The Way of the Cross: Deny, Take Up, Follow

You have got to deny yourself. To deny yourself doesn't mean we hate ourselves, save hatred for its own sake. Now this language talks about somebody renouncing their claim to authority in their life. You are not in charge. And if you are in charge in your life, you do not belong to Jesus. It's a hard thing for me to look out and say. But if you're in charge, you are not following in the way of Jesus. [01:18:07] (31 seconds)  #DenyYourself

But what Jesus teaches his followers, and by by way, he teaches us, suffering is not a byproduct of the plan of God. I get it. Right? The world is not as it should be. But what I am saying to us this morning and what Jesus, I believe, is revealing to us is suffering is central to redemption. It is central to the plans of God. And maybe you find that, like, off putting or maybe you find hope in that this morning. [01:01:18] (32 seconds)  #SufferingIsRedemption

We prefer comfort over sacrifice. We prefer glory over suffering. We prefer power over surrender. Why Matthew chapter four? Because what the devil was doing early on was like, you can have the glory without the suffering. And so when Peter comes in again and he says, no. No suffering for my savior. No suffering for my Jesus. This can't be the way. [01:13:15] (25 seconds)  #ComfortVsCross

You gain the person you are always meant to be. You you gain the person God dreamt you could be. And that principle is all throughout scripture as well. Death precedes resurrection. Surrender precedes glory. The imagery in John chapter 12 reflects this, and we'll we'll close after this. John says or John quotes, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. The kingdom advances through what looks like a loss. [01:23:04] (36 seconds)  #DeathThenLife

When he comes in the glory of his father with the holy angels, the suffering son of man will also be the returning king. The cross, therefore, is never the end of the story. And so it is with suffering in your life. It's not the end. So maybe the best thing that we can do is stop trying to avoid it and start trying to cooperate with our heavenly father who is up to something in our lives even when we're walking through the valley of the shadow where the hits just seem to keep on coming. [01:25:56] (41 seconds)  #CooperateWithGod

So Peter's rebuke feels shocking. Like, it it feels like the great scandal of the chapter to us until we realize how often we do the exact same thing. And we never may never pull Jesus aside and openly correct him, but we constantly attempt to reshape him into the kind of Messiah that we would prefer. We wanted Jesus just like Peter did, who would defeat our enemies but avoid suffering. [01:07:56] (35 seconds)  #StopShapingJesus

Christianity is fundamentally relational. Jesus doesn't say adopt these principles. He doesn't say affirm these doctrines, which is what we do. Right? Can you affirm these doctrines? Can you adopt these principles? He doesn't even say imitate these ethics. He says, follow me. Listen. I love I I this is my this is my favorite. Jesus because you see this principle all throughout scripture. [01:20:19] (25 seconds)  #ChristianityIsRelational

You may have medals and awards and trophies and all of those things, and you can do all of those things and still lose what matters the very most. Jesus says, whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation echoing the entire Old Testament, Jesus presents a stark contrast. Will we identify with him now or we will shrink back from him because we want what the generation offers, what the world has for us. [01:24:42] (35 seconds)  #StandWithJesus