Teachings of Jesus (Part 12) Cross Bearing
In this lesson we will see who Jesus is, what He predicts will happen to Him, and what His genuine disciples are to do.
Luke 9:18-26 says “Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”
Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Here we see that Jesus had taken His closest disciples aside for a private time of pray. During that time with them He asked the question: “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
There must have been a lot of rumors going around as to who Jesus was. I can’t imagine Him asking such a question if there wasn’t. He was doing all these wonderful things: miraculously healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, teaching incredible lessons and with authority like people never saw before. They said that some were saying that He must be John the Baptist, others were saying that He must be Elijah or one of the other great prophets of old who came back to life.
But then Jesus wanted to hear from their own lips who they thought He was. And Peter hit the nail on the head by telling Him that they believe that He is the Christ, or God’s Messiah.
Now, in Matthew 16:16-17 we’re told a little more about Peter’s response: “Peter answered ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.’”
As I read this text, I got to wondering: ‘Why would Jesus ask His disciples this question? I mean Jesus must have given serious thought to their answer as well as why their answer would be so important to for these men.
You can’t tell me that Jesus didn’t knows what the people around were saying about Him. AND at this point He probably knew what Peter and the other disciples believe about Him. So why ask the question? Then it occurred to me that He needed for them to come right out and say it. He needed for them to COMMIT to what they believed because everything Jesus came to do hinged on that statement that: “Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God!”
This is the foundation of our faith… and of the church. In fact, that’s what Jesus says to Peter in Matthew 16:18 “…on this rock (the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God) I will build my church…”
So Jesus sets the stage by getting these men to verbalize this truth…
But then Jesus adds another layer or dimension to His teaching.
Right after Peter makes his “good confession” Jesus tells His disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
If these men had ever heard Isaiah 53 which talks about the suffering servant (or the prophecy of the coming Messiah) that would die for our sins (and they probably did hear that reading more than once in a Synagogue readings) they should have connected the dots very quickly, but I’m not sure they did, at least not fully, especially the fact that after He died He would rise again.
And why didn’t He want them to tell anyone else that He was the Messiah? Because I don’t believe He wanted these men to go out just tell anyone this fact just yet. He was in enough hot water with the Jews religious leaders already and He probably knew that if they caught wind of this claim they would have stoned Him to death prematurely and before He was finished with His work for blasphemy.
Because He loves each of us so much and wanted to help us with our sin problem He would take up that wooden cross and die on it to pay the ultimate price for us and our salvation.
And then Jesus moves on to something even more heavy. He lets us know what it will cost them and us, or what it takes to become one of His disciples He says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
I would imagine the disciple got real quiet after hearing this. If you were among them that day, and He told you to deny yourself and take up a cross, it probably would have meant something different than how we understand it.
These guys were familiar with how the Romans forced criminals of the state to take up and drag those terrible wooden crosses to their place of execution. When Jesus told them this I can almost imagine their eye opening wide as they stared at Him. They may have even cringed a bit at what He said. We look at this a bit differently. But in essence He was saying, ‘I am willing to give up my life for your total dedication.’
The first thing He says is that we must deny our self.
‘Oh no,’ some don’t like hearing that we have to start denying our self something else in life. Some think that they already give up so much else in life. They may think or say, ‘I have no time left for myself. Everyone seem to pulling at me and demanding what little time I have to do this, that or the other thing: at work, at home, my kids, my parents. It’s like everyone want a piece of me. I deny myself chocolate cake and ice cream, and BBQ ribs because I’m too fat, nor is it good for my cholesterol, sugar levels or my heart. I don’t go on vacations or buy nice things because I can’t afford them. What else do I have to deny myself.’
But Jesus is not asking you to deny yourself of any particular thing. Rather if you really want to be His disciple you quite literally have to deny or give up YOUR SELF, that is give up YOUR SELF CENTERED WILL and or die to yourself. In other words now that HE IS YOUR LORD you now put HIM and HIS WILL before your own. It’s not about what you want anymore, rather because of your love for HIM and what He has done for you, and because you trust HIM, you can and should say, “Not my will, rather use me and let THY will be done.”
But sad to say some just can’t do that. People want what Jesus is willing to give, but many make excuses as to why they are unable to follow Him and do what He would have us do in our everyday life… but HE is the LORD and we need to obey Him..
Later on in chapter 14 Luke records what Jesus says about counting the cost before we call our self one of His disciple. Starting in verse 25 it says, “25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Here Jesus wants us to understand that nobody, not anything should be more important than your allegiance to HIM. If you allow anything to become more important than HIM or HIS WILL, then He simply says that you cannot be a genuine disciple. Your interest will be divided. Jesus also said that you cannot serve both God and mammon (or things of this world).
Later in Luke 18 He tells the story of someone who really wanted to know how to get to heaven, but when he heard Jesus’ answer it was more than He could handle and became very sad and walked away. Starting in verse 18 it says, “ 18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’
”21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
This teaches me that what Jesus has to offer is not for everyone. That is it is for everyone but not everyone will accept it. For some the price is too high. I don’t believe that Jesus wants us all to go and sell our possessions and give what we get to the poor and then become some kind of monk. Obviously this man had a particular problem. But I do believe that we should not hold anything as more important than Jesus and His will, and that we should even use our life and our possessions to glorify Him when and where we can.
Back in our text in Luke 9 Jesus continues on by saying “24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
His life and the hope of salvation for our life and total dedication.
So how do we do this?
He says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
You deny self, and take up your cross, and follow Him. What cross?
Oh we all have our own crosses that we bear. Some have health issues, some have financial problems, some have family problems, some have emotional problems or untold pressures, some have a terrible job, some don’t have any job at all. Some are surrounded by people who have problems. Some are even burdened with a sin or bad habits.
Fortunately we don’t have to take up a wooden cross like Jesus did. But the crosses some of us bear may seem like such a burden.
Jesus is telling us that it doesn’t matter what kind of burden you are bearing, you need to take it up and follow Him anyway. Whatever your stance in life you have to deny yourself, and accept Him as your Lord and master, as your God and give your full allegiance to Him.
Follow Him where? Wherever His Spirit wants you to go and do what you know is right and what He would want you to do and live a life according to what He says in His written word. Only then will you be HIS genuine disciple.
Let me ask you this. Do you trust God? Do you trust HIM and HIS ability to guide and lead your life in a good way? OR do you think that you can do a better job on your own?
In Matthew 11:28-29 Jesus said, “28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Those words are precious to me. They tell me that Jesus’ way is a better way than mine. I therefore choose Jesus. What about you?
We frequently sing that song PIERCE MY EAR. It is a song that reflects what is said in Exodus 21:1ff where it talks about a slave making a choice not to go free because he loves his master. After that slave declared that that wish before a judge, his master would, “ take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.” I say, ‘Lord pierce my ear!’
I choose Jesus, I hope that you have counted the cost and choose Him as well.
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