The Lord Jesus is certainly our triumphant
Messiah. He is the Sun of Righteousness that had risen with healing in His wings.
But here we are talking about the suffering Messiah. The Lord had just given
indication of His impending suffering and death. On this side of Calvary, it seems
easier for us to accept and embrace the suffering Messiah. But is it really that
easy? We shall see in verses 34-38
In these verses the Lord was calling His
disciples, and any would-be disciples and followers of His, to take up their
crosses. Here they were also given a glimpse of His impending cross. In these
verses, we followers of Christ sense a call to embrace Him in totality. It’s a
call for us to take up our crosses, as He had taken up His, and to follow Him. He
is calling for us to adopt the life that He had lived and modelled for us while
He was on earth.
He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the
whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his
soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this
adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when
He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy
angels.”
What is a
cross bearing life? Is it about the
trials, temptation and hardship we encounter? No, a cross bearing life is about
enduring and extending oneself in the difficult circumstances of
life for the sake of Christ. It is about putting up with the difficulties of living
for and being obedient to Christ. The point is about truly following Christ no
matter what the obstacle may be.
Not only are
we called to live a cross bearing life, we are called to live a life with this
paradox in mind. In verse 35, we are told that we have to lose in order to keep.
The world says the opposite. It tells us that we must assert to win. We are
taught to adopt the mind-set of - what’s in it for me. The call of the day is
to hoard, grasp, grab, and get a hold of things
for yourself, take care of yourself, trust yourself. You should be your major and
primary concern. But the call of Christ is to be prepared to lose everything
for His sake. Jim Elliot aptly summed it this way, “He is no fool to lose what
He cannot keep, to gain what He cannot lose.”
Furthermore, we need to consider verse 38, “If anyone is ashamed of
me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will
be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” To be accepted we need to unashamedly acknowledge Christ in our
life. When we do that He will acknowledge us as His own.
Let’s hold fast to the Christ-modelled life and exemplify it in our
daily living. Let’s bear our crosses and live like him. Let’s lose our lives
for him, for in losing we keep. Let’s confess His Lordship in all areas so that
He will also acknowledge and rejoice in us.
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and loses his soul?
What will a man give in exchange for His soul? These questions still beg our personal
responses.
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