24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 16:24-25
Throughout this study we have observed together that the goal of discipleship is for the student/servant to be like the Teacher/Master. In Matt. 10:34-39 Jesus specifically stated that His followers would experience conflict and opposition just as He did throughout His earthly ministry. Although His disciples should expect that their experience of life would mirror that of His own, true discipleship is not merely about external realities. Rather, it is about our posture or attitude towards one’s own life. Perhaps the thing that makes Jesus so compelling to us is that He seems to live with vibrancy and purpose on the one hand, and yet seems to minimize the importance of the things of this world that we associate with identity and security (wealth, possessions, family etc.) To be Jesus’ disciple is therefore to follow after Him by sharing His love for God and disregard for ourselves and our lives.
Having delegated His authority to build His church to Peter and, by way of extension, the other Apostles because of their recognition of Him as Messiah (16:15-19), He then shared with them the fullness of what this would mean: He would be killed by the religious and political leaders in Jerusalem but would rise again on the third day (16:21). He then rebuked Peter for denying that this would be the case and then turned to set before the disciples the true cost of following Him.
Although they understood that hardship would be associated with following Him, they did not fully understand what would truly be required. He therefore spoke to them, saying that in order to be His followers, they must deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow Him, something He had previously told them in 10:38. This time, however, he further explains what this means as well as why it is, in the end, worth the cost. To truly follow Jesus means denying (renouncing/giving up the rights to) one’s own life because, in the end, it is not our life to begin with (16:24). Nothing in this life is worth trying to grasp or hold onto when the reality is that it will cost us eternity (16:25). Jesus then illustrates the seriousness of the matter, reminding the disciples that He is the Son of Man (predicted by the prophet Daniel) who will come to judge the living and the dead and will require an account from all (16:26). In light of this, the disciples must continue faithfully, renouncing their own claim on their lives and following after Him. He then concludes His instructions by telling them that some of them will see a preview of His coming glory, foreshadowing the events surrounding the Transfiguration that would follow soon after these things.
Jesus calls His people to deny themselves, but He also makes this possible through His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. It is possible for us to renounce ourselves and follow Jesus because when He died, our old self died with Him (Rom. 6:5) and we have been united with Him in His resurrection life (Rom. 6:11). By living in accord with these glorious truths, we show ourselves to be His followers and our lives begin to reflect that of His own!
Join us this Sunday as we come together to worship Jesus and to be reminded of the cost of following Him.
Soli Deo Gloria.
-Thomas