Mark
Dear Friends in Christ,
A few years ago I remember hearing or reading (not sure which) an interview with the noted author and conservative political pundit, William F. Buckley. The interviewer rehearsed Buckley’s long list of accomplishments and flatteringly suggested that Buckley had seemingly done just about everything he’d ever put his mind to. He then asked if there was anything left that he would still like to do. I remember the answer because it took me by surprise. Buckley said he would like to become a better Christian.
Taking his comment at face value, what he was talking about was what we commonly refer to as our life of discipleship. And discipleship – meaning our ever deepening walk with and relationship to Jesus Christ – is at the very heart of what we are and who we are as Christians. What Buckley intimated of himself is true for all who call themselves Christians – on this side of heaven we are all “works in progress.” Because discipleship is an ongoing process.
Today through the examination of Jesus’ words and actions we are presented with the opportunity to consider the very important and personal topic of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Jesus talks about where discipleship begins, where it leads us now, and where it finally ends. And while encouraging us to greater heights in our discipleship, Jesus also gives us the occasion to simply rejoice in who we are and what we know.
Our text divides neatly into three distinct sections, each building on the other. Taken as a whole we see how Jesus Himself unfolds for us
THE PROGRESSIVE PATH OF DISCIPLESHIP
1. It begins with knowledge 2.
It moves to understanding
3. It leads to commitment
27 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.
While walking about Jesus puts the question to His disciples of how He is perceived by the general population. The answers indicate that Jesus was indeed considered something special. But how special was sort of up for grabs…
Some were saying He was John the Baptist. This was an interesting thought, especially in light of the fact that John the Baptist had been dead for some time now; certainly long enough to be common knowledge among the people. Nevertheless, some thought Jesus was a resurrected John come back to life.
Others suggested that Jesus was the great Old Testament prophet Elijah reappearing on the scene. Elijah, you may recall, did not taste death and was taken bodily to heaven in a whirlwind accompanied by a fiery chariot and horses. In addition to this, the last chapter of the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 4, spoke of Elijah coming back and being the forerunner to the Messiah. Jesus had declared that John the Baptist was this new Elijah, but obviously some of the populace wasn’t buying it. They thought He was Elijah; or if not Elijah, then some other Old Testament prophet come back to life.
Interesting answers, but inaccurate.
So Jesus redirects the question to the disciples themselves. “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” To which Peter as spokesman declares: “You are the Christ.” This was a decidedly different answer. Let’s review the term Peter affixes to Jesus...
Although
Peter probably spoke these words in Aramaic, in Greek (the language of the New
Testament) the word “Christ” is the equivalent to the word “Messiah” in Hebrew (the
language of the Old Testament). Both
words mean “the Anointed One” and refer to the long-promised Savior who
was to come. In Matthew’s account of
this incident we are told Peter added to his statement, saying that Jesus is “The
Son of the Living God.” Matthew’s
account also tells us it was the guidance of God rather than Peter’s personal
powers of observation that led him to this conclusion.
In other words, by the grace of God Peter knew who Jesus really was and he confessed it boldly. In view of this, Jesus’ warning not to tell people who He was may seem puzzling or even contradictory to us. However, it makes sense when we understand the spiritual landscape at the time. People were looking for a Savior in political terms. Jesus was and is a spiritual Savior. Consequently, until the proper spiritual instruction could accompany Peter’s confession, Jesus asks the disciples to refrain from proclaiming this information lest the people misunderstand His real intent for visiting this planet.
So a point to be made is this: whereas the people had an idea of who Jesus was and/or what they wanted him to be, Peter and the disciples had true knowledge.
And, thanks be to God, so do we.
Let’s stop and contemplate just exactly what this means. Today, just as back then, lots of people have ideas about Jesus. For example, many secular scholars hold to the idea of Jesus being a sketchy, shadowy historical figure surrounded by legends and myths which they will say developed into a religion called Christianity. Others – many of whom are within the walls of established, mainline “Christian” churches – will hold Jesus in high regard as a moral and ethical teacher, or the supreme example; yet nothing more.
But not us. By the grace of God the Holy Spirit has led us to answer the question of Jesus’ identity with the same conviction of Peter. When the question is asked, “who do you say Jesus is?” we gratefully say: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And with this knowledge come all sorts of accompanying blessings and assurances.
Think about this. All of us deal with questions and uncertainties in our lives. Maybe we have questions about our health. Or about our job security. Or about what the future holds. Or about how all the loose ends in our lives are going to somehow come together.
But the
one question we don’t have to contend with is:
who is Jesus Christ? We know Him to be our Lord and our
God. And as such we know He has the power and the will and the desire to provide us in
due time with answers to all the uncertainties we deal with. We can gratefully call ourselves His
disciples because we know Him for who
He is.
But as we
shall now see, knowledge of who Jesus
is was not necessarily synonymous with understanding
of what Jesus had to do…
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.”
We cannot help noticing the necessity which Christ conveys in these words: “The Son of Man MUST suffer… He MUST be killed.” We also cannot help noticing how everything Jesus said came true as predicted. He did “suffer” – both emotionally and physically. He was “rejected” by the religious leaders of the day. He was “killed” – by crucifixion. And He did “arise” – thus proving this prophecy as well as His claim to be nothing less than the almighty, eternal Son of God.
We are reminded once again that on the cross of Calvary Jesus Christ did not meet any momentary political or social needs. Rather He met our greatest need: He provided us with forgiveness. On the cross Jesus took upon Himself all our sin – specifically all our pettiness and all our disobedience and all our self-centeredness and all the other things a just and holy God asks His children not to do – and in return gave us His perfection, His forgiveness. And forgiveness of sins translates into everlasting life.
And let
us note again the necessity of this
sacrifice. If we are to be saved
spiritually and eternally, this had to be done.
This is the great exchange the prophet Isaiah spoke of so plainly and
eloquently in his Gospel-rich chapter 53:
“He was pierced for OUR transgressions, He was crushed for OUR
iniquities; the punishment that brought
Peter tried to talk Jesus out of this. We could say that although Peter had knowledge, he didn’t have understanding. His suggestion to Jesus was essentially that He take the painless route of self-preservation (which Jesus referred to as “the things of men”) rather than fully carry out the painful plan of our salvation (“the things of God”). Had Jesus listened to Peter our lives – now and eternally – would be entirely different. But He didn’t. Jesus’ resolve held true. And as a result, we are saved.
So as it applies to us, we see that the path of true
discipleship moves beyond knowledge of who Jesus Christ is. True discipleship understands what Jesus
Christ had to do – and why He had to it.
And the “why” is us. Such
understanding then leads to the willing commitment of Christians to gratefully
live “no
longer for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again”
(2 Corinthians
Against the backdrop of the bare cross and empty tomb Jesus
predicted must (and did) happen for
our salvation, we turn to the final words of our text: 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.”
“If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me…” To follow Jesus means to go where He goes and do what He does. It is the mature, spiritual version of the children’s game, “Follow the Leader.” Jesus tells us to follow His will and His example. Even when it may be uncomfortable. Even when it may be unpopular. Even when it may seemingly be inconvenient. Basic and fundamental to our decision-making process must be the sincere question, “What would my Savior have me do?” We follow Jesus. How far? Let me introduce you to someone who answers that question quite eloquently.
I doubt that any of you have ever heard of a man named Caesarius of Arles. I first learned of him through preparing for this sermon. He lived way back in the 6th Century. But he makes a timeless comment on understanding these words of Jesus that I think is worthy of sharing with you:
When the Lord tells us in the Gospels that anyone who wants to be his
follower must renounce himself, the injunction seems harsh; we think he is
imposing a burden on us. But an order is
no burden when it is given by one who helps in carrying it out. To what place are we to follow Christ if not
where he has already gone? We know that
he has risen and ascended into heaven; there, then, we must follow him. There is no cause for despair – by ourselves
we can do nothing, but we have Christ’s promise... (From the “Ancient Christian Commentary
on Scripture”)
…The promise that even if others do because of our
allegiance to Him, He will never leave us or forsake us. The promise that He will give us strength for the journey. The promise that He will provide us with joy on the journey. The promise that, in the words of Paul, “our
present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed
in us.” And finally the promise
that the path of discipleship will ultimately end with Him in eternal
glory.
Today none less than the Son of God reminds us of the supreme blessing that is ours to be able to call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ. By God’s grace we have the knowledge of who Jesus is. By God’s grace we have the understanding of what He has done for us. And also by God’s grace we see our commitment to Him not as a burden, but a joy.
Let us first and always thank God for who we are and what we know. Then let us daily ask for His continued grace and guidance to progress further along the path and deeper down the road – until we reach our final destination: “that bright shore where we weep no more.” Amen.