From Death To Life

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Jesus had just told His disciples that He “must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things…, and be killed, and be raised on the third day.” Now He summons others to take the same road to eternal life.

If we desire to go after Jesus, then we must take three “steps”:

- Deny self. Like Peter in the Garden, we must say, “I don’t know the man!” Renounce our own earthly desires. Give up our personal ambitions. Say “no!” to sin. Resist temptation.

“Put to death the [evil] deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13). “Put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

- Take up our own cross. First century Jews knew what that meant. A long, lonely path carrying one part of the cross, then horrible pain while the Roman soldiers nailed the criminal to it, followed by hours, perhaps days, of excruciating agony in the hot sun, while jeering crowds gawked at the dying man.

Countless Christians suffer brutal torture at this moment just because of their faith. Others must endure the scorn, rejection, and even hatred of colleagues, neighbors, even friends and family.

- Follow Jesus. Walk in His steps. He left the glories of heaven to become a man; he emptied Himself of divine honor for a while in order to live like a servant. Wandering from place to place, He had no bed to call His own. At the end He possessed nothing but a seamless robe.

But after the Cross, what? Resurrection, elevation to the right hand of the Father, glory, honor, unending joy.

Those who follow Jesus to the death will find themselves enjoying everlasting life and love with Him. Surely that is worth the cost!

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This meditation can be found in the book Christ The King: Meditations on Matthew's Gospel and purchased from amazon.

Christ the King unfolds the many ways in which the Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as not only King of the Jews, but the one to whom “all authority in heaven and earth” has been given. Brief meditations on virtually every verse in Matthew portray Jesus as both God and man, and as teacher, healer, and liberator from demons, sin, and death. Drawing almost entirely on Matthew’s Gospel for his interpretation of each passage, the author also shows how Christ calls His people to follow Him faithfully, regardless of the cost. Christ the King is ideal for personal enrichment or group study.