DTEB, “FOLLOW THE LEADER”

Jesus had just asked his disciples about his identity.  “Who do other people say that I am?” (Mark8:27)  After the disciples replied, Jesus asked them another question: “What about you?  Who do you say that I am?” (v. 29)  Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” (v.30)

But immediately, Jesus began to teach his disciples that he, the Messiah, must suffer and die.  (v. 31) 

Naturally, Peter did not like this turn of events.  So, he took Jesus aside and basically said to Jesus, “Never!” (v. 32)  Jesus proceeded to call Peter “Satan,” since Peter was opposing Jesus.  (The word “satan” basically means “adversary.”)

It is a profoundly strange and disturbing account.  If you do not find it strange and disturbing, you probably haven’t taken it very seriously.

And then, as if all this isn’t enough, Jesus calls the whole crowd and all his disciples together in order to generalize his teaching.  This business of suffering and death isn’t just for Jesus.  It isn’t just for Peter and the boys.  It is for us all.

“³⁴And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 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 when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34-38)

R. Alan Cole has some simple but wonderful words concerning Jesus’ words about taking up our cross and following him.

“So the Lord warns all the crowd, not just his professed disciples, that to follow him means to deny all natural inclinations and to ‘shoulder one’s stake’. ‘Stake’ in modern English preserves the association of shameful death better than cross does. Compare 10:39 for the equally solemn words of Jesus to James and John as to the cost of discipleship. The thought is plain to every child playing the game of ‘follow my leader’, in which there is only one rule, that no follower shirks going to any place where the leader has first gone. Ultimately, to the Christian, this following of Jesus becomes the hope of heaven, since our leader has already gone there (Heb. 6:19–20): but first comes the cross. ‘No cross, no crown’ is a pithy piece of theology which must have been ever-present in the minds of the early Christians at Rome and other centres of persecution.”^[1]

But, of course, following Jesus is no child’s game, is it?  Still, there really is only one rule.  Cole is right about that.  The rule is FOLLOW JESUS!

And where does Jesus go?  He goes to the lost, to the least.  He goes to help and not to judge.  Eventually, he goes to the cross.

I don’t like this aspect of Christianity.  I really don’t.  I like feeling good.  I like having my own way.  I like the way of self-affirmation, rather than the way of self-denial.

On the other hand, this self-denial aspect is central to the Christian faith.  And notice this: Ultimately, the goal of self-denial is that we might find ourselves in Christ.  Those who deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus “save their souls.”  I take it that the soul here is another term for our real, essential selves.  When you decide to follow someone, the proper question is not “Are you taking me on a road that is pleasant and easy?”  The question is “Are you taking me somewhere good.”  The destination is the thing.

Human wisdom says, “Get all you can while the gettin’ is good!”  Jesus says the opposite.  “Give up everything.”  Who am I going to choose to believe?

^[1]R. Alan Cole, Mark: An Introduction and Commentary, TNTC 1; 2d, IVP/Accordance electronic ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 211.