What Does Jesus Mean When He Says Take Up Your Cross?

Introduction

Good morning! Today we’re going to be picking back up in our sermon series through the book of Mark. You might remember, two weeks ago, on Easter Sunday, we were looking at Mark, Chapter 8 together. And Jesus asked his disciples to explain in their own words – who do they think he is? You may remember, one of his followers, Peter, technically gave the right answer. He correctly identified that Jesus is the Christ, the long-awaited King of the Jews. But Peter failed to understand what Jesus’s kingship would look like (that it would involve a cross!), and Peter wasn’t prepared to follow His king.

In many ways, Peter is like us. When it comes to identifying who Jesus is, we might know the right answer. We might know that Jesus is the divine King of heaven and earth, chosen by the God the Father, sent down to save us. But we’re faced with the question – are we treating him like a king? Are we trusting him as our king. Are we following our king?

These are the sorts of questions that Jesus wants us to grapple with as we hear His Word this morning. So if you haven’t already, please turn with me to Mark, Chapter 8. I’ll be reading from Mark, Chapter 8, starting at verse 34. And I’ll read through the end of Chapter 9, verse 1. But before I read our text, please pray with me:

[Pray and Read Text]

The Honest Cost of Life Under the Cross

When businesses are trying to attract new customers, it’s not uncommon for them to run promotions. They might advertise free services, or discounted prices for people who sign up before a certain date. But almost always, if you look at the fine print, these promotions are just temporary. And after a few months of being signed up with their company, they begin to add on some sort of additional fee. Or they charge a higher interest rate on that loan you took out. It can be frustrating. Why don’t they just tell you up front what the real cost is going to be? Do you know what that frustration is like?

Well, here in our text, we see that Jesus doesn’t play games like this. When Jesus teaches the crowds what it means to follow him, he doesn’t have a marketing scheme. He doesn’t hide the fact that it’s going to be difficult. But Jesus is careful to point out that the cost of not following is infinitely more devastating. Because when people don’t follow Jesus, they’re showing visibly that they have no faith in him, and they have no future with him. Don’t miss this. Each soul that doesn’t follow Jesus has no faith in him, and has no future with him.

And so as we consider Jesus’s words on what it means to follow him, I want to unpack his teaching under four points.

The Call to Follow

First, we’ll give attention to the call to follow. The call to follow. Look at verse 34 with me. Jesus had just been holding a private conversation with his disciples. But now it becomes clear that there was a wider crowd of people who were trailing along behind Jesus, attempting to hear his teaching and to see his power. And Jesus calls this crowd closer, around his twelve disciples. And he speaks. He says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

You’ll notice, Jesus is very broad in his invitation. As he calls people to follow him, Just notice how wide he is in his welcome. “If anyone would come, let him! – let her!” The invitation is open to anyone.

It’s open to people of every age. Which means – kids, this invitation is for you. Don’t just think that Jesus spoke these words to your parents. Jesus wants you to take seriously that he wants you to follow him. Children, if anyone one of you would come after Jesus – He has his arms open to you.

This invitation is also open to people of every nationality and religious background. Based on where Jesus is saying these words, the crowd likely included both God-fearing Jews from the region of Galilee, and pagan Greeks from Caesarea Philippi. And yet Jesus is speaking with this mixed company of people in his audience. And he offers the same invitation to everybody – to Americans, to Egyptians, to Mongolians – to Muslims, to LGBTQ Advocates, to Communists. If any one of you wants to come after me, Jesus says, let him come. Let him turn off his old path, and follow here! Jesus doesn’t limit his invitation, based on human assumptions of who will listen. But he extends his offer broadly, and anticipates that there will be many who respond – perhaps even people who we might least expect.

But also realize – Jesus’s invitation, here, is open to people from every kind of life circumstance. Jesus speaks to the uneducated man, to the poor man, to the sick man. And he says, “If you would like to come after me, you can come now! You don’t need a degree or money or perfect health as a qualification.” Jesus welcomes people who are mentally and physically handicapped. He cries out to people who are overcome by temptations, addictions, and guilt. He calls out to people who are depressed, weak, anxious, and exhausted. And Jesus says “If anyone wants to come after me, and belong to me – then come! The way is open.”

The Conditions of Following

But even though Jesus acknowledges that the way is open for anyone who would want to come – at the same time, Jesus explains that coming along after him must be done a certain way. It’s a serious business, to have a life where Jesus is prioritized. So still in this first verse – verse 34, Jesus tells us three conditions of what coming after him must look like. This is my second main point – the conditions of following. (The conditions of following).

Deny Yourself

The first condition Jesus mentions, is “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself.” Notice what it is that Jesus says we must deny and forsake, and renounce. We must deny self. I think many people have the idea that to come along after Jesus, we simply need to deny bad behaviors, like drinking too much and using foul language. Or people assume that we just need to deny ungodly political agendas and paganism and heresy – and as long as we oppose and deny those things, then we must be perfectly on track. But make sure you see, here: when Jesus tells us what we need to deny, he goes further than all those things. And he puts his finger on our biggest problem. The primary obstacle that prevents us from embracing Jesus and his leadership is self. My biggest obstacle is me. Your biggest problem is you.

As God speaks in the Bible, he’s very honest in pointing out what’s wrong with us – where the whole human race has gone wrong. Every individual soul is infected and polluted with an irrational fixation on self. Self-indulgence, self-focus, self-worship. But this self-obsession is irrational, because in comparison to God, we’re nothing. God is a vast ocean of perfect cleanness and goodness. You and I are contaminated mud puddles. God wields invincible power that creates universes and that strikes awe into the hearts of angels. Meanwhile, our power is so unimpressive, we often struggle just to rip packing tape off a cardboard box. Our obsession with self isn’t rational. Yet not only is our self-centeredness irrational. It’s evil. Because all that allegiance and attention and devotion that we’ve directed toward self rightly belongs to God. We’ve been thieves! We’ve been insurrectionists who’ve tried to push God out of power, to take his place on the throne. We’ve set up our homes to be places where we serve ourselves, instead of setting apart our homes and hearts to be places where we serve King Jesus.

And this is why Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself.” By calling the crowd to self-denial, here, Jesus is insisting that people who don’t repent – who don’t turn from their selfishness cannot be saved. Self-reliance and self-rule and self-importance can’t exist alongside of saving faith in Jesus. You must choose which Savior you’re going to trust. You must choose which master you’re going to serve. Either you’ll deny yourself, and live for Jesus. Or you’ll deny Jesus, and be dead in your selfishness.

Take Up Your Cross

But there’s a second condition that Jesus mentions, for those who would come behind him. Still in verse 34, Jesus says that if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross. This command probably doesn’t sound too strange to us, because we know that this is how Jesus died – on a cross. Clearly, Jesus knew he would die that way, too.

But realize, for the crowd, the command to take up your cross would have sounded bizarre. Because taking up a cross – being crucified – was one of the most painful, inhumane forms of suffering that existed at that time! But that’s the point. Jesus uses this vivid picture of crucifixion to say – if you really want to come to me, if you really want to belong to me – you need prepare yourself. The road won’t be easy. When Jesus said take up your cross, just consider everything that would have communicated.

For one thing, Jesus was telling people to prepare for difficulty. When a condemned man was being taken to the place of his crucifixion, he was forced to carry a large wooden cross-beam – the one he was going to be nailed to. And by best estimates, the cross beam was usually around 100 lbs. So the command “take up your cross,” clarifies that the Christian life won’t feel easy. At times it will require exertion, even in situations where we feel like we’re at the end of our strength. The call to follow Jesus isn’t, “Come and have a simple, lazy life, where everything is handed to you on a silver platter.” Instead Jesus wants us to prepare for a life that’ll come with difficulty – a life with a cross.

But along with this, Jesus tells us that we should also expect disgrace. Crucifixion was a form of death that was reserved for the most despised members of society. People being crucified were dragged out into the streets and marketplaces, exposed to public humiliation. They were disowned by their family and friends. They were mocked, spat upon, criticized, and cursed. Not only was it shameful to be crucified – it was even considered shameful to know a person who had been crucified. And so when Jesus tells people take up your cross – he wants to prepare them: you will be rejected. People will distance themselves from you, if you take Jesus seriously. People will hate you and humiliate you and disgrace you. You’ve got to be ready.

But Jesus also says, take up your cross, because those coming along after him also need to expect distress. The distress may be physical – from violent persecution. Certainly we have brothers and sisters around the world who personally know what that’s like. But it could also be other forms of distress – the pain of job loss or poverty, the pain of discouragement or grief. Taking up a cross comes with distress.

Yet perhaps most heavy of all – when Jesus says take up your cross, he’s telling us we need to prepare for death. Our place with Jesus must be more precious to us than positions and prosperity on earth. Otherwise, we’ll never do it – we’ll never take up our cross. Just in case we fooled ourselves into thinking that we were with okay with the idea of self-denial, Jesus forces us to grapple with what that actually means.

For Jesus’s sake, will you forsake a life of going with the flow, and pampering yourself? Will you take up a cross-shaped life of exertion, and rejection, and suffering? Will you even be willing to expend your lifeblood in service to King Jesus? Because Jesus says you and I need to. You must take up your cross.

Follow Me

But there’s one more condition Jesus gives for any man who would come after him. Jesus says he must deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. And this third condition is the most important. Because self-denial and suffering aren’t the ultimate goal. Following Jesus is the goal.

Keep in mind, denying yourself comfort and pleasure isn’t inherently Christian. People regularly practice extreme forms of self-denial to chase after other goals. Soldiers, for example, may deny themselves sleep, food, and water in order to carry out military objectives. Athletes may force themselves beyond the limits of their strength – they might deny themselves rest even when their lungs and muscles are screaming at them – to make sure their football team wins the Superbowl. There are people who are so desperate for a slimmer body that they starve themselves – others who’re so anxious about passing an exam that they deprive themselves of sleep, in order to study.

But Christian self-denial is aimed at a goal that, frankly, is better than all these. The Christian’s highest goal is to follow King Jesus. And Jesus anticipates that many people in the crowd will recognize that following him is worth the self-denial. It’s worth the cross and the suffering.

But my guess is that for many of us – and for many people in the world around us – following Jesus may not sound all that wonderful. In fact, we might wonder – who on earth would want to follow Jesus, if it’s going to require so much headache and hardship?

But I want to point out three reasons why a life of following Jesus actually makes a good deal of sense. Reason number 1: Because Jesus is a good king who takes care of his followers. Several weeks ago, when we were back in Mark Chapter 6, Jesus was looking out on the crowds and he pitied them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Being independent and alone wasn’t freeing for these people. It was frightening. Because it meant they had no security, no one to save them from their enemies, no one to provide for them in their impoverishment. They were like helpless sheep, exposed in the wilderness, defenseless against the wolves and lions.

And if you’re without Jesus, that’s where you are. You know just as well as I do, you can’t control what’s going to happen to you and your family tomorrow. There are problems in the world you can’t fix. There’s a day coming when you’ll die, that you can’t rescue yourself from. You know that this is true. You know that you aren’t capable of taking care of yourself. But Jesus is capable. And he has the right qualifications. He’s God’s chosen king. He’s been given to us, as a gift, so that we’d have a savior from our darkness and danger, and so we’d have a strengthener in our times of weakness, and so we’d have a Sovereign Ruler who works all things for the good of those who love him. Jesus is a good king, and he cares perfectly for all who follow him.

But following Jesus is also desirable for a second reason: because Jesus shows us the right way to live.

It can be frustrating – there are so many voices in the world. There are so many opinions on what you should care about, what you should be outraged over, who you should trust, and what you should do. It can sometimes feel like we’re stumbling and slipping through a marsh, unable to find solid ground to plant our feet on. But the Bible points us to Jesus, and gives us a firm path to walk on. Jesus leads us into truth and goodness. Because what we see in Jesus – only in Jesus – is we see the fullness of deity, as Colossians 2:9 says. In Jesus, we’re able to lay eyes on the various perfections of God, being lived out in a human life. We’re given an example of perfect morality and wisdom and love. And this Jesus is the one who urges us – come along with me on this road. You don’t need to be lost or aimless anymore. But come. Follow me. Friends, this isn’t a burden. If you were hopelessly lost and wandering in Yellowstone National Park for three weeks, and a Park Ranger found you, and said, Come, follow me, and I’ll show you the right way to go, you wouldn’t grumble and say, “How inconvenient! Why do you have to burden me with such an invitation.” No, we’d be so thankful. “Yes, please, lead me! Show me the way!” It’s not only a reasonable thing – but it’s a precious thing to follow Jesus.

But the third reason why following Jesus should be so attractive to you and me is because it leads to the best possible destination. If you’re a Christian, don’t forget where Jesus is taking you! This Jesus, who led you out of your darkness, who suffered the penalty for sin, in your place – this Jesus is right now leading you to everlasting joy with God. He leads you into a future, where your old flesh and its corruptions are swallowed up by new life. He leads you into a great country of peace, where your bodily aches are gone, where your tears are forgotten. And it’s not just for a visit! Jesus gives you a permanent home there. He makes you a landowner in the ultimate Promised Land. He gives you the garden paradise and the tree of life as your inheritance. A place is prepared for you in the Father’s own house, with its many rooms. And at the great table of heaven, you have a seat of honor. But best of all, Jesus leads you to the throne room – he leads you to the awful and wonderful place where the multitudes of angelic beings are crouching down before the Divine Presence – where Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are enjoyed and adored night and day. And no one ever gets tired of it. Because it’s the purest, most wonderful experience of happiness that anyone has ever had – this privilege of knowing God, and seeing his glory. That’s where Jesus is taking us – into that fullness, forever, where our hearts will never again feel empty. Who would be so blind, and so wicked that they wouldn’t want to follow Jesus here?

The Consequences for Not Following (Worse Than a Cross!)

But, you see, the reason why many people don’t want to follow Jesus there is because it requires self-denial. Because it involves suffering. And for many people, the pain seems more real than Jesus’s paradise. The hardship seems more real than heaven. And so they aren’t willing to trust Jesus’s lead.

No, no – I can’t follow Jesus. I can’t do what he says. Because the consequences will be too great. I might lose my reputation. My friends and family won’t want to talk to me. It’ll make our relationship awkward! I’ll have to give up the things that I do for stress relief! I’ll have to give up my addictions. Of course, for many Christians in the world, the stakes are higher than this. Following Jesus might lead to gang violence. Angry crowds might burn down your house. They government might even kill you if you follow Jesus. And so it makes sense that people would think that following Jesus will have consequences.

And yet in verses 35 through 38, Jesus points out that there will be even worse consequences for not following. This is my third point from the text. The consequences for not following Jesus. Notice, Jesus mentions two main consequences for those who don’t follow him.

First, Jesus says you’ll lose your soul. In verse 35, Jesus says, “For whoever would save his life will lose it” – in other words, all those who would try to save themselves from persecution, whoever would try to escape suffering by keeping away from Jesus – that’s actually the person who will lose their soul. They’ll lose everything. Because there’s not a man on earth who can save himself. No matter how many concrete walls you build, no matter how deep in the rock your bunker is, no matter how much money you have stored up – you cannot save your soul from death and Hell. Verse 36: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world [but] to forfeit his soul?” “…[W]hat can a man give in return for his soul?” It may seem like gaining the world, and all its treasure, would give you happiness and wholeness and a life of security.

But Jesus is doing us a favor, by putting a pin in that inflatable castle. And he’s showing us, there’s no substance to it. The man who tries to preserve his earthly comfort and ease will end up losing his soul. On the flip side, though, Jesus explains, “but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” In other words, the person who believes that Jesus his and his gospel is better than earthly life – that person’s faith in Jesus won’t be in vain. But through faith in Christ, their soul will be saved. ONLY JESUS can save. Yet those who don’t believe this, who don’t follow him, will lose everything. That’s the first consequence – losing your soul.

But in verse 38, Jesus warns of another consequence. In some respect, it’s the same consequence, spoken about in a different way. And that’s the consequence of being disowned – being rejected by heaven. Because Jesus says, “… 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.”

In other words, if you’re ashamed of Jesus – if you’re not willing to associate with him because you don’t think it’s worth the social awkwardness or the cultural cost – then he won’t associate with you. You’ll get what you want. But the tragedy of this, is it means that on that day when he comes in the glory of his kingdom, you won’t have any connection with him. You’ll have no place in his kingdom. Since you were unjustly ashamed of him, despite all of his excellencies, he will be justly ashamed of you, in light of all your evildoing. Being rejected like this – being disowned from heaven, and delivered over to the lake of fire – is the most terrible loss you could possibly face.

And that’s why Jesus speaks, here. It’s motivated by concern – because he cares for the crowds – the crowds of people who still cover the face of the earth, who are like sheep without a shepherd. He says come­ follow me. Yes, it will involve suffering. But I will save you through the suffering. Yes, you may groan, and bleed, and lose your physical life. But Jesus says, I can save you. I will save you. But if you don’t follow, if I am not your king, you will lose your soul.

The Kingdom that’s Forthcoming

It might seem awfully bold for Jesus to say things like this. Especially since, up until this point, Jesus hasn’t had a crown. He hasn’t had a throne. No one has seen him leading armies, or claiming any territory for himself. Even in spite of his incredible miracles – healing the sick, calming storms, overpowering demons – there was perhaps still a question, if Jesus should really be accepted as a king.

But in verse 9, Jesus announces that his forthcoming kingdom will soon be seen, visibly, by at least some of the people in his audience. And this brings us to my fourth and final point: the kingdom that’s forthcoming.

In verse 1 of Chapter 9, Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” This statement that Jesus makes – it’s generated quite a bit of discussion over church history. Because it’s not perfectly clear what event Jesus is talking about – when he talks about people in the crowd seeing the kingdom of God.

Is Jesus talking about people seeing his resurrection? Or seeing the Holy Spirit poured out at Pentecost? Or is he saying that some people will see his glorious judgment against unbelieving Jews, and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD? Certainly, it could be argued that these are all situations where, in some sense, the kingdom of God is coming in power. But many scholars have argued that the event that Jesus has in mind, most immediately, is the event of his transfiguration.

Because the transfiguration – that’s the event that happens right after this one, in Mark Chapter 9, here. And in the transfiguration, Jesus’s appearance is suddenly transfigured (suddenly changed) so that he radiates supernatural splendor. His royal glory, and the glory of his kingdom, is visibly witnessed by some of his disciples. This could all reasonably fit with Jesus’s words in verse 1. Or it could also be that the transfiguration is intended to be a genuine preview of Christ’s power in a way that points forward to one or more other events.

But in whatever case, here’s the point that Jesus was trying to get across. This is what he wants us to appreciate: the weight of his royal magnificence, and the existence of his kingdom are real things – things that have been witnessed in the past, and things that will be publicly displayed in the future. Even before Jesus came to earth, (hundreds of years earlier) the prophet Daniel had a vision of a Majestic King, who would come with divine glory. He wrote about it, saying: “…Behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him…” (Daniel 7:13-14a). And notice in Chapter 8, verse 38 of our text, Jesus announces that he is the Son of Man that the prophet Daniel saw. Jesus says that he, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of his father, and with the holy angels. Jesus declares – my glory will be seen. The greatness of my kingdom will be evidenced.

The prophet Daniel was allowed to see it. A number of Jesus’s disciples were, likewise, given the opportunity to visibly lay eyes on Jesus in his glory. And God has spoken through these eyewitnesses to confirm to us – we’re going to see Jesus in his divine power and majesty, too. It’s only a matter of time. The day is drawing near. The rightful King of the universe will soon be revealed. And Jesus wants us to listen, and believe their testimony. He wants us to trust in him rather than ourselves – to follow him as our Leader and Lord. And he wants this for us, so that when that day comes, and we see his glory with our own two eyes, we won’t be ashamed – so our souls won’t be lost. So let’s lift our eyes to Jesus. Let’s ask him for faith to see, and for feet to follow. Let’s pray:

Fellowship Reformed Church is a Bible-believing Church in Mt Pleasant, MI.