To Follow Jesus

Jesus admonished his disciples: If anyone wishes to come after him, “Let him deny himself daily, take up his cross, and follow after me.” This is more than metaphorical or hyperbolic language. It was said at the very time the Nazarene was on his final journey to Jerusalem where he would demonstrate to one and all just what it meant to “deny yourself and take up the cross.” To borrow a phrase from the older Holiness Movement, Death to Self.

The historical context shows just how challenging his words were and remain to this day. At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus began to tell his disciples that he “MUST go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the Scribes, and be killed and raised up the third day.”

[Photo by Duncan Sanchez on Unsplash]

In his statement, the Greek term rendered “must” in English represents the verb dei, meaning, “it is necessary, ought, needful, obligatory, it must happen.” This points to his messianic mission. He was under Divine compulsion to walk into a situation that he knew would mean certain death - (Matthew 16:21-23).

Peter took great exception to his words. The very idea of a suffering Messiah was contrary to popular expectations, and no devout Jew could tolerate even the suggestion that the King of Israel might suffer death at the hands of his enemies. Adding to the offense was the idea that the machinations of the religious leaders of Israel would cause the execution of the Son of God.

Recognizing Satan’s hand in Peter’s words, Jesus rebuked him. “Get behind me, Satan!” The name “Satan” is derived from the Hebrew word for “adversary.” The Devil was using Peter to thwart the Son of God from following the path chosen for him by his Father.

Death by crucifixion was not what Jesus desired, but in the end, he submitted to it and “denied himself,” knowing it was the will of God for him to die for others (“Not my will, but yours be done!”).

It was at the point when the Devil attempted to steer him away from his mission that Jesus declared to the disciples - “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever would save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it” – (Matthew 16:24-25).

TAKING UP THE CROSS

An incorrect understanding of what it meant to be the Messiah will produce a misunderstanding of what it means to be his disciple. Just as God called His Son to a path of self-denial and suffering, so also the Messiah summons his disciples to follow his path. The call to take up the cross and follow the Nazarene is applicable to every would-be disciple.

This does not mean that every disciple must be persecuted or will endure martyrdom. But the use of the Roman cross to illustrate how one follows him would certainly have shocked his first-century audience where it was a repugnant image of suffering and shame. Moreover, nothing symbolized the irresistible power of Rome more than crucifixion.

Execution by crucifixion was a form of capital punishment inflicted on the lower classes, especially rebellious slaves, and political revolutionaries. Romans were so horrified by it that by law citizens of Rome were exempt from crucifixion (citizens guilty of capital crimes were beheaded).

Thus, to follow Jesus in THAT WAY meant submitting to something that was offensive to Jewish sensibilities and feared by Gentiles.

In the Greek text of Matthew, Jesus uses the present tense form of the verb rendered “follow” to stress an ongoing action. His exhortation is not just a call to pick up the cross once but to do so continuously. The version of his words in Luke emphasizes the point by adding the word “daily” – (Luke 9:23).

The image of a disciple taking up the cross each day would have struck a grim chord with his first-century Jewish audience since the Roman practice was to force the condemned man to carry the same cross on which he was to be hung to the place of execution.

Despite his explanation and the strong rebuke of Peter, the disciples did not yet comprehend what it meant to follow Jesus. Later, after the “sons of Zebedee” asked to sit on either side of Jesus “when you come in your kingdom,” he responded, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” Of course, they replied, “Yes,” though they had no idea what his words meant. As Jesus explained:

• “You know that the rulers of nations dominate them, and their great ones tyrannize them. But it will not be so among you. Whoever would become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever would be first among you shall be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

TRUE GREATNESS

Jesus used his own impending death to illustrate the point. The Greek term rendered “servant” referred to household servants who waited on tables, a lowly position most often assigned to a slave. Moreover, the Greek noun rendered “slave” means exactly that. Hence, the Messiah summoned his followers to serve others in ways viewed by the world as menial, even insulting. However, only in this way would they become “great” in his Kingdom.

His description of the “Son of Man” who gave his life as a “ransom for many” echoes the words in Isaiah describing Yahweh’s “Servant” who suffered for the sins of his people:

• “Because he poured out his soul unto death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors” – (Isaiah 53:12).

Following Jesus means humility, self-denial, and self-sacrificial service to others. For his disciple, this is not optional. As he warned, the one who “does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. And he that finds his life shall lose it, but he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.” That is what it means to follow “the Lamb wherever he goes.”

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