Following Jesus (part 1)
“Not what I expected.”
When life doesn’t go as expected it often leads to disappointment, discouragement, anxiety, frustration, and at times giving up. Do your expectations of what it means to follow Jesus match up with Jesus’ expectations? Do your expectations of who Jesus is line up with who He really is?
Living Hope desires to be a local church full of disciples of Jesus who are making disciples of Jesus. To be a disciple of Jesus means you are following Jesus for the purpose of becoming like Jesus. Do you think it’s wise to know who someone is before you give your life to follow them? Does it seem smart to understand what someone means when they say, “Follow me”, before you commit to following them? Who is Jesus? What are your expectations for Jesus? What does follow Jesus mean? What are you committing to when you say, “I’ll follow Jesus?” I believe these questions are important for all of us, whether you’re someone who is seeking and curious about Jesus or if you’re a mature disciple making Christian; we all need to evaluate who we think Jesus is and what it means to be His disciple.
Mark 8:22-26
- This man’s physical sight was restored in two stages a very unique miracle in the stories of Jesus.
- Very plainly this man goes from not being able to see at all, to being able to see in part, to being able to see perfectly.
- And we know this story is symbolic of spiritual sight because earlier in the chapter, Jesus used the same language to talk about how His disciples were spiritually blind.
- Mark 8:18 – Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?
Mark 8:27-30
Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” If they are going to follow Jesus, be His disciples, which means, become like Him, go where He goes, talk like He talks, His mission becomes their mission; than they better know who He really is. Their expectation of who He is needs to be accurate.
Jesus is teaching them, training them, to become His disciples and a very big part of that is helping them grow in their understanding of who He is and what it means to follow Him. As we make disciples, we also need to be doing this, first we need to know who He is and what it means to follow Him but also, we must be training and teaching others who Jesus really is and what it means to follow Him.
Peter answers Jesus, “You are the Christ.” If you were to stop at this point you would think they got it right, Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. But let’s keep reading.
Mark 8:31-33
So apparently, Peter, and the disciples didn’t get it. They had confessed Jesus as the Christ, but their understanding of what that means was still unclear. Kind of like a blind man who could see in part, but still needed to see more clearly. Who did the disciples want Jesus to be, who did they think the Messiah was, what were their expectations?
Jewish people were longing for a political Messiah who would deliver Jerusalem and Israel from the Gentiles, specifically the Romans at this time, and make their nation great. They wanted someone who would give them power, who would overthrow their oppressors with military might. They wanted someone who would make them prosperous, who would restore their wealth and comfort and prosperity in their lives and their families and their nation. But their site was what? It was inaccurate. It was incomplete. But lest we be too hard on them let’s just pause and ask the question, “Is it possible for us to want the same things?”
Their expectation for the Messiah was an earthly ruler but Jesus is telling them He is going to die. And this was unthinkable to Jewish disciples, a Messiah who will suffer and be killed. That’s the exact opposite of what they had in their minds when they thought of the Christ. This is why Peter had the audacity to pull Jesus aside and rebuke Him. The word there for rebuke is the same word in other parts of Mark when demons are silenced. Peter is trying to shut Jesus up. He’s ruining Peters plans.
Jesus looks at Peter and He says, “Get behind me Satan.” To look to Jesus, as one who will save your nation politically, give you power, make you prosperous, draw the crowds while demanding nothing from your lives. That picture of Jesus comes straight from hell. And the danger is it’s appealing to us just like it was to them.
But Jesus came to give them something better than all of that. And He came to give you and me something better than all of this.
Mark 8:34-38
- In these verses Jesus is telling us what He means when He invites us to follow Him.
To Follow Jesus means you die so you can live.
He’s not just talking about how He must die. He’s talking about how anyone who follows Him must die. Jesus is saying you cannot follow Me and hold on to your life. There’s a whole Christian culture that says you can have Christ and your life as you want it. But it’s not true. That’s not Christianity. That’s a false message that revolves around a false Messiah. Jesus says it’s either your life or My life. Which do you choose? Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
It means you choose the suffering that comes with obedience over the comfort that comes with disobedience.
Jesus was calling them to choose the temporary suffering that comes with obedience over the temporary comfort that comes with disobedience. Not to seek out suffering but to understand and be willing to obey even when it leads to suffering. Following Jesus means moving in obedience, not staying in disobedience.
It means you gladly renounce prosperity and applause in this world for prosperity and applause in the world to come.
Jesus says, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world?” That’s a lot, to have it all, the whole world. You can have it all, only to realize that none of these things will last, none of them will. Jesus is lovingly saying to you right now, “I came to give you real life. Not in the prosperity and applause of this world. None of that will last. I came to give you life that will never end and will never fade. It will never ever let you down. John Piper said in a sermon on this text, “Who’s the real lover of life here? Jesus is pleading with you don’t throw your life away. Follow me. Don’t believe the lie that 80 years of human praise and physical pleasures are better than 8 million ages of years with fullness of joy and uninterrupted undiminished unparalleled pleasures at the right hand of God. Just be smart.”
Living Hope Ministries 