Big Idea - In the beginning of the Gospel Mark declares that Jesus came "proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14–15). From chapter 1 to the end of chapter 8, the focus is on proving that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah. The kingdom is at hand because the King has come! This is truly good news! But Jesus unravels everything when He announces that He is going to suffer, be rejected by men, and be killed, but will rise from the dead after three days. Jesus is a very different kind of Messiah from what the Disciples expected. If the King came to die, what does that say about His kingdom? It certainly is not the kind of Kingdom the Disciples are expecting. Jesus is calling all who will come to enter the Kingdom. It is at hand; it is here, and all who are willing may enter. But what are we getting ourselves into? Jesus turns everything upside down and inside out by the announcement of His suffering and death. What does that mean for those who follow Jesus and make Him their Kind and Lord? What is in store for us?

Just as Jesus needs to correct false ideas about the mission of the Messiah, He also needs to make things clear about life in the Kingdom. Those who want to follow Him need to understand what they are getting themselves into! Jesus calls the crowd and His disciples, setting clear expectations for those already following Him and those who are undecided. Jesus lays out three expectations for those who follow Him. These are not requirements that we need to do first to prove that we are worthy or deserving. Instead, it is what is required because of the nature of the journey. They will follow Jesus on the road He is traveling. But, the way is full of dangers, perils, and difficulties. The only way they will be able to persevere and follow to the end is by doing these three things from the very start. The first is to deny one's self. That means saying "no" to self to say "yes" to God. It does not mean we must give up everything and live as a hermit. But, it does mean we give up the right to everything "I" desire and even the things “I” need. Secondly, there is no limit to how far we take this. The things we want and need can be found on the emotional level and on the physical level. What the self wants and "needs" emotionally, more than anything else, is to be somebody, that is, to be recognized, honored, loved, and respected. Taking up our cross is the extreme opposite of that. It is taking on the humiliation and shame of Jesus' death, of His cross. Jesus's life ends in the deepest shame, and that shame now becomes the mantle of all who follow Him. There is no glory in the cross. The world despised Jesus, and it despises all who follow Him. Those who want to follow Jesus must take up a life of shame and a willingness to be despised by others. The cross also points to death. What we "need" physically is to stay alive! We are wired to prioritize this, which is a good thing to a point. However, this is right only until living does not conflict with following Jesus. If the choice becomes our survival or following Jesus, we must be prepared to die for our faith in Christ. There is no limit to denying ourselves. We are to deny ourselves even as far as death! Finally, we are to go with Christ on the road he travels. We do not suffer for the sake of suffering, but we follow Jesus and prepare to meet hardships and suffering along the way because that is the road we are on with Jesus. We are to live as He lived. By denying ourselves, we can live much more generously and sacrificially to others, which is exactly what Jesus did! To follow Jesus is to live like Jesus.

What Jesus is asking is extreme. He is asking us to be willing to give up our right to get what we want and even what we need, even as far as giving up life itself! Why would anyone do that? Jesus gives four arguments why it is worth it. In short, the journey on this road is worth it because the final destination is more than worth it. Where does this road end? First, it ends in salvation. You can save yourself now, only to find you have lost your life for all eternity, or you can deny yourself now and "lose" your life for Christ and the Gospel so that you will be saved forever! There is no such thing as trusting God to save you but holding on to the self. You cannot have this world and heaven. You must let go of this world to gain life with God for eternity. Second, your eternal soul is of vastly greater value than the whole world. Even if you could gain the wealth of the entire world, it would not be worth it in the end. Your soul and your eternal happiness and life are a treasure incomparably greater than anything you could possibly gain in this life. Ask Steve Jobs. Thirdly, once you have lost your soul, there is no way to buy it back. Now is the time to decide. The truth is our soul has been lost in sin and rebellion. We have already rejected God and held on to self. When Jesus arrives at the cross, Peter does not deny himself and follow Jesus. He denies Jesus and saves himself. The others all run away from the cross. Like Peter, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way. What can we give in exchange for our soul? All the wealth of the world cannot buy back our souls, and even if it could, it would be of no help to us because when we die, we leave it all behind. But Isaiah 53:6 does not end there. It continues on - "and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6). What can we give in exchange for our soul, to buy it back? Nothing. But Jesus exchanged His life for ours! The blood of Jesus can buy back our lost souls! Finally, it is worth it to go on this journey with Jesus and endure all its hardship and shame because he will reject those who refuse to share in the shame of Jesus now on the day of judgment. But those who bear His shame now will receive honor on the day of judgment. The real issue is not getting what we want or not getting what we want. We want glory and honor. We want wealth and security. We want to be happy and have an abundant life of joy. The problem is not in wanting these things. The problem is that we are unwilling to let go of cheap and flimsy substitutes of these things here and now for the real things in eternity. We are like a person who was unwilling to leave their broken down and filthy home in the slums and take the long journey to a new home, a mansion far away because the way is hard and the journey is difficult.