A Reminder
Preached by Jason Abbott
November 3, 2013
Remember that Jesus has just taught his disciples about dependence on God. They had apparently begun to believe that the power to defeat evil resided in them. However, Jesus teaches them that they must be willing to turn to God faithfully in prayer if they are to cast out demons from others or to see sin removed in their own lives. They, on their own, cannot save others or themselves from evil!
Remember also that Jesus has now turned his face toward Jerusalem and the cross. He is on a resolute journey that will entail his betrayal, suffering, and death. However, this pilgrimage will also vanquish sin and death as demonstrated through his victorious resurrection. In this journey, he is thus teaching his disciples about God’s redemptive plans and powerfully demonstrating his own dependence on the heavenly Father in accomplishing those plans!
Consequently here, for a second time, Jesus teaches his disciples what awaits him in Jerusalem. He reminds them where he must go and what he must do.
Mark 9:30-32
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
1. Living for God in a fallen world will entail suffering (vv. 30-31).
This isn’t easy for us to accept because we live in a world that rejects suffering. This obsession with personal pleasure is clearly seen whenever we turn on the television or pick up the newspaper or read our American history books. Consider a few current examples of this false gospel:
We are told our food should bring us happiness. Consequently, we have Happy Meals and are taught that buying the world a Coke will teach it to sing in perfect harmony.
We are encouraged to find our Walgreen’s Pharmacies “at the corner of happy and healthy” and to buy our medications there.
We hear that we should “retire the way [we] want” and that ING can help us determine the financial number that will “take care of us” and help us enjoy that retirement in whatever way we want to enjoy it.
We (and our sons and daughters) are told in many a children’s book that happiness is finding true love—the prince charming or the princess charming (I suppose) who will complete us
We are taught by the founding fathers in The Declaration of Independence to hold onto the “pursuit of happiness” as an “unalienable” American right decreed by God.
Finally (and this is one I especially despise) we are told by certain brands of “Christian theology” that God’s primary purpose is to pour out happiness upon us, and if we aren’t being blessed and aren’t being made happy then we must have done something horribly wrong. (Is this why Job suffered? Is this why the prophets so often suffered? Is this why Jesus was the Suffering Servant?)
No! Jesus clearly did not buy into a pleasure pursuit lifestyle! Jesus does not confess a Heavenly Father whose sole goal is to make you and me happy! Instead, Jesus recognized that life in a sinful and fallen world will be full of troubles and sufferings (John 16:33)—especially for those who choose to follow God. And, Jesus didn’t merely recognize this but taught this as well.
a. Jesus teaches this to his disciples and to us.
If we simply go back a few verses in Mark to the end of chapter eight, we find Jesus fighting against this pleasure pursuit thinking in his disciples. In fact, it comes just after Jesus’ first prediction of his death and resurrection so it’s closely related to our current passage.
Jesus explains what will take place when they go to Jerusalem (i.e. his suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection), and, in response, Peter objects to the idea that the Christ should suffer and die. Therefore, Jesus must rebuke Peter’s erroneous conception of success. Notice what Jesus says:
Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man (Mark 8:33).
Jesus is clearly teaching the disciples (and us) that serving God in a fallen world will entail suffering. He is clearly waging war on pleasure pursuit thinking. Thus, there is a contrast being set up here. Jesus is saying:
Setting your mind on the “things of man” is to seek your personal glory and your personal happiness and your personal pleasure. It is to place such things above all other pursuits.
In contrast, setting your mind on the “things of God” is to seek God’s glory and God’s happiness and God’s pleasure. It is to place such things above all other pursuits.
Yet, if there were any question that this is, in fact, what Jesus is teaching then he puts those questions to rest when he immediately calls the crowds over:
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it (Mark 8:34-35).
Jesus is constantly teaching this lesson. Jesus is always elevating the sacrificial service of God above the pursuit of personal pleasure and happiness. (I’m not quite sure where the founding fathers got the idea that this was an inalienable right given us by God. I don’t think you will find it taught in the Bible.)
However, before we move any further, let’s not miss the paradoxical truth that Jesus is teaching here. Jesus does not say that we must be miserable in order to follow God! Rather, Jesus teaches that when we turn from seeking our own glory and, instead, take up the pursuit of God’s glory, we will find real life and salvation. We will find ultimate pleasure! In short, when we seek to glorify God, God is pleased to glorify himself by bringing us into his glory!
But, Jesus didn’t just teach that following God in a fallen world would entail suffering. Jesus modeled it!
b. Jesus demonstrates this to his disciples and to us.
Now, this point is rather obvious since we know that Jesus is on his way to the cross. However, it is an important one to unpack and meditate on together. For, it teaches us something unique about our Triune God. He is the one who serves in order to be served. He is the one who walked with us so that we might walk with him. He has first loved us so that we might then love him.
Do you see? God initiates. God moves first.
Reflect with me again on Jesus’ teaching about the costs of discipleship from chapter eight. What does Jesus say? Does he say:
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and sacrifice for me? Nope, that’s not what he says.
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and then I’ll come to him? No, that’s not what he says either.
Rather, Jesus says:
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Mark 8:34).
Jesus says: I go first! Jesus says: I will demonstrate what it means to live sacrificially for the Father. I will show you how to live and how to suffer and how to die! Jesus says:
The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise (v. 31).
Jesus says, “Following me in this fallen, sinful world will entail suffering. However, if you follow me, then you will not merely suffer for me but with me.” Jesus is God who has entered into our sufferings and has suffered in our place! Jesus is God who is not far off and detached but God who is nearby and intimately connected to us, especially in our sufferings.
If the world first persecuted Jesus then why should we expect to have it differently? Jesus teaches us—through his own example—to count on persecution. Thus, he warns those who follow him:
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world…therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: “A servant is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you (John 15:18-20).
Today, I want to encourage those of you who are Christians to be hated for being a follower of Jesus—to be hated for being like Jesus. In fact, I pray that our entire church will be hated for such Christ-likeness!
Now notice that I’m saying we should be hated for being like Jesus. I’m not saying we should be hated for saying we’re like Jesus. What is the distinction between these two?
Some people say they’re like Jesus but act just like the non-believing world around them. In this case, you won’t be hated, and you won’t be like Jesus.
Other people say they’re like Jesus but act just like the Pharisees, like rule mongers and kill joys. In this case, you will be hated, but you still won’t be like Jesus
Jesus was so very different than these two options. He was holy and yet fun. He was righteous and yet approachable. He was an authority concerning the things of God, and yet he was accessible to the common people. He taught in synagogues, and he ate with sinners and tax collectors.
It is my prayer that we will be hated for being like this—for being like Jesus!
My sister-in-law just began an outreach ministry to strippers through her church. It entails that she and another young woman bring a regular meal to the dancers. Basically, they provide a blessing through the provision of food while praying and hoping for opportunities to share the love of Christ. They’re attempting to speak gospel righteousness graciously into a very dark situation!
Now this isn’t easy. In fact, they have been hated on for this. For example, on the first night they brought a meal, one of the bouncers asked them if they planned to serve up a side of guilt with the food. He basically accused them of being Pharisees even though nothing could have been further from the truth. They had come to bless and were being accused of the opposite.
For me, this is a prime example of being hated for being like Christ Jesus. And, it is my prayer that this congregation would be hated and persecuted for similar things—for things that make us look a lot like our Savior!
But, this will require change:
2. Living for God in a fallen world will entail reorientation (v. 32).
I think this is hinted at in the disciples’ response to Jesus’ teaching here. Look at how they respond to the idea of a suffering Christ:
But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him (v. 32).
You’ve no doubt heard the saying: There’s no such thing as a stupid question. This is true, but the saying is a bit misleading. There is most definitely such a thing as a stupid question! However, people will remain stupid unless they ask stupid questions. Therefore, stupid questions are good questions since they afford the opportunity to instruct and teach the one asking.
The disciples would have done well to ask all their stupid questions here! For they need an education; they need a reorientation.
They need—as Benjamin will show next week—to have their views of success redeemed. They need a reorientation or a repositioning in how they view God’s plans and purposes for his people. They need to be taught the good news. Then, they need to be reminded about the good news. Then, they will need to be helped to see the good news from another perspective. Then, they will need to have their misconceptions, concerning the good news, ironed out in fellowship with other believers.
In short, they constantly need to reorient themselves with a gospel compass! And, we do too! We need to reorient our propensity to pleasure seek or legislate morality with a gospel compass. We need to both teach and live out the good news!
