Jesus Invites Followers

KEY VERSE: “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” —Mark 8:34

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Mark 8:27-38

THE incident described in our lesson today, among many other things, is an illustration of the practical side of Jesus in conducting his ministry. He sent his disciples out into areas he himself could not cover with the message of the kingdom, because of the press of time. And when they returned from their missionary journeys, he gathered them together to discuss and review all of the things that had happened to them. Jesus was interested to know what the people were saying about him, and so he asked, “Whom do men say that I am?” (Mark 8:27) His disciples answered that some thought he was John the Baptist, and others Elijah, and still others thought he was one of the prophets. Then he said unto them, “But whom say ye that I am?” (vs. 29) Then Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ.”

This was apparently a sign Jesus was waiting for, to begin instructing his disciples concerning his suffering, because from that time forward “he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (vs. 31) Jesus felt it was necessary for him to prepare the disciples for the unhappy events to follow, because they, like the rest of the nation of Israel, believed that when Messiah came the kingdom would be established and all the kingdom blessings would flow to them as a people. They had overlooked the prophecies which indicated that the Messiah must first suffer and then come into his glory.—Isa. 53; Ps. 22; Luke 24:24-27

In the subsequent verses of our lesson, Jesus brings to the attention of his disciples and all his potential followers the terms of discipleship. The statement of Jesus that he had to die was completely out of harmony with what Peter conceived to be the Lord’s plan for Jesus, and so he objected, and began to rebuke him and evidently tried to persuade him not to yield himself to death. But Jesus knew that he had to die. The primary purpose of his first advent was to take Adam’s place in death and thereby provide the means of lifting Adamic condemnation from Adam and his race. Jesus spoke of it in this way, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for [the] many.”—Mark 10:45

It is evident that if Jesus gave his human life for Adam, a perfect man for a perfect man, then Adam and his race could be released from the sentence of death, but the man Jesus would go out of existence, having taken Adam’s place in the dust of the ground. But the Lord’s plan was much more far-reaching than that. When Jesus surrendered himself to the Heavenly Father at the river Jordan, he was begotten of the Holy Spirit to a new spiritual life, the divine nature. (Matt. 3:16,17) During the three-and-one-half years of his ministry, it was necessary that he prove his loyalty and faithfulness beyond any doubt, in order that he might be born to the divine nature at his resurrection. (Heb. 5:8-10; I Pet. 2:19-25; Acts 13:32-37) His resurrection was proof that he had been faithful and by this he became a surety that the blessings of the kingdom would become a reality.—Heb. 7:22; Acts 10:38-43; 17:31

Jesus then turned to his disciples and the people, and said, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34) The thought of denying one’s self is that of renouncing the things of the flesh—that is, our worldly possessions, aims, ambitions, and desires. These things then are to be replaced by the things of the Spirit, which are the things of the Lord. This will effect a transformation of the mind that will bring the individual into harmony with the Lord’s will. (Rom. 12:1,2) If this be so, then the footstep follower of the Lord will be led to take up his cross, and lay his life down in a lifetime of service and submission to God’s will. And if faithful in this, Jesus said, “Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel’s [or, in other words, lay his life down in service and sacrifice doing God’s will], the same shall save it.” (Mark 8:35) This is saying that the faithful footstep followers of Jesus will receive everlasting life on the spiritual plane of existence with him, and will be associated with Jesus in the kingdom.

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