Discipleship 101 – Mark 8:31-38

Jesus reveals the essentials of being His disciple. Are you a ‘solid-timber disciple’? or a ‘veneer disciple’? We must be prepared to pay the ultimate price and the daily price to be His disciple.

Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Typically, your first courses at University are 101 level courses. And so, the term ‘101’ attached to any topic has come to mean an introductory level of learning on that topic. So if I talked about cooking 101, that would mean the basics of cooking – pots and pans, simmering and boiling, temperature and ingredients, etc. Photography 101 would be about how get your subject to say ‘cheese’ .

Well, the passage before us today is DISCIPLESHIP 101. If you want to know the basics of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, here it is.
And it is good that we consider this matter because there are many today who call themselves disciples or Christians who are not. Let me illustrate what I mean.
To make a piece of furniture, you have two choices: you can use solid timber or you can use veneer. Veneer is when you take a thin slice of real timber, Rimu for instance, and you glue that to plain old customwood.
And the advantage of veneer is that it is much cheaper to use than solid timber. But because it has Rimu on the outside, you can still stain it and get that solid-timber look.
To many people then, the difference between solid timber furniture and veneer furniture is near on impossible to tell. The fact is though, that some timber that looks like solid-timber is actually just veneer.
And it is possible, likewise, to be a ‘veneer Christian.’ To give all the outward appearance of being the genuine article when it fact you are not.
You boys and girls will remember the story that Jesus told about the wise man and the foolish man? They looked the same; they both had houses. But the foolish man’s house was built on the sand, wasn’t it. So when the rains came down and the water rose up, that house was washed away. Well, that man was a ‘veneer Christian.’ But the man who built his house on the rock? He was a ‘solid-timber Christian’; a genuine disciple of Jesus.
So it is good for each one of us to hear these words of Jesus and to let them be a mirror by which we examine ourselves to see if we are ‘solid-timber’ or ‘veneer.’

In these verses then, JESUS CHRIST REVEALS HOW THE CROSS SHAPES OUR CONNECTION WITH HIM. And He does so with two shocking statements. The first is in v33 and the second is in v34. So let’s look at both of these in turn as we consider DISCIPLESHIP 101 ACCORDING TO JESUS.

And we look first of all look at the shocking statement of v33.

1. As we saw last week, Jesus has CORRECTED THE WRONG UNDERSTANDING of His disciples and many of the Jewish people of that time about what the Christ came to do. They thought that the Christ would establish an earthly kingdom using military power. But Jesus has revealed that He will establish a spiritual kingdom using ministry power. He must suffer and be rejected and be killed and then rise again. That is how He will make atonement for sin. And then, who Jesus is and what He has done is to be preached. And all who believe in Him become citizens of the kingdom. This is the way that the kingdom of Jesus Christ grows. So that was the message of what Jesus said in v31.

2. But as we come to v32, PETER IS NOT IMPRESSED by what Jesus has just said. Basically, he just doesn’t like it. He doesn’t want to hear Jesus talking about suffering and dying. Peter has an expectation of what Jesus came to do and what Jesus is saying does not measure up to that expectation. So Peter rebukes Jesus.
3. But Jesus, in turn, rebukes Peter. He says, “Get behind me, Satan!”
a. Now, we know that PETER IS NOT SATAN. We know that Peter was not deliberately trying to frustrate the plans of Jesus. He speaks from ignorance. And if anything, his words were motivated by love. As a fellow human being, He doesn’t want to see Jesus suffer. But the fact is that Satan was using Peter to try and tempt Jesus away from what He came to do.
i. There were 1000’s of Jews, like Peter, who would have gladly marched Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem and placed Him on the throne of David and given Him whatever He asked for and done whatever He asked of them.
ii. And the TEMPTATION for Jesus to forego the way of the suffering and rejection and the cross in favour of comfort and popularity and life was very strong.
iii. Perhaps you can remember a time when you had a huge test or exam in front of you. And the only way to pass the test was to put in hours of study. And then, someone tells you about this website that has the answers to the exam questions. It’s not strictly legal but no-one will ever know. And just 2 min’s on that website will save you hours of study.
iv. Well, the temptation to go the easy way of the website would be huge. And here, Jesus faced the temptation to go the easy way rather than way of suffering and the cross.
v. But just as He resisted the direct temptations of Satan at the beginning of His ministry, so Jesus resists the indirect temptations of Satan here, through Peter.
vi. And as those who desperately need what He did on the cross, thank God that He did!

b. But as Jesus continues, PETER IS THEN DIRECTLY REBUKED, together with his fellow Jews, for wanting a military deliverer on earth. That is what is meant as Jesus says, “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” God’s way is via the cross.

4. Now, before we move on from here, let us consider one implication of this interaction between Jesus and Peter. And that is that EVEN THE BEST OF SAINTS IS STILL A ‘MIXED BAG.’ As J.C. Ryle says in his commentary on Mark, There is a “strange mixture of grace and infirmity which may be found in the heart of a true Christian.”
a. Peter had just made a noble confession of Jesus as Christ and almost immediately he is rebuking Jesus for this talk of suffering and death.
i. So let us never think that we know everything and are incapable of mistakes. We see here that it is a small step from making a good confession to being a “Satan.”
A. So let us pray, regularly, that the Lord would teach us and keep us from temptation and error.
ii. But let us also be very generous towards others. Our brother or sister may make errors and mistakes, but let us not be in a hurry to write them off, as we are often prone to do. We may be right in judging what they have said or done as wrong. We may be partly right. But the Lord alone knows their heart.
iii. So let us be humble ourselves and generous towards others.

Well, having made that SHOCKING STATEMENT, Jesus then MAKES ANOTHER in v34. He says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” And in vv35-39, He goes on to explain what He means with the statement of v34.

And here we get to the very heart of discipleship 101 – A disciple of Jesus is one who denies himself, takes up his cross, and follows Jesus.

1. When we looked at v31, last week, we spent a lot of time drawing out the implications of the word “MUST” in that verse: “Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer…” We saw that the word there has to do with necessity. It was necessary that these things happen to Jesus. It was God’s will for these things to happen. They were the centre of His plan of salvation. They were what the scriptures prophesied. These things must happen.

2. Well, there is a little Greek word in v31 that directly translates as “must.” And though that word is not found in v34, the translators of our English versions have correctly used the word “must” here – “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself…” And this is so because of the force of the verbs – the doing words – in this verse. They have that same weight of necessity. We could just as easily paraphrase the verse in this way: Jesus said, If you would come after me, Thou shalt deny thyself, and Thou shalt take up thy cross, and thou shalt follow me. Do you recognize that language people of God? It’s commandment language. And the commandments of God are not optional! They must be obeyed. To be a disciple of Jesus, which is what it means to come after Jesus, thou shalt do these three things.

3. So let’s look at these three commands. And we can’t really separate them because they are intimately connected with each other:
a. So, you must DENY yourself. And the word ‘deny’ literally means “to forget oneself, to lose sight of oneself and one’s own interests.” It is the same word used to describe what Peter did, three times, on the night of Jesus’ arrest: Peter denied Jesus; he denied having any connection at all with Jesus – He didn’t know Him; He was not associated with Him.
i. Well, you are to deny yourself; you are to forget yourself; you are to lose sight of your own interests in favour of Jesus and His interests.

b. Now, what Jesus has in view here, especially, is MARTYRDOM.
i. And martyrdom, boys and girls, means being put to death for being a Christian. If someone is killed just because they believe in Jesus, we call them a martyr.
ii. And we know Jesus is especially talking about martyrdom here because of the mention of the cross – ‘He must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’ As Jesus spoke these words, the disciples already knew that crosses = death. But soon they would see this with Jesus and then remember these words and know that He was calling them to be ready to do as He had done. The disciple of Jesus must be willing to ‘take up [his] cross.’

iii. And this is plain from V35, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”
A. There can come a time in the life of a disciple of Jesus when you face the ultimate test of faith – deny Jesus and live or cling to Jesus and die.
1) We know it happened to Peter and to James and others of these disciples.
2) We know it has happened to countless numbers of Christian men and women and boys and girls ever since.
3) One book I would recommend you read sometime is Foxes Book of Martyrs. It is a collection of accounts about those who have been martyred from the time of Christ right up until the 19th century. And it is terrible to read but also inspirational at the same time.
B. Many have faced this choice: deny Jesus and live or cling to Jesus and be hung on a cross or burned or drowned or shot, etc.
C. And the ‘veneer Christian’ will deny Jesus; the ‘solid-timber Christian’ will not.
D. But as we see from v35, the ‘solid-timber Christian,’ who knowingly risks losing his life on earth, will afterwards enjoy life in heaven, while the ‘veneer Christian,’ who wants above all else to stay alive, will die and then be sent to hell.

iv. So WE HAVE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION JESUS ASKS HERE: brothers and sisters, young people and boys and girls, how about you? If ISIS militants were threatening you, today, with death if you refused to deny Jesus, how would you respond? It is happening to our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, right now. Are you a ‘solid-timber disciple’ of Jesus?

4. Now, I said earlier that Jesus especially has martyrdom in view. But not every disciple of Jesus faces martyrdom. And yet, every disciple of Jesus must deny himself and take up His cross and follow Jesus. And as we think about this, we are helped by LUKE 9:23 which is Luke’s parallel account of what are reading here in Mark. Just listen to how Luke records the words of Jesus: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” So there is an ultimate way to take up your cross but also a daily taking up of your cross. And we are helped to understand what this looks like by vv36-38. “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
a. I am, as you know, something of a ‘petrolhead.’ I like cars. And as I drive around, I am noticing more and more expensive and exotic cars on the road. And over summer, plenty of them have been towing big boats behind them or trailers with jetskis on them as they head off to the family crib by lake Wanaka or Lake Taupo, which is where I was, or wherever.
i. And that’s what its all about for many, isn’t it. A flasher car/boat/holiday house…
ii. But “what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
iii. And that last sentence puts the LUDICROUS PICTURE before us of someone rising from the grave and offering God the keys to a Ferrari or some gold bars in exchange for his soul. He is saying, God, I know I ignored you and was never a serious disciple of Jesus as I spent my whole life chasing ‘stuff’, but if I give you my 55inch UHDTV with a curved screen and built in wifi, can I have eternal life?
iv. Again, as J.C. Ryle says, “Of all unprofitable and foolish bargains that man can make, the worst is that of giving up his soul’s salvation for the sake of this present world.”
A. We read, earlier, from JEREMIAH 17. There the prophet told the people of Israel that God’s wrath was about to come upon them because they had ignored Him and followed after idols and the pleasures and treasures of this world.
B. Well, they didn’t know Jesus as you know Jesus.
C. But you can starve your soul, today, by ignoring the truth of God’s Word and refusing to believe in Jesus Christ.
D. You can poison your soul by believing the lies of false religion or ‘science’.
E. And you can murder your soul today by loving sin and clinging to the things of the world.

b. Now, maybe you are not one who is busy building up a mountain of treasures on earth. Perhaps you are relatively satisfied and content with what you have. But let us not ignore the expectation of Jesus that we would DENY OURSELVES for His sake and the gospel’s.
i. What does Christianity cost you? What have you and are you sacrificing? What load or burden are you gladly bearing for Christ? You see, the chorus of our time goes something like this: It’s not fair! I shouldn’t have to put up with this. I don’t deserve to be treated like that. I am unhappy. I don’t feel fulfilled. I am not appreciated. But that is not the way of ‘solid-timber discipleship.’ Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

5. But Jesus continues, “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.”
a. The solid-timber disciple of Jesus lets people see and hear that he believes and loves the doctrines of the Christ and desires to live according to His commandments. And he does this knowing that he will face ridicule and persecution. As Jesus says in John 15:20, “No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”
b. But whoever shrinks from this confession out of fear of ridicule and persecution is ashamed of Christ and will see Christ be ashamed of him when He returns.
c. And if you are like me, these words of Jesus are hard to hear. They expose my heart. Ask me to face ISIS and the threat of beheading if I do not deny Jesus, and I will welcome that blade. But ask me to speak of Christ, each day, knowing that people will laugh at me or throw it back in my face with anger, and I crumble at times. But this makes me a man-pleaser and not a Christ-pleaser; one who fears man more than he fears God.
d. Better that we a thousand times confess Christ now, and be despised my men, than to be disowned by Christ in the Day of Judgment.

6. And congregation, we cannot simply make ourselves feel better by washing all of this with the ‘SAVED BY GRACE ALONE’ BRUSH. You know, none of us is perfect and we are saved by grace alone and we have to be careful about legalism. So it’s OK. No. We have to feel the weight of these words of Jesus.
a. He is calling us here to active obedience. He is warning us that we can be self-deceived and eternity is at stake.
b. And this is not to help me judge you, this is to help me judge me. Do I deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Him? Am I ashamed of Christ and His words?
c. And I have to ask this of myself because, as many others have said by way of summarizing these verses, ‘If we will not carry the cross, we will not wear the crown.’

Now, if your soul is troubled by these words of Jesus, then let me point you to a part of our JEREMIAH reading from earlier. It says there, “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream … It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
At one time, Peter, who heard these words of Jesus, denied Him three times. But he confessed his sin, he trusted in the Lord, and he became more and more confident in Jesus.
Those who would follow Jesus need to fill their eyes and their mind with Jesus.
And those who follow Jesus pray, daily, for faith and courage to deny self, to take up their cross, and to confess Christ before men.
May the Lord give that faith and courage to us all. Amen.