Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.  – Matthew 16:24-25

What did Jesus mean when He said that, to be His disciples, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and give our lives for Him?  In the context of this passage, Jesus had been predicting His death (Matt. 16:21-22).  Peter rebuked Him, and Jesus responded to Peter by calling him Satan, and by telling him that he was not thinking in line with God’s will (Matt. 16:23).  Then Jesus made the statement about taking up our cross and following Him.  Jesus is actually referring back to what He was discussing before Peter interrupted Him. He had said He must die.  Peter had shown a desire to follow his own will regarding this, instead of God's will.  So Jesus showed how His death proves we must not follow our own desires, as Peter had just done.

If we want to come after Jesus (i.e., be His disciple), we must (1) deny self, (2) take up our cross, (3) follow Jesus. (4) This is then described further as losing our life.

Deny self

Denying self requires us to give up anything that we want or seek that would hinder our doing the will of God. This does not mean that, if we want something, it is necessarily wrong.  It means we must take our wants and desires down from the throne and place Jesus and His will as the governing power in our lives.

THERE IS ROOM IN EACH LIFE FOR ONLY ONE MASTER!

If God is to rule in our lives, then our will must be made subservient to His. We must be willing to give up anything in life in order to please God.

Romans 12:1-2 -  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW JESUS

MANY THINK THIS MEANS SUFFERING HARDSHIPS FOR THE LORD.   OF COURSE THERE WILL BE TIMES OF SUFFERING AND DIFFICULTY IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, BUT THERE IS A DEEPER MEANING IF WE CONSIDER THE CONTEXT.

(1)  What is a cross for?  It was not just a burden to be borne.  Far more than that, it was an instrument of death and total sacrifice.

(2)  Jesus said take up our cross and follow Him. He bore a cross and we must bear our cross and follow Him. But where was He going with His cross? He had just said He was going to die.

(3)   In the next verse Jesus said we must give our lives for Him.

In other words, "taking up your cross" refers to giving your whole life to God, as Jesus was about to give His whole life for us. This involves bearing burdens, but it is deeper than that. It is a total dedication of life.  Our whole life is given to His service in anything He says. This will lead us to willingly deny self. Following Him then requires us to live as He lived His life.

It is interesting that in his gospel, Luke adds "take up your cross daily" (Luke 9:23). There is a sense in which Christians must give their lives to God every day.  This is not a decision you make once and then you don’t have to think about it any more.  This is a daily struggle to deny yourself (actually for me it is more of a moment by moment struggle).  Whatever He wants with my life is what must be done with it.  What I want no longer matters, but I give myself for Him, just as He gave Himself for us!

Pastor Jeff Frazier