Bible Verse: For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. Luke 9:24
Scripture Reading: Luke 9:21-27
Timing is everything. A move at the right second, a word spoken at the right moment, the impact of the right thing at the right time can be immeasurable.
Yesterday, we saw that when Jesus asked His disciples who they believed He was, Peter declared Him to be the Messiah, the promised one of God. The emotions that must have flooded the disciples would have been tidal. All the promises were coming true. Everything that God had said to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and all the others was finally going to happen, and the disciples would be there for all of it.
It’s then that Jesus capitalized on the moment, but not in the way we might expect. Jesus broaches three subjects that no one would have expected to come out of the mouth of Messiah.
First, Jesus sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone who He was (v.21). I’m sorry, Jesus. Did you just say we can’t tell anyone? The Deliverer that all of Israel was waiting for was here, and they couldn’t tell anyone?!
Second, Jesus told them that He had to die (v.22). To be murdered but that He would rise again. That’s not part of the deal for the Messiah. What are you talking about, Jesus?
And third, He tells everyone that if they wanted to follow Him, they too must die: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).
“Following Jesus” took on an entirely different perspective. It was now a matter of life and death. Jesus’s statement was obviously a metaphor—taking up a cross “daily” implies a regular symbolic death. But it was still outside everything the people would have thought of with the coming of Messiah.
Acknowledging who Jesus is requires a life that is lived according to His directives. It is a life that does not live for ourselves. It is a life that sacrifices self and follows Him, even to unexpected places, carrying the cross of our own sacrifice.
The question for us, daily, is whether we are carrying (and sacrificing) on our cross and living a life for Jesus.
Prayer: Jesus, sometimes the picture of You that appears is not the one we necessarily expect. Our expectations can get in the way of following You. I confess that I do not want to sacrifice myself. Help me to see the true value of following You and that gaining the world but losing my soul is no reward.
Reflection: Carrying our cross means something other than struggling with a bad habit or relationship. It means sacrificing everything for the sake of following Jesus. What might that look like for you?
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