The disciples were stunned when Jesus bluntly rebuked Peter. Jesus had asked them who they thought he was. Of course, Peter was the first to answer as he blurted out, “You are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus commended him for his faith, then began teaching them that he would be killed in Jerusalem.
But Peter disliked Jesus’ new message about future events because it didn’t align with his view of who the Messiah should be. So he took Jesus aside and told him that it was a bad plan. The disciples usually laughed nervously when Peter tried to “manage” Jesus and tell him how to run the ministry. But this time was different.
Jesus turned and looked at the disciples and then stared back at Peter and sternly told him, “Get behind me, Satan. You are a stumbling block and do not have in mind the things of God, but of man.” That shocked both Peter and the other disciples. As he turned back and continued to teach, there was a new sense of urgency in Jesus' words.
The “Wrong” Kind of Messiah
Jesus repeated his previous message and explained that he must suffer many things under the Jewish leaders and that he must be killed. Then he said after three days he would rise again. To the disciples expecting him to lead the charge to free Israel from Rome, the idea of dying was unimaginable. No wonder Peter had criticized him.
Then, Jesus said something even more outrageous. He told them they would have to die like him if they wanted to follow him. He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” They were speechless. He was turning their world upside down. This was not what they had signed up for.
For centuries, the nation of Israel had been taught that the Messiah would lead them back to the freedom and prominence they enjoyed under King David. The disciples believed Jesus was the Messiah.
But Jesus knew it was critical for them to believe in him as a different type of Messiah than they expected. They needed to understand that he came to die on the cross to conquer sin, not go to war to conquer the Romans.
Answering Our Call to Discipleship
I don’t know about you, but I often find myself in the disciples’ sandals. I try to “manage” Jesus to be a Messiah who is convenient for me—someone who is non-threatening to my way of life. I try to reformulate Jesus into someone who will bend to my will, rather than ask me to bend to his will. But that’s not who God is, is it?
In this passage from Mark 8:27-38, Jesus tells us the same thing he told the disciples. He told them they had to die to themselves. In order to follow him as his disciple, Jesus said we must do three things: (1) Deny yourself, (2) Pick up your cross, and (3) Follow me. So what does this mean for us today as we seek to follow Jesus?
Deny yourself – Most of us specialize in saying yes to ourselves. We work hard so we can buy what we want. We spend our time doing what we want. But denying yourself means saying NO to things that get in the way of saying YES to what Jesus wants. There is no room for both. We cannot fill up on ourselves and on Jesus at the same time. Saying yes to one always means saying no to the other.
Pick up your cross – Today, a cross is a nice piece of jewelry representing grace and love. But, in Jesus’ time, carrying a cross meant one thing – a gruesome death by crucifixion. The Roman executioners severely beat a condemned person and then forced them to carry the instrument of their own death to their place of execution. Knowing this, Jesus is asking us to die to our own life’s agenda.
Follow me – To follow means to move behind someone else and go in the same direction. As a kid, I would follow my dad across a snowy Indiana cornfield. He would make deep footprints in the snow, and if I wanted to stay up with him, I would have to carefully place my little foot into his deeper footprints. That’s how Jesus is asking us to follow him. One step at a time.
Most of us spend our lives sitting on the fence between living for Jesus and living for ourselves. But, as someone noted, the devil owns the fence. So we have to decide each day who we will follow.
Enjoy Your Journey,
Andy