The way of the cross

Mark 8:27-35 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" ²⁸ They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." ²⁹ "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." ³⁰ Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. ³¹ He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ³² He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." ³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Who do you say Jesus is? Everybody today has an opinion about Jesus. He was a prophet like Moses or Mohammed. He was a great teacher, like Confucius or Buddha. He was the illegitimate child of a Jewish peasant girl. He’s just a made-up mythological character from the 1^st century. He was a strange visitor from another planet with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. (Or maybe that was Superman).

The people of Jesus’ day were confused about Jesus, too. The people had witnessed Him preaching with authority, performing great miracles, and even raising the dead. So they guessed that He was John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the other prophets. But they weren’t getting it – that Jesus was more than a prophet, more than a miracle worker, more than a bread king.

So, Jesus turns to the Twelve disciples and asks, “What about you? Who do you guys say I am?” Peter speaks up and gives a correct and commendable confession, “You are the Christ.” Which is, of course, the right answer. But in a matter of minutes, Peter goes from being the star pupil to the class dunce. He called Jesus, “the Christ,” but he doesn’t know what that title means. So, when Jesus tells them that being the Christ means “that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again” … Peter objects. It’s actually worse than that. He pulls Jesus aside and rebukes Him for talking like that. The student tries to teach the teacher. The mortal tries to correct the Creator. And for his efforts, Peter receives a harsh rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan!”

Satan was speaking through the lips of one of Jesus’ closest friends. For anything that would turn our Lord from the triumph of the cross is simply satanic. This is really the same temptation that the devil himself used on Jesus in the wilderness. It is Satan’s goal to stop the redemption from happening. It is Satan’s goal to stop Jesus from doing the work He has come to accomplish. Satan wants Jesus to say “No” to the cross and “Yes” to glory. “No” to suffering and dying, but “Yes” to a life of comfort and ease.

These are the same temptations that Satan uses on us. We don’t like difficult. We don’t enjoy hard. We prefer not to hear Jesus say, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Because we all have an idea of what the Christian life is supposed to be like – triumph over temptations, success instead of sorrow, freedom from failure, winning instead of whining. And there are a lot more. And the common theme among all of these ideas is that the cross is great … as long as it is on Christ. As long as it is on Him and not on me.

But those ideas come straight from the devil. Satan wants you to believe that luxury and ease are good, and suffering and hardship are bad. So, if something causes you to suffer, or causes you hardship, or holds you back – just get rid of it! If your marriage is holding you back, get a divorce! If your baby is halting your career, have an abortion. If your elderly parent is a burden, euthanize him. If the Bible points out your sin, then undermine the authority of Scripture so you can live in your sexual perversions. If hearing God’s Word burdens your conscience, then don’t go to church so often.

But this doesn’t just happen “out there” in the heathen world somewhere. These idols of success and convenience, these false gods of pleasure and ease, are present in our homes, too. The devil used something pleasing to the eye to get his claws into Eve. He used sex to bring down King David. He used money to turn Judas into a traitor. And Satan spoke through Peter’s mouth to tempt Jesus with being the Christ without the cross.

Satan has been at this tempting business for a very long time. What he uses on you may be different than what he uses on me. What I find appealing, you may find revolting. Or vice versa. But the constant in almost all of his temptations is the easy road - success without suffering, convenience without cost, glory without the cross. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

But that is where Jesus enters our crazy, mixed-up, confused world of sin. He provides the way out. He taught, “the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.” Jesus comes, not to promise us success, but to endure suffering. Jesus comes, not to guarantee pleasure, but to bear pain. Jesus comes, not to gain glory, but to go to the cross.

The way of the cross is the way to life. Life does not come by filling your heart and home with every comfort and convenience you can imagine, for these worldly pleasures may actually be tools of the devil to rob you of life eternal. So Jesus teaches that there is another way to live. The cross – dying and starting all over again. We can’t be fixed. We must be resurrected.

And so Jesus comes, to die and rise for us. To break the curse of convenience. And He must, for He’s the only One who can. We can’t die and rise ourselves, because when we die, that’s it! Kaput! Nothing more. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. But when Jesus comes, it’s different. When Jesus dies there isn’t just death, but life. When Jesus dies, dead people come out of their graves And then Jesus Himself comes out of His grave, so we might have life.

Jesus instructs you to die to sin and be raised to a new life in Him. That’s what He means when He says, “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 and for the gospel will save it.” He uses suffering in His name to kill off your old, heathen, idolatrous Old Adam and raises your New Man to a new life in Him. Because Jesus knows that you will quickly return to your old life of convenience and ease, He invites you to take up a cross of suffering and denial to follow Him.

Deny yourself. That doesn’t mean giving up chocolate or caffeine. He’s talking about dying to your self, denying that inner brat inside of you that wants everything his or her way 24/7. Saying “No” to sin and “Yes” to sanctified living.

Take up your cross. This isn’t some piece of self-chosen suffering, as though you could go to the cross catalog and pick one that matches your Sunday outfit. “Here’s a pretty one …” Or, “Here’s a manly one …” “This will be my cross.” Crosses are laid on you, and you are nailed to them. Crosses are not just inconveniences, like water in the basement or a car breaking down or ending up in the emergency room. Crosses kill. They were a form of capital punishment in a day when they didn’t care if punishment was cruel or unusual. In fact, the more cruel and more unusual the better.

To put it plainly, Jesus says that since He suffered in your name, He is now inviting you to suffer in His name. Notice, how Peter went from star pupil to class dunce, later from fearful denier to bold confessor, and still later from reluctant sufferer to willingly being crucified for his Lord. Peter literally took up his cross and followed Jesus to his death on his own upside down cross, but then to a new life of uprightness in the kingdom of heaven.

Peter knew what he was talking about when he wrote to his beloved churches: “Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” Peter was reminding his people, and us, that we fall into a life of sin and ease, not because we’re not trying hard enough, but because we’ve forgotten the sufferings of Christ that cleanses us from our former sins and motivates us to a new life in Christ, under His cross.

Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Rejoice in your sufferings. Sounds like crazy talk. But that is what Jesus wants from us. And that is what we see from strong Christians around the world. Understand that we endure persecution and prejudice here in America, but it is far different from what Christians around the world are enduring.

America's persecution is not like that of Ugandan Pastor Umar Mulinde who had acid thrown in his face. We have not experienced the pain of Eva Abdullah, a 17-year-old girl from Tanzania who has been disowned by her parents and jailed for two years for having insulted the Koran. We are not in mourning like the family of Egyptian Refaat Eskander who was murdered hours after propaganda promised a bounty to anyone who kills Christian Copts. 

American Christians are being persecuted, but often not in a physical way. A federal judge threatened to jail a high-school valedictorian, if “Jesus” wasn't removed from her graduation speech. City officials stopped seniors from praying over meals, listening to religious messages, or singing Gospel songs at their activities center. Another federal judge said prayers before a State House of Representatives could be made to Allah but not to Jesus. 

At the latest Democratic National Convention, delegates had to vote to include God on their ticket … and then were booed for doing so. But the Republican National Convention was no better with the Archbishop’s prayer excluding the name of Jesus, except for the beginning of the prayer, addressing: “Almighty God, father of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus …” That is a prayer that could be accepted by Christians, Mormons or Jews … and possibly even Muslims.

Quite frankly, I don’t know which form of persecution is worse. I know which one is more violent, but I don't know whether violence or slowly undermining freedom of speech and Christianity is more effective. 

In the face of overwhelming or overt persecution, Jesus invites you to remain strong. By becoming weak. Allow Jesus to be your strength. Come and feast on Jesus’ body and blood at His Table. He reminds you in water, wine, wafer and Word that you have nothing to fear. Satan is constantly trying to speak to you in the pleasures of the world and speak through you asking for a life of ease. But through Baptism, Supper, Absolution and Word, Jesus is speaking through you. He is rebuking the devil, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Jesus is still putting Satan behind Him, driving him out of His Kingdom, crushing his head, while forgiving our sins.

Satan hates it when you trust Jesus and cling to His cross. Your sinful nature hates it when you deny yourself by bowing your head, confessing your sin and opening your mouth to receive the body and blood of Jesus. And the world, who does not want to admit who Jesus really is, really hates it when you stand up to shout out the name of Jesus for all the world to hear.

Who do you say Jesus is? He is the way of the cross. Take up your cross and follow Jesus. It is the way of death and denial. But it is also the way of life eternal. Amen.