Follow The King

A little boy was asked by a Sunday school teacher to draw a picture of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus

in the midst of their flight into Egypt.

They were studying Matthew 2 verse 13,

Matthew 2:13

where the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him to flee with his family

from the murderous clutches of King Herod.

And so this little boy put his best evidence into drawing a picture of an aeroplane.

And when his teacher asked him, what have you done?

He said, well, that's the flight to Egypt.

And he pointed to the middle of the plane and said, can't you see?

There's Joseph, there's Mary, there's the baby Jesus.

And the teacher said, well, who's that?

Pointing at the front of the aeroplane in the cockpit, a little figure that was drawn there.

The little boy glanced at her in a quizzical look, thinking, you're the Sunday school teacher.

How could you be so ignorant?

And he said, really?

That's Pontius the pilot, of course.

Of course.

It's so easy to be familiar with bits of the Christian faith and yet to totally misunderstand

what it's about.

In fact, there are millions of people in this country who have rejected the Christian faith.

They've got little bits of it, but have rejected the Christian faith for what is nothing more

than a pale imitation of the Christian faith.

And so Mark's gospel, as we've been going through in the last number of weeks, is that he does

not want us to be vague about the Christian faith at all.

Above all, he wants us to get Jesus' identity right and his mission right.

And for us to get those things right totally changes our view of this world and purpose and meaning

and everything else.

And so he longs for us to get an accurate picture of who Jesus is and what Jesus came to do.

And so Mark 8 is the pivotal chapter in this gospel.

It is the climax of the first act in which the disciples finally begin to see the true identity of Jesus.

And we see that just before this passage which is in front of us here in the early section of Mark 8.

And from here on in, all events move towards Jerusalem.

The betrayal, the whipping post, and the bloody cross.

And so in this few verses in front of us this morning, Jesus says two things.

He says, firstly, I am.

Peter, you're right.

I am the king.

I'm the king who goes to the cross.

And secondly, he says, if you want to follow me, you've got to come to the cross too.

So firstly, verse 29, Peter answers the big question of the first half of Mark's gospel.

Who is this Jesus?

Jesus.

And Peter declares, you are the Christ.

He's using a word that literally means you are the anointed one.

The anointed one.

The Messiah.

The king to end all kings.

The king who will put everything right.

And when Jesus, sorry, when Peter says that, when he makes that declaration, Jesus accepts it.

Doesn't question Peter at all.

He accepts it.

And then the very next thing that comes out of his mouth, they, Peter, the disciples, find it appalling.

It is shocking.

Take a look at verse 31 with me.

He then began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teacher of the law, and that he must be killed.

And after three days rise again.

He spoke plainly about this.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

He says, the son of man must suffer.

Now, when we read the son of man in Mark's gospel, we automatically think that, well, as opposed to him calling himself the son of God, he's affirming at this point his humanity, not just his divinity.

But what he's doing here in this moment is that Jesus picks up the title of son of man from the passage we just read from Daniel chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, the Old Testament.

Daniel 7:13

There in Daniel 7, the son of man is a divine messianic figure who comes with the angels to put everything right.

And yet what Jesus does here, he picks up that image from Daniel 7 and he adds something.

He says, this son of man must suffer.

And this is the first time in the history of Israel that anyone had ever connected the Messiah, the Christ, with suffering.

There are many prophecies in the Old Testament about the mysterious servant of the Lord who suffers.

But nobody before Jesus has ever connected those prophecies with the hope of the Messiah.

The notion of the Messiah's suffering makes no sense at all to the disciples.

You see, the Messiah was meant to defeat evil and injustice and make everything right in the world.

That's what they were looking forward to for centuries.

So how could the Messiah do all of that by suffering and dying?

But Jesus is emphatic here.

He uses the word must.

He's planning to die.

He's not merely predicting that he will die.

He is planning to die.

This is a voluntary act on his behalf.

He must die.

And so at this point, Peter is offended.

This is the one thing for Jesus to say that, you know, sorry, it's one thing for Jesus to say that he will fight and be defeated.

It's another thing for him to say that the reason I came was to die.

I came to die.

And the moment Jesus says this, verse 32 says that Peter rebukes him.

This is the word that's used elsewhere in the first section of Mark for what Jesus does with the demons.

Peter is condemning Jesus in the strongest possible terms.

So what has got Peter so worked up?

He's just declared Jesus the Messiah.

So what's got him so worked up?

Well, the reality is for Peter, ever since he could crawl, he was told the Messiah would come.

The Messiah would come and defeat evil and injustice and ascend the throne.

And Jesus says that he is the Messiah, the king, to end all kings, but he has come not to live and to rule, but in fact to surrender and die.

Jesus has come not to take power, but to lose it.

He's come not to rule, but to serve.

And that is how he is going to defeat evil and put everything right.

Jesus says he must suffer, not that he would suffer.

And the word must is so essential in these verses that it's used twice.

The son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,

and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

And so what that means is in those sentences, the word must controls the whole sentence.

It controls the whole sentence in such a way that everything that's listed there is an absolute necessity.

Jesus must suffer.

Jesus must be rejected by the authorities.

Jesus must be killed.

Jesus must be resurrected.

And all of those musts have to happen for people to be saved and for the world to be renewed.

So let me just look at a couple of them very briefly.

There's a personal necessity for Jesus' death.

That is, we need Jesus to die.

That is, that's the personal necessity of it.

We all know the difference between false and true love or fake and authentic love.

That's a reality for everyone.

In false love, our aim is to use another person to fulfill our sense of happiness.

That's what happens with false love.

That is, our love at that point is conditional.

It is only given when the other person is affirming us and meeting our needs.

The moment they stop affirming us and meeting our needs, that's when our false love turns into more of an aggression towards them,

which operates in most marriages and relationships.

False love, therefore, will never allow itself to be vulnerable.

You always have to hold something back in case you need to cut your losses and run.

And the aim of true love is, in fact, to spend yourself and use yourself for the happiness of the other

because your joy is wrapped up in their joy.

That's true love.

And this love, true love, is unconditional.

You give it whether your needs are being met or not.

And it's radically vulnerable.

You spend everything.

You hold nothing back.

You give it all away.

And the problem is that there's not a single person on the face of this earth

who's actually fully capable of giving true love.

Not a single individual.

We desperately need it.

Every single one of us wants it and needs it.

But none of us are capable of giving it.

That just screws everything up.

Not that we can't give any kind of true love,

but nobody is fully capable of giving true love.

All of our love towards other people is somewhat fake and flawed.

So what are we going to do?

We need to be loved like we need oxygen or water.

We cannot live without love.

And unfortunately, the result is a kind of mercenary nature to our love.

We invest our love where we get good return of personal affirmation,

where we get love back.

Therefore, our love is always conditional and it's non-vulnerable.

And obviously, there are some people who are more able to love than others,

but nobody can give anyone else, nobody can give anyone else,

the kind or the amount of love that they are starving for.

We are all the same, really, groping for true love

and incapable of giving it.

What every one of us needs is for someone to love us

who doesn't need us to love them.

We need someone to love us

who doesn't need us at all, in fact.

Someone who loves us radically, unconditionally, vulnerably.

And that person is Jesus.

We've just celebrated, remembered this last weekend at Easter.

You might remember an earlier message in this series,

and I'll forgive you if you don't,

where I talked about God being three persons in one.

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

And I mentioned that the very essence of God,

before anything was made,

the very essence of God,

is self-giving, mutual love relationship.

God existed in unconditional love,

for everlasting to everlasting.

Within himself, God has forever had all the love,

all the fulfillment, and all the joy

that he could possibly want.

And so Jesus doesn't need us

in order to extract more love for himself.

He is already filled up.

He lacks nothing at all.

And the only way we can get true love

is from someone who's already

entirely filled up with love.

Let me read to you one person's testimony

on the difference Jesus' love makes to their life now.

She wrote,

A major issue in my life has been people-pleasing.

I needed approval.

To be liked, admired, accepted.

But for the first time,

I was able to see how important it was

that I identified with Jesus.

His love towards me

has enabled me to set up

emotional boundaries with people

that I never could have before.

This has enabled me

to love my friends and my family

for who they are

and not seek more from them.

Because I find whatever is lacking

in me

in Jesus.

It's been a huge relief

to finally feel free enough

to love people

and know that in Jesus

I am safe and protected.

You see,

the security of Jesus' love

enables her

to need less

and to love more.

True love

actually creates

more true love.

It's self-perpetuating.

It's a self-perpetuating motion.

True love

actually creates

more true love.

It makes more of itself

as it goes along

from one person

to the next person

to the next person.

That's what true love does.

And so Jesus must die.

He must love us

by giving himself for us.

For God so loved the world

that he gave his only son.

He must die

because without it

this world

has got nothing

to break

the destructive cycle

of manipulative

conditional

non-vulnerable

love

where we

seek to extract it

from others.

But there's also

a legal necessity

for Jesus' death.

Jesus must also die

because it's not just

a personal necessity

and a relational necessity

it's a legal necessity

for his death.

When someone

does wrong to you

by trying to extract

love from you

for instance

what happens

in that moment

is a debt

against that person

has accumulated.

It's established.

A debt's established.

And it could be

an economic debt

for instance

if someone came

and took my iPad

and you know

ran away with it

you would owe

well not technically me

you would owe

St. Paul's Chatswood

approximately

I don't know

what these things are worth

seven, eight, nine hundred dollars

I've got no idea

whatever they're worth

and there's two options

in that moment.

I would either say

with the permission

of the wardens

that will be

nine hundred dollars

please

or

I say

I forgive you

don't worry about it

there's only two options

either

give me the money

or

I forgive you

now in the first case

you pay the debt

you hand over the money

in the second case

I pay the debt

or we collectively

pay the debt

you see

the value

of the iPad

doesn't just

disappear

it doesn't just go

it still exists

and the value

of the iPad

doesn't disappear

either

I have to pay

for a new one

or

I have to pay

for a new one

by not buying

a new one

and going back

to paper and pen

either way

I have to pay

for something

it's either

go

and if I

if I just say

forgive you

I've still got

a debt

that needs

to be paid

so I have to go

and either

buy another iPad

or I have to

insert to

paper and pen

either way

there's still a debt

that has to be paid

the debt

has to be

absorbed

in some way

and this

happens at

every level

of our

interpersonal

relationships

and society

if someone

robs us

of an opportunity

or of our

happiness

or of our

reputation

or of something

else

it creates

a sense

of relational

debt

justice

has been

violated

and a debt

has been

accrued

and there are

only two choices

in that moment

you can make

them pay

their debt

by destroying

their opportunities

by ruining

their reputation

by stealing

something of

their happiness

you can hope

that they suffer

potentially even

pray that they

suffer

maybe ensure

that they do

suffer

there's a

personal toll

to this

when you

making them

pay off

their personal

debt to you

by suffering

what happens

is

you become

like them

that's where

it doesn't win

that's where

it doesn't work

the moment

you

reciprocate

like for like

you become

like them

you become

harder

you become

colder

and

evil

wins

and the

only alternative

is to forgive

but that's

really hard

it is

agony

to

refrain

from

vengeance

and to

forgive

instead

it is

agony

because

instead

of

extracting

payment

for the

debt

you're

choosing

to

absorb

the

debt

you're

absorbing

the

cost

you're

not

trying

to get

your

reputation

back

by tearing

down

their

reputation

true

forgiveness

always

requires

suffering

there is

no sense

of forgiveness

without

suffering

debt

never just

vanishes

either

you pay

either you

pay

or they

pay

it doesn't

just vanish

but here's the

irony

only if you

pay the

price of

forgiveness

only if you

choose to

absorb

the debt

only if you

choose to

go the path

of suffering

is there

any chance

of wrong

being put

right

it's the

only way

it's the

only way

of anything

being resolved

only when

we have

refrained

from vengeance

and paid

the cost

of forgiveness

in our

hearts

will we

ever get

a perpetrator

to listen

to us

in a way

that they

will see

their error

and hopefully

for the

relationship

to be

restored

and even

if they

won't

listen

and don't

listen

the forgiveness

in our

heart

means

that the

cycle

of further

reprisals

is finally

broken

and so

it

should come

as no

surprise

whatsoever

that God

would say

the only

way I can

forgive the

sins of

the human

race

is to

suffer

either

you have

to pay

the debt

or I

have to

pay the

debt

either

way

it's

suffering

your

suffering

or mine

sin

always

requires

a penalty

to be

paid

guilt

and shame

cannot be

dealt

with

unless

someone

pays

and the

only way

God

can

pardon

us

and forgive

us

and not

judge

us

is to

go to

the cross

in our

place

and to

pay the

debt

for us

to absorb

it

himself

for us

his love

is truly

unconditional

and so

Jesus says

here

I

must

suffer

he's

saying

that he

is the

king

the king

to end

all kings

but

not like

any other

king

you've

ever

imagined

this is

the only

king

who rules

who rules

with mercy

and unconditional

love

now he's

the king

who must

die

but he

doesn't

stop there

verse 34

he keeps

reading

he keeps

speaking

and we

read from

verse 34

then he

called

the crowd

to him

along

with his

disciples

and said

whoever

wants to

be my

disciple

must

deny

themselves

take up

their cross

and follow

me

whoever

wants to

save

their life

will lose

it

but

whoever

wants to

whoever

loses

their life

for me

and for

the gospel

will save

it

what good

is it

for someone

to gain

the whole

world

and yet

forfeit

their soul

or what

can anyone

give in

exchange

for their

soul

and so

what Jesus

is saying

here

is

you know

guys

I'm not

just a

king on

a cross

but he

says that

if you

want to

follow me

the king

you too

must go

to the

cross

what does

it mean

to lose

our life

of the

gospel

in order

to save

it

the word

translated

life

verse 35

there's a

word

that's

translated

life

it's a

word

that

literally

means

our

identity

our

personality

our

selfhood

our

sense

of

self

it's

the

things

if you

like

that

make

you

distinctly

you

so

Jesus

isn't

saying

that you

need

to lose

yourself

of being

you

Jesus

is not

saying

that

you

don't

need

to

lose

your

sense

of

being

you

that's

the

teaching

of some

eastern

philosophy

and if

he

meant

that

then

he

would

have

said

you

must

lose

yourself

in order

to lose

yourself

that's

not what

he says

what he's

saying

is

that you

don't

build

your

identity

on

gaining

things

in this

world

he says

that in

verse 36

what good

is it

for someone

to gain

the whole

world

and yet

forfeit

their

soul

every

single

culture

whatever

culture

you come

back

come

from

every

single

culture

points

to

certain

things

and

says

if

you

gain

those

things

if

you

acquire

those

things

or

if

you

achieve

those

things

then

you

will

know

that

you

are

really

valuable

you're

really

someone

that

your

identity

is

attached

to

those

cultural

markers

if

you

like

so

traditional

cultures

would

say

that you

have

no

sense

of

self

as

an

individual

unless

you

gain

the

respect

and

the

legacy

of

family

and

children

individualistic

cultures

are

different

we

say

you're

a

nobody

unless

you've

got a

fulfilling

career

that

brings

you

lots

of

money

reputation

and

status

individual

status

is

what

matters

now

either

culture

ultimately

says

the same

thing

they're

saying

that

your

identity

of

who

you

are

is

performance

based

is

achievement

based

and

Jesus

says

no

no

they're

both

wrong

he

says

if

you

gain

the

whole

world

you

can

gain

the

whole

world

and

it

won't

be

enough

you

can

be

the

most

powerful

famous

person

in the

world

you

can

come

from

the

best

lineage

and

everyone

knows

it

but

it

won't

be

enough

to

fill

you

up

no

matter

how

many

of

these

things

you

gain

it's

never

going

to

be

enough

to

make

sure

you

know

who

you

are

and

so

if

you

build

your

identity

on

the

fact

that

someone

loves

you

or

that

you've

got

a

good

name

or

a

good

career

what

happens

when

those

things

are

gone

what

happens

when

they

go

your

sense

of

self

vanishes

that's

what

happens

so

Jesus

did

not

come

to

try

and

convince

us

to

shift

from

one

performance

based

identity

to

another

performance

based

identity

he

wants

us

to

go

in

an

entirely

different

way

he

wants

us

to

lose

the

old

self

the

old

identity

and base

our

sense

of

worth

and

value

and

self

on

him

and

the

gospel

that

we

are

much

loved

children

of

the

father

did

you

notice

verse

35

forever

wants

to

save

their

life

will

lose

it

but

whoever

loses

their

life

for

me

and

for

the

gospel

will

save

it

he's

quite

specific

there

in

that

last

sentence

the

application

we

cannot

just

go

oh

okay

so

what

I

need

to

do

now

is

I

need

to

build

my

life

on

God

so

what

I

need

is

a bit

of

religion

in

here

I

need

a bit

of

extra

stuff

a bit

of

religion

and

that's

just

way

too

general

he

calls

us

to

lose

our

life

for

the

gospel

Jesus

went

to the

cross

and on

the

cross

he

lost

his

identity

so

to

speak

the

father

turns

his

face

away

so

that

we

can

have

one

so

that

we

can

be

called

home

into

the

father's

house

and

once

we

see

the

son

of

God

loving

us

like

that

we

begin

to get

a

strength

and

assurance

and

identity

that

sets

us

free

to break

the cycle

of evil

perpetuating

evil

and

so

Peter

here

is

furious

with

Jesus

when

he

hears

Jesus

is

going

to

suffer

he's

furious

because

this

is

not

part

of

Peter's

agenda

this

is

not

the

Messiah

that

he

was

expecting

at

all

this

is

not

what

he

wanted

this

is

not

why

I've

come

to

follow

you

Jesus

Peter's

agenda

led

from

strength

to

strength

and

it

didn't

include

suffering

and

if

we

relate

to

Jesus

in

exactly

the

same

way

we

have

our

agenda

we

have

our

goals

we

have

our

vision

for

our

lives

and

we

think

it's

great

if

we

get

also

on

top

of

that

we

get

Jesus

on

our

side

if

we

have

our

end

of

what

we

expect

and

what

we

want

to

achieve

in

life

and

we

just

add

Jesus

to

that

add

God

to

it

in

a

religious

sense

then

we

are

using

him

but

if

Jesus

is the

king

to

end

all

kings

then

he

is

never

never

a

means

for us

to

get

to

our

end

king

and

he

go

to

with a, you know, I'll obey you, Jesus, and follow you, Jesus, F.

We're actually not seeing him as the king to end all kings.

We're not seeing him for what Peter saw him was in that moment as the Messiah.

We need to see this king as the king on the cross.

And if he was simply a king on a throne,

it's quite possible that we would obey him because we have to obey him.

If we just see him as a king on a throne,

at that point he becomes the divine ogre and we just have to obey him.

And that's called legalism.

External physical constraints of my life, but not a heart that worships God.

He is the king who went to the cross for us,

and therefore we can submit to him out of love and trust.

He is good and he is merciful.

And instead of negotiating, we just simply say,

Lord, whatever you ask, I will do.

And whatever you send, I will accept.

Whatever you ask, I will do.

And whatever you send, I will accept.

If he has utterly given himself to us,

how can we not give ourselves utterly to him?

Taking up our cross means dying to self-determination.

It means dying to self-control over our lives,

dying to using him for our own agenda

so that he might meet our needs.

So in closing, I've got a quote here from C.S. Lewis

from his book, Mere Christianity.

In fact, these are the very last words of his book, Mere Christianity.

His final conclusion of what it means to follow this king.

Lewis writes,

Let's pray.

As the music team come up,

we are going to sing in such a way,

sing a prayer of committal and confession,

in fact,

as we seek to surrender all to Christ.

Gracious Father,

we thank you for your word

and your word is hard.

And yet, Lord,

it is life-shaping.

The paradox of,

it's just astounding to surrender our life

and yet to gain it,

to give it,

and yet to win.

Lord, how is it possible

that the ones who are the losers

are the ones who win forever?

Turn our values on their head.

Help us to see with clarity

the cultural assumptions that we work with

that we just assume are just normal.

Help us to see that you have come

and you have not called us

just to refine a little bit

of our way of life,

but to totally overturn it.

Father, help us to see

that you are not just a king on a throne,

but that you're the king on the throne

that went via the cross,

that you love us,

that you gave everything for us,

and help us to give everything to you.

Amen.