Jesus had asked the disciples what the crowds said about him, and Peter had given his own testimony – “You are the Messiah!” (Mark 8:29). Then Peter had objected to the notion that Jesus must suffer and die, and been rebuked for that (8:31-33). At this point, Jesus offered this stern lesson to the gathered crowd along with his disciples: “If you want to become my followers, you must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me” (8:34).

It expresses a very high expectation: to follow Jesus is a commitment that anticipates that it will cost us our lives. This contrasts quite strongly with the easy-going style of “discipleship” we generally have on display. We are used to thinking that Jesus will always be glad to forgive everyone despite any number of shortcomings. Often our attitude seems to be that we’re doing Jesus a favor by listening to him from time to time.

Yet we will better understand our relative positions by remembering Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s famous saying, “When Jesus Christ calls you, he bids you ‘Come and die.’” This is a commitment on a completely different scale from deciding to add a little religion to my life, in the same way that I might decide to add a couple hours of brisk walking to my weekly routine, or to add more leafy vegetables to my diet, while keeping the rest of my life the same.

This is hard for us to get, even on the intellectual level: and it’s even harder on the personal level. We’ve all got our own agendas, things we want to do, a personal bucket list of accomplishments we want to get done in our lives. Jesus specifically addressed this attitude: “What will it profit you to gain the whole world and forfeit your life?” (8:36). And it’s easy enough to respond that we all want to be loyal to Jesus, in some low-key way: we just don’t want to be so embarrassingly fanatical about it. Jesus had a comment regarding this as well: “If you are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of you” (8:38). Oh dear …

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When will we learn, Jesus, that you are the Lord, and we are not? When will we respond in full allegiance, of heart and life? Teach us to live in accordance with your high expectations: to seek you, and follow you, in unashamed discipleship within our daily lives, no matter what.

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