The Second Sunday in Lent

February 25, 2024

Romans 8:31-38

Rethinking Religion—

Rethinking Suffering Under the Cross!

31He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

33But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (NIV1984)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Have you ever been in a church where there was no altar in front? I have. I did not like it. From a pastoral perspective the altar serves a very important role in our worship services. At the beginning of the service when I am standing in front of the altar facing you that signifies that I am speaking to you on God’s behalf. When I am facing the altar that signifies that I am speaking to God on your behalf. When I place the offerings on the altar those offering serve as a visible tangible expression of our love and our thankfulness to God for all the wonderful blessings He has freely given to us. When we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion we place the earthly elements of bread and wine on God’s altar in faithfulness to what He has instructed us to do. After the earthly elements have been consecrated by the Word of God, I take them from the altar and distribute them to you to assure you of what your God has done for you!

Now let me ask you this: Have you ever been in a church where there was no cross up front? I have. To me it just felt wrong not to have a cross as the focal point of why we gather together in the Name of the Lord our God. First and foremost the cross serves as a powerful visual reminder of the suffering that God willingly endured in order to save us from our sins. The cross serves as a powerful visual reminder of how God’s justice and God’s grace came together for our eternal salvation. Every time we lift up our eyes to the cross we are reminded of the encouragement given to us in Hebrews 12:2, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Today as we continue our sermon series entitled Rethinking Religion our Savior Himself reminds us of another very important truth. Every time we lift up our eyes to the cross we hear our Savior say to us, “Take up your cross and follow me!” With those words ringing out loud and clear today let’s see how we are given the opportunity to: Rethink Suffering Under the Cross!

Mark sets the stage for us when he says in the opening verses of our text, “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.”

Jesus had just asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Jesus’ disciples had just responded, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Jesus then asked that all-important question, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” We all remember Peter’s powerful confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

This exchange marked a turning point in Jesus’ public ministry. While the first part of Jesus’ ministry emphasized in both words and actions that Jesus is the true Son of God, the long-awaited Promised Messiah, now Jesus pivots to emphasize the necessity of His suffering, His death and His resurrection. The disciples were no longer shielded from the painful reality of the suffering and the sacrifice that Jesus had to make in order to fulfill the Father’s Plan of Salvation for this world.

This didn’t sit well with Peter at all. This didn’t line up with what Peter had envisioned for Jesus. Peter’s plan for Jesus revolved around power and prestige, acclamation and victory— not suffering and death! That’s why Peter took Jesus aside and “rebuked” Him! He “scolded” “the Son of the living God” for even saying such a thing! What do you mean “it is necessary” for you to “suffer many things”? What do you mean “it is necessary” for you to be handed over to your enemies? What do you mean “it is necessary” for you to die? No! This shall never happen to you! I won’t allow it!

Jesus’ response to Peter’s “rebuke” is one that we all know well. Mark goes on to tell us, “But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me Satan!’ he said, ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ suffering sounds rather pious. Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ suffering flowed from his love for Jesus. He wanted to spare Jesus the shame of defeat. He wanted to spare Jesus the shame of suffering. And Peter wanted to spare himself the embarrassment of being a “follower,” a “disciple,” of Someone whose glorious ministry would come to an end in such an inglorious way. Jesus, of course, instantly recognized that no matter how pious Peter was trying to be, no matter how sincere Peter’s motive may have been, Peter had unknowingly become a pawn of Satan. That’s why Jesus strongly rebuked Peter with the words, “Get behind me Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

This portion of our text gives us an opportunity to rethink suffering under the cross— specifically Jesus’ suffering on the cross. Satan wants us to think that sin is not that serious. Satan wants us to think that with just a little bit of work on our part, we can overcome sin. Satan wants us to think that with just a little bit of effort we can live an acceptable life and become a pretty decent and respectable person. Scripture disagrees.

Scripture declares, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Scripture declares, “No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him— the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough— that he should live on forever and not see decay” (Psalm 49:7-9). Since we deserve death because of our sins and because we could never do or pay enough to “ransom” ourselves from the prison of hell, “it was necessary” for Jesus to suffer as our Substitute. “It was necessary” for the Son of God Himself to die in our place. His suffering and His death were the only way for us to live— forever!

It is in the light of His suffering on the cross that Jesus gives us an opportunity to rethink our suffering under the cross. Mark continues, “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Jesus reveals to us that there are three aspects to being His disciples, His followers. First, we must “deny” ourselves. The word that is translated here as “deny” emphasizes “to say no to oneself and to surrender oneself totally.” This is not just giving up soda or coffee or chocolate for Lent. This is “disavowing” and “denying” and “renouncing claim to” the desires of our old sinful flesh. This is saying “No!” to the pleasures that our old sinful nature yearns to experience. This is “disavowing” the world’s emphasis on living for oneself and putting yourself ahead of everyone else. This is “renouncing your claim to” the time, the talents and the treasures that God has placed into your care. Instead of focusing on how you can use your time, your talents and your treasures for your own personal benefit, you look at how you can use your time, your talents and your treasures to bring glory to God by supporting God’s Kingdom work and by helping others.

The second aspect of being a disciple, a follower of Jesus is that we must “take up our cross.” This is not referring to the suffering and the sorrows we endure because of the power and the reality of sin. Even the unbelievers have no choice but to endure the sicknesses and the pains, the failures and the disappointments that sin brings into our lives. No, my friends, Jesus is calling on us to willingly bear whatever “crosses” come our way because we are a Christian, because we follow Jesus. Whatever shame, whatever sorrows, whatever suffering the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh try to heap upon us we endure because we know! We know that whatever shame, whatever sorrows, whatever suffering that we endure pales in comparison to the shame, the sorrow and the suffering that Jesus willing endured for us! (Pointing to the cross)

We need to be aware of the fact that the devil will offer us an easier path through this world, a path that does not require us to “take up our cross.” Just as the devil tempted Jesus to avoid the shame and the sorrow and the suffering of the cross by promising to give Him “all the kingdoms of this world and their splendor” (Matthew 4:8)— if Jesus bowed down and worshiped him— so also, the devil will tell us that we can avoid the shame and the suffering and the sorrow that comes with “taking up our cross.” All we have to do is be willing to compromise our values and to be flexible in our faith so that we look and sound and act like everyone else. And he’s right. If we look and sound and act like everyone who is a part of this world, we won’t be mocked or laughed at or ridiculed. That, however, would negate being a disciple, a follower of Jesus.

The third aspect of being a disciple of Jesus is found in His words, “follow me.” Following Jesus is far more than just saying that you are a Christian. Following Jesus is far more than just showing up for church every now and then. Following Jesus is a continuous day-do-day action. Knowing that we have been set free from the power of sin, death and the devil because of what Jesus has done for us (Pointing to the cross), we daily follow Jesus because we know that He is the only One who can and will lead us home to heaven!

Jesus then ties all of this together in a way that is very easy to understand when He says to us, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” If our goal is to “save” our life here on this earth, to “keep it safe,” to “preserve” the joys and the pleasures that this life here on this world offers to us, we will “lose” it. Eventually it all fades away. Eventually we all die. But— when we are willing to “lose” our life here, when we are willing to suffer the loss of everything— including our physical life— for Jesus and for His Gospel message we will find that in reality we have not lost anything! In reality we have gained everything— including eternal life! That’ why Jesus tells us, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” The comparison that our Lord makes here couldn’t be any clearer. As we heard in Psalm 49,“The ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough— that he should live on forever and not see decay.”

Even if we could gain all the wealth of this world, it would never be worth “forfeiting” our soul. The perishable things of this world, the things that are already scheduled to be burned up by fire on the Last Day, can never be worth the loss of our soul— our immortal soul. That, however, does not stop Satan from trying to convince us to make that exchange. He dangles before us the trinkets of this world— a few paltry dollars, a few hours of ease, a few moments of pleasure— and tries to convince us that this is what is important. Sadly, all too many people accept his offer— and “forfeit” their soul. What incredible foolishness! What profound folly!

Our Lord then closes our text with a very sobering warning. He says, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” How might God’s people become guilty of the worst kind of “adultery”— being “ashamed” of Jesus, their Bridegroom? Look at it this way: spiritual adultery is synonymous with spiritual unfaithfulness. If we become unfaithful to the One who was willing to give up His life for us, that is being “ashamed” of Jesus! Instead of remaining faithful to our Lord and Savior we give our love and devotion to things like recognition and acceptance by the unbelieving world, that is being “ashamed” of Jesus.

Spiritual adultery, being “ashamed” of Jesus, also includes unfaithfulness to the Word our God has given to us. Instead of remaining faithful to the Truth of Scripture— no matter what the consequences might be— we stay silent when people are openly pushing and actively promoting beliefs and lifestyles that deny and/or denigrate our Lord, His cross, and His claim that He is “The way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). We need to strive every single day not to give in to Satan’s temptations. We need to strive every single day that we do not do or say anything that indicates we are “ashamed” of Jesus.

Can you imagine walking into this sanctuary and seeing that the cross has been removed? I can’t. And if— God forbid!— if it were ever to happen I would probably walk out. Apply that same scenario to your life. We need to consciously strive to make sure that the cross of Jesus Christ is open and visible in every part of our life. And if His cross (Pointing to the cross) brings suffering into our lives, instead of shying away from that suffering, instead of being ashamed of His cross— we rejoice! We rejoice in knowing that our suffering “connects” us to the One who suffered infinitely more— all so that we could spend eternity rejoicing with Him in His heavenly Home!

To God be the glory!

Amen