You or Jesus?
Mark: The Gospel of Jesus, Part 5 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 39:44
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· 68 viewsAs we examine our lives, we are left with a question: is it going to be about me, or is it going to be about Jesus?
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Introduction
Introduction
Go ahead and open your Bibles to
Last week, we saw that the disciples were finally starting to understand who Jesus was.
They recognized that Jesus is the Messiah, he’s the one God sent to establish his kingdom over the world.
As we will see, though, they still didn’t understand what that would look like.
Jesus is redefining for them what the Messiah is supposed to be, and as he does so, he gives us some of the most challenging statements in the New Testament on what it means to be a Christian.
I have really struggled with how to present this text, because there are no words that can convince you of the weight of his call here.
With that in mind, would you pray with me?
I am sure by now, you have noticed the objects up on stage with me.
If you are a regular here, you know that this cross is up here most of the time, although it is moved up a little closer this morning.
What about this, though? Why a mirror?
As I wrestled through the message for this morning, I wanted to do something that would look a little different, perhaps to give you something that would help this particular message stick in your mind.
Throughout our walk through Mark, we have been attempting to see what the Bible really teaches us about Jesus.
We have been trying to pull away our society’s confusion about Christianity and get back to a clear idea of who he is and what he did and what it means to follow him.
Today, we see one of the clearest places the Bible’s definition of a disciple, or a follower of Jesus, a Christian, differs from what our society teaches.
We can narrow this down this morning by one phrase: You have a choice: you or Jesus.
You have a choice: you or Jesus.
You have a choice: you or Jesus.
When it comes down to who is in charge, where your life is headed, and where you find your identity, you are either going to find those things in yourself or you are going to find them in Jesus.
I hope it’s obvious that we want you to find your identity in Christ, but we’ll see that more as we dive in to the text.
Let’s read the text this morning...
31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. 32 He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”
34 Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. 36 For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? 37 What can anyone give in exchange for his life? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
1 Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”
We’re going to divide our message into two parts this morning, and they line up with our choice. You can either focus on you, represented by this mirror, or you can focus on Jesus, represented by this cross.
1) Focus on You.
1) Focus on You.
What does it look like to choose you?
Well, Peter gives us a great example. Look back at verses 31-33.
Well, Peter gives us a great example. Look back at
31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. 32 He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”
Now that they believe Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is having to show them what it really means.
As we have said throughout our study, the Jews were anticipating a special person to come from God, throw off the Roman oppressors, destroy all the wicked people, and set up an earthly kingdom.
In his first coming, though, Jesus wasn’t coming to do that. In fact, as he starts explaining to the disciples, he is coming to die.
Instead of winning over the religious leaders or taking over for them, he was going to be put to death, although he would rise from the dead on the third day.
We know the end of the story, that he actually did all this, so it isn’t shocking to us. For the disciples, this would have been unbelievable!
There had been other men who claimed to be the Messiah, and all of them died, but none of them came back from the dead. If Jesus died, they thought that would be the end of him, just like everyone else.
Peter, as the spokesman for the group, decides that it is time to intervene, so he begins to rebuke Jesus, calling him out for how wrong he is.
I imagine he said things like, “You’re going to be the king; you can’t die! This isn’t how it works, Jesus. You need to get your head on straight.” Knowing Peter, he probably assured Jesus that he would do whatever it took to make sure he didn’t.
How did Jesus respond? By commanding Peter to get out of his sight and calling him Satan, the very enemy of God.
This isn’t how it works, Jesus.
Peter was trying to do the very thing Satan had tried to do when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness: he was trying to get him to avoid the cross.
Jesus’ next words are a powerful rebuke for us all: “You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”
Is that true of you?
Peter thought he knew how it was all supposed to happen. In reality, he was thinking about life from his perspective and completely ignoring God’s.
Peter was focused on himself, not on Jesus. He was trusting his understanding, not God’s.
What does that look like? How can we know if we are focused on human concerns instead of God’s?
The easiest way to sum it up is in one word: me.
Let me point you to some passages where we see a difference between our way of looking at life and God’s:
In , the prophet Samuel is trying to figure out which of Jesse’s sons he is supposed to anoint as king. He assumes it is the strong, handsome, oldest son, and God rebukes him: (Outward appearance vs heart)
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”
In , James rebukes the church for giving preference to richer people and neglecting the poor. Just before that, he reminds us that...
James 1:
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
True religion isn’t giving honor to the wealthy, it is in looking after the poor. (Showing partiality vs. impartial)
Later in , he contrasts worldly wisdom, the way we look at life, with godly wisdom, showing that our wisdom is selfish and God’s is pure. (Selfish vs pure motives)
In , we see that God doesn’t view time the same way we do, and he works when he knows is best. (Late vs. Perfect Timing)
In , we hear that our sin nature fights against God, leading to all kinds of sin, where living a life controlled by the Spirit of God causes us to live out love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
In , we hear that our sin nature fights against God, leading to all kinds of sin, where living a life controlled by the Spirit of God causes us to live out love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Jesus tells us in that most people spend their lives worrying about what they will eat or wear, but God provides all those things, so we need to focus on his kingdom first and the rest will fall into place. (Food & Clothes vs Kingdom)
Finally, humanly speaking, it is usually the smartest, fastest, strongest, biggest men and women who make it to the highest positions of leadership. In , though, Jesus tells us that the most successful people in his kingdom are the ones who are regarded as the least by the world. (Climb the ladder vs. serve the most)
Human Concerns Vs. God’s:
Outward appearance vs. heart ()
Showing partiality vs. impartial ()
Selfish motives vs. Pure motives ()
God is late vs. God works at the perfect time ()
Sin & anger vs. Love, joy, peace… ()
Food & clothes vs. God’s kingdom and righteousness ()
Climb the ladder vs. Serve the most ()
This isn’t an exhaustive list, because pretty much the entire Bible is devoted to showing how far we have fallen from who God is and who he designed us to be.
Hopefully, this has helped you to see yourself.
Look at the two lists. Which one best describes you?
Peter clearly falls into the first list. He didn’t see who Jesus really was, he wanted to be a part of the power and prestige that would come with the kingdom. He wouldn’t allow God to work on his timetable, and it led him to sinfully rebuke Jesus.
If you are operating in that human list, then you are focusing on human concerns, not God’s.
Human Concerns Vs. God’s:
Outward appearance vs. heart ()
Showing partiality vs. impartial ()
Selfish motives vs. Pure motives ()
God is late vs. God works at the perfect time ()
Sin & anger vs. Love, joy, peace… ()
Food & clothes vs. God’s kingdom and righteousness ()
Climb the ladder vs. Serve the most ()
If you are operating in that human list, then you are focusing on human concerns, not God’s.
So, how do we go from one to the other?
Jesus pulled the crowd into the discussion to tell them how.
Let’s look at it.
2) Focus on Jesus.
2) Focus on Jesus.
Go back and reread
34 Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. 36 For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? 37 What can anyone give in exchange for his life? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
1 Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”
These are hard words. If you want to be a Christian, if you claim to follow Jesus, you need to be sure you have settled this in your heart.
First, he addresses what we have already mentioned. If we are going to be his followers, we have to put our self aside.
That doesn’t mean we go live as a monk on a mountain somewhere. It means we surrender everything we are and everything we have to him.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
When what I want or how I think I should act contradicts what God wants, I have to deny my self-will and live life his way. Here’s how one commentator put it:
The New American Commentary: Mark 4. The Cost of Discipleship (8:34–9:1)
To deny oneself is not to do without something or even many things. It is not asceticism, not self-rejection or self-hatred, nor is it even the disowning of particular sins. It is to renounce the self as the dominant element in life. It is to replace the self with God-in-Christ as the object of affections. It is to place the divine will before self-will.
The New American Commentary: Mark 4. The Cost of Discipleship (8:34–9:1)
To deny oneself is not to do without something or even many things. It is not asceticism, not self-rejection or self-hatred, nor is it even the disowning of particular sins. It is to renounce the self as the dominant element in life. It is to replace the self with God-in-Christ as the object of affections. It is to place the divine will before self-will.
Denying self means I need to put God’s concerns above my own. If he says I need to focus more on making sure I’m living according to his righteousness and seeking to honor him in his kingdom and not focus so much on my wants and needs, then I need to put aside what I want and serve him.
“Well, Sean, that seems a little extreme. Surely, there needs to be some balance, right? I mean, I need to be taken care of here.”
Does the next phrase seem to imply balance to you?
Not only do we deny self, we are called to take up our cross.
Jesus’ words would have been clear to the crowd and the disciples, but our world has lost the significance.
We are comfortable with crosses now. They are more of a fashion statement than anything, since we have necklaces and key chains and stickers on our car.
When we talk about “taking up our cross,” we typically mean putting up with some kind of uncomfortable situation: “This health issue, this relationship, this job, this struggle is just my cross to bear.”
Think about this for a second: what was a cross designed to do? Torture, humiliate, and kill a person.
Think about this for a second: what was a cross designed to do? Torture, humiliate, and kill a person.
This health issue, this relationship, this job, this struggle is just my cross to bear.”
The Romans would often make the condemned carry at least a portion of their cross to the site of the crucifixion, forcing them to face the reality of their certain, inescapable death.
Does that sound balanced to you? When you put your cross necklace on, you are wearing an implement of death.
I’m not saying that it is necessarily wrong to wear one; I’m simply asking you to think about what you are doing when you do.
The call to follow Jesus is a call to die.
The call to follow Jesus is a call to die.
It is a call to die to living life the way others have. It is a call to die to yourself, your will, your desires and dreams apart from Christ.
You can’t be a Christian, a disciple, just because your parents are or because you go to church. You can only be a Christian as you consciously and willingly turn from your self and turn to Christ, taking up his death and walking with him.
Paradoxically, that’s when Jesus says you come alive!
Look back at verses 35-36.
35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. 36 For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life?
If you live your life for yourself, putting you first, you will lose it all in the end.
If, however, you give up your life and give it to Christ, carrying your cross and walking with him, you will find life now and continue that life as you live with him for eternity!
Although there is a time when you make that decision to turn to Christ and are saved, this death is something we choose to live under daily.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus didn’t just say that we needed to die? Instead, he talked about taking up our cross.
That’s an ongoing action, a willful decision to keep identifying with Jesus’ death.
Your old way of thinking and living doesn’t disappear immediately. In fact, you will always battle traces of that self, which is why the apostle Paul says things like,
10 We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body.
10 We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body.
Would you say that you always carry the death of Jesus with you?
But why? Why would we do this? Why take up our cross and follow Jesus?
Because it’s the only way to find true life!
How willing are you to let others know that you are a Christian?
Don’t miss the positive side of all this.
Jesus definitely has strong words of warning here because of the serious cost of discipleship.
However, there is also a glorious promise. Look back at the end of verse 35...
35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it.
Mark 8:35
The only way to save your life, to spend an eternally meaningful life here and be able to live with God forever is to put your selfish nature to death, pick up the shame, pain, and death of the cross, and follow Jesus to the point that it could cost you everything you have and everything you are, even your own life.
But when you do, when you turn away from self and turn to Christ, in that moment, you are promised a life that can never be taken away.
It won’t be easy or simple or smooth, but it is a promise that is more sure than the promise that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning.
It is worth the cost!
Stop focusing on what you want and what you think is best.
Instead, surrender to the God who shaped you and formed you and called you and loves you more than you can imagine.
Surrender is so incredibly difficult, but so incredibly worth it.