guy who just
died in the electric
chair he's my
hero he's the
one who I follow
I'm about him
and Jesus
that's what it
is would have
been like in
the first century
to say I
identify with a
crucified man
but Jesus
says if you are
ashamed of me
before men
then you have
no part of me
and I will be
ashamed of you
at the end
the cross was
brutal it was
public and it
was meant to
humiliate and
shame those
who were
executed and
when Jesus
calls us to
identify with
him by faith
to follow him
it is to take
that upon
ourselves and be
willing to say
I am not ashamed
of this man that
the world is
ashamed of
how do we
publicly identify
it's a great
Stephen Curtis
Chapman song from
the 90s about
you know not
t-shirts and
bumper stickers and
whatever but
really it's true
right how do we
identify with
Jesus publicly
it's not it's
not with a
hat or shirt
or slogan
but it's with the
substance of who
we are being
presented to
others how do
we present
ourselves to
others what do
you want what do
I want you to
know about me
above all
is that my
identity is
found by being
a follower of
Christ and
look this is a
hard thing in
our world today
right for one
thing our world
presses in our
identity is a
huge thing and
it's up to you
have to figure it
out you have to
make it we have
all these complex
identities all
these different
roles and the
world is saying
make one of those
your primary
identity whatever it
is and some of
them are things
that we inherit or
that we we have
have been born into
some of them are
things that we the
world says you can
choose what your
identity is but
either way they
become our badge of
honor this is what I
want you to know
about me above
everything else and
Jesus comes and
says make your most
fundamental identity
that you know and
follow me and it
will cost you to do
that in our world
today people will
scorn you and sneer
at your foolishness
in the academy they
will dismiss you as
not a serious
thoughtful person
some in our culture
will hate you
because of your
bigoted perspectives
because of your desire
to oppress the freedom
of other people
some of them will
laugh at you
many of them will
ignore you
some will resist you
to not be ashamed
of Jesus
may lead to others
seeking to shame
you
Jesus says this is the
way of the cross
you cannot be ashamed
of me and follow me
you cannot deny
yourself pick up your
cross and follow me
if you're not willing
to be publicly
identified
and if you can't do
that then you have no
part of me you have no
part of the salvation
that I bring and in the
last day when I bring
come and bring all
who are mine to glory
the glory that the
father's given me
when I finally show up
and establish my
kingdom in all of its
fullness which is still
yet to come for us
you will not be on the
inside but you will be
on the outside
and I will say I have
I don't know you
friends are you ashamed
of others knowing that
you follow Jesus
are you ashamed of his
teachings
are you afraid ashamed
of his gospel
Jesus says this is what
we're to expect when we
follow him not a life of
ease not a life of
comfort not a life of
unending and overcoming
victory certainly Jesus
does amazing things for
us but what he calls us
to is to deny ourselves
pick up his cross walk
in a path of suffering
and follow him knowing
that the reward that is
in him and the treasure
that we have in him is
greater than anything we
would seek to preserve or
keep if we hold on to
the things of this world
the pattern of our
salvation becomes the
pattern of our life as
we follow a savior who
loved us so much that he
left heaven and all the
privileges and perks right
he who was equal with
God did not count equality
with God something to be
grasped but humbled
himself took on the form
of a servant became a
human being suffered and
died on the cross for the
salvation of people who
didn't even know he had
come for them this is the
pattern this is the way
that we follow because it
was Jesus way and we know
that he rose from the dead
and we know that one day
because he has risen from
the dead being with him
will mean we will be
forever with him within the
life that he has but let's
look to Jesus let's look to
Jesus and know that this is
what it will mean to follow
him let's pray together
Lord Jesus we come to you
now and we we hear this
word and it is a word of
challenge to us because we
recognize our hearts our
hearts are fickle so often
we love other things more
than we love you so often
we are fearful of this
world and in doing so we
are ashamed of you Lord so
often Lord rather than
trusting you and walking in
faith in the path that you
have set Lord we seek to
determine our own way God I
pray right now by your Holy
Spirit Lord that you would
reveal to us where this may
be true in our own hearts
and lives Lord I pray that as
we see these things in our
hearts that we might surrender
them to you Lord I pray
these things in Jesus name
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