In this episode, we continue our study in Mark 8:34-38, exploring “The Cost of Discipleship” and what it means to follow Jesus. Building on our previous discussion, J. Mark unpacks the second and third essential actions of discipleship: taking up your cross and following through on your commitment. Jesus calls us to a life of daily surrender: denying self, choosing obedience over comfort, and valuing eternal gain over temporary approval. This episode challenges listeners to examine their walk with Christ and find the joy of a life fully surrendered to Him.
Transcript
It is a privilege we have to study the Word of God together. The Bible is the clearest record we have of Jesus time on earth. It has stood the test of time, and it is the anvil that has worn out many hammers. Praise God, it has been preserved, and we have made the main character our teacher and the one we worship. It is our desire, imperfect as we are, to learn, obey, and live out the teaching of Jesus; in short, we want to be disciples of Jesus. We wish everyone everywhere would experience the purpose and joy we have found.
Today we will continue our study in Mark. Our title is The Cost of Discipleship, and this is a continuation of the lesson we started last time. J Mark will do a short review, then we will get into the rest of the lesson. Let’s go with him now to Mark 8.
In the previous episode, I stated that you and I must take several ACTIONS to accept the costs associated with discipleship.
The first action was to “give up your identity.” We looked into the profound act of surrendering to Christ, choosing to follow His plans rather than our own, a necessary step in our journey of discipleship.
Another action was “take up your cross.” We examined the extreme physical suffering experienced by those who died on crosses in Jesus’ day. We made the practical application of how painful it is for us to put our bodily appetites and desires to death.
As we resume our study, I will read the text, Mark 8:34-38.
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
The Second ACTION is:
Take Up Your Cross
Why did Jesus use this terminology of taking up the cross? This was the death He was facing. From his struggle in the garden, we know that his flesh recoiled from it. It seems Jesus wanted to impress upon the disciples that this excruciating method of death would be to the physical body what death to self would be to the spiritual and emotional parts of our being. Our flesh dies hard; it wants to control us. But Jesus says, “Count the cost; if you are not willing to take up the cross and die the kind of death I will die, you can’t be one of my disciples.”
No one is compelled to take up the cross and become a disciple of Christ. Who in their right mind would voluntarily submit to such suffering and death? To answer that question, we must look at the alternatives.
Notice that in verse 36, Jesus used the terms of commerce, profit, and loss. He said, “Whoever protects his physical life, whoever cares more for his body than for the Lord’s commands, will lose his spiritual life; he will lose his soul.” That doesn’t mean we neglect our bodies; they are the temple of the Holy Spirit. There are other Scriptures dealing with that subject. What is in view here is the focus on sacrificing the spiritual to protect the physical.
As I said earlier, this commitment is voluntary. There is no coercion here. If you want to be a disciple of Christ, you must take up the cross. You must take up your responsibility to actively crucify the flesh, and it is something that must be done every day.
You might think all this talk about denying self and crucifying the flesh is depressing. But it’s reality—a reality we don’t hear much about in today’s version of what it means to be a Christian. Are you and I willing to surrender the glory of the Son of Man, the glory of the Father, and the glory of the holy angels for the temporary applause and approval of men?
For the true disciple of Jesus, suffering is a reality. And the source of that suffering won’t just be the world. Much of it will come from ‘religious’ people, just like it did for Jesus and the disciples. The message of the cross is offensive; it provokes a reaction. But Jesus said if we take up the cross daily and follow Him, we are assured of eternal life.
The coming glory will far outstrip anything the world has ever seen. Jesus said, whoever is willing to lose their life for the gospel’s sake will gain eternal life and the Father’s approval.
When Mark recorded these words of Jesus to “take up [your] cross,” the grammar means–take it up right now! That is my counsel to you. If you have never taken up the cross, do it now. Or maybe, in the past, you’ve taken up your cross, that instrument of death, and vowed to cling to it until all of self is crucified? But as you analyze your life, you realize you’ve laid it down and returned to your way. As I prepared this teaching, I realized my need for repentance and renewal–to embrace the Cross again.
You can make any claim you want to about being a Christian, but remember, unless you are willing to deny yourself and take up your cross daily, you cannot be His disciple. This is the second action we take in embracing the cost of discipleship.
The Third ACTION is:
Follow Up Your Commitment
After you’ve given up your identity and taken up your cross, you must follow up on your commitment. Jesus told his hearers, “Follow me.” This is simple, direct, and explicit instruction in the present tense, signifying that it begins now and continues.
It’s important to begin well, but it’s not enough. Some people expect to get to heaven based on a decision they made years ago. Maybe you’re one of them? I’m not denying that your decision was valid, but how are you following it now? What impact does your initial decision have on your choices and walk with the Lord today? The direction of your life is much more important than where you’ve come from.
I’m reminded of the word of the Lord to the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 18 of his prophecy. “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered, because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them, he shall die.
Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.”
Following through on your commitment will make you stand out. Your primary desire will be to please Jesus, not others, not yourself. That will affect your choices—all of them. It will make you different from unsaved friends, family members, and many church members. Many today want the benefits and rewards of being a Christ follower without making the sacrifices Jesus demands.
If you’re committed to following Jesus, plan on it; you will face rejection and ridicule. Some will call you narrow-minded, old-fashioned, and so on. Others will say you take the Bible too literally. They’ll say, “Do you really think God expects us to follow that part of His Word today? The world has changed.” Or “You don’t have to do all that stuff.”
They’re right; you don’t have to do all that stuff; there’s no force. But you’ll want to obey Christ’s commands because you love Him. The apostle Paul said it well in Romans 12. “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
In verse 38, when the Son of Man comes, He will not be ashamed to call you one of His. Instead of losing your soul, as Jesus speaks about in verse 36, you will be welcomed into the glorious presence of the Father, the Son, and all the holy angels.
Jesus is not sadistic; he doesn’t derive satisfaction from our pain. But He values the results of that pain when we bring it to Him as part of our cross-bearing. The sacrifices he asks us to make are made with our best interests in mind.
The reverses you and I face are not the hand of blind fate; they have purpose and meaning. God has promised that He orders our steps and that everything works together for our good. But we so often focus on the immediate, what feels good now. Jesus wants our focus to be like His in the long term. He wants us to say with Him, “I do only those things which please the Father.” He wants us to follow faithfully until the end.
The reward is eternal life. Seventy or eighty years, or even a hundred, here on earth seems like a long time because our minds can’t grasp the concept of something that never ends. But those brief years are just preparation for eternal life and eternal glory in the presence of God the Father. No more sorrow, no more pain, no more broken relationships, no more sickness. That is the reward for following the Lord.
Have you counted the cost of being a disciple? Have you given up your identity and accepted the identity Jesus has for you? Have you found the joy of a life surrendered to Him?
Have you taken up the cross of death to self? Do you still carry it, or have you laid it down somewhere? Have you given up the approval of men to gain that greater glory Christ offers? Are you dying to self every day so that Christ can live his life through you?
Finally, are you following through on your commitments? Are you still in the race, or have you dropped out? Do you understand that the cost of discipleship is more than offset by the eternal rewards?
At the end of life, will you hear those words of commendation from the Father, “Well done, good and faithful disciple, enter into the joy of the Lord?” Or will you hear the opposite, “Depart from me, you who work iniquity; I never knew you.” Today, you can still choose.
Today, we can choose. What a sobering, important decision it is. Consider your choice carefully. Remember, at the beginning of this teaching, J. Mark discussed cheap grace; many use this to water down Jesus’ teaching and make it easier. After hearing these two lessons, it is clear that the grace Jesus offers is definitely not cheap.
If you missed the first lesson or if you have any questions about today’s lesson, please let us know. You can contact us by email or online. Our email address is hope@heraldsofhope.org, and our website is heraldsofhope.org. Go to the partner tab on the top right. Under this tab is the “contact us”. From there, you can message us directly. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks again for being with us for today’s lesson on discipleship. You know, as humans, we are worshippers. We admire things. Our plea is for you to worship and admire Jesus! Go now and be His best disciple.
