Deny Self, Find Life: Christ's Example
Daily Scripture
Matthew 16:21-26
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and legal experts, and that he had to be killed and raised on the third day. 22 Then Peter took hold of Jesus and, scolding him, began to correct him: “God forbid, Lord! This won’t happen to you.” 23 But he turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are a stone that could make me stumble, for you are not thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. 25 All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will find them. 26 Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? What will people give in exchange for their lives?”
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Jesus knew part of his mission was to show us by example what a fully human life looks life. When he told his closest followers that he faced death on the cross, Peter (always the most outspoken disciple) tried to talk him out of the idea. But Jesus “doubled down,” telling Peter that ALL his followers needed to “take up their cross.” What was the point, he asked, of pursuing earthly wealth or prestige only to give up God’s offer of life in eternity? “Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives?”
- What does it mean for you to “take up your cross” and follow Jesus? “Taking up your cross,” wrote Pastor Myron Augsberger, takes three steps: “(1) making up one’s mind; (2) giving up one’s autonomy; and (3) taking up one’s identity.” * In your spiritual journey, have you made up your mind to follow Jesus? Given up your autonomy to his leadership? Taken up your identity and purpose as a Christ-follower? Are you asking God to help you grow into each of those life choices? To what extent have you already found your true identity as you follow Christ?
- Jesus’ disciples’ initial belief that Jesus was the Messiah ruled out any idea of a cross. Scholar Craig Evans wrote, “In that time there was no sentimentality attached to Jesus’ death, and certainly not to the cross, a horrifying symbol in Roman antiquity.” ** For what reason(s) do you think Jesus found it important to talk to his disciples in advance about his challenging way of life? Had you been one of them, how easy or hard would it have been for you to accept what he said?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, so many voices tell me that avoiding pain and sacrifice is always smart. Your call is highly counter-cultural. Let my lesser self die as I follow you into your divine idea of greatness. Amen.
GPS Insights
Denise Mersmann
Denise Mersmann serves as the Care Coordination Director for the churchwide Care Central department at Church of the Resurrection.
Each time I read this passage; I find myself thinking about the Disciples who just walked away from their existing lives when Jesus called them. They didn’t ask for a few days to think things over or a chance to negotiate their hours and benefits. And they didn’t have the insider knowledge of Jesus that we do today–they were truly responding to an invitation to something they couldn’t even imagine!
Don’t get me wrong, the Disciples were not perfect, but they went! They followed Jesus.
Pastor Myron Augsberger tells us to “take up your cross” and follow Jesus you must make up your mind, give up your autonomy, and take up your identity. I profess to and try to be a committed follower of Jesus. But this three-step plan sounds so much easier than it really is. This isn’t a one-time decision, it isn’t a simple “yes, please, I am onboard.” At least for me.
I truly do want to follow Jesus and at my confirmation I made a conscious choice and commitment to do that, but shortly after I said “yes, I want to follow you,” life got in the way. Suddenly, there was a fork in the road where I had to remember what I had committed to. And it wasn’t just that time. Throughout my life, there have been many times where I found myself having to recommit.
Secondly, we are called to give up our autonomy, to do as Jesus calls us to do rather than what we might normally do. Again, this isn’t as simple as it sounds. Jesus calls us to some tough stuff. He doesn’t take the easy way and that isn’t his plan for us either. In a world of selfishness and ‘me first’, Jesus calls us to just the opposite. He wants a lot from us, not just our financial resources, but our time, our talent and our heart. Jesus wants us to love others and prioritize others over ourselves.
Finally, we are to take up our identity as followers of Jesus, to live in a way – physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and interpersonally – that when others see us, they see someone living as Jesus calls us to do. Taking up our identity in Jesus again requires us to look at our actions, words and deeds in a way that can be very uncomfortable. This isn’t something that I have been able to do once and then coast the rest of the time.
You see, Jesus has called me and even though he knows my every thought and he knows the unbelievably flawed person that I am, he still wants me. He believes that I can have a positive impact in the world. Jesus believes that I can make a difference.
As overwhelming as the task may seem, I still say “yes, I want to follow you”. I want to commit my head, heart and hands. And because I know me and I know how unbelievably flawed I am, I know that I will be saying that every day as I start fresh hoping to be just a little better than the day before.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Myron S. Augsberger, comment on Matthew 16:24 in The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 24: Matthew. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982.
** Craig A. Evans and N. T. Wright, Jesus, the Final Days: What Really Happened, ed. by Troy A. Miller. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009, p. 4.
