What do His Words Mean?

WHAT DO HIS WORDS MEAN?

 

Matt.16: ²⁴ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

²⁵ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Such a profound statement which almost everyone in America has heard quoted and especially those in the church. But it has taken on a kind of Confucius or Aesop quality. It fits nicely on a Hallmark card which we could send to some friend. It is even learned by children at vacation Bible school or etched into a stain glass window. We just love Biblical sayings like this. They generate such sentimentality and religious warmth. But if we really attempt to unravel its meaning and mystery and allow the Spirit to make some kind of here and now relevance then we face some painful and even unexpected realities. In fact we face Christianity itself.

Please take a moment out of your earth bound life and allow yourself the uncomfortable glory of meditating upon these words. Please, just for a moment, and then if you wish you can leave Beulah land and return to the pig pen. But does not our Wonderful Lord deserve a hearing that transcends the attention we give to a sports game or a political debate? Has He not earned that from those of us who have entered into His unspeakable grace? It is way past time for us to look into the mirror of God’s Word without caveats and cultural dilutions or evangelical lies.

These verses openly confront us with a dynamic and profound challenge. In essence we are supposed to walk like Jesus walked, talk like Jesus talked, and indeed live like Jesus lived. Go ahead and skim over those words like they are some doctrinal infomercial, but somehow I cannot swallow them like I swallow most things spoken to me. It just seems to me, personally and to us all, that when we hear things like this and go about our business as if we had heard some good advice we actually deny Him before men. I have a difficult time getting around the logic of such a pattern.

How have we sifted our Lord’s Words and thrown out what we do not wish to obey and keep that which costs us nothing? And words like these which are very dangerous and even fearful are relegated to “religious sayings” status openly revealing just how diluted we have made the faith that bears His name. Think on this: We receive the teachings about hell as literal and yet we receive words like these as some kind of principle which can mean almost anything we desire. It is obvious that we find these words much more fearful than the ones about eternal justice. Why? Because these words demand action; they demand sacrifice; they demand self denial; they demand everything as it were. Yes these words seem to indicate a complete relinquishing of our own lives in favor of His.

Now that last sentence contains some awful and glorious revelations. To reject and even crucify our own lives and live inside His seems like a daunting task, and so it is. It is so formidable and frightening that we recoil at the implications of such a life. And so we conveniently and oh so subtly keep it well within the ethereal and metaphysical realm in which we can hear and enjoy without ever having to produce the fruit which substantiates our lip service faith. In fact, we dare not even dissect it and juxtapose it upon our here and now lives lest we discover some disturbing things about our lives and what the visible church has taught us, or hasn’t taught us.

But in order for us to even step one foot into a subject like this we must come with a humility which renders all pride and Biblical hubris as an obstacle which will when given the opportunity take Christ’s Words and cleverly formulate a more palatable journey. Jesus has told us to take up our cross and to follow Him. And is it not obvious that our Lord speaks of Calvary? To where did Jesus carry His cross? And where did Jesus go to where we must follow? Was it a place of continual entertainment or earthly prosperity? Was it not the cross? And we all know the doctrinal and redemptive significance of the cross. And many of us have openly taken exception to the way the cross has been downplayed, ignored, and even rejected through the evangelical morass. Yes, we are very bold in speaking against that and well we should be.

But why do we not clamor for a more sacrificial following of Jesus that takes these words from His lips and makes them a visible and observable reality through our lives? In fact why have we who loudly proclaim Scriptural orthodoxy not had a face to Spirit encounter that seeks, and beseeches, and even begs God to unlock words like these and present to us the sin we have embraced? What sin, you ask? Can there be a greater sin than taking His Words and stripping them of their power? Isn’t that what we castigate the heretics for?

So let us take these words and make some application for them which can only be observed through the life of a believer. And remember some of these things are glorious opportunities to deny ourselves and follow Jesus. Here is a man (or woman) and he is in a sad and unhappy marriage. There is no physical abuse but the atmosphere is toxic and every day he suffers with all kinds of emotional stress and he lives with a regret filled existence. Little by little he takes his eyes and heart off of Jesus and he becomes consumed with his unhappiness and his constant desire for some relief. He is miserable and his mind is feeding him with a steady diet of “you don’t deserve this” or “You could find something better” or “she doesn’t appreciate you” or as thousand other rationales that openly give him license to do whatever is necessary to extricate himself from this untenable situation.

Yes, that is exactly what the world does and the world has constructed many different avenues of escape which ultimately provide you with what you believe you deserve. After all, everyone else is happy and fulfilled. But here is where the words of Jesus are either just thought provoking or a transforming power. You see, when these kinds of situations present themselves rarely do we consider the open opportunity to take His cross and follow Jesus and ultimately to die to ourselves and live for Him in the midst of a situation which is everything but conducive to a spiritual life. We begin to follow personal happiness and emotional relief rather than even consider the possibility that the Spirit is calling us to glorify Christ in the very circumstance we wish to avoid.

And so we pray for a miracle where God can either change the other person or provide a way of escape. But is that the only miracles that God has available to Him? Listen to the words of Jim Elliot who willingly gave his life for Jesus:

“I have prayed for new miracles. Explaining old miracles will not do.”

We have become experts at exegesis in explaining the miracles of Christ as narrated in the gospels, but we are blind to the miracles that God desires to do today in our lives. God is not interested in these dog and pony shows that claim to heal backs and headaches and then rob people’s money. God desires to do great miracles in and through us which reveal the Lord Jesus and astound the world. But the greatest miracle God can do is empowering a believer to endure suffering for His sake which has no logic or earthly reason.

When we who claim to follow Him act and speak and have the same attitudes as do our unbelieving peers than we remove the majestic revelation of the Lord Jesus. And that is exactly what picking up our cross and following Him means. Once the sacrifice on cross has been applied to our sins then the cross must become our template in everything we do and think and believe. And if we are honest and vulnerable we must see just how tepid we have made God’s Word as it concerns a living application.

Mk.2: ⁹ Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

The man who had palsy was brought to Jesus and Jesus said his sins were forgiven. The scribes criticized Him. But Jesus asked whether it was easier to say your sins be forgiven or to tell the man to take up his bed and walk. The implication was obvious. Anyone can say anything, but only actions can really substantiate those words. And Jesus then healed that man and he took up his bed and walked for the very first time. Now that was the miracle which made many believe that He could also forgive sins.

How easy is it to provide a written theology and doctrinal statement and say we believe it? Just a little manipulated exhale and “Poof!” we have said we believe God’s Word. But how powerful are our convenient words when they are not accompanied by sacrifice and self denial and an obedience that defies any earthly reason or definition? And when certain circumstances present themselves that are very difficult and hard to endure do we present ourselves as living sacrifices or do we search for an escape well travelled by those who know not Christ? And just by the obvious similar responses by believer and unbeliever alike to a variety of circumstances and tests we are saying loudly that Jesus makes no real difference.

And in so doing we make Jesus a heaven ticket rather than the Lord of All.

So if you actually want to know what take up your cross and follow Jesus looks like in your own life you are going to have to investigate and meditate upon God’s Word with a deep vulnerability which genuinely desires your life to conform to His Word rather than the reverse. This will not require a little reading before you quickly fall asleep. This will demand a serious and sober searching led by the Spirit in which all things lay open before him. It will be a challenge just to grasp the enormity of all things. In fact, there are things and areas of your life that will be so uncomfortable and so excruciating that your mind must be playing tricks on you. But in reality it is then you should realize you have stepped into the authentic process of the Spirit. If it seems reasonable and within easy reach than you must go much further. Keep going…keep pursuing…keep thirsting.