The Way of the Cross - Mark 8:34-37

The Way of the Cross
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”


Reflection:
Up to now Jesus has been inviting us to participate in His coming kingdom by his words and works. And despite the nobility of his words and works, there are some who are threatened by them and seek his demise. And we see that by his words and works he has attracted a crowd, who came to investigate whether or not Jesus was the real deal. But now Jesus lays down the challenge of what it means to follow him. He has gone from showing them how to do it, to equipping them to follow him. But first he challenges them to count the cost before they decide.

And what is the cost of following Jesus? Simply put, it is denying ourselves and taking up our cross and following him. It is being willing to lose our lives in the body, so we might save our souls. It is giving up the gain in the world, so we might reap eternal profits. True it is,” said Bishop Hooper, the night before he suffered martyrdom, “that life is sweet, and death is bitter, but eternal death is more bitter, and eternal life is more sweet.”

Jesus knew that there would be some who wanted to follow him, yet were not willing to lay down their lives to do it. Some would both want Jesus and the world. And as a follower of Christ for many years now, it is a constant battle to lose oneself for the sake of Jesus and the gospel. We fight the flesh everyday that wants to gratify itself every day. And every day we need to die to this desire for self gratification. Just like an alcoholic must daily surrender their desire to drink to God, so the sinner needs to daily surrender themselves to God.

Now this may sound pretty serious and sobering, but I have found that in surrendering myself to Jesus (even though I am not perfect yet), I have actually experienced a freedom the world can never did. One of my favorite verses in this regard is when Jesus says in John 10:10, "I have come to give you life and life abundantly!"

So the question for us to consider today is, have I surrendered my life to Jesus? Have I counted the cost of discipleship? It starts with today surrendering our life to God and saying you take over the steering wheel and let's go together. This not only leads us into the eternal kind of life, but also ushers us into the abundant life in Christ! Amen.

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