I am all for truth in advertising but sometimes I cannot help but wonder if some of these companies aren’t sharing a little too much truth. Take for example the commercial for a popular prescription sleep aid. A soothing voice tells you the drug might deliver you to "the land of restful sleep"... or, alternatively, that you might end up driving your car in a foggy sleep, feel suicidal, or experience an allergic reaction that leads to fatal throat swelling. Or how about the commercial for the little blue pill. An elderly gentleman secures a prescription and promptly whisks his wife away to a tropical island for a romantic getaway. As the lovebirds walk hand in hand to their cabana the narrator mentions that the little blue pill might also cause you to go blind, lose your hearing, and forget who you are. Finally, there is a carton commercial for a drug used to treat acne. Though this drug promises give you a clear complexation so that you can get back out on the dating scene you will want to be careful where you go on your date because this acne drug can cause “teeth discoloration”, “vomiting”, “flatulence and explosive diarrhea”. I am all for truth in advertising but sometimes I cannot help but wonder if it these companies are sharing too much information. If it were not for the FDA, I am sure these companies would rather not share these less than desirable side effects of their products. Telling people about fatal throat swelling, memory loss, and explosive diarrhea cannot be good for business.
The disciples were concerned that Jesus was sharing too much information, the kind of information that was bad for business. Peter had just correctly identified Jesus as the Christ, the son of the living God. In their minds it was time to start gathering support for the movement that would usher in the reign of the Christ. Now was the time for them to be talking to people about how much better their lives were going to be with Christ as their king; how He was going to overthrow the Romans, reunite the children of Israel, and make them a prosperous people like they were in the good old days. But instead, Jesus began to tell people “31… that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed.” Now, we cannot know for certain how graphic Jesus was with His description. But Mark tells us Jesus “spoke plainly about this” to his disciples. So, I don’t see any reason why Jesus would not have made a reference to Isaiah 53 to explain that as the Christ He was going to be stricken, smitten, and afflicted before He was pierced, crushed and punished for our iniquities. Talk about some undesirable side effects! There aren’t many things worse than explosive diarrhea but being tortured to death is definitely one of them.
You certainly don’t get the impression that Jesus tried to sugar coat what it meant for Him to be the Christ. If anything, at least as far as Peter was concerned, Jesus’ description could use a little sugar. Peter didn’t think Jesus needed to be sharing this kind of information with people, so Peter takes Jesus “32… aside and began to rebuke Him.” Let me pause for a moment to give you a better idea what Peter did here. The simple definition of the word “rebuke” is “to express strong disapproval of someone”. But when I took a closer look at the word “rebuke” I found it interesting that a couple commentators mentioned that in the Old and New Testaments this sort of rebuking was a “prerogative of God”; meaning only God should do this kind of rebuking. Yet Peter takes this prerogative and attempts to put Jesus in His place. However, it is not Jesus, but Peter who needs to be put in his place. “33… Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus said to Peter. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
To say Peter has overstepped is a bit of an understatement, but no more so than you or I have done and still do. A huge part of the reason why Peter did not want Jesus to talk about suffering is because Peter loved Jesus and he did not want to believe that his friend would have to suffer so badly. I, on the other hand, don’t have a problem with it, and I am guessing you don’t either. Not that we are happy that Jesus had to suffer but we understand that His suffering secured our salvation. Jesus Himself said, “31… the Son of Man MUST suffer”. We don’t have a problem with Jesus’ suffering for our salvation, our problem is we don’t want to share in His suffering.
It’s not that we don’t expect to suffer a little. We do not foolishly buy into a prosperity gospel that equates following Christ to big houses, fast cars, and fancy clothes. This isn’t World Changers Ministries, and I’m not Creflo Dollar. We understand we live in a sinful world and as a result we expect that everyone is going to suffer because of it. We know the bible passages; we know about how creation groans under the curse of sin[1], we know we live in a world that is becoming increasingly wicked as the love of most grows cold,[2] we expect that there will be times when we will be called upon to turn the other cheek.[3] Jesus Himself promised, “in this world you will have trouble.”[4] We expect to suffer a little it’s just we don’t expect that we too will have to carry a cross.
Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” If you want to be one who follows the Christ; if you want to be a Christian, then you must carry a cross; you must deny yourself. Notice this is not a suffering that comes from the hands of others, this is a suffering that you bring upon yourself. Carrying a cross for Christ means denying yourself.
This is a heavy cross to carrying for the young, especially young people from a western culture like ours where they have been taught that everyone has a right to be happy. Many young are tempted to seek happiness from the chemical stimulants found in drugs and alcohol or by indulging the biological urges brought on by the hormones that rage within. Further, many young people assume that happiness can only be found when they are free from rules and regulations placed upon them by others; they completely buy into the philosophy of the Beastie Boy that says, “You gotta fight, for your right, to party”. Young people are vulnerable to the sin of self-gratification which is ultimately the sin of idolatry that leads them to believe that happiness can only be found in the unrestricted service of self. It is not easy for a young person to deny their desires, but to the young Jesus says, “35… whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Pick up your cross and follow me.
I would like to tell the young people here today that as they get older it gets easier to deny yourself, but the truth is, if anything, the cross seems to get even heavier as you get older. As you get older the desires of youth are replaced by ambitions of adulthood. There is admittedly an element of arrogance that craves the admiration of others, but most of us are more ambitious than that. It is our ambition to provide our children with a better life and better education than we had when we were children. It is our ambition to build up enough wealth so that when we are in our golden years, we don’t have to burden our children, or worse, depend on the state to take care of us. Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting to take care of your children and there is nothing wrong with planning for the future, but it is incredibly easy for our ambition to screw with our priorities. Before you know it, we are so ambitious about the better life that we start to neglect the eternal life; we are so ambitious to build wealth that we neglect our heavenly inheritance. It is not easy for an adult to deny their ambitions, but to the adult Jesus says, “36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Pick up your cross and follow me.
I want to believe that it gets easier to deny yourself as you become a mature adult, but I have talked to too many old timers who have assured me, it does not. You see, as you age, the desires of youth that were replaced by the ambitions of the adult mutate into the resentments of the elderly. When one is in the prime of their life it is easy to feel relevant. At work people depend on you to get the job done. At home your children look to you for answers and advice. In your community your opinion matters. But when you retire and are quickly replaced, when your children are grown and start telling you what to do, when nobody seems to care what you have to say that’s when resentment starts knocking at the door. And if your diminished relevance won’t let it in then your vanishing dignity will. Physical tasks that were once easily accomplished become increasingly taxing. Your mind that was entrusted with vast amounts of information can no longer be counted on to keep track of your keys. Your own body betrays you as each additional infirmity forces you to sacrifice modesty. I imagine this is what makes old men grumpy and old women cranky. I imagine it is tempting to resent people for treating you with less honor and respect than you feel you deserve. I imagine it is even tempting to resent God for allowing you to become one of the weak and lowly. It is not easy for the elderly to deny their resentments, but to the elderly Jesus says, “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.” Pick up your cross and follow me.
There certainly is no sugar coating it, being a follower of Christ means denying your desires, it means denying your ambitions, and it means denying your resentments, it means denying yourself and carrying a cross. Personally, I have only made it through and into two out of the three stages of life I mentioned this morning and already I can tell you I have set aside my cross more times than I care to count. If you are guilty of doing the same, then maybe go back through this account one more time and notice that Jesus never put down His cross. Even when Peter thought Jesus was sharing too much information and tried to discourage Jesus from discussing such unpleasantries, Jesus would not put down the cross. Jesus denied the desires of His flesh, He denied all worldly ambitions, and He denied the resentments of life. Then after perfectly carrying this cross in our place Jesus allowed Himself to be carried by another cross. On that cross Jesus suffered for our sinful desires, He shed His blood for our sinful ambitions, and He gave up His breath for our sinful resentments. Out of appreciation for the cross that Jesus held up and hung from, let us now recommit to denying ourselves taking up our cross and following Him. God, give us the strength to carry our cross. Amen
[1] Romans 8:19-23
[2] Matthew 24:4-12
[3] Matthew 5:38-42
[4] John 16:33