21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. 28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
And after that, nothing was the same…
Once Jesus declared his divinity this ministry began to take on a focus and intensity that it had not yet seen. He no longer seemed content to heal people and say “the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.
He made it clear he had come to die...and rise again.
Resurrection? Great! Death? Not so much!
Of course we disciples are along for the ride. “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done”. Perfect!
But, that’s only half of it. Christ’s ominous words are sobering.“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it”. Less than perfect.
So much for the grassy hillsides where Jesus fed lots of folks…and lame people got to walk again.
We find our eternal destiny is joined inextricably to the historical accomplishments of our Savior, Jesus. In reality, if we are not joined with him in this life, we will not be joined with him in the next life. This includes both the good and the bad that life brings our way.
A lot like our marriage vows… I, ____, take you, Jesus, to be my (Savior). To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.
Let’s remember this when we’re living with the worse/poorer/sickness part.
Live boldly out there today…
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