Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Follow Jesus's Example | Mark | Mark 8.29-38

Episode Date: February 10, 2021

How do you describe Jesus? We're called to follow his example, so what would that look like? Learn from https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/keith-simon/ (Pastor Keith Simon )as he studies https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+8.29-38&version=NIV (Mark 8.29-38) to continue our series on https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/mark/ (Mark). Interested in more content like this? Check out https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcasts/why-you-may-not-really-be-following-jesus-learning-to-follow-jesus-luke-18-9-14/ (Why You May Not Really Be Following Jesus). Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. To learn more, visit our https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/ (website) and follow us on https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks (Facebook), https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/ (Instagram), and https://twitter.com/tmbtpodcast (Twitter) @TheCrossingCOMO and @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to Tim Minna Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. My name is Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. If this podcast has been helping you in your walk with God, would you take five seconds to help us? Hop onto Twitter and follow our new Twitter account at TMBT Podcast. If you go there, you can see our latest episodes. You can also follow Keith and I and send us messages. We'd love to follow you back and see what's happening in your life.

Right now we're asking, who is Jesus? Who do people say that I am? That's the question Jesus asked his disciples 2,000 years ago, and it's still a question people have to answer today. In March 8, we see that there were a variety of answers to that question in Jesus' day. In other words, there was a lot of confusion about who he was. Some said he was Elijah, some said Jeremiah, some said another prophet. It's not that much unlike our day.

Because if today you ask people who is Jesus, there's all kinds of different answers. Some people believe in Republican Jesus or Democrat Jesus. And of course, their version of Jesus endorses their party's platform. Others believe in therapy Jesus, who helps us work through our personal trauma. There is quotable Jesus whose memorable sayings might appear on a Starbucks cup. There's Take Me to Heaven, Jesus, who's going to beam believers up to his heavenly spaceship when they die or he returns, whichever comes first. There's Homeboy Jesus, Buddy Jesus, Touchdown Jesus,

and the Jesus who Carrie Underwood invited to take the wheel of her life. For the past 2,000 years, almost everyone has had an opinion on Jesus and his mission. But that doesn't mean that all those opinions are correct. In fact, they can't all be correct because they often conflict with each other. After Jesus asked his disciples who people said he was, He turned to Peter. This is recorded in Mark chapter 8, verse 29, and asks Peter directly, who do you think I am? Peter says that Jesus is the Messiah. Bingo, right answer, bells ring.

But what does Messiah mean? Well, Messiah is the Hebrew word, meaning God's anointed king. This is the king that Psalm 2 and the rest of the Old Testament story said would come to deliver the world from sin and Satan, and reestablish God's rule on earth. So Kanye was right when he said that Jesus is king. Peter's answer showed that he got it. He understood truly who Jesus was, at least kind of. I say kind of, because immediately Jesus starts to teach about how he will suffer and die and be resurrected,

and Peter rebukes him. Can you imagine rebuking Jesus? Peter knows that Jesus is God's anointed king, king, but Peter doesn't understand that Jesus is a different kind of king. Jesus is not the kind of king who defeats his enemies, but who dies for them. He isn't crowned and sitting on a throne, at least not yet. First, he will go to a cross, because he doesn't demand the blood of others. He gives his blood for others. Peter is looking for someone to overthrow Rome, but Jesus has come to overthrow the dark powers of sin and Satan that stand behind Rome.

Peter tries to rebuke Jesus, but Jesus quickly turns the table and rebukes Peter for having his mindset on human concerns and not God's concerns. According to Jesus, Peter is thinking more like Satan and less like God. When Jesus predicted his death in verse 31, he says that it's the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law that will try him and kill him. It's not the pagans that hated Jesus to the point of death. It's the religious. In the name of religion, in the name of God, people can do some pretty horrible things. Jesus will not be lynched by an enraged mob or beaten to death in a criminal act. He will be arrested with official warrants and tried and executed by the official courts of Rome. But then Jesus goes even further by calling all of his followers to take up their cross and follow him. Jesus says the strangest things at the weirdest times.

Here all the crowds are starting to follow him. Here all the people are pushing in to hear what he has to say. And what he tells them is that they must deny themselves and take up their cross to follow him. It almost makes you think that Jesus is not that interested in gathering big crowds. Because when the crowds are the biggest, he has some of his most challenging teaching to say to them. After talking about how he is going to die, now he tells the crowds that he is calling them to take up their cross and die to themselves. It's widely acknowledged that Mark, who wrote this gospel were going through. He got his information from the Apostle Peter. Mark wasn't an eyewitness

to any of these events, but it had been faithfully passed down to him from someone who was. Again, the Apostle Peter. So it's interesting to think of first Peter 2, 21, in light of this passage. Peter writes this, To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. It's obvious that Peter finally got what Jesus was trying to say. In fact, all the early Christians did, because their commitment to follow Jesus to the cross, their commitment to die to themselves and follow Jesus's example is what led to the growth of the church. If you have a wrong view of Jesus, then you're going to have a wrong view of what it means to follow Jesus.

Because it's only when we see Jesus as the humble king, the saving king, the king who goes to the cross before receiving the crown, that we understand that that's the path he's marked out for all who follow him. I think this is difficult for us to grasp. For some reason, we think that when we follow Jesus, we will be healed, we will be wealthy, we will have victory over sin in our life, that more or less our life will go the right way. It's almost like we expect to get the crown and miss out on the cross. The disciples thought that way for quite a while. They expected Jesus to overthrow Rome, which is why they kept arguing.

about who got the most prominent positions when he took charge. They had to learn the hard way that the cross comes before the crown. If Jesus was rejected, mocked, beaten, and crucified, why should we expect an easier road? We follow a Savior who laid aside his rights. Why do we think it's appropriate for us to assert our rights? Remember when Jesus is carrying the cross on the way to his crucifixion, but he'd been beaten so badly that he just can't keep going?

The soldiers grab a man out of the crowd. His name was Simon. He was from Cyrene, which is in Africa. Well, they grabbed Simon out of the crowd and they make him carry Jesus' cross. That's a picture of the Christian life. Dead man walking. Dead to self. Dead to selfish ambition. Dead to our rights, but alive to God. If you ever wonder what the Christian life is about, just remember Simon. If you ever want to remember what life God has called you to, remember Simon, carrying that cross. That's our life, dying daily to ourselves so that we can live to God. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating.

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