UNEXPECTED CROSSES

~ Mark 8:34-35; 9:33-37; 10:35-45; 15:21 ~

"Something good is going to happen to you" proclaimed a television evangelist. Earlier in a sermon, he joyfully announced that "Christianity is the best deal a person ever had." Before his sermon, he had interviewed a man who was introduced as a "new Christian".

"John, tell us what happened when God came into your life," he said. John told how his once failing business had been turned into a great financial success. He had a beautiful home. His marriage was happier. His children were better behaved and healthy and "I have a smile on my face all the time". All of this came, he said, when "God came into my life."

Without a doubt, good things can indeed happen to us when we follow Jesus. The improved lives of countless people are testimony to how God can help us. But what is the main point of discipleship? Ought we to proclaim the gospel so that we imply "Come to Jesus and all your problems will be solved and everything will be made right in your life"? Is that the message of Christ?

Let's be honest. We are selfish. We want all our aches and pains to be cured. We want a life that is immune from heartache, pain, and struggle. We're looking for rewards from our religion, not responsibilities; a cushion, not a cross. If we had a choice, most of us would rather have servants than be a servant!

The trouble is, the one we follow walked up a narrow way, a way which led through suffering, rejection, and death, a way up a hill called Calvary. Are we to expect our faith in him to shield us from the same cross? The true test of our discipleship is found not in the easy times when all is going well, but in the hard times when the world is caving in on us.

WHO WILL BE THE GREATEST?

Jesus and His disciples are on the road. When they get to where they are going Jesus asks them, in effect, "What was all the fuss about back there on the road?"

And the disciples are silent. They are silent because they are ashamed. They have been discussing who should be the greatest in the kingdom. Who shall sit on the cabinet when we get Jesus elected as Messiah? Who shall receive the greatest glory, the greatest rewards? After all, isn't that what discipleship is all about?

No, says Jesus, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all" (Mk. 9:35). Here is an odd kingdom, a kingdom not of crowns, kings, pomp, and circumstance, but of the poor, the children, the little ones, the least and the last. He puts a child in the midst of them as an illustration of what he is talking about for who is more helpless, weaker, and more vulnerable than a child (9:36-37)?

ARE YOU ABLE TO DRINK THE CUP?

James and John want Jesus to do something spectacular for them: "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory," (10:37). Is this too much to ask? They have left everything and followed Jesus! Jesus asks them, "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" (10:38). Do you know what he means by the "cup" and the "baptism"? He is talking about His cross. Once again, the content of discipleship is determined by the cross (8:34).

There are two difficult words in verse 34, "deny" and "cross". These words were important in Jesus' life and teaching, although they may be offensive to would-be followers. This self-chosen way of Jesus of self-denial and cross-bearing was God's will for Jesus and thus also for Jesus' followers.            

As might be expected, the other ten were upset and angry. Jesus had to start again. He called them together and told them that the Gentiles enjoy lordship and exercise of authority. In verse 43 Jesus said, "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant." This statement transforms the traditional notion of greatness. Greatness is measured not in terms of the number of our servants, but in terms of the quality and extent of our service.

What does it mean to take up the cross? Jesus does not necessarily mean that we are to bear some condition that befalls us in life, such as a physical or emotional infirmity. These circumstances may cause us pain, but they are not necessarily the "cross" of which he speaks here.

Rather, the "cross" is something that we willingly take up as a result of being Disciples of Christ. Jesus could have refused to take up His cross. He could have chosen to be successful by the world's standards of success. He could have raised an army and waged war against the Roman occupational forces. He could have become a miracle worker, a great lecturer in Hillel's school of theology, and used his powers to achieve glory and prestige.

But He willingly chose another way. He chose to be obedient to God's will for his life. He chose to drink the cup of death. He chose to be thrust under the waters of suffering and death on the cross. Thereby He pointed the way for us.

We are always in danger of getting the wrong idea about the Christian faith. It is so easy to assume that the point of being a Christian is to accept Christ so that everything will work out for the best for us. But to accept Christ also means to accept the cross.

Jesus notes that the Gentiles lord over one another, and worship power and glory (10:43-44).  Jesus is our example of leadership. He "came not to be served but to serve, to give His life as a ransom for many" (10:45). What does this say to us about leadership in the church? All Christian work is service, not privilege or prestige. In the church, everyone is a minister, that is, everyone is a servant of others.

THE UNEXPECTED CROSSES

Mark 8:34 is the most descriptive statement in the Bible regarding the nature of discipleship. Each committed Christian has a cross given to him. It is a mistake to call all our suffering a cross. Even the wicked have sorrows, but they have no crosses. Our cross is that suffering that results from our faithful identification with Christ, our Christian duty.

In Mark 15:21 we are told about Simon of Cyrene and what happened to him. He was not expecting anything like this to happen to him on this day. But we see that he was never the same after this experience, it changed his life forever. Cross-bearing will change you!

WHAT IS THE CROSS?

To take up our cross does not necessarily mean that we are to bear some condition that befalls us in life, such as a physical or emotional infirmity. These circumstances may cause us pain, but they are not necessarily the “cross” of which Jesus is speaking about.

The cross is the emblem of all suffering and sacrifice for the cause of Christ and His work. It is something we take up voluntarily; accept it, not merely endure what is laid upon us. This is what changes the cross into a blessing. Jesus could have refused to take up His cross. He could have chosen to be successful by the world’s standards of success. He could have raised an army and waged war against the Romans. He could have become a miracle worker, a great lecturer, and used His powers to achieve glory and prestige, but He chose the cross! The cross is doing our duty, being faithful to God and His cause.

THE CROSS IS A TEST

It tests us to see whether we are disciples in deed and in truth, or only seekers after the loaves and fishes. Cross-bearing is trying, laborious, sorrowful, humiliating, and inevitable to the follower of Jesus. The cross is not optional for the true believer who wants to do the will of God. The person who attempts to live this life doesn’t have to go looking for a cross to bear; it will come, and when it comes, you will have to decide whether to take it or reject it.      

WHAT IS MY CROSS?

It may be the giving up of certain pleasures. It may be the endurance of reproach and unkindness or remaining in poverty and obscurity for the good of others. Someone else gets all the glory, but you did the work. It may be the suffering of losses and persecution for Christ’s sake. It includes the endurance of God’s will with patience and thanksgiving.