Gospel-Centered Living: Gaining through Losing - Mark 8:32b-9:1

Gospel-Centered Living: Gaining through Losing

Mark 8:32b-9:1

Introduction: Most humans, it seems by nature, have an instinct for self-preservation. Like the story of a New Yorker who was driving through Texas and…

…collided with a truck carrying a horse. A few months later he tried to collect damages for his injuries. "How can you now claim to have all these injuries?" asked the insurance company's lawyer. "According to the police report, at the time you said you were not hurt." "Look," replied the New Yorker. "I was lying on the road in a lot of pain, and I heard someone say the horse had a broken leg. The next thing I know this Texas Ranger pulls out his gun and shoots the horse. Then he turns to me and asks, 'Are you okay?'"

Just fine officer! I don’t think that’s the way it happened, but point taken!  In this passage Jesus makes some paradoxical statements. I’m the messiah, but I am going to suffer and be killed. If you want to follow me, you need to be willing to be condemned by the world. If you want to experience TRUE Life, you need to be willing, if necessary, to lose everything! That sounds like a great recruitment plan!

       Jesus has been training the disciples, leading them deeper in their understanding, laying a foundation for their illumination after the resurrection when He would open their minds to understand the Scriptures (Lk 24:44,45). By the way, that pattern should encourage us that we should never grow complacent in our faith, satisfied to rest on our superficial understanding of the Gospel. We are called to radical discipleship. Peter makes a key, correct declaration in answer to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” In response to that declaration, Jesus begins to plainly teach the disciples what the Messiah had come to do.  The question is posed: In view of the Cross, what does it mean to follow Him?

Context (31-32a): After Peter confesses Jesus as the messiah, the Lord immediately tells the disciples not to tell anyone… and then He begins to teach them plainly God’s plan as it was about to unfold…

³¹ And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.  ³² And he said this plainly.

Jesus began to plainly teach His disciples about his coming passion, death, and resurrection. It is one thing to recognize who He is, but they still needed to grow in their understanding of what He came to do. They were not alone by the way. Contemporary Judaism had largely lost the biblical idea of a suffering Messiah. As He teaches about His suffering, He also cautions his hearers to count the cost of following Him. That brings us to…

The Maine* Idea: We must love Jesus more than life, knowing that in Him alone can we have true life.

I. Trust: A Follower of Jesus must believe God, and embrace His way as revealed in the Gospel (32b-33).

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.  ³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." ³⁴And he 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. 

       Peter had just made his clear statement, recognizing that Jesus is the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah. For Peter, and perhaps for all of the disciples, this may have been the high point of their faith journey up until this point in the story. But his response to Jesus’ clarifying teaching about what HAD to happen, the sovereign plan of God, makes it painfully clear that His understanding of who Jesus is still fell short. “Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him…”  In other words, “You are the messiah Jesus! There is no way you are going to suffer and die, I won’t stand for it!” Jesus’ response? “Get behind me Satan!”

       That severe rebuke no doubt shook Peter to his core. From the mountain top, when he declared that Jesus is messiah, to the deepest hole in ground, “Get behind me Satan!” Just as Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, inviting Him to avoid the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Suffering, Peter dared to rebuke the Lord himself, he could not fathom a suffering, dying, Messiah. Mark only gives a summary statement about the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. We get the details of the three specific temptations from Luke and Matthew.  Remember the Tempter in Matthew 4:8-9,

 ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  ⁹ And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."

From Luke’s Gospel we know that when the devil had finished all his temptations He left him until an opportune time (Luke 4:13). The devil had tried to tempt Jesus to avoid the Cross: “I’ll make you king of the world right now—just admit that you are not God, I am!” Peter likewise wanted Jesus to avoid the Cross! The Lord knew that it was necessary. Peter, having recognized and confessed that Jesus is the promised Messiah, could not fathom the Way of the Cross. It did not seem reasonable, it was not something he was ready to accept. Basically, though he had just confessed Jesus as Messiah, He was not ready to believe Jesus, to trust Him, to take Him at His word, at least not when the teaching got this difficult!  He did not yet understand that God’s ways are not our ways, and that His way is always best. His way is the only way. We must love Jesus more than life, knowing that in Him alone can we have true life. So we must TRUST Him, and secondly we must…

II. Obey: A Follower of Jesus must walk in the Master’s steps, choosing obedience over honor, acceptance, comfort, and security (34).

“…let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow Me…”

       Self-denial is a concept that is not popular in hardly any context, unless it is a means to an end. Someone might give up sweets to get their weight to a healthier level—denying themselves something they enjoy for their own long-term greater good. We are currently in the period of Lent which is followed by some traditions. It started this year on February 14^th, and will continue to Good Friday. Typically, during this period people in those traditions will give up something: eating sweets, watching TV, logging onto Facebook…  They do this as a reminder of Christ being tempted in the wilderness, and in the hope is that their “self-denial” will lead them into a time of reflection and preparation for the celebration of Good Friday and Easter. The irony we saw during our time in Brazil was that for most Brazilians, before lent starts, they have Carnival, an uncontrolled hedonistic celebration that seemingly aims to sin as much as possible before Lent begins and they need to repent! 

       Jesus here calls the crowd together with His disciples and He gives a shocking statement about what it means to follow Him: “…let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me…” For listeners in Roman controlled Palestine in the first century, there was no doubt what Jesus was saying. The Cross was not a piece of jewelry or a wall hanging. It was a humiliating, tortuous, means of execution. It meant death. Prisoners were required to carry the cross-beam to their own execution. They were then stripped, fastened to the cross member, and lifted up, suspended off the ground. Each breath would be difficult and painful. Typically, the prisoners would die of asphyxiation.  It was a symbol of opposition by the authorities, of shame as they hung there naked and condemned, of suffering, as it was a slow, torturous punishment. And of death, as that was the inevitable result. It is the exact opposite of what we would naturally long for: not opposition, we want approval, not shame, we want honor, not suffering, we want comfort, not death, we want security! 

       We were all shocked to hear that there was an armed deputy on duty at the school in Florida where the shooting happened, but rather than moving toward the threat and potentially saving lives (albeit at the risk of his own) he chose to take up a position outside and wait for backup to arrive.  This example is heart-breaking because he was armed, and unarmed children and teachers were killed during the four minutes he chose not to engage. We know that every day, men and women put on the uniform knowing that if something happens they will be asked to move toward the threat, whatever it might be, seeking to save others, and they do it.  If you take a job like that, you need to count the cost. We need to be thankful for those who would put themselves at risk to keep us safe every day.

       Jesus was telling the crowd they needed to count the cost if they wanted to follow Him. It seems like a contradiction, but it is true that salvation costs us nothing, because the price was paid for us—that is grace. On the other-hand discipleship costs us everything—we are not our own, we have been bought with a price. There is the famous story of the 19^th century missionary

…James Calvert [who] went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying, “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.” To that, Calvert replied, “We died before we came here.”

They knew what the cost might be, but they were compelled to follow Jesus, and take up the call. Some of those early missionaries packed their belongings in a coffin, knowing it was likely that they would not return. Many didn’t. The apostle Paul made a similar statement in His letter to the Galatians,

“…I have been crucified with Christ.  ²⁰ It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me…” (Gal 2:20).

Taking up your cross to follow Jesus means choosing Him over the acceptance, honor, comfort, and security that we can find in world. We must love Jesus more than life, knowing that in Him alone can we have true life. So we must TRUST Him, we must OBEY Him, and thirdly, we must…

III. Love: A Follower of Jesus will choose to love Jesus more than life in this fallen world (35-38).

³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.  ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?  ³⁷ For what can a man give in return for his soul?  ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed…

       V.35 presents a paradoxical statement, that it seems to me is a play on words. The term translated “life” by the ESV in v.35, and “soul” in verse 36 and 37 [yuch] can either mean “life” or “soul” depending on the context. An earlier version of the ESV (2001) translated “life” all four times in this context. This translation better reflects the idea that the Lord is talking about more than our physical life in this fallen world. Jesus made a similar statement in John 12:24-26 when He said,

²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  ²⁵ Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

I think that is the point in Mark as well: Life, true life, comes not through self-preservation, or maintaining our comfort and security. It comes from loving God more than we love life in this fallen world, and pursuing intimacy with Him above acceptance, honor, comfort, and security that the world would offer. We must love Jesus more than life, knowing that in Him alone can we have true life. So, we’ll trust Him, we’ll choose to obey Him, we’ll love Him more than we love the world, and we’ll be motivated by a sure…

IV. Hope: A Follower of Jesus has hope in the sure promise of His return (8:38c-9:1). When will our victory be realized?

…when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."  ^{Mark 9:1}And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."

       I wanted to include at least a mention of this point because it gives some perspective to the teaching in this passage. It invites us to consider the bigger picture and to remember that we were created for eternity—and that God has a plan, a good plan, that by His grace includes us. All of human history up to the time of Christ was pointing to the coming of the promised Rescuer, the Messiah who would come to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Or, as someone said, “He came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay.” That happened when God showed his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8; I John 4:9). Since the Cross / Resurrection / Ascension, all of history has been moving toward the promise of His return. Jesus is coming again. That is a promise. He will establish His rule, and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

      It is maybe a little strange, that if we believe God is real and that eternity is at stake, that we can get so comfortable here and now. What do we really “love”? John said this in his first letter,

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  ¹⁶ For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions- is not from the Father but is from the world.  ¹⁷ And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever… (I Jn 2:1­5-17).

What are our priorities? Choose Jesus, and choose True Life! I like the story told by preacher and evangelist D.L. Moody…

…about a Christian woman who was always bright, cheerful, and optimistic, even though she was confined to her room because of illness. She lived in an attic apartment on the fifth floor of an old, rundown building. A friend decided to visit her one day and brought along another woman -- a person of great wealth. Since there was no elevator, the two ladies began the long climb upward. When they reached the second floor, the well-to-do woman commented, "What a dark and filthy place!" Her friend replied, "It's better higher up." When they arrived at the third landing, the remark was made, "Things look even worse here." Again the reply, "It's better higher up." The two women finally reached the attic level, where they found the bedridden saint of God. A smile on her face radiated the joy that filled her heart. Although the room was clean and flowers were on the window sill, the wealthy visitor could not get over the stark surroundings in which this woman lived. She blurted out, "It must be very difficult for you to be here like this!" Without a moment's hesitation the shut-in responded, "It's better higher up." She was not looking at temporal things. With the eye of faith fixed on the eternal, she had found the secret of true satisfaction and contentment.

What is God saying to me in this passage? We must love Jesus more than life, knowing that in Him alone can we have true life.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? It is relatively easy to talk “theory” in terms of loving Jesus more than life. In much of the world dominated by Islam it is a very stark choice to be a Christ follower. Are we willing to die for our faith in Christ? For believers in Syria who had swords put to their throats (or the throats of their children) they had to decide. Do we love Jesus more than life? Do we really believe that the suffering of this present age is not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us (Rom 8:18)?

       Mark is writing, it seems, to Christians who are experiencing major “push back” from the world. Nero is on the throne in Rome. The believers throughout the Roman world knew too well what the Cross meant. This is not the health and wealth gospel that is preached on some television programs and in other venues throughout the world. It isn’t the feel-good, “easy believe-ism” that is so popular in our country.  Mark’s Gospel is inviting us to consider the big picture, to think about what God has done for us in Christ, and then to believe Him, trust Him, obey Him, follow Him.  Eternity is at stake! We are here on assignment. Let’s take a little riskimHm  , and tell our neighbors about Him!   AMEN.