DISCIPLESHIP

LUKE 9:18-26

      Luke, the early historian of the church and author of the book of Acts, repeatedly called attention to Jesus’ prayer life (Lk. 3:21, 5:16, 6:12, 9:18-28-29, 11:1, 22:41). Alan Redpath said, “I believe the Lord has taught me this lesson above all: Never to undertake more Christian work than can be covered in believing prayer.” Jesus’ time alone in prayer preceded the turning point in the training of the twelve.

      From this point Jesus resolutely set His face on Jerusalem where He would die at Calvary (Lk. 9:51). Robertson said, “Up here on this mountain slope Jesus will have His best opportunity to give the disciples special teaching concerning the crucifixion just a little over six months ahead.” In the remote region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus trained the Twelve in the meaning of discipleship (Lk. 14:26; Jn. 8:31, 15:8, 13:35).

  I. Discipleship meant a confession (Mt. 16:13-20; Mk. 8:27-30; Lk. 9:18-21)

      A. Question

      David Smith said, “Jesus doubtless knew better than the Twelve what the people were saying about Him; and it was not for information that He asked, but in order to open the way for a question of greater import.”

          1. Man

      C. S. Lewis wrote, “I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.”

      Josh McDowell said, “Many will say that Jesus was a good moral teacher. Let’s be realistic. How could He be a great moral teacher and knowingly mislead people at the most important point of His teaching–His own identity. You would have to conclude logically that He was a deliberate liar. This view of Jesus, however, doesn’t coincide with what we know either of Him or the results of His life and teachings.

Jn. 14:9 [GNB]. Jesus answered, "For a long time I have been with you all; yet you do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Why, then, do you say, 'Show us the Father'?

          2. Messiah

      The Twelve did not read Messiahship back into the life of Jesus but recognized then Jesus as the Christ (1 Jn. 1:1). John Warwick Montgomery wrote, “Were the early followers of Jesus psychologically or temperamentally capable of carrying out such a deification process?” Montgomery said, “The picture of them in the documents is one of practical ordinary people, down-to earth fishermen, hardheaded tax collectors. . . and people with perhaps more than the usual dose of skepticism. . . . Hardly the kind of men to be swept off their feet into mass hallucination. . . .”

2 Pet. 1:16. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

      B. Answer

          1. Son of Man (Lk. 22:69-70; humility)

      Smith wrote, “He had deliberately set Himself to combat the prevailing ideal of Messiahship. He had steadfastly trodden the path of humiliation, and they had known Him day by day as the lowly Son of Man, shunning applause and rejecting the regal dignity which misguided enthusiasm would have thrust upon Him.”

          2. Son of God (Jn. 6:69; deity)

      A. B. Bruce stated, “With this view of His person Jesus was satisfied. He did not charge Peter with extravagance in going so far beyond the opinion of the populace. On the contrary, He entirely approved of what the ardent disciple had said, and expressed His satisfaction in no cold or measured terms.”

Jn. 5:18. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Act 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

      R. T. Kendall called confession of Jesus as the Christ “coming out of hiding.” Kendall said, “People will want to respond in some way if they believe what they have heard.”

Rom. 10:9 [GNB]. If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved.

Phil. 2:11 [WNT]. and that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

 II. Discipleship meant a crucifixion (Mt. 16:21-23; Mk. 8:31-33; Lk. 9:22)

      A. Death (Lk. 17:25, 24:26-46; suffering)

      Samuel Rutherford said, “Christ has no velvet crosses.”

          1. Man’s will (Mk. 8:33)

      Peter sounded just like the devil when he tempted Christ to avoid the way of the cross. Bruce wrote, “For the whole aim of satanic policy is to get self-interest recognized as the chief end of man.”

      Bruce said, “It was the Father’s will that He should die, a sacrifice for the world’s redemption. . . and the temptation had been ever present with Him to turn aside and choose an easier path.”

          2. God’s will (Lk. 22:42)

Gal. 6:14 [WNT]. But as for me, God forbid that I should glory in anything except the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, upon which the world is crucified to me, and I am crucified to the world.

      Bruce wrote, “Not till an advanced period in His public ministry-not, in fact, till it was drawing to a close-did Jesus speak in plain, unmistakable terms of His death.”

      James S. Stewart said, “The idea of a suffering Messiah was utterly foreign to His contemporaries’ thoughts.”

      Bruce stated, “He was the very opposite of all that, as they believed, the Messiah should be. . . .”

“He dealt them, as it seems, another blow. He told them that not only must He suffer but they must share His suffering.”

      B. Life (Jn. 12:23-25; glory)

III. Discipleship meant a condition (Mt. 16:24-28; Mk. 8:34-38, 9:1; Lk. 9:23-27)

      A. Cost (Lk. 9:62, 14:27)

Prov. 20:25 [NLT]. It is dangerous to make a rash promise to God before counting the cost.

      A. W. Tozer said, “The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it.”

      Hughes wrote, “Living for Christ requires self-denial.”

“A crucified Savior is not well served by self-pleasing, self-indulgent people.”

      In the 50s Americans read a magazine called Life. Then came People magazine. Next, Americans read a magazine called Us. Now, there is a magazine called Self– indicative of a world infatuated and preoccupied with self.

          1. Deny carnality (Gal. 5:24)

      David Smith wrote, “There are two claimants to the throne in every man’s heart–Self and Jesus; and, if the man would be a disciple, he must yield the throne to Jesus; and he must say No to Self’s blandishments, must take up the cross and lay it on Self’s back and send Self away to death.”

      John Fischer said, “The death of Christ, like the lines of the cross itself, runs perpendicular to the flow of culture. The cross is shocking, arresting, out of step, out of time–and yet for all time.”

“Our culture, even a dangerously large portion of current Christianity, opposes the death of self in favor of a host of self-embracing philosophies. . . .”

      Hughes said, “Self-focus is part of the modern evangelical identity!”

“For them Christianity exists to enhance their lives, their marriages, their bank accounts, their prestige. But to bear the cross, to pay a price for standing for Christ–no thanks.”

          2. Die daily (1 Cor. 15:31)

      Spurgeon said, “There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not cross- bearers here below.”

      Roy Hession wrote, “The Lord Jesus cannot live in us fully and reveal Himself through us until the proud self within us is broken. This simply means that the hard unyielding self, which justifies itself, wants its own way, stands up for its rights, and seeks its own glory, at least bows its head to God’s will, admits its wrong, gives up its own way to Jesus, surrenders its rights and discards its own glory–that the Lord Jesus might have all and be all. In other words it is dying to self and self-attitudes.”

      John Fischer said, “I must climb up on a cross and give myself up there just as Christ did.”

“When the Spirit of God gives you the slightest indication that some thought or action or attitude might be wrong, that’s when you nail it.”

          3. Depart obediently (Lk. 9:61, 18:22)

      The call to follow Jesus meant a journey to the cross. Jesus journeyed to the cross to die for others.

      B. Contradiction (Gal. 2:20)

          1. Save (Lk. 14:26)

          2. Lose (Mt. 10:39, 17:33)

      Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives away what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

      C. Calculation (Mt. 13:46; mercantile terms in this passage– gain, lose, fine or forfeit, exchange )

          1. Gain (Phil. 3:8)

          2. Loss (1 Cor. 3:15)

      David Smith wrote, “A man has only one life to live; and if he forfeit it, wherewith shall he buy it back?”

      A. B. Bruce said, “He who gains the world at such a cost is a loser by the bargain.”

      Hughes related, “One hundred and eighty years after the death of Charlemagne, about the year 1000, officials of the Emperor Otho opened the great king’s tomb, where in addition to incredible treasures they saw an amazing sight –the skeletal remains of King Charlemagne seated on the throne, his crown still on his skull, a copy of the Gospels lying in his lap with his bony finger resting on the text, ‘What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?’”

      D. Crisis (Mt. 10:32-33)

          1. Ashamed now (Rom. 1:16; 2 Tim. 1:12; 1 Jn. 2:28; earthly)

          2. Applause later (2 Tim. 2:11-12, 4:8; eternal)

      John Wesley said, “I value all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity.”

      Matthew Henry said, “It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.”

      John Hunter wrote, “We have just one short life in which we can serve Him before we spend an eternity. . . only one short life to prove our love, to begin to respond to the agony. . . and the suffering of Calvary.”

“Only one life, ‘twill soon be past;

Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Take Up the Cross

      Death by crucifixion was the most offensive punishment created by man. The Roman orator Cicero (106-43 B.C.) declared, “To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him is an abomination, to kill him is almost an act of murder: to crucify him is–what? There is no fitting word that can possibly describe so horrible a deed.” One researcher noted, “Although the Romans did not invent crucifixion, they perfected it as a form of torture and capital punishment that was designed to produce a slow death with maximum pain and suffering. It was one of the most disgraceful and cruel methods of execution and usually was reserved only for slaves, foreigners, revolutionaries, and the vilest of criminals.”

      Another described crucifixion and said, “In the West the condemned criminal was scourged (beaten), usually at the place of execution, and forced to carry the crossbeam to the spot where a stake had already been erected. A tablet stating the crime was often placed around the offender's neck and was fastened to the cross after the execution. The prisoner was commonly tied or sometimes nailed to the crossbeam (with the nails through the wrists, since the bones in the hand could not take the weight). The beam was then raised and fixed to the upright pole. If the executioners wished a particularly slow, agonizing death, they might drive blocks or pins into the stake for a seat or a step to support the feet. Death came about through loss of blood circulation followed by coronary collapse. That could take days, so often the victim's legs would be broken below the knees with a club, causing massive shock and eliminating any further possibility of easing the pressure on the bound or spiked wrists. Usually a body was left on the cross to rot, but in some instances was given to relatives or friends for burial.”

      Death by crucifixion became a stigma–“a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one's reputation.” The writers of the New Testament referred to the disgrace of the cross (2 Cor. 13:4; Phil. 2:8).

1. To the Jews, the crucifixion of Christ was scandalous (stumbling block; Dt. 21:22-23; Mt. 27:40; Jn. 19:15-31; Gal. 3:13).

2. To the Greeks, the crucifixion of Christ was scornful (1 Cor. 1:23). In the words of John R. W. Stott the Greeks asked, “How could any sane person worship as a god a dead man who had been justly condemned as a criminal and subjected to the most humiliating form of execution?”

3. To the Romans, the crucifixion of Christ was shameful (Mt. 27:32-38; Jn. 19:41). A biblical archaeologist said, “Initially, crucifixion was known as the punishment of slaves.”

      Stripped naked and transfixed upon the cross, Jesus bore the shame of crucifixion (Heb. 12:2). Knowing this future event (Lk. 9:22), Jesus invited would-be disciples to come after Him and carry the cross. A Bible scholar commented, “The central point is not death but disgrace; the disciple must be ready to become an outcast from society.”

      Becoming a Christian carried an offence (Gal. 5:11). D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “If this element of offence in the cross has never appeared to you, or if you have never felt it, well then I say that you like wise have never known the truth about the cross of Christ.” Early Christians experienced the offensive nature of the cross. Alister E. McGrath recorded, “The taunt of the early opponents of Christianity was that believers worshiped ‘an evil man and his cross’. . . . Justin Martyr recorded the offence caused to the sophisticated citizens of Alexandria and elsewhere by the ‘madness’ of the Christian proclamation of the crucified Christ.” Stott described a second century drawing that demonstrated the scorn of the ancient world for Christ and crucifixion. He wrote, “A crude drawing depicts, stretched on a cross, a man with the head of a donkey. To the left stands another man, with one arm raised in worship. Unevenly scribbled underneath are the words. . . ‘Alexamenos worships God.’”

      Jesus called his disciples to bear the scandal, scorn, and shame of the cross (Gal. 6:12). Leon Morris said, “Those who have been saved by the cross of Christ find that they have a cross of their own.” Thomas Shepherd wrote, “Must Jesus bear the cross alone, and all the world go free? No, there’s a cross for ev’ry one, and there’s a cross for me.” In Jesus’ time, numerous followers heard the demands of the cross and turned away (Jn. 6:66).

      P. T. Forsyth said, “You do not understand Christ till you understand His cross.” The call to come after Jesus was a call to come to the cross (Lk. 14:27). Sadhu Sandar Singh, an Indian Christian evangelist, told of a Tibetan evangelist who was flogged by tormentors and had salt rubbed into his wounds. To come to Christ may not mean torture, but the probability of reproach does exist.

      Like Simon of Cyrene, disciples must carry the cross (Mk. 15:21). The horizontal beam placed on Christ’s back weighed 75 to 125 pounds when Jesus walked the path called the via dolorosa to Golgotha. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Those who heard Jesus say “carry the cross” knew what it meant (Mk. 10:21). Morris wrote, “They had actually seen men take up their cross. And when a man from their village took up a cross and went off down the track with a little knot of Roman soldiers, they knew he was on a one-way journey. He would not be back. So they knew that Jesus was saying more than ‘My followers must endure patiently the ordinary hardships of daily life.’ He was calling for a total abandonment of selfishness. He was speaking of the utmost in self-denial.”

Am I a soldier of the cross?,
A follower of the Lamb?,
And shall I fear to own His cause, Or blush to speak His Name?

Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease?,
While others fought to win the prize, And sailed through bloody seas?

“Take up thy cross and follow Me.”
I hear the blessèd Savior call;
How can I make a lesser sacrifice,
When Jesus gave His all? (Alfred H. Ackley)

“Take up thy cross,” the Savior said,
“If thou wouldst My disciple be;
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after Me.”

Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame,
Nor let thy foolish pride rebel;
Thy Lord for thee the cross endured,
And saved thy soul from death and hell.

Take up thy cross and follow Christ,
Nor think til death to lay it down;
For only those who bear the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown. (Charles W. Everest)

“Take up thy cross and follow me,”

I heard my Master say;

“I gave my life to ransom thee,

Surrender your all today.”

Wherever He leads I’ll go,

Wherever He leads I’ll go,

I’ll follow my Christ who loves me so;

Wherever He leads I’ll go.” (B. B. McKinney)

Death to Self

      Disciples must no longer live for self (2 Cor. 5:14-15). Like Jesus, Paul applied the principle of the crucifixion of self to every area of life. The cross affects the daily walk. Disciples must allow Christ to nail every unsurrendered area to the cross.

•          Marriage (Eph. 5:25-28). John MacArthur wrote, “If a loving husband is willing to sacrifice his life for his wife, he is certainly willing to make lesser sacrifices for her. He puts his own likes, desires, opinions, preferences, and welfare aside if that is required to please her and meet her needs. He dies to self in order to live for his wife, because that is what Christ’s kind of love demands.”

•          Church (Phil. 2:3-11). The cross governs attitudes and relationships in the body of Christ. Humble service and kindness marks those who have been to the cross.

•          Suffering (2 Cor. 4:10; Phil. 3:10; 2 Tim. 2:11). Amy Carmichael, who lived in an invalid’s bed for many years, said “From subtle love of softening things, from easy choices, weakenings, (not thus are spirits fortified, not this way went the Crucified. . . . Let me not sink to be a clod: make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.”

•          Temptation (Gal. 5:24, 6:14; Col. 2:20). The cross answered the conflict between flesh and Spirit. Ironside explained, “I feel an impulse rising within demanding that I yield to a certain sinful desire. But if on the alert I say at once, `No, I have died to that. It is no longer to dominate my will. I belong to Christ. I am to live unto Him.’ As faith lays hold of this the power of lust is broken. It involves watchfulness and constant recognition of my union with Christ.”

•          Service (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 15:31). Del Fehsenfeld told of Bill Borden’s service when he wrote, “Upon graduation from high school, his businessman father sent young William Borden on a cruise around the world. Brokenhearted by the spiritual needs of the people he met, William committed his life to serve Jesus Christ as a missionary. He wrote in his journal, `Say no to self, yes to Jesus every time. . . . In every man’s heart there is a throne, self is on the cross; and if self, even a little bit, is on the throne, Jesus is on the cross in that man’s heart. . . . Lord, I take my hands off, as far as my life is concerned, I put Thee on the throne of my life. Change, cleanse, use me as Thou shalt choose.’ He dedicated his college years to mastering the Word of God and reaching those around him with the gospel of Christ. Throughout those years of preparation, William never wavered from the goal on which he had fixed his sight. Although as an heir of the Borden Milk Company, he might have settled for a life of convenience and ease. Finally, the time came for William to leave for the mission field. Headed for China, he sailed first to Egypt, where he contracted spinal meningitis and died less than a month later. Some would say, `what a waste.’ But the seed of the solitary life that went `into the ground’ and died, has produced an abundant harvest of righteousness.”

•          Fruitfulness (Jn. 12:24, 15:1-5). The cross purges the life of self to produce fruit. Samuel Chadwick wrote, “He holds the knife. . . . It is often a painful process, but the glory of the Father is in the yield of the life in its fruit of the Spirit.”

•          Holy Spirit (Acts 1:2-3). Resurrection and fullness of life in Christ followed the crucifixion. Charles Stanley said, “Part of His plan is to bring you to the end of yourself, to a point of desperation where you get so sick of yourself and your inability to change that you throw up your hands in surrender. When that happens, you are closer than you have ever been to knowing the joy of the Spirit-filled life.”

•          Salvation (Mk. 8:35). Forgiveness flowed from the cross. Isaac Watts wrote, “When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.”