I Just Want To Live! Said Jesus NEVER!

Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. [Luke 9.21-26]

"I just want to live!" said Jesus NEVER!

Matthew, Mark and Luke all record this event of Jesus telling His disciples that He would suffer, be killed and rise from the dead. In the first two accounts mentioned here, we are told of Peter being rebuked by Jesus for his worldly (not Godly) viewpoint in response. 

Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” [Matthew 16.23]

In fact, so worldly were Peter's words that Jesus rebuked Satan for the Godless, self-centered human viewpoint Peter spoke of.

As tempting as it is to stop and build sermons and lessons at this point, it is important that we consider what followed.

"Then" is a transitional word that commands our attention that what follows it is significant to what just happened. After telling of His death and resurrection (including highlighting and rebuking Peter's erroneous viewpoint), THEN Jesus addressed the crowd...

And what did Jesus say to the crowd? “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

Jesus told all standing there that if they wanted to be associated as "His follower," they must be willing to suffer and die as their lifestyle (God's viewpoint). Jesus was very clear in going on to define what He meant:

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. [Luke 9.24-26]

Jesus never said, "I just want to live!" and NEITHER SHOULD WE! To say this is to view life only from a self-focused human perspective.

Whether we live or die is up to God and God alone. However, it is counter-intuitive for us to say, "I want to do God's will," while also saying, "but I want to live at all cost."

Here is a good place to highlight how much effort and resources humans spend on staying alive. In fact insurance and medicine are among the top grossing revenue industries in the world. It doesn't take a long conversation with any senior adult for that conversation to shift over to "health" revealing an underlying drive to live and not die.

How could any Bible-believing follower of Christ accurately understand Mark 8.34-38; Matthew 16.24-26; and Luke 9.23-26 and still say, "I just want to live!"? The only way a Christ-follower could make this statement is if they are NOT truly a Christ-follower!

Let's follow this thought through though... Jesus told His men basically three things that would occur in His future: He would suffer, He would die, and HE WOULD RISE AGAIN. Yes, He would willingly lay down His life, but the ROI (Return On Investment) of His doing so would be RESURRECTION LIFE! This is God's viewpoint! And, what a glorious viewpoint it is!

God loved the world so much that suffering and death were no deterrent to accomplish RESSURECTION LIFE for all who believe. Jesus defined this kind of love:

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. [John 15.13]

To be very clear: the laying down of one's life - the suffering and even death - the LOVE Jesus spoke of in John 15.13, John 3.16, and in the three Gospel accounts discussing the subject of this writing, is every follower of Christ's mission because ALL are called to take up their cross daily and follow Him.

The suffering and death mentioned here are not to be confused with suffering for our own disobedience or ignorance. Likewise they are not to be confused with sickness and disease (Jesus clearly healed those sorts of things and taught us to do the same). The suffering and death that pleases God is the suffering and death that are driven by love to preserve the lives of others.

"I just want to live!" is the epitome of selfishness and worldliness whether from Jesus' mouth or from ours.

Father, I want to give up my life for Your sake. I want to take all personal claim off my life and give it to You. Use my life or even my death to point people to Your love, Your Son, Your life!