1The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2But he answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3In the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can’t discern the signs of the times! 4An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
He left them and departed. 5The disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread. 6Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7They reasoned among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.”
8Jesus, perceiving it, said, “Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, because you have brought no bread? 9Don’t you yet perceive or remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up, 10or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? 11How is it that you don’t perceive that I didn’t speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
12Then they understood that he didn’t tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” 20Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
21From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you.”
23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? 27For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds. 28Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste of death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it.26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?
Much has been written about this declaration of Jesus. It sounds like such a strange thing to “take up one’s cross.” But what could it mean? Must we go looking for it to pick it up? Some have interpreted it to mean that works are needed for salvation. This is not speaking to salvation. This is speaking to discipleship. You see, salvation is the free gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9). Yes, salvation is free, BUT discipleship is costly. It is what comes after knowing Jesus. After salvation (when a person puts his or her faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord), the believer begins a lifelong process of becoming more Christlike. This is sometimes called the process of “sanctification”. Because when you came to faith, even while you are made into a new creation, the old sin nature still resides within you. If you don’t like that nomenclature, you might think of it merely as those fleshly responses you used in your “before Jesus” life to fill your three basic needs: 1) To be loved and accepted, 2) To have value and worth, and 3) To fit in, or have an identity. Those needs are embedded in the soul of every man and woman who is born.
The process of sanctification entails allowing the Holy Spirit to have increasing rule in one’s life. This is allowing the Lord to take first place while placing self, that old sin nature, the “old man” in second place. Jesus calls us to “deny” our own self, our fleshly appetites and attitudes, and to let them be crucified in Him. With self out of the way, we are free to follow. It doesn’t always mean that we are to suffer because of our faith, but the reality is that we will. Scripture tells us that we, too, share in some of the suffering Jesus experienced. This flies in the face of the “health and wealth” preachers who teach nothing but that a bed of roses awaits the believer. That is a canard. It is a primrose path. Suffering will come, so you don’t need to go looking for it.
Are there parts of your life and your attitudes that need some crucifying? Give them to Jesus. Ask Him to take them and to deal with them. He will. He is faithful. He will displace your agenda with His own. As you lose your own life (your own agenda and priorities), you will gain everything else. If you try to hang on to your own life, you’ll just end up losing it all. It is a paradox presented to each and every believer. You must lay down your worries to take up His peace. You must lay down your hurts to experience His healing. You must lay down yourself to experience all that He wants, desires, and has planned for you. Reader, if you’ve been following your own agenda and doing life on your own, simply confess that to Him and ask Him to set you back on the right course. He will do it, and your life will steadily become more and more abundant in ways you had not imagined. He came so that you and I might have an “abundant” life. 10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. (John 10:10 WEB)