The Message We Proclaim | A Sermon on Luke 24:44-49

Introduction
Ann Barnes passed away this morning as I was writing this message.  Her friends and family are shocked and grieved--myself included.  And many of us are struggling to process it.  Our hearts go out to Rusty and their family.  

At times of lose like this, our hearts hurt and we have many questions. We wonder about hope as we suffer and see people we love suffer.

And providentially, our Scripture today gives hope as it asks a very important question:  What is the message Christians proclaim to the world?  I hope you will listen with especially attentive ears.  Let us begin with the Scripture.

Luke 24:44-49
⁴⁴ Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. ⁴⁷ It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,^[a] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of all these things.

⁴⁹ “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

The Core Message
Jesus gives us the core message of Christian hope in verse 47.  We are to preach to the whole world: “There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.”
Moments like this—when we come face to face with the death of someone we love, who left this world too early and so unexpectedly—remind us that life is fragile.  The message of forgiveness is incredibly important.

Ann Barnes was a sweet, sweet soul.  I have not known her as long as most of you, but I have known her long enough to know she was a true follower of Jesus Christ.  Jesus was her Lord and Savior.  She loved Him and served Him. And He welcomed her Home today.  He saved by His grace through faith when she repented of her sins followed Him.

And so today I do not need to fear for Ann, because I know she is in Heaven with Jesus.
Her body is made whole.  The health issues she struggled with over the past few years are gone.
She no longer has to suffer the brokenness and evil of this world (no more pollical ads…).

Suffering
Jesus showed His Disciples from Scripture how the Old Testament clearly foretold how Jesus must suffer, be killed and rise from the dead on the third day.  This was part of God’s plan.  Jesus had to suffer.  He suffered for our sakes.

We suffer too.  We suffer because of sin.  Sometimes it is because of our own sin, but more often it is just because of sin in general.  The world is broken because of sin.  And this sin sickness infects everything we experience.  Yet our suffering would be worse if it had not been for our Savior—the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the Old Testament, in Isaiah 53:5-6, it says of Jesus, “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed.  All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”

Jesus suffered for us to lessen our suffering.  Were it not for Him, the suffering we experience—as unbearable as it already is—would be completely unbearable.  We would utterly collapse and be crushed under the weight of it.  Yet Jesus took the greater part of our suffering on His own shoulders.  He has given us enough space to hear God’s call for repentance.

Repentance
From the beginning of His ministry, Jesus preached:  “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”  Those who follow Jesus make their start when they choose to repent of their sins and follow Him.  To repent literally means to turn away. 

We repent by turning away from our sin and turning toward Jesus.  We turn aside from a following the path of sin to follow the path of Christ.  No longer do we choose to live for ourselves and our own plans.  Instead, we follow Christ.
We give Jesus control of our destiny, realizing His plans are better than our own.

So, we are faced with two real choices.  We can continue to live our lives as we please.  Or we can surrender control to God, repent of our sin, and follow Jesus.  There is no middle ground.  Jesus is either your Lord or He is not.  We all have to decide.

There are real consequences to the choice we make.  If you continue to live as you please, you will eventually be separated from God forever in the fires of hell, tormented for eternity.  You may enjoy some pleasures in this life (though I would argue they are an illusion), but you will ultimately pay for all your sin with eternal suffering.  

But you don’t have to.  God offers you forgiveness and peace through Jesus Christ.  If you repent of your sin and follow Jesus, you can be saved.  You will suffer some in this life, but you will ultimately spend eternity with God—the source of life—in the Kingdom of Heaven where there is no more sin or suffering or death.  And so, you must choose: will you continue in sin or repent and follow Christ.  

I pray today you will choose Jesus if you have not done so already!

Our Part
Those who choose Jesus as Lord have work to do.  Jesus has done His part.  Now, it is time for us to do ours.  And what is that?

Our part is to preach Jesus’ message of repentance for the forgiveness of sin to the whole world.  This is our most important task.  It is our mission.  It is why we are a church.  

You can take away everything else we do as a church and we will still be a church if we are faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ who preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  But if we do everything else—River of Life, preaching, teaching, music, Sunday school, Acorn Circle, etc.—but do not preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins, then we cease to be a legitimate Christian church. 

And it is not just for the pastor to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  It is for every follower of Christ.  You may never stand in a pulpit and preach a sermon, but you will preach by every word you say or don’t say and by every thing you do or don’t do.  God has laid before every Christian a congregation to hear the message we preach.  For me, it is in the pulpit (and also on social media and on the internet and wherever else I can use my witness to spread the Gospel).

But for you, it may be as a mother talking to your children.  Or as a Father.  
Or it maybe as a teacher by the way you interact with your students in a school.  
Or as a nurse tending to patients and talking with co-workers.  
Or as a grandparent grandparenting.

You can fill in the blank with whatever roles God has given you.  He has put you there for a reason.
Every Christian is to influence their own circle of influence with the message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

And we should not feel overwhelmed with the task.  For Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to do it.  It is the same Holy Spirit who enabled the Peter to preach and win 3,000 to Christ.  It is the same Holy Spirit that in Acts enabled believers to speak foreign languages and perform other miracles and caused the Church to grow exponentially, though it was sorely persecuted.  The some Holy Spirit empowers you to be a witness for Christ. 

Closing
So, in closing, I want to implore you with two things.

1. If you are not yet a Christian, won’t you choose to be one today?  Repent of your sins and turn to Jesus.  None of us know how long we have in this world.  And once you leave it, it will be too late to repent.  So repent and turn to Jesus today.
2. If you are a Christian, dedicate yourself to the main calling of every follower of Christ—to be His faithful witnesses who preach the message:  “There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.”

The Great Commission | A Sermon on Matthew 28:16-20

Introduction
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?  What would you do with it?  I asked people on Facebook and here’s what they said:

• Patience
• Time travel - so I could hit all my grandchildren’s ballgames and not have to choose!
• The ability to heal - both yourself and others
• Omniscience - to be all knowing
• The power/charisma to convince people
• Ultimate faithfulness to be able to turn all concerns to Jesus and accept his Will unconditionally with Praise and Glory to God.
• Teleportation
• Invisibility
• The ability to fly
• be to cure cancer
• be to instill love and compassion into every person’s heart
• to be able to duplicate themselves
• Ask powerful questions that helped people reflect on how much they are loved by God such that their character would manifest the fruit of the Spirit
• To ensure that no children go to bed hungry

In our passage today, Jesus says He has been given a super power:  all authority in heaven/earth; then He tells what He wants to do with it.

Matthew 28:16-20
¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

“…but some doubted”
Before we talk about Jesus' authority and what He wants to do with it, I want to point out the first thing that grabbed me in this passage because I think it’s really important.  It says they worshipped Jesus, but some doubted.  They are with the risen Jesus, in the flesh, but some still doubted.  

That amazes to me! Then I realize I have also personally seen Jesus do some amazing things. 
He has provided for me – out of a broken, impoverished home; and I'm still here when many of my friends didn't make it.  God granted me a beautiful wife.  He helped me raise three successful kids.  He saw me through 25 years of ministry - ordination, ministry struggles (staff changes, addictions, fires, floods, disaffiliation).  God has been with me through all of this, yet sometimes I still doubt.

So, if you sometimes doubt, don’t beat yourself up.  Jesus still loves you whether you are brimming with confidence or struggling or just hanging on trying to believe.  And Jesus still gives you a mission.  The mission is based on His authority, not our certainty.   Jesus says, “ I am with you always…”

Authority
Now let’s talk about Jesus’ authority.  What would you do if you had “all authority in heaven and on earth”?  Jesus had all authority.  He could have used it to make people bow down to Him, to serve Him, to build His throne.  He even could have used His power and authority to snap HIs fingers and fix the whole world all by Himself in an instant.  But he didn’t.

Jesus chose to use His authority to commission us.  Rather than doing something all by Himself, He gives us the honor of doing it with Him.  He must have done that for a very important reason, because we’re idiots!  So, there must be something about the God of Heaven and Earth inviting His children to get involved that’s really important.  I think it is part of the healing process for us to help God in His work to save our world.

How do you use your influence?  Do you use it to control?  Protect yourselves?  Elevate yourselves?  Do you use it selfishly or do you use it to empower others?  Jesus used His authority to empower us to do something.  What exactly did He empower us for?

Verses 19-20 tell us we are to make disciples, baptize, and teach.  Let’s look at each of these.  We are to make disciples.  This is the main command but do we know what it means?  It doesn’t just mean to win converts, gain new church members, or get people to attend church.  We’re called to make disciples.

We are called to make disciple.

A disciple is a follower of Jesus.  

A disciple is someone who learns from Jesus.  

A disciple is someone who begins to live like Jesus.  

And a disciple is someone who makes disciples

Jesus also told us to baptize.
Jesus also commissioned us to baptize people.  Baptism publicly identifies a person with Christ.  It says, they are a member of God’s family.  

Way back in the Old Testament, God called Abraham to leave his home and go to a promised land he would show him.  And God said He would make Abraham the father of a great nation that would be God's special chosen people.  And God told Abraham that every child should be circumcised at 8-days old.  Circumcision would be the sign that they were God's chosen people.  Them, in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul said baptism is the new circumcision--the sign that Christians are God's people.

It is our tradition in the Methodist Church to baptize our children to claim them for Christ—to say they are part of the family of God.  When they grow up, they choose Christ for themselves.  Ultimately, we baptize people because, someone who is baptized has a new identity in Christ.  People today identify themselves in all kinds of ways:  parent, American, a Georgia bulldog fan, introvert/extrovert, etc. You can be all those things, but Christ should be your primary identifier.  Baptism is the moment we say, ‘I belong to Jesus now.’

Jesus said: “Teach Them..”
Jesus commissioned us to teach people to obey everything He commanded.  We’re not just teaching them about Jesus, because knowing information about Jesus is not the same as following Jesus.  We’re to teach people to obey Jesus’ commands.

What Jesus commissioned His followers to do is like raising a child.  Think about it.  We’re called to bring people into God’s family and then teach them how to live.  Then, they go out and bring more people into God’s family and teach them how to live.

If we’re not helping people grow in Christ, then we’re not fully doing what Jesus called us to do. 

Holy Communion
So, here we are.  Some us worship.  Some of us doubt.  We do both at different times--and sometimes a the same time!  Jesus doesn’t wait for perfect faith.  He doesn’t hold back His mission.  He speaks with all the authority of  Heaven and Earth and He commissions us to make disciples, to baptize, to teach.

But before we go out into the world to serve, to try and live out this calling, Jesus invites us to come to Him.  Because it begins with what Jesus has already done for us.  

One of the most sacred ways He reminds us what He’s done is Holy Communion.  At this table:

• We remember His sacrifice
• We receive His grace
• We experience His presence

And I would remind you something we’ve learned today: 
this invitation isn’t just for people with strong faith. 
It’s also for those who still have questions and doubts.

So today, if you have confidence—come.
If you have doubts—come.
If you long to believe—come.
Because Jesus meets us right here in all of these.

The same Jesus who said, ‘Go and make disciples,’ also says,
‘Come to the table.  Taste and see.’

 

Doubting Thomas | A Sermon on John 20:24-29

Introduction
I was at a wedding this weekend, and two of the bridesmaids were twins—sisters I’ve known since they were in kindergarten. When they were kids, I could not tell them apart.  

I felt bad about it.  I felt like, as their pastor, I should be able to tell them apart.  Sometimes they would come for Holy Communion and I felt so bad I couldn't call them by name.  Sometimes I would try to play it off say Lauren and Lilly and serve them both together, but I'm sure I wasn't fooling anybody.  Other times I would just come clean and say “which one are you?”  They were always gracious.  I guess they were used to it.  

Now they’re 22, and it’s completely different.  I can tell exactly who’s who.  They still look similar, but there are subtle differences. 

I tell you all this because today, we’re going to read about a time the resurrected Christ appeared to His Disciples and the story involves a twin named Thomas.

Thomas’ name actually means ‘twin.’  It’s not certain that Thomas was a twin.  But his Aramaic name, Thomas, literally means twin.  And John also gives His Greek name, Didymus, which also means twin.  The most natural explanation is that he really did have a twin, even though the Bible never tells us who it was.  But I have a suspicion there are some of Thomas’ twins reading this right now--in the sense we share his doubting attitude from today’s Scripture. 

John 20:24-29
²⁴ One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),^[a] was not with the others when Jesus came. ²⁵ They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

²⁶ Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

²⁸ “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

“...Unless I See It”

All the other Disciples had seen Jesus (at the same time). And they told Thomas. Still, Thomas said “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

Now think about that. The Disciples were quite close. They'd spent at least 3 years living together as a tight-knit group—a band of brothers. They trusted each other. And they all witnessed the resurrected Jesus. But when they told Thomas they'd seen Jesus, Thomas said, “I won’t believe it unless I see it.”

Granted, their story was incredible, but still.  If 10 people I trusted with my life all told me something, I would at least consider it. But Thomas was a skeptic who wouldn't believe until he saw it with his own eyes and touched it with his own hands. 

There's a saying we use that seems to be obvious:  seeing is believing.  Of course that's true, right?  We think so, until we experience our eyes fooling us.

Can You Trust Your Eyes?
We want to trust our eyes. We think we can. But they're not infallible.  But you know who is?  Jesus.

One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 3:5 says,
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.”  This verse reminds us that we should trust in the Lord more than our own understanding.  I have learned this with my wife. 

Men, have you ever opened the refrigerator and can’t find something? I do that all the time.  And I call out something like "Honey, where's the ketchup?"  And my wife will say, "It's right there in the door!"  And I will look in the door and for the life of me can't see it.  And I will say "It's not there!"  And my wife will sigh and walk to the fridge and reach in the door right in front of my face and grab the ketchup.  There's something about men that when the light of the refrigerator comes on, the power of our eyesight decreases exponentially.  We can see a deer in the woods 200 yards away, but we cannot see the ketchup in the fridge 12 inches away.

And our minds don't always work well either.  We know about cognitive decline and diseases like Alzheimer's where our mental function is degraded.  But it's not just these disorders that affect us.  Our thinking is often greatly affected by my emotions.  In the winter, when it is so dark outside, I get a mild case of the SADs (Seasonal Arrhythmic Disorder).  I get grumpy and my wife will remind, "Oh, you'll be fine.  It's just dark and cold outside and you don't like it and your grumpy.  Spring is coming and you'll feel better soon.

Also, if I really want something, my thinking is often affected by my broken sense of desire.  And yes, I am smart and well-educated.  But that also means, I can be really good at rationalizing my own actions (even when I’m wrong).  

So, we can’t completely trust our own eyes or our own thinking.  But we can trust the Lord.  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.”

Wesleyan Quadrilateral
In Methodist circles, we like to think of four main ways we know God’s Truth.  First and foremost, the foundation of everything, is Scripture.  We base everything we teach and do and believe on God's unchanging Word.  This is God's Truth and it does not changing with the fickle opinions of society.  Scripture is a firm foundation of timeless truh to build our life upon.  It is the primary way we know God and how He wants us to live.

Next, we have tradition.  These are the teachings, practices, and wisdom passed down through the Church over time. We are not the first Christians to wrestle with questions of faith—believers for centuries have studied Scripture, prayed, and sought to follow Christ. Tradition reminds us we are part of something bigger than ourselves. It helps guide us so we’re not trying to figure everything out alone or reinvent the faith.  But tradition must also align with Scripture.  And if we find tradition is contrary to Scripture, we should change it.

Third, we have reason.  God gave us minds to think, to question, and to understand. Faith is not blind—it engages our intellect. We use reason to study Scripture, to discern truth from error, and to make sense of the world around us. But we also recognize that our reasoning is limited. We don’t rely on reason alone—we submit it to God’s greater wisdom.

Fourth, we have experience.  This includes both our personal experience with God and the shared experience of the Christian community. It’s how we see God at work in our lives—through prayer, transformation, peace, and conviction—but also how we see Him working in others and in the life of the Church. When we gather for worship, hear testimonies, serve together, and witness God moving among His people, that shapes our understanding of Him.  But even here, our experiences—both personal and communal—must always be tested by Scripture, because experiences can be powerful, but they are not always perfect.

Thomas doubted Jesus was really alive, because the resurrection didn’t seem reasonable.  Furthermore, it was so far outside the realm of normal human experience (even though Thomas had experienced a human ressurection--Jesus raised Lazarus from a tomb after he'd been dead for four days).  

But Jesus didn't abandon Thomas in his doubts.  Jesus was gracious and merciful.  He met Thomas where he was.  Thomas said, “Unless I see it with my own eyes and touch it with my own hands…”  And Jesus obliged.  Eight days went by and Jesus came again.  And He said to Thomas,  “Put your finger here…  Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”  And Thomas believed.

The Blessing of Belief
Jesus also said something that applies to all of us today (becuase most of us never see the risen Jesus in the flesh the way the Disciples did).  Jesus said,
“Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

Jesus often talked about faith—believing, trusting.
He said, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.” (Mt. 17:20)  He was impressed by faith in people whenever He found it.

Faith is the foundation of a relationship with God.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  Faith is so important.  And when we have faith without seeing, it is a true blessing.

Believing without seeing requires faith in who Jesus is.  It’s trusting His character, His Word, and His promises.

Believing without seeing grows stronger, more mature faith.  Seeing can convince you in a moment, but faith built over time produces endurance, trust, and spiritual depth.

Believing without seeing keeps us seeking and walking with God daily.  If we saw everything clearly, we might become complacent.  Instead, faith keeps us praying, seeking, and depending upon God day by day.

Believing without seeing leads to a greater reward.  Jesus calls it a blessing.  There is a special blessing reserved for those who trust Jesus when they can’t see Him.

Conclusion
What are you doubting today?  Maybe you are doubting if God is really there.  Maybe you have doubts about Jesus:  Did He really rise from the dead?  Is He really the only way?  Can I trust what the Bible says about Him?

Or maybe you have other doubts:  Is my faith strong enough?  Am I really saved?  Why didn’t God answer my prayer?  Does God actually love me?  Why do Christians act this way?

If you’ve ever had questions, if you’ve ever struggled to believe, then you have something in common with Thomas.  He’s kind of like your twin.  
Take courage.  Jesus didn’t reject Thomas for his doubt—He met him in it.
And I believe, Jesus will meet you in your doubts too—if you will let Him.

 

 

Take Up Your Cross | A Sermon on Matthew 16:21-28

Introduction
Can you imagine what it was like to be a Disciple who walked with Jesus for three years?  To have heard His amazing teaching first hand?  To have experienced His loving grace?  To have seen Him perform the amazing miracles–feeding 5000 with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, walking on water and calming the stormy sea, healing the blind and the deaf and making the lame walk?  Walking with Jesus on the earth must have been an amazing experience for the 12 disciples.  And they sensed something great was about to happen as they made their way toward Jerusalem.  Was their Messiah finally going to kick out their Roman oppressors and restore Israel?  They hoped He would as the felt His ministry rising toward a great climax.  And Jesus knew their hopes and expectations when He spoke in Matthew 16:21-28.

Matthew 16:21-28
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.”

What Does It Truly Mean To Follow Jesus?
Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem to face the cross and fulfill His mission to die for the sins of the world. Now, He tells His followers that each of us must carry a cross of our own.

This is part of what it means to be His disciple.
Each of us must face the question: what does it truly mean to follow Jesus?

The disciples knew exactly what a cross was. Today, people often think of crosses as decorations in a church or pieces of jewelry. For Christians, the cross has become a beautiful symbol of God’s redeeming love. But the twelve disciples who walked with Jesus had seen people dying in agony on crosses. Sometimes those crosses stood along the roadside, placed there by the Romans to warn anyone who might challenge their power. So when Jesus spoke about carrying a cross, His words had a very clear and serious meaning.

Peter’s Rebuke
And Peter didn’t like it. Peter wanted nothing to do with a cross—not for himself, and certainly not for his beloved Lord. Peter knew Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. He had just said so in the passage before this one, and Jesus had praised him for his faith.

But Peter did not yet understand the true nature and purpose of the Messiah.

He was still thinking about political and military victory: overthrow Rome, restore Israel, and establish power. His vision was of a limited, earthly kingdom. Maybe he was remembering the glory days of King David’s rule. Or perhaps he was thinking of the more recent Hasmonean kingdom that arose after the Maccabean revolt—the Jewish uprising that people still remember today when they celebrate Hanukkah.

So when Jesus says, “I must suffer and be killed…,” Peter hears something very different. What he hears is, “Our movement is going to fail.” And Peter tries to protect Jesus—to protect the movement, and maybe even to protect his own dream of being part of the Messiah’s inner circle in a free and powerful Jewish nation.

But Jesus knows that His true purpose is far greater than Peter’s limited understanding.

Jesus’ Temptation
There’s something important we need to notice here. Jesus was tempted by Peter’s vision. Who wouldn’t be?

Imagine a choice like a game show. Behind door number one is suffering and death on a cross. Behind door number two is ruling as the powerful king of a free and independent Jewish nation—greater even than the glory of Solomon’s kingdom. Which would you choose?

It’s very tempting. Even for Jesus. In fact, it sounds a lot like what Satan said to Him when He was fasting in the wilderness for forty days. Do you remember the temptation? Satan said, “All this I will give you…if you will bow down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8–9)

Peter’s vision of the kingdom sounded easier. It promised success without suffering. But Jesus knew that God’s plan was far greater and far deeper. He had to reject Peter’s human vision because it led away from the cross.

So just as Jesus rebuked Satan in the wilderness—“Away from me, Satan!”—He rebuked Peter as well.

Reaching for God’s Kingdom without carrying a cross—that has always been humanity’s sin.
We want victory without sacrifice, glory without suffering, and resurrection without crucifixion.
But Jesus knows you can’t skip the cross and still reach the Kingdom.
The road to real life runs straight through surrender and sacrifice, while trusting God’s plan.

The Disciples’ Cross
So Jesus tells His disciples (and us) plainly what it really means to follow Him.

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Following Him means surrender, sacrifice, and dying to self. 

Yet Jesus also gives a surprising promise:  “Whoever loses their life for me will find it.” 
The cross is not the end of life—it is the path to true life.

So each of us must ask: What are we really trying to gain in this life? Comfort? Success? Approval? These things can be appealing, but if gaining them costs us our soul, they are a terrible bargain.

The Transfiguration
For many years I misunderstood the last verse of this passage.
I thought Jesus was talking about His second coming.
That was confusing, because He says that some of the disciples standing there would not die before they saw the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.
But all of those disciples eventually died, and Jesus has not yet returned in that final way.

But that’s not what Jesus was referring to.
Jesus was pointing to something that was about to happen very soon. In the very next chapter, Matthew tells us that six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John up onto a mountain.
There, something remarkable happened. Jesus was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, His clothes became dazzling white, and Moses and Elijah appeared talking with Him.

For a moment, those disciples saw Jesus as He truly is—the King in all His glory.
It was a glimpse of the true Kingdom.

And that moment is very important. Jesus had just told His disciples about suffering,
about crosses, about losing their lives.
But then, He allowed a few of them to see the glory that lies beyond the cross.

The Kingdom of Jesus is not only something that comes after suffering.
Sometimes, God allows us to see glimpses of His glory even while we carry the cross.
And that matters for us.
Because what Jesus said today is heavy. He has told us that following Him means sacrifice.
But the life of a Christian is not all doom and gloom.
It is a life where suffering and glory are strangely intertwined.
Along the road of discipleship there are moments when Christ lets us see His beauty—
moments of peace, moments of grace, moments when His presence becomes so clear that we know we are walking the right road.

The cross is real. But so is the glory.  So be encouraged. Be brave.
And follow Jesus with determination.

Yes, there will be suffering along the way. But there will also be glimpses of His Kingdom—glimpses of the glory of the One we follow.

And one day, the glory we glimpse now will no longer be hidden.
One day we will see Him fully, face to face.

Closing
But today, we need to accept the cross.  Don't let your hope in Christ be a worldly human thing where you settle for a cheap victory without suffering.  Because Jesus says, "If you want to be my disciple, you must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me."