“Have in Mind the Things of God” Mark 8:31-38

“As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”

Luke’s dramatic declaration of Jesus’ determination to take the path that would lead to Calvary is found in Luke 9:51. The sentence gives us a clear understanding that Jesus was determined to carry out His Father’s wishes. It sets up the remainder of Luke’s Gospel account to show us how Jesus responded to His world as He walked a journey of approximately 60 miles to the place where history would be radically and forever changed.

The journey, according to Google Maps, would take roughly four days to complete, going the way Jesus apparently did. It is possible, then, that we are able to see the last month or so of Jesus’ earthly ministry in the last 14 chapters.

The events we read in today’s passage take place not too long before Jesus makes His resolute decision to go to Jerusalem. We can’t be sure of the exact time prior to it, but in Luke’s Gospel, the passage is found in 9:18-27.

Matthew, Mark and Luke record Jesus’ statement, Peter’s rebuke and Jesus’ teaching on the cost of true discipleship; John does not record this event. In each of the three Gospels where it is recorded, it takes place roughly mid-way through the Gospel accounts.

For the next few weeks, we will be considering some of Jesus’ statements leading up to and through His crucifixion. While today’s passage doesn’t necessarily have a direct quote regarding the crucifixion, it is here that we have the first mention by Jesus that He knows how His earthly ministry must end.

As we consider this passage, we can gain a lot from Jesus’ words and His actions in light of the disciples’ response to His words.

Central Truth: Having a clear understanding of God’s will enables us to go forward in faith.

Jesus’ example shows us we need to:

have a clear commitment to follow God (31-32)

Throughout the Gospels, it is mentioned repeatedly, by the authors or by Jesus Himself, that “His time” had not yet come for His betrayal. Jesus first mentions it in John’s account of the transforming the water to wine. Numerous times, His enemies took up stones to kill Him, but it was noted that His time had not yet come and He was able to elude them.

We don’t know when Jesus knew that He was destined for Calvary. It may have been shortly before or at His baptism, or perhaps during His 40 days in the wilderness prior to being tempted by Satan. It may have come much earlier in Jesus’ life. After all, we know that Jesus was keenly aware of God’s place in His life when He was found in the Temple at the age of 12. The bottom line is that we really have no idea how much or how little Jesus understood about His ministry as He was growing up. We have little to no insight into His thoughts and intents.

All we know is that this the first time Jesus clearly tells His disciples that there will come a time when He will go to Jerusalem, that He would be arrested and persecuted and ultimately die at the hands of His accusers. He also knew that His death would be a temporary thing and that He would rise again in three days.

We know this because Mark tells us Jesus gave a detailed explanation to the disciples about what awaited Him and that He spoke plainly about it. It wasn’t wrapped up in a parable—it was clear, concise language that was easy to understand.

While we know that Jesus had a clear understanding of what awaited Him, it is also clear that Jesus was committed to carrying out the Father’s will, no matter the cost to Him. His faith in the Father and His relationship with God was such that Jesus knew the course before Him was the right course, the true course, the only course. And with that knowledge, Jesus was committed to seeing it through.

Again, there are some questions about what precisely Jesus knew. Judging from the details of the words in v. 31, though, we can surmise that Jesus had a pretty good understanding of what was to happen. There are times in our lives when we, too, know God is calling us somewhere to do something that will require a sacrifice on our part. I would like to tell you that God will be faithful to give us a detailed description complete with timeline, but that has not been my experience, nor is it the experience of most of the people in the Bible who followed God’s will.

Look at the lives of the men and women of the Bible—from Noah to Abraham to Joseph and Moses all the way through the apostles. For the most part, each of them followed God by a deep faith. But each of them also moved forward in their faith even though the final path was not clear to them.

The point is that God calls us to a ministry, and each of us has a ministry to perform. We may not know what that ministry is specifically, but we know we have one because God has saved each of us and has brought each of us into His kingdom and His family. We are saved to let His will be done in our lives and, through us, to reach other people for Christ.

How do we respond to God’s calling? Using Jesus and those who went before and after Him, we know the best and really the only way to respond is with a faith-based surrender and a firm—even a resolute—commitment to let His will be done in and through us.

We need to have a clear commitment to follow God.

expect well-meaning but wrong opposition (33)

It seems inevitable that there will be opposition to the doing of God’s will. Certainly, Satan is always opposed to God’s will being done, and Satan will use whatever means he needs to thwart that will. Even if it means using well-intentioned friends and loved ones.

When Melissa came to Kim and me and told us she believed God was sending her to a foreign mission field to serve, neither of us was all too happy about it. I mean, I wasn’t too happy when any of my kids told me they were moving out, and both Laura and Stephen are within 20 minutes of our house. So Melissa’s announcement wasn’t met with great rejoicing initially. Kim told Mel that she misunderstood. Instead of Indonesia, God had said Indiana. I told her that God really wanted her to go to Albuquerque, but Mel was certain. Ultimately, both Kim and I knew that Mel needed to be where God was sending her, and while we weren’t all too keen to see her travel literally halfway around the world, we were pleased that she was willing to put herself where God wanted her to be.

When Jesus announced to His disciples what awaited Him in Jerusalem, it should come as no surprise that they were not too happy to hear what He was saying. Luke doesn’t mention Peter’s rebuke, and here we only know that Peter took the opportunity to rebuke Christ. Matthew records the rebuke as, “Never, Lord! This shall not happen to You!”

It made perfect sense that Peter would say that. Jesus was talking about being murdered at the hands of His enemies. No self-respecting friend or follower would sit idly by and let such a thing take place. There was no need for talk like that as long as Peter and the other 11 disciples were around.

When we commit to doing God’s will, it is just a matter of time before well-meaning people will try to dissuade us. They’ll tell us the price is too steep, that the calling isn’t practical, that there are other ways to serve God. We will no doubt be tempted to listen to this counsel, but when it comes, we must again follow Jesus’ example.

When confronted by Peter, Jesus’ response was, “Get behind Me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God but the things of men.” When we are confronted, that must be our motto. Are we seeking God’s will for us? Are we certain it is God’s will? If we are certain, then anything that would hinder us in our calling is from Satan and is the things of men.

We are called to have in mind the things of God.

be prepared and willing to pay the cost (34-38)

Years ago, before the days of the internet, I agreed to meet a friend for a meal at a chain restaurant that I really liked. I had seen that the restaurant had a special deal on something I really wanted to eat, and I looked forward to eating the meal. Until I got the menu. The menu told me how much my eagerly anticipated was going to cost, and I was not in the mood to spend the kind of money they were asking me to spend. My friend offered to cover the difference, but I declined, and ordered something else. I wanted the dish, I looked forward to the dish, but I was not prepared to pay the cost of the dish, so I did without.

After Jesus responds to Peter’s rebuke, Jesus then goes on to remind them and us that following Him comes at a cost. The cost is not that we have to earn salvation. Jesus pays that cost. He did it at Calvary. No, the cost of following Jesus is three-fold.

First, in deciding to follow Jesus, we must deny ourselves. That is, we are expected to recognize that Christ is Lord, and as Lord, He will deserve our absolute obedience. We must be willing to sacrifice our preferences and our rights and lay them at the feet of Jesus. We must be willing to not only recognize that Jesus is Lord, we must also commit ourselves to His Lordship by stop being self-centered and becoming Christ-centered.

Second, we are to take up our cross. It is important to realize that the cross was a symbol of a painful and cruel death at the time that Jesus spoke these words. No one understood the cross to be a delightful little design that could hang from a chain around the neck or as a bauble on a bracelet. To put it in modern context, Jesus is saying take up your lethal injection or take up your electric chair. To take up one’s cross was to be willing to die to self, which is the next step in denying one’s self. For a disciple of Christ, we must not only deny ourselves, we must also die to self. “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). That’s what it means to deny myself and take up my cross.

The third step is to follow Jesus. We might think that the third step is redundant, but it is not. Rather, this is the most critical step, because it is possible to deny ourselves and take up our crosses for any number of causes, none of which can bring us into discipleship with Christ. I have seen people who have denied themselves and taken up their crosses only to commit themselves to their church, to their family, to their children, to their job. There are so many things—so many worthy things—that call to us, but the only one that really, really matters is the following of Jesus.

Jesus illustrates this with a series of comparisons. We can save our lives but lose them. We can gain the whole world, but lose our soul. We can keep quiet about Jesus rather than be embarrassed, or we can stand firmly with Him.

Years ago, during my high school or early college days, there was a song that came out entitled, “Jesus Is Just Alright with Me.” Every time I heard that song, I thought it was a cop out. Think about it. When do we say that something is “just alright?” Being a lifelong picky eater, I have used this phrase a number of times. I’m served a dish that isn’t really all that bad, but neither is it so tasty that I want to eat it again. It was just all right. Years ago, a friend of mine of Italian heritage came to our house and we served him up a delicious dish of frozen lasagna heated and ready to eat. We thought it was pretty tasty—not as tasty as mine, but easier to make. I asked my friend what he thought of it, and he said it was all right. I asked pressed him. His response to me was, “Glynn, the way you feel about Mexican food is how I feel about Italian food.” I understood exactly what he meant.

When it comes to the cost of discipleship, Jesus cannot just be all right. He has to be the best, the only, the zenith of what we desire. Jesus expects His disciples to follow Him completely and wholly, without reservation or other loyalties.

If we want to follow Jesus, we need to be willing to pay the cost.

Conclusion

“As the time approached for Him to be taken to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”

There comes a time in every person’s life when we have to answer the question, “Who do you say Jesus is?” If we answer correctly, we will say that He is our Savior and our Lord. We will say that He is the only one who has the answers for life, and we will say that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

And after making that confession, we will then need to decide whether or not He will actually be those things in our lives, or whether we’ll be satisfied with only saying it. Jesus expects action, not words.