Luke 9:18-27 "Christ and Your Cross"
We’re going through the Gospel of Luke. Verse by verse, chapter by chapter. If we’re going to say we’re followers of Jesus—Christians—then we should probably get to know Him.
So far, Luke has told us about the birth of Jesus and the start of His ministry in Galilee. He’s been going town to town, teaching, healing, casting out demons. He has quite the following. But chapter nine is a major turning point. He’s about two years into His ministry. Over the next year He’s going to be making His way to Jerusalem. His tone is getting more serious. He knows what’s going to happen in Jerusalem. He’s going to spend the next year getting His followers ready for it.
Prayer: Father in heaven. Help us to hear Your Word. Let these words sink into our ears, fill our hearts, and saturate our minds. Shake us with the sober challenge Jesus has for us today. AMEN.
Chapter 9, verse 18:
Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.”
Interesting phrase: Jesus was praying alone but the disciples were with Him. I wonder how often that happens at church. I mean, we’re all here. Prayer is happening. But who’s actually praying? Who’s praying and who’s just bowing their head thinking about lunch? Jesus doesn’t rebuke them for not joining Him in prayer, He was probably praying for them to be able to handle what He’s about to say to them. It was going to get heavy.
Jesus opens His eyes and looks at the guys—it’s just the Twelve. “So, what do all those people say about me when I’m not around? Who do they think I am?”
It’s a good discipleship question. Who do you think Jesus is?
“He’s the Son of God.” “He’s God.” “Savior and Lord.” All good Sunday school answers—nothing wrong with those answers at all. But what do those things mean? For you?
Is Jesus a get out of Hell card? Get into heaven ticket? Does Jesus mean you’ll be successful in life? Prosperous at work, your kids will be above average, nothing bad will ever happen to them, or you. Does it mean God will bless your city? Your state? Your country?
There’s a toxic poison that has infected the American church that confuses Christianity with National Patriotism. There’s nothing wrong with loving our country. We are called, as followers of Jesus, to be good citizens, to pray for our country, to bring the truth of God’s Word into the voting booth with us—that’s all right and good. But our kingdom is not of this world. Our citizenship is first and foremost as a citizen of heaven. Our King is Jesus. Don’t wrap the flag around the cross. Don’t confuse patriotism with Christianity.
I’m usually blinded by the particular sin of our little congregation but I should also mention that poison has raised another poison. Some Christians think Jesus came to usher in some kind of utopia on earth—some kind of glorious socialist system where the government takes care of all the poor and makes laws to protect and elevate people they believe to be marginalized and oppressed.
In both cases, there is some truth behind the lies. As followers of Jesus we are supposed to help the poor, protect the vulnerable, including both the young mothers as well as their unborn and unwanted children. We are supposed to be good citizens but we’re not supposed to selfishly weaponize Jesus to divide people and grab for power.
I’m not on a tangent. This is where the text is going.
Jesus asked who the people thought He was. The disciples said, “Yeah, everyone thinks you’re one of the great prophets come back from the dead or from heaven or something.”
They knew there was something special about Jesus. But they still thought He was just human. Just a man. It’s the same list of prophets Herod and his superstitious advisors were tossing around.
Verse 20:
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” Luke 9:20
Jesus asked the whole group—the “you” is plural. “Who do y’all say I am?” Peter speaks for the group—they were united in this. They had been with Jesus for a couple of years. They had seen things. “We know who You are. You’re the Messiah that God promised in the Scriptures would come to rescue His people—save His people. You are the Christ of God.”
“Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. “Christ” is the Greek word for Messiah. It means the anointed prophet, priest, and king sent by God to tell the people what He wants (prophet), represent the people in prayer and worship and sacrifice as their spiritual leader (priest), and lead the people, rule and reign, conquer their enemies and establish peace as their king. That’s who the disciples thought Jesus was. The Christ of God.
And Jesus is like, “Right. That’s true. That is who I am. But it probably doesn’t mean what you think it means.” Verse 21:
And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Luke 9:21-22
“I have some good news and some bad news. First the good news: Yes, I’m the Christ of God. Keep that to yourself for now. Because the bad news is I’m not going to do what anyone is expecting me to do.”
He wasn’t going to overthrow Rome. He wasn’t going to re-establish the nation of Israel. He wasn’t going to set up His throne on the earth and crush all of their enemies. He wasn’t going to preside over the Temple doing sacrifices as the new high priest.
In fact, as disappointing as all that might seem, it’s even worse. He said, “All the priests and religious leaders that should recognize me as the Messiah are going to reject me. Hard. They’re going to torture and kill me.”
I’m sure they were all frowning and shaking their heads. In Matthew, we’re told Peter spoke up and said, “No way, Lord. I’ll never let that happen!” “If there’s one thing that I’m going to be known for from now until the end of time it’s the way I’m going to stick up for Jesus the Christ no matter what happens!” Oh, Peter.
Jesus looks at him and says, “Get behind me Satan!” Not what you want to hear Jesus say to you. Peter was only looking at the Messiah’s ministry from his selfish perspective. What Jesus was saying was a blow to his pride. His personal pride and his national pride.
He just agreed that He was the Christ of God. Now Jesus is saying the Jewish religious leaders are going to ruin it? Keep Him from actually accomplishing the mission of the Messiah? Kill Him? “No way. Over my dead body!”
I’m pretty sure He didn’t hear the part where Jesus said, “And then I’m going to come back from the dead on the third day.” It’s kind of the most important part but I don’t think it registered.
Sometimes when I’m asked what I do for a living I say people pay me to tell them things they’ll try to ignore. Pretty good job description of a pastor, if you ask me.
I realize that in this part of the service, I’m the one doing all the talking, but this is still a two-way conversation. I’m looking at you. I’m reading your faces, your body language. I see whether you’re paying attention or zoning out. I would love it if you were actually looking at me. I’m always searching the room for a little feedback, little clues to let me know you’re tracking with me.
So Peter reacts to the bad news and doesn’t seem to hear the good news. Verse 23:
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Luke 9:23-24
Everyone who follows Jesus follows Him to a cross.
He said this to “all,” to everyone. Not just the Twelve. Everyone who follows Jesus has to deny themselves, take up their cross, lay down their life—kill it. Lose it. It’s the only way they’ll be able to save their life.
What the heck does all that mean?
Jesus just told them He was going to be killed. Now He’s telling them how. He’s going to be crucified. It was a pretty common method of execution at the time. The Jews would have stoned Him, by mentioning a cross He’s letting them know the Romans will also be involved. Not only will the Messiah not overthrow Rome—it’s going look like Rome overthrows the Messiah.
To be crucified is the ultimate rejection. Humiliated and publicly tortured to death on a stick. That’s about as complete a denial of a person, their rights, their freedom, their everything as you can get.
Jesus is saying anyone who follows Him is going to have to crucify themselves. Reject themselves. Deny themselves. Lay their own life down. Lose it.
Paul is going to run with this idea. In Galatians 5:24 he says,
“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
This is what it means to follow Jesus. To be Christian. You have to crucify yourself. All those passions and desires have to die. Your sin has to die. Your sins aren’t going to drag you to hell anymore because Jesus forgives you and died for them but if you keep doing them, you’re going to drag hell into your life now. Any of God’s commandments that you continue to break are going to bring chaos into your life. Death and hell are always the consequences of sin.
In Romans, Paul said it a different way, Jesus forgives you of all your sin—you have an unlimited supply of grace. True, but...
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:1-4
What is that new life supposed to look like? Back to Galatians 5:22,
“But the fruit of the Spirit (the new life) is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Self-control. Crucify yourself. Pick up your cross daily and follow Jesus.
Why? So your sportsball team can win? So your political party can be in power? To restore the nation of Israel? To make Rome great again? Build it back better? No. So you can live a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
People are lost. The world has lost its way. So open-minded their brains fell out. So woke they’re hallucinating. Delirious. So conservative they forget what they’re trying to conserve. So liberal they forgot what freedom is.
We need to know God’s Word. We need to teach and share God’s Word. People have forgotten it. Our sin is real. The weight of guilt and shame for past sins is heavier than ever—as a people, as a nation. Some try to use the guilt as a weapon, some try to deny it exists. Our sin exists and only Christ can do anything about it.
The problem isn’t going to be fixed by blaming other people. Blaming our enemies. Blaming the religious leaders. Blaming the politicians. Grasping for power.
The problem is only going to be solved by bravely doing what Jesus told us to do. Take up your cross, deny yourself, and follow Him. If you do that, you will find your life. If you don’t, you will lose it.
When Angel and Von were misbehaving little kids, there were a few times when they got spanked with a wooden spoon. Only a few times though. After that, like when we put them to bed, said prayers—and a few minutes later one of them would come walking down the steps saying “I can’t sleep.” I’d tell them to go to the kitchen and get me a wooden spoon. Their eyes would go wide. They’d reluctantly bring it to me, expecting the worse. I’d hug them and then hand them the spoon saying, “if you come back down again, bring the spoon with you. I’ll probably need it.” As a kid, walking around with a wooden spoon in your back pocket is a little like what it means to take up your cross. When we eventually got rid of Angel’s baby bed we found like 12 spoons underneath it.
Verse 25:
For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Luke 9:25-26
You might think that when you do what you want, that’s when you’re free. You might think if you bend or break God’s commandments for the sake of your job or your family or to make some extra money that you’re getting ahead in the world. Jesus says, “maybe you are.” But what good is that going to be if you gain the whole world but lose yourself?
All sin drags chaos and hell into your life. As a Christian, those sins won’t drag you to hell, as long as you trust in the Gospel and have your faith in Jesus—But they’ll drag hell into your life. No one gets away with anything. Sin against your spouse and you’ll lose your spouse. Ask anyone who’s divorced—it’s chaos and hell. Spend all your time trying to make money and get ahead at work—neglect your kids and you’ll lose your kids, neglect your church and—well, the problem with missing church is it won’t be long before you don’t. How are you going to pass your faith to the next generation if you live your life like faith is optional? I have so many friends who started skipping church a lot and ended up losing their faith entirely.
No, following Jesus means making the hard call to deny the part of you that wants to be lazy, relax, have some Sunday morning “me time.” It means to deny that greedy part of you that only sees value in dollar signs. To deny that part of you that wants to pretend like God doesn’t exist long enough to indulge in some moment of pleasure, or anger, or feeling sorry for yourself—or whatever your selfish sinful temptations might be.
Jesus calls us to deny ourselves—all those selfish bad ideas. Don’t deny Jesus. When you don’t deny yourself, when you go ahead and give in to sin, you are denying Jesus.
I’ve heard it all my life—everyone in the world says, “Follow your heart. Look inside. You do you.”
That’s not what Jesus says. He says follow Him instead of your heart. Look to Him instead of inside. You don’t “do you,” you deny you. You crucify you.
Cheery message today, isn’t it?
Verse 27, Jesus ends His little pep talk with this:
But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:27
“Wait, Jesus… Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It’s bad isn’t it? It sounds bad. But how can the kingdom of God be bad? I’m confused.”
Seeing the kingdom of God is not bad but it’s going to sure seem like it to them. He’s not talking about when He comes back in glory at the end of time. How do I know that? Because He said no one knows when that’s going to happen, not even Him. So how would He know that some of them standing there would see it before they died? Plus, this is 2022, they all died a long time ago and He hasn’t come back yet.
So, if He’s not talking about the second coming, what is He talking about? What does it mean that some of them would see the kingdom of God before they died?
First, He’s talking about the cross, His death and resurrection. It’s what He’s been talking about in this whole section. That’s what the Messiah came to do. That’s what ushers in the New Testament—the kingdom of God. The kingdom that Jesus told Pilate was “not of this world.”
Some of those standing there would see His death and resurrection. Even His ascension.
That’s part of what He means.
But what is the culminating thing that has to happen in order for the Old Testament to completely end and the New Testament to officially begin and replace it?
The old sacrificial system had to cease to exist. The sacrifices had to stop. Had to be done away with.
Jesus, the Christ of God. The Messiah. The anointed prophet, priest, and King, the Lamb of God who was sacrificed to take away the sin of the world, once and for all time—He is the high priest who offers His own life. Priest and sacrifice. He is also the new Temple.
So the old Temple and everything it stood for had to go.
When did that happen? Some of those who were standing there would have seen it.
Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. People have tried to rebuild it—to prove that Jesus was not the Messiah, not the Christ. They couldn’t do it. If you ever need proof that the kingdom of Christ has come—I don’t know any better proof than this. Jesus was crucified, rose from the dead, the twenty-seven books of the New Testament were written and then as if on cue—Boom. No more Old Testament Temple Worship. And not for lack of trying.
God will never again be pleased with animal sacrifices in a physical temple.
So, what do we make of all this?
Obviously, Jesus is the Christ of God. The Messiah. The One promised to save His people.
But He didn’t rescue them the way they thought it would happen.
If you try to hold onto any aspect of your life—not laying it down and submitting it to Jesus. Not denying yourself. Crucifying yourself. Taking up your cross and following Him. Whatever you hold onto rather than holding onto Jesus will destroy you. It will destroy everything you care about. If you want to save your life, you have to lose it for His sake. You have to lay it down. Deny it. Kill it.
If you do, here’s the promise: you’ll get it back. You’ll lose nothing. You’ll get everything good. When Jesus comes back at the end of time He’ll look at you and say, “See that one? They’re with me!”
And meanwhile, you won’t miss a thing. Life will work better. You’re only saying “no” to chaos and hell.
Like I said, Paul really ran with this “take your cross and follow Jesus” thing. In Galatians 2:20 he says that anyone who lays down their life for Jesus will have His life in them. His resurrected, glorified life. He said,
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
It is no longer you who live. It is Christ who lives in you. Even now, by faith in Jesus, you have hope no matter what happens because you live with the knowledge that Jesus loves you and gave His life for you. So let go of your old life, and walk in that new life to the glory of God. AMEN
Prayer: Bow your head. Close your eyes. Ask the Lord what you need to lay down, what needs to be crucified. What is it going to look like to put the cross in your back pocket and follow Jesus.