Carry Your Cross

Such a joy to worship with you this morning.

We're going to continue on in our series in Matthew.

So if you would open up your Bibles.

We're going to finish off chapter 16, starting from verse 21.

!

If there's anybody, if not, let's turn our Bibles to Matthew 16, starting from verse 21.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Father, we thank you for your Word.

It is a lamp onto our feet.

It is the guidebook of how to live this life.

The definition of what a truly good life is.

And so Father, we want to sit underneath your teaching, Lord Jesus.

We want to be transformed by your Word today.

Let not these words come into one ear and out the other, but bring real life transformation today.

By the power of your Spirit.

Empower me today to preach as an act of worship.

To preach, not fearing man, but fearing you alone.

And that you would truly be glorified.

Not just to pray that as a rote thing, but be glorified today.

Be glorified in our hearts.

Receive the glory that you are due, Lord Jesus.

It's in your name we pray.

Amen.

If you are able, please rise for the reading of God's Word.

Amen.

Starting from verse 21.

From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem

and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes,

and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying,

Far be it from you, Lord.

This shall never happen to you.

But he turned and said to Peter,

Get behind me, Satan.

You are a hindrance to me.

For you are not setting your mind on the things of God,

but on the things of man.

Then Jesus told his disciples,

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 will find it.

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world

and forfeits his soul?

Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels

in the glory of his Father,

and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Truly I say to you,

there are some standing here who will not taste death

until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Please be seated.

What is the good life?

How would you describe a life well lived?

Maybe it looks like a life of comfort,

living in your spacious dream home,

eating a gourmet dinner,

sharing a fancy cheese board,

splitting a bottle of wine with your loved one,

and capturing the night with a bike ride

in sunny, beautiful weather to the local ice cream shop.

Maybe it looks like new adventures every week

as you travel around the world,

meeting new people,

eating exotic foods,

witnessing the greatest sights that this world has to offer.

Maybe it looks like the big corner office

with the amazing view of the city on the 50th floor.

You made Forbes 30 under 30.

You're a CEO entrepreneur.

You were the youngest self-made centi-billionaire in the world.

Of course, all those things are not sinful in and of themselves.

But are those the things,

and the pursuit of them,

that define a good life?

The world, by its example and its teaching,

would wholeheartedly say yes.

Life is not worth living unless you have those things.

But to Jesus,

it's not comfort,

success,

riches,

power,

or leadership

that define the good life.

But it's suffering,

lowliness,

weakness,

self-denial,

and carrying your cross.

To follow after him,

that's what defines a life well lived.

Because ultimately,

he knows that the path of suffering

is the path to glory.

That's the main point of my sermon today.

He invites us to follow after him.

As he first models,

the good life by carrying the cross himself.

And then he mandates his disciples

to carry their own crosses.

In the passage right before,

Jesus just finished encouraging

and blessing his disciples.

In particular, Peter.

After Peter confesses

Jesus' true identity as the Christ,

he sets Peter apart

as the leader of the twelve

and subsequently

as the leader of his church.

And to that congregation

of those who confess Jesus

as the Christ,

Jesus grants

the keys of the kingdom.

Mayors grant keys

to the city,

to local heroes

and esteemed public figures

as an act of honor

to esteem them.

But that's just one city.

And that key

really doesn't do anything.

It doesn't give them any power.

But the power of the keys

that Jesus grants to his church

has the power

to determine

who is in

and who is out

of the kingdom of heaven.

Not on the municipal,

not on the national,

but on the global scale.

Because of this,

the disciples,

they must be feeling

pretty good about themselves.

Feeling like the Messiah's

wrecking crew,

that nothing could stop them,

not even the gates of Hades,

not even Satan himself.

Like an inflating balloon,

you can almost see

their chests puff up

line by line,

moment by moment.

Ffft.

Ffft.

Ffft.

That is until

Jesus

takes a pin

and pops

all of their hopes,

all their expectations.

And he does it

in an unprecedented way.

For the first time

in Matthew's gospel,

Jesus begins to show them

that he must go

to Jerusalem,

suffer many things,

be killed

at the hands

of the elders,

chief priests,

and scribes,

and be raised

on the third day.

I imagine this

not to just be

this one line,

mic drop sentence,

this one moment

that the gospel writers

have summarized it

like here.

Matthew writes

that Jesus begins

to show them.

Knowing the shock

of this statement,

I hear Jesus

slowly,

carefully,

explain to them

why he must go

and do this,

that he is bound

to do this,

that there is no

other possible future

for him.

Perhaps he pointed

to the Old Testament

prophecies that

prophesied about his death,

or maybe he explained

that this was the only

way for sinners

like you and me

to come to everlasting life.

But as a loving,

patient teacher,

not content

to keep his disciples

in the dark,

he takes the time

to ready his disciples

of what's to come.

The ear-to-ear grin

pulled across

the disciples' faces,

right?

Slowly starts

to lose

that tension.

With every line,

they end up

more and more confused,

maybe even angry

and frustrated.

Jesus,

you're supposed

to be our leader.

We're supposed

to go to Jerusalem

and crown you

as the rightful king

as you deliver us

from our oppressors.

But,

you're going to

die there.

And die not

to our Roman enemies,

but

the hands of our own

people,

the Jewish leaders?

So,

foolishly answering

a question that,

frankly,

no one asked him.

Already the type

to speak before

he thinks,

but now emboldened

as a newly

appointed leader,

Peter takes it

upon himself

to be the

spokesperson

for the group.

In their honor-shame

culture,

it's important

to save face,

right?

You do your best

to protect

the honor

and reputation

of others.

So,

Peter,

probably thinking

that he's doing

Jesus a favor,

he takes him aside,

puts his arm

around his shoulder,

and he,

I imagine him

just whispering

these concerns

to him.

Far be it

from you,

Lord,

this shall never

happen to you.

This is not

a private question.

It's not a

confused statement.

This is a,

what in the world

are you talking

about,

Jesus?

Stop speaking

such nonsense.

It's not even

undesirable,

but it is

unthinkable

for Peter

to see

his Messiah,

his leader,

to go and be killed.

Though still

with the honorific

Lord,

Peter rebukes

Jesus,

which,

wow,

amazing.

Which,

I have to say,

right,

Peter has some

guts

guts

to rebuke

Jesus.

It takes

some guts

to rebuke

the man

who he himself

rebuked the wind

and the waves

in Matthew 8,

who rebuked

a demon

to cast it out

in Matthew 17.

Peter rebuked

that man.

And it only

seems like

it's because

Peter has some

selective hearing,

right?

He completely

skips over

Jesus'

incredible

prediction

of his

resurrection.

Jesus didn't

say that he

would die

and stay

dead,

but be

raised on

the third

day.

More than

conquering the

Romans,

Jesus is

predicting that

he is about

to conquer

death.

That should

floor Peter,

but he seems

to miss it

altogether.

But if

Peter had

paid attention

to the glory

that is coming

after just

his death,

then maybe

he could have

avoided what

was coming

to him.

I see

Jesus

listening to

Peter with

his body

turned to

the side,

head leaning

in, a

posture of

active listening,

not one of

speaking.

He lets

Peter finish,

then turns

to him,

looks him

straight in the

eye, and

addresses him.

And he

doesn't hold

back.

get behind

me, Satan.

Growing up,

do you

remember that

feeling that

you got when

just one line

from your

mom, your

dad, your

teacher, whoever

it is, just

made your heart

drop, right?

Oh, like,

you're in it

now.

You done did

it now.

Now, your

eyes widen, your

pulse gets

faster, your

hands get

sweaty.

Peter must be

feeling all of

that.

And Peter is

certainly not the

main character of

this passage, but

again, I have to

say, you have to

appreciate that as

the leader of this

church, who is

bestowed with the

keys of the

kingdom, his first

act is to rebuke

Jesus.

Like, how wrong

can you get?

This is almost

comical.

Peter must have

the Guinness

world record of

the fastest

spiritual rise and

fall in all of

history.

And you know

what?

I'm so encouraged

by his example.

So many of us

tend to think that

there are tier lists

in Christendom.

You have the

average Joe,

normal churchgoer,

the lowly Navy

sailor, base

rank.

Then on the next

level up, you

have the pastor.

He's a special

Christian.

He's like the

Navy SEAL.

And then if you

really want to be

overachieving, you

move overseas and

become a missionary.

You become a

super-duper elite

Christian.

They're SEAL

Team 6.

But the

capital-A

apostles, like

Peter, Jesus'

direct disciples,

these are like the

five-star fleet

admiral.

These are the

top dog, the

head honchos.

But when the

gospels consistently

portray even

these capital-A

apostles with

egg on their

face, it reminds

me, as many have

said, there are

no great men of

God, but only men

of a great God.

So we are not to

put our hope in

fallible men, but

only in the God-man,

Jesus Christ.

And every time I

feel like I mess up

the communion or

feel like I botched

the sermon, I want

to come back to this

passage and remember

that, hey, at least I

never tried to rebuke

Jesus like this.

But I digress.

The word Satan, it's

possible that it could

be translated generally

as enemy or adversary

because that's what the

word Satan ultimately

means.

But I think Jesus is

intentionally alluding to

an earlier event in

Matthew 4.

It's been over a year

since we preached on

that passage, so just

by way of reminder,

there Satan tempts

Jesus three times to

get into sin and

ultimately to abandon

the cross.

But every time Jesus

is holding on to

promises and truths

of God through

scripture overcomes

that temptation to

fulfill all

righteousness.

In that chapter, in

verse 10, Jesus

remarks, be gone

Satan.

In the original

Greek, Jesus actually

speaks the same exact

words to Peter here,

but to Peter, he

includes two pivotal

words that change the

meaning from be gone

to get behind me.

You might be wondering,

is Jesus harsh and

punitive?

The type of person that

you need to walk around

him with all care,

with sensitivity, walk

on eggshells because you

might just get the

stick.

It is a blunt

rebuke.

But at the end of the

day, his command to

Satan is one of

complete rejection.

His command to Peter is

a stark but merciful

command to get back

into his rightful place.

Not as a leader, but as

a follower.

And how often are we

guilty of the same thing,

of getting ahead of

Jesus?

How often do we try to

dictate what Jesus can

and cannot do?

For a lot of us, we're

all just starring in our

own movies.

We are the director, the

writer, the producer, and

lead actor.

And everyone else, our

friends, our family, our

spouses, maybe even Jesus

himself, they're all just

supporting characters.

They have one job.

They are supposed to

know and say their

lines as they're

written.

That's it.

And when they mess up,

when they botch it, they

get so frustrated.

But the core of the

Christian experience is

that Jesus is the one

directing the show.

That the camera is not

centered on us, but on

Jesus Christ himself.

Don't forget your

place, brothers and

sisters, saying that my

life is not supposed to,

it's not going how it's

supposed to go.

I'm supposed to have

this and that by now.

I'm supposed to be at

this life stage by now.

No, Jesus knows the

story that he is writing

for you, brothers and

sisters.

And I promise, according

to his great love for you,

it will be a glorious

story.

A glorious story with an

ending that's far better

than you could ever

imagine, that you could

write for yourself.

All you need to do is

follow him.

Don't get ahead of him.

Because if you get ahead,

you might be like Peter,

who's supposed to be the

rock on which the church

is built, but in this

grand reversal, he's

called a hindrance.

And that word hindrance is

actually probably better

translated as stumbling

block, as the ESV footnote

shows.

That illuminates, I think,

the intentional wordplay

that Jesus is making, that

the foundational rock is

now become the stumbling

block.

Not part of our common

vernacular, but the term

stumbling block was used

back then to describe

anything that would lead

you to fall away from

faithful obedience, to

act contrary to what you

knew was right.

Right?

Offering a bribe, bringing

a recovering alcoholic to

a bar, that's all like

putting a stumbling block

in front of others.

And we know in the garden

of Gethsemane, the cross,

it daunts Jesus.

He knows full well that he

must drink the cup of wrath

down to the dregs, not to

leave a single drop to save

sinners like you and me.

But nonetheless, as an honest

reflection of his heart, he

prays that the cup might pass

from him.

Because Jesus is truly God,

he could not sin, but yet as

truly human, he experienced

real temptation.

If there was any temptation

with the greatest alluring

power for Jesus, it was this,

it was the pull to avoid the

cross.

To try to obey and glorify God

without the suffering of the

cross.

In this way, Peter, who was

supposed to be one of Jesus'

closest disciples, one of his

closest friends, sounds less

like an ally, less like a friend,

and more like an enemy as he

echoes Satan's temptation to

avoid, to abandon the cross.

And then Jesus highlights the

ultimate reason that Peter has

gotten it all wrong, verse 23.

It's because he set his mind not

on the things of God, but on the

things of man.

On earth, in our economy,

might makes right.

Peter is thinking that Jesus

would be the mighty Messiah to

call down the legions of armies,

of angels, to restore the

geopolitical nation of Israel

back to its former glory.

With Jesus, he's thinking that we

have the muscle, we have the

power, and we're going to get

things done.

Are we tempted to, to think

like that, to follow that

pattern?

In college, I told my parents

that I wanted to devote my life

to full-time ministry, to use my

life for things of eternal

consequence.

In response, in a thinly veiled

attempt to try to get me to live

their version of the good life,

they replied that I need

earthly status.

I need earthly influence to

maximize my impact for the

kingdom.

If I wanted to do God's work, I

needed to progress in my career.

I needed to stack my resume.

I needed people to listen to me.

That's the only way to get

things done.

And I love my parents, but

don't you see that this is just

another example of setting your

mind on the things of man, not

on the things of God.

God needs not our fancy degrees.

He does not need our sophisticated

subject matter expertise, or an

earthly platform to get his way

done.

John Piper probably, or opened

probably his most famous sermon

life.

I need to know a

life.

You don't have to know a lot of

things for your life to make a

lasting impact, a lasting difference

in this world.

You don't have to be smart, or good

looking, or come from a good family.

You just have to know a few basic,

glorious, majestic, unchanging,

eternal things, and be gripped by

them, and be willing to lay down

your life for them.

Jesus knows that it is not by

gaining earthly power and influence

that lets us transform the world.

It is not by human strength, but by

our weakness.

Then his strength is made perfect.

That's precisely why Jesus then moves

the focus off himself as the model of

the cross to now a mandate of the

cross.

Moving on from speaking directly to

Peter, now to all of his disciples,

Jesus explains what it means to get

behind him and to follow him.

And it requires two things, to deny

yourself and to carry your cross.

What does it mean to deny yourself?

To deny is a verb that's typically used

to signify in scripture, a complete

dissociation from another, a severance of

any connection and relationship.

Only this time Jesus uses it to call us to

be completely dissociated with ourselves.

As an example, again, harping on Peter, he

thrice denies knowing Jesus right before his

crucifixion.

Why does he do this?

It's because he's ultimately loyal, not

to Jesus, but to himself.

He knows that to be associated with Jesus

could be in his own head.

And so he's just looking out for number

one.

The opposite of self-denial is self-preservation.

To be clear, self-preservation can be a good

thing, right?

I think seatbelts, annual physicals, saved

emergency funds, they can all be true good

blessings from God.

But when your selfish desires become at odds

with God's desires, what wins out?

When obedience becomes costly, who are you

loyal to?

When your coworkers ask you what you did over

the weekend, do you eagerly share about your

Sunday service, about the members meeting that

you attended?

Or do you waffle?

You say, uh, you know, the usual.

When you know that God is calling you to rest from your

work, do you deny yourself and you trust in him, not rely

on your own power, your own strength?

Or do you keep convincing yourself that you have no limit?

When you know that you're living in sin and feel the pull

of the Holy Spirit prompting you to confess that to others,

do you share honestly, risking your reputation?

Or do you keep silent to save face, to protect yourself?

When another brother lives in unrepentant sin, do you go and

lovingly, patiently confront that brother?

To win him back.

Or you don't want to cause any problems.

You don't want to ruffle any feathers.

So you just let it slide.

Every single one of these moments asks the same question.

Will I deny myself or will I preserve myself?

Will I identify with Christ and follow him or will I protect

my own interests?

Then Jesus raises the stakes of what it means to follow him.

That we must carry our crosses.

Remember that the cross is not the tame domesticated symbol that it is today.

We slap it on our cars.

We wear it around our necks.

Plaster it on our buildings.

Even in our common vernacular, it's not even taken seriously.

We hear things like, Starbucks ran out of oat milk, so I needed to get almond.

My cross to carry, I guess.

And that's how we speak of the cross today.

But we can't forget that the cross was a symbol of the most excruciating death that one could die.

Just imagine for a moment being stripped naked, flogged, whipped so that your back is shredded,

nailed to a wooden beam, and lifted up to asphyxiate to death.

And not just the bloody cruelty of the cross, but the stigma of the social disgrace made the Jews shudder.

Only the worst, the worst of all, the worst of the worst, they were the ones that deserved the cross.

The Jews considered it the ultimate shame if a family member, someone that they knew closely, was crucified.

And remember from last week's passage, Jesus and his disciples, they are in Caesarea Philippi,

which was a hub of Roman power.

A town literally named after Caesar, the Roman king.

The Jews felt the authority of the Romans very palpably in that town.

The threat of the Roman cross was very real to the disciples, especially in the place that they're in.

And that's the context Jesus is commanding his disciples to carry their cross.

And of course, Jesus is not literally commanding every single one of his disciples to die, to literally be crucified.

But as commentator R.T. Francis said, discipleship is a life of at least potential martyrdom.

Discipleship is a life of at least potential martyrdom.

The disciples knew what Jesus was asking them to do, to be willing to pay the ultimate price.

And this command is not just for the spiritual overachievers and pastors and missionaries.

But it is a requirement for any person who calls themselves a Christian.

Any person who has been baptized, who partakes of the Lord's Supper.

Whether or not you are martyred, following Jesus costs you your life.

Verse 25, 26, make that clear.

It says, for anyone who wants to save his life will lose it.

But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

You see, Jesus' double usage of the word life here, right?

He speaks of two kinds of life.

The physical, temporal life on earth.

And then the spiritual, eternal, everlasting life, either in heaven or hell.

Counter to literally everything that the world stands for, teaches.

He's teaching that we need to lose our lives to find them.

This world often teaches us that we need to go on these journeys of self-discovery.

To find our authentic selves.

By ordering your life around what feels good to you, what feels most true to you,

then will you be able to make choices that are in alignment with who you truly are?

That's the kind of language that the world teaches.

Only this goes against everything that Jesus is saying here.

We need not discover but deny ourselves.

We don't need to ultimately learn everything about ourselves but lose ourselves for the sake of Christ.

And focus on those key words.

For my sake.

Unbelievers, they can make sacrifices all the time by God's common grace.

Performing acts of charity, giving to the poor, serving needy communities.

But for whose sake?

Self-denial alone accomplishes nothing of everlasting value if it is separated from Jesus.

For we know that without faith, it is impossible to please him.

And so the famous saying from C.T. Studd goes,

Only one life will soon be passed.

Only what is done for Christ will last.

So if you do lose your life,

when others pass you at work because you privatize church,

when others pass you financially because you faithfully give to the needy,

when others pass you, you won't regret it.

For there is no greater tragedy in this life than to meet your maker on that last day,

thinking that you lived the good life,

that you've invested in the right things,

only to find out that everything you thought to be true was a lie.

Many climb the corporate ladder today

only to find that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.

Many run with all zeal in this rat race

only to find that they run straight into the pits of hell.

This is the greatest tragedy of our time.

It's happening all around us.

And may we never grow numb to it.

For many will find that with all the comfort,

success, riches, and power that the whole world has to offer,

they're poor.

In Luke 12, Jesus tells this parable.

The land of a rich man produced plentifully.

And he thought to himself,

what shall I do?

For I have nowhere to store my crops.

And he said, I will do this.

I will tear down my barns and build larger ones.

And there I will store all my grain and my goods.

And I will say to my soul,

soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.

Relax, eat, drink, be merry.

But God said to him, fool,

this night your soul is required of you.

And the things that you have prepared,

whose will they be?

So is the one who lays up treasure for himself

and is not rich toward God.

Oh, if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ,

how I plead with you

that you might not be like this poor, poor man.

How I plead with you

that you might not be deceived

in what truly the good life is.

For the good life is not defined

by riches and comfort,

but by following Jesus

with the cross on your back.

For the path of suffering

is the path to glory.

You see, the economy of the kingdom

is completely backward,

completely upside down

from the way this world works.

In God's economy,

the way down is actually the way up.

That to die is actually to gain.

That it is more blessed to give

than to receive.

This passage began with Jesus predicting

his death,

disgrace,

shame,

but it ends

in glory.

For verse 27

says that in his future coming,

Jesus will come

with his angels

in the glory of his father.

The whole world

will see the radiance of the sun

and they will see

something that they have never seen before

and they will tremble at his sight.

And the disciples

don't even have to wait

until Jesus' second coming.

For verse 28

clearly says

that some standing here

will behold Jesus

in his kingdom,

coming in his kingdom

during their lifetime.

This is a highly debated verse

and it's really hard,

really difficult to understand

if you believe

that it refers

to Jesus' second coming.

Because we know

that Jesus hasn't yet come

and the disciples are long dead.

So I think the key

to this verse

is to see that

verse 27

and verse 28

they're speaking about

related

but altogether

separate events.

For verse 28

Jesus is not coming

to earth

but he's coming

into his kingdom

into heaven.

The verse is referring

to Daniel 7

which I think I threw up

on the screen

where the son of man

comes to the ancient

of days

and is seated

in heaven

and he receives

dominion and glory

and a kingdom

that all peoples,

nations,

and languages

should serve him.

That's fulfilled

by Jesus

when he after his death

and resurrection

ascends to the Father

to receive his kingdom.

For it's after

Jesus' death

and resurrection

right before his ascension

that he says

in Matthew 8

right before

the Great Commission

all authority

in heaven

and on earth

is given to me.

And there some

of the disciples

not including Judas

will behold his coming

into his kingdom

as he ascends

to heaven.

It's also probable

that this verse

has an even more

immediate secondary

reference to

as I think Jesus

is referring to

his transfiguration

which comes immediately

in the next passage.

In fact,

all three of the

synoptic gospels

Matthew,

Mark,

Luke,

they have the event

of the transfiguration

immediately after

this statement.

Even Luke

who has often

a wildly different

order of events.

And I think

that's intentional.

And we'll speak

more about this

next week

but there the

inner circle,

only some

of the disciples,

they witness

Jesus' transfiguration

into awesome splendor.

See,

the transfiguration

is like a sneak peek,

a preview of some sorts,

the curtain rolled back

just a little

into the full

resurrected glory

of the son

that he will receive

when he ascends

to his kingdom.

The point being,

death and disgrace

are coming soon,

sure.

But make no mistake

about it,

incredible,

uncontainable glory

is soon coming

right after.

the path of suffering

is the path

to glory.

And when he returns

in glory,

he will rightly judge

the living

and the dead

to repay

every man,

every woman

for what they have done

in this life.

He will see

if there are those

who lived

the truly good life.

And all of us

will have to give

an account

for our works.

So the question

of the hour,

have you lived

a good enough life?

Knowing Jesus'

definition

of what a good life is,

to die to yourself,

to live for God,

to sacrifice

your time,

money,

body,

maybe even

your own life,

have you lived

the good life?

The undeniable truth

is that

none of us have.

In fact,

we can't.

Left to ourselves,

every single one of us

knows the

countless ways

that we have not

denied

but defended

ourselves.

We have not

died to

but indulged

in sin.

We have not

been devoted

to Christ

but have

denounced him.

Apart from Christ,

we have not

lived a good life.

And we will

have nothing

to show for

when Christ

returns.

Like Peter,

we feel the shame

of watching Jesus

carry his cross

to Calvary alone

when we should

have been there

following him.

When Jesus

collapses

from exhaustion,

it should have

been us

to catch

the cross

but embarrassingly

some random

stranger is there.

We should have

been crucified

next to Christ

but instead

we hear our

mocking voice

yell,

crucify him,

crucify him.

But Jesus

Christ,

knowing

full well

our sin,

our shortcomings

in the greatest

expression

of his love,

laid down

his life

for his

friends

on the cross.

Even when

he was the

only one

who truly

lived a good

life,

he died

as if he

was the worst

of criminals.

And it was

the greatest

act of

injustice

in all of

human history.

But Jesus

willingly took

the injustice.

He took it

upon himself

so that he

could satisfy

God's justice

on behalf

of sinners.

By his

death,

we are now

washed clean

of all our

sin,

all our

selflessness,

all our

betrayals,

and we are

now united

to him

by faith

eternally,

interseparably.

It is that

union we

share with

Christ that

now enables

us to say,

just like

Paul said,

Galatians 2.20,

I have

been crucified

with Christ.

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.

Those who

have so

often abandoned

our crosses

to save our

own skin

can legitimately

say with

full truth,

I have

been crucified

already.

I have not

abandoned my

Lord, but

I have

followed him,

I have

died with

him.

And you

see Galatians

2.20,

it explains

the inward

spiritual reality

of our

death, our

resurrection

with Christ.

And if

that's true

of you,

by faith,

your inward

spiritual death

will manifest

itself, will

show itself

by your

outward daily

cross that

you take

up.

And so

friends, I

want you to

feel the

weight of

the cross,

yes, but

I don't want

you to be

crushed by

it.

The Christian

life is all

demanding, yes,

but it is not

impossible.

Not only

because you

are in

Christ, you

have already

lived the

good life in

and through

him, but

now by his

grace you

are empowered,

you have

power from

the Holy

Spirit to

live the

good life

yourselves.

And being

a disciple

of Christ

is radical,

it is

extreme, but

it doesn't

mean that it

will always

look radical

or extreme.

Consider

Matthew 25,

a passage

that's closely

connected to

what Jesus

is saying

here.

There, Christ

returns with

his angels to

judge the

living and the

dead, language

strikingly similar

to this text.

And how does

he recognize

his flock,

his sheep,

his people?

It's not by

grand displays

of holiness,

taking vows

of poverty,

moving overseas

for missions,

or becoming

martyrs, but

it's by

simple,

faithful,

daily obedience.

A meal

given to a

stranger,

a cup of

water that's

offered in

his name,

warm clothing

provided to

the needy.

These are

not miraculous

acts.

They are

ordinary

acts done

by faith

in Jesus

Christ.

And I

see that

kind of

faithfulness

in you,

week in,

week out,

regularly

glorifying the

Lord.

Some of you

may follow

Christ by

entering

full-time

ministry,

going overseas,

maybe even

being martyred

for your

faith.

Some of you

may follow

Christ by

leading a

quiet,

orderly

life,

faithful

obedience.

But all

of you

will die

to yourself

and live

for Christ.

Whether

through

extraordinary

sacrifice,

or ordinary

faithfulness,

and probably

a little bit

of both,

by your

union with

him,

you are

empowered to

follow Christ

by denying

yourself,

taking up

your cross,

staying loyal

to him,

even when it

costs you.

And it

will cost you,

brothers and

sisters,

it will cost you

something this

very week.

And so as you

faithfully follow

Christ and bear

your cross,

even when it

costs you,

remember that

there is a

crown of glory

awaiting for you,

that the path

of suffering is

the path to

glory,

and that the

God of all

grace who

called you to

his eternal

glory in Christ

after you have

suffered for a

little while,

will himself

restore you and

make you strong,

firm,

and steadfast.

Brothers and

sisters,

we follow him,

denying ourselves,

carrying our

crosses to live

onto eternal

glory.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Heavenly Father,

we pray,

though the cost

of discipleship

is great,

we know that,

Lord Jesus,

it is the

greatest privilege

of our life

to follow you.

Empower us

by your spirit

to have great

faith,

to

jump onto

the water

when it feels

scary,

to have the

faith to know

that you will

empower us

to walk on

water,

and to die,

to lose

ourselves,

to fight

the impulse,

to try to

save ourselves,

to try to

hoard and

grab everything

that we can,

but to let

go and to

trust you.

and know

that when

we lose,

we win.

And when

we're passed

up,

you don't

forget us.

And that

when we are

faithful to you,

even in the

midst of suffering,

we will be

glorified with

you,

and we look

forward to

that,

Lord Jesus.

It's in your

name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.