Mark 8:34 “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.”
As we consider this passage it comes in the context of a great confrontation. Jesus has just been tempted by the subtleties of Satan who has influenced Peter to try to dissuade Jesus from His conviction that He will die on the cross. Satan’s voice has been silenced through Jesus’ rebuke of Peter and now Jesus invests in expanding the call of the cross to new dimensions of impact and implication. Calling the crowds who followed Him to join the disciples as they all gather close for a time of teaching Jesus reverses the damage caused by Peter’s words and then continues with the message that He was bringing to the disciples at the time of Peter’s interruption. Jesus was telling those gathered that He would soon die on the cross at the hands of the Romans. It was this message that provoked the demonically inspired reaction of Peter. But Jesus now includes every one of His followers in this call to the cross. As He addresses this gathering of curious listeners He calls them to three decisions that must be in the foundation of every person who determines that they will be a disciple of Christ.
This passage, more than almost any other, identifies the reality that the calling of the Christian life is a costly calling. As Jesus introduces this new teaching to the ears of His disciples it is quickly clear that the decision to embrace sacrificial suffering is not limited to Jesus alone. Yes Jesus will die for the sins of all men and no one else could ever provide that precious gift. But there is something else included in the life of the believer. Mark 8:34 makes it overwhelmingly clear that ever man and woman of God is included in the calling to suffer for the sake of expanding the impact of the good news of Jesus Christ.
The three requirements of the Christian life presented in this passage are both clear and costly. The first standard that Jesus now raises for every follower to embrace is the calling to embrace a life of self-denial. From the moment that we give our lives to Jesus in exchange for the free gift of salvation we choose a life of willing surrender. Jesus calls every saint to deny himself. This message cannot be any more direct. To follow Christ is to lay down your own life, your own will, your own desires, in exchange for His!
The second calling of the true Christian is just is even more costly than the decision to deny our selves. It makes it clear that to be a Christian is not simply about self-restraint. Our goal is not just to be accountable for what we resist. Our goal is the reality of what we embrace. In Mark 8:34 Jesus calls every believer to take up the cross! What can this mean to us in our generation? Most Christians will never be asked to die a painful death for the glory of Christ, so what is the implication of this principle. Paul brings light to the impact of these words upon the life of the believer through some of His commentary throughout His writings. In 1 Cor 15:30-32 Paul speaks of his own costly embrace of this cross, “And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I die every day-I mean that, brothers-just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained?” To die daily is to take up the cross. To take up the cross is to live a life as if it is not your own. In fact that is exactly the concept that Paul is presenting to the people 1 Cor 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” To be a true disciple is to accept this fact that we are not our own, but have been bought with a price and to accept the responsibility that comes with belonging to another… to “honor God” with everything that we do. This is the second standard of Christ. From the moment that we embrace Him, we embrace His cross in how it affects our lifestyle and our daily choices.
The third standard to be raised invades upon our destiny like no other. A man with a free will can chose to come and go as he pleases. A man with personal independence makes his plans according to his own desire, and spends his time and money as he pleases. The third standard of Christ calls the disciple to lay these things down at the foot of the cross and follow. The believer does not lose their free will. Instead they voluntarily yoke their free will to the will of another. We do not give up the right to choose. Rather we choose to do Christ’s will and not our own! When the call to follow comes it must be yielded to, obeyed, embraced, regardless of the cost or the cross that comes with it!
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