The Way of the Cross

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.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

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,

Isaiah 8 · chapter mention

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.

Mark 8:34

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.

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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