Glorifying Jesus Through Costly Discipleship
By Stephen Venable
I. Glorifying Jesus by following Him in truth
…saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? Lk 9:22-25
Our goal is to examine the meaning of the passage and the heart of discipleship that Jesus is trying to convey through four key phrases from this text: “come after Me”, “let him deny himself”, “take up his cross daily”, and “for My sake.”
A. COME AFTER ME
He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me…
1. Remembering the Person Talking
When we continue reading and hear the intensity of what Jesus beckons us to, we must keep in mind Who it is that says these words. Jesus is so devastatingly severe, but He is the kindest Man you will ever know – full of love, desire, and gladness. Thus, we can and must know that there is nothing harsh or angry in His commands toward His people.
2. The Invitation to Imitation: Discipleship is Conformity to a Person
a. The context of Jesus’ summons for His disciples to deny themselves, to die daily, and to lose their life is His own sober declaration that rejection, persecution, and death was His own path. Verses 23-26 cannot be separate from verse 21-22.
b. To be His disciple (to be a Christian) is not an abstract lifestyle – it is to be like Him. While this includes many things, the focus of this passage is on following Jesus on the path of sacrifice, loss, and death.
By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. I John 2:6
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps. I Peter 2:21
My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you… Gal 4:19
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh… Romans 13:14
c. The single, greatest crisis that stands before the Church is that the belief and practice of what is called Christianity is drifting further and further from the identity, the teaching, the life, and the work of Jesus Christ.
d. Related to discipleship, it is becoming normal for a lifestyle to be championed and endorsed that does not conform to Jesus’ example, does not agree with His teaching, and that does not bring Him glory.
e. At the judgment seat there is only one standard of righteousness and one version of Christianity that God will endorse and approve of: that which is built on the foundation of Christ and Him crucified – a life that mirrors and magnifies Jesus.
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (I Cor 2:2 – Christ and Him crucified) 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day (the Day of the LORD) will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. I Corinthians 3:11-13
B. DENY YOURSELF
If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself...
1. The Most Fundamental Question of our Existence
With these words Jesus has something far deeper in view than merely abstaining from things we like. He is speaking to the most fundamental questions of our existence: why were we created? why are we breathing right now? why did we wake up this morning?
a. The foundation of reality from the biblical perspective is that all things exist for the glory of God. Sinful man exists entirely for himself rather than God. This is the root of all depravity and wickedness. Our culture is potently narcissistic (self-absorbed & self-consumed).
b. Through these words, Jesus is calling for a complete reorientation of our entire existence. In order to be in relationship with Him, one must completely renounce all self-service and deny (or lose) their very life itself and instead exist for His sake.
Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:26-27
c. What Jesus demands is love so consuming and allegiance so fierce that all things are brought into submission and made subservient to the singular cause of the glorification of Another.
d. It is a radical, violent renunciation of self-affirmation, self-promotion, self-ambition, self-preservation, and self-gratification for the sake of love for Jesus and the renown of His name. Stated positively, it is a passion for His glory that consumes all other motivations and pursuits, such that all things in our life serve Him rather than ourselves.
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. I Cor 10:31
2. Denying Self-Denial
a. We must be keenly aware that the way the Christian life is often presented in our day militates against actual adherence to Jesus’ words. Instead of calling us to deny ourselves, Jesus is almost always presented as the one who affirms ourselves.
b. His virtue is often extolled precisely only through the benefits He will bring to us. Some groups emphasize the forgiveness of our sins, some emphasize the size of our bank accounts, some the quality of our marriage, some the healing of our body, some revival, some the emotional satisfaction of our soul, and some the morality of our society.
c. Some of these emphases are biblical ideas and some are not. Yet the motivation of the messages still largely flows from the same spring of narcissism. In all of them, Jesus is seen as the means to whatever we imagine will bring human well-being and fulfillment.
d. In our hearts we believe that God exists for us rather than us existing for Him. Whereas the gifts of God, which are too bountiful to number, exist to lead us into the exaltation of the Giver, we have instead come to believe that the Giver exists to bestow the gifts.
e. Instead of denial of self for His sake we have created, marketed, and preached a message of Jesus existing for affirmation of self for our sake. This is the systemic problem we face when we try to grapple with these words and their meaning.
f. Rather than the Cross being presented as our path to follow for His sake, it is presented as the path He walked in order to secure pleasure and leisure for our sake. This is insanity.
C. TAKE UP YOUR CROSS DAILY
…let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
1. Meaning
a. When seen in its ancient context, this phrase has only one possible meaning. This meaning has different applications, but there is no question what Jesus was referring to.
b. The only time someone would actually carry their cross in the ancient Roman empire was after they had been sentenced/condemned to death. From wherever the sentencing occurred, they would carry the crossbeam to place of their execution – just as Jesus did.
c. For those who follow Jesus, every day is supposed to be a death-march. It is clear from the New Testament that the apostles understood Jesus’ command in all of its sober literalness. Paul directly refers to these words from Jesus at least five times in describing his own life:
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. II Cor 4:7-11
9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death…10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! 11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless…We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you… 16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me. 1 Corinthians 4:9-16
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” Romans 8:35-36
Why are we also in danger every hour? 31 I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. I Corinthians 15:30-31
d. Paul experienced “needs”, “distresses”, “stripes”, “imprisonments”, “tumults”, “labors”, “sleeplessness”, “many tribulations”, “chains”, “hunger and thirst”, “nakedness” and said he was “poorly clothed”, “beaten”, “homeless”, “defamed”, “reviled”, “struck down”, “chastened”, “dying”, and “poor”.
2. Normal Christianity
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you… I Peter 4:12-14
a. When our comfort, convenience, honor, or well-being are no longer legitimate criteria for decision making, the result is a life that joyfully descends into the crucible of suffering so that His glory might be seen more brightly. Paul not only suffered far more than us for Jesus, he had far more joy in Jesus than we do.
b. The very clear relationship that is stated over and over again in the New Testament is that the apostles understood their suffering and that of the Church to be a living out of the sufferings of Christ- just as Jesus said of true discipleship. (Acts 9:15-6, Col 1:24, II Cor 1:5)
c. Put simply, if our discipleship is to be Christoform, it must be cruciform for all believers until the Day of LORD. Just as He suffered before entering into His glory, we must do the same.
d. Sacrifice for the name of Jesus, suffering persecution, and martyrdom are not radical, missional, or eschatological – they are normal. These things are tragic, sober, and profoundly difficult but they are to be expected as part of the normal life of the Christian as they follow Jesus and are conformed to Him.
Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. II Timothy 3:12
If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. John 15:19-21
…and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Rom 8:17
e. We must soberly ask if the absence of persecution in America is due to a fundamental change in the world or rather a reflection of the relative impotency of our choices and our witness. Has the world gotten less evil or have we suburbanized godliness? Have we subtly put up boundary lines on where and when evangelism can happen in order to ensure that we are protected from tribulation and persecution?
3. Practical Application
From the heart posture of violent resistance to all forms of selfishness, we must be compelled into a willingness and readiness to make deeply sacrificial choices and costly decisions that radically undermine our comfort, honor, and convenience:
a. Sacrificing pleasure, quantity, and frequency in what we eat
b. Sacrificing our time to use it for devotion to Jesus and love for others
c. Sacrificing our money so that we suffer loss and we are able to be rich toward God and the things on His heart
d. Putting the needs of others above our own, even when that is costly to our comfort
e. Loving our enemies to our own hurt and loss as a witness of the truth of Jesus
f. Choosing to minister to those who cannot repay us (the outcast and the marginalized) instead of those who will honor us for our service
g. Standing for truth (in love and gentleness) before His people even when it causes offense and the loss of our reputation
h. Declaring the gospel of Christ faithfully, even when it could result in mocking, beating, or our own death (either domestically or in foreign missions)
D. FOR HIS SAKE
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:7-11
1. The question that remains is “how?” How do we actually overcome the mountain of self-preservation to live a sacrificial lifestyle that brings glory to Jesus? The fulfillment of Luke 9:23-26 in our lives hinges completely on three words: for His sake.
2. The fuel for a life of sacrifice and costly obedience is the revelation of the glory of Jesus crashing in upon the weakness of the human heart. Paul, in a direct commentary on Luke 9:23-26, offers a window into how he could lose everything and call it refuse or dung. The key was the surpassing worth of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.
3. The glory of Jesus is both the motivation for embracing sacrifice and the goal or outcome of it in God’s design. He is magnified through the sacrificial love of His people as they suffer for His name’s sake with joyful hearts.
4. In this light we can see that the reason Jesus’ call to discipleship finds so little resonance in the modern Church is not because Luke 9:23-26 is difficult to understand. Rather, it is because the glorious, majestic Christ of the Bible that conquered the hearts of those young men who sat with Him on the road to Caeserea Philippi is a virtual stranger to us.
5. Conversely, the ultimate remedy to our almost complete neglect of Jesus’ words is to seek Him, to know Him, to see Him, to treasure Him, and adore Him as He is worthy of. In time, the beauty of Jesus will constrain even our frail hearts into total, unreserved abandonment to His preeminence in all things.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist…that in all things He may have the preeminence. Colossians 1:15-18
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