Saving or Losing Life?

Mark 8:34-38

Rev. Billy Kristanto

Why did Jesus need to redefine messiahship? Why is this important? Because a wrong picture, thought, or concept of messiahship will result in a wrong discipleship. Theology here is not just about correctness of formulation. We might think, “Oh, this approach is so intellectual, everything must be precise." It is not just about that, because if our concept is wrong, if our understanding of Jesus Christ is mistaken, we might be following another Jesus. We might not be following the Jesus spoken of in the Holy Scriptures, but a different Jesus - a false Jesus. Clearly, that will have an impact on our spirituality, in how we live our lives day by day: how you live with your family, how you work, how you live in church, how you study, and so on. It will be deeply influenced by whether we know this Messiah rightly or wrongly.

Jesus taught about the path of suffering, about the cross, about rejection, even about death. I repeat the previous verse, where Jesus spoke plainly that the Son of Man must endure much suffering, rejection by elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. These four things: suffering, rejection, death, resurrection, are essential to knowing Christ. This is something essential; without this right knowledge, our discipleship will also be wrong. Our life of believing in Jesus Christ will ultimately be wrong. So we see here that we cannot say we are followers of Jesus without going through the way of the cross or the way of self-denial. There is no possibility for a person to believe in Jesus but refuse to deny themselves. If their life is always about the expression of his or her own ego, that is not following Christ. A person who follows Christ denies themselves, rather than expressing their ego.

When we talk about the cross here, carrying the cross and so forth, as noted in a commentary, our modern culture is exposed to the symbol of the cross, but primarily in the form of accessories such as necklaces. It is not necessarily wrong for you to wear this. Even at home, perhaps it is a display on the wall. Hopefully, in church, it is more than just a display on the wall. The commentary also mentions figures of speech: people understand “bearing the cross” usually as putting up with inconvenience or hardship. If you have a child who is difficult to raise, you say, “This is my cross.” At work, if your boss is not easy, you say, “This is a cross.” Or perhaps right now, Europe is hot due to a heatwave, “Oh, this is a cross.” This kind of understanding of the cross is quite far from the understanding in the early church. The cross was not something to trivialize or be cheapened as it is in our time today. The cross was truly something terrifying because it symbolized the Roman worldly power. Whoever was not synchronized or did not fit with Roman ideology would be dealt with in this way. This was the way the Romans demonstrated their worldly power, by crucifying people considered dangerous to their ideology. Usually, the people crucified were not just anyone. Romans would not be crucified. No matter how wicked a Roman citizen was, they would not be crucified. That punishment was considered too shameful. So, this was provided only for people who were the lowest in the social class, like slaves.

When Mark wrote this Gospel, it is highly probable that he was in the context that during the time of Nero, Christians were crucified because Nero framed them, claiming that the fire that occurred in Rome was caused or ignited by Christians. Many Christians were crucified. In a time like this, Mark was strengthening, encouraging, and comforting them, wanting to state: do not think that a life of suffering for the sake of the Gospel and Christ means we have been abandoned by God. On the contrary, it is not that God is throwing our lives away, causing such suffering to happen. The opposite is true. This is a very glorious identification. This is a story of faithfulness, of how believers in the early days had fellowship with Christ. This is the way of life of Jesus Christ Himself.

Jesus’ announcement of His messiahship, a messiahship accompanied by suffering, rejection, death, and finally resurrection, cannot be separated from your way of life and mine. It is absurd if we say, “I know Jesus who carried the cross and died on it” but we refuse to carry our cross, deny ourselves, and suffer together with Christ. That is absurd. That possibility does not exist. And this is what Mark emphasizes: the connection between the two. Jesus said one must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. This is basically also the life of Christ. So it is not just a theoretical communion, but truly a life that resembles Christ. Then in verse 35, “For whoever wants to save their life” - refusing to carry the cross, refusing to deny themselves, because they love themselves and their life - Jesus says they will instead lose their life. If you notice here, this forms a structure called chiasm. A chiasmus is a structure of A-B, then B’-A’, like a mirror. “Whoever wants to save their life” is A, “will lose their life” is B, then “but whoever loses their life because of Christ” is B’, and “they will save it” is A’. What is the importance of this structure? This is not theological elitism, but in this chiasm structure, you are invited to see the sandwich in the middle. Usually, what is emphasized is the meat in the middle; the main message is there. What is in the middle, B-B’, speaks about one’s life. There are two choices here: losing one’s life because one refuses to deny oneself, carry the cross, and be shaped by God; or losing one’s life because of Christ, because of the Gospel. Jesus says it will actually be better to lose one’s life because of Christ. For whoever tries to save their life will lose it anyway. So which is better? Losing your life because you tried to save it, or losing your life because of Christ? It is better because of Christ.

This term “life” or “soul” uses the Greek term psyche. Psyche can actually be translated as soul. It can also be freely translated as losing our personality, our identity, our being. What Jesus Christ wants to say is that it is true that when we follow Christ, there is a possibility of loss in the physical aspect, where a person who follows Christ might get sick, persecuted, or even killed. This is a loss in the physical sphere. But if we think this life is merely a matter of the biotic, biological, or physical aspect, that is reductive. Life is not just about the biological aspect. Today we live in an era that is very anxious about illness. That is why social media content that discusses health is very popular. Sometimes I see movements that claim to make you stay young, or prevent cancer, and people immediately scramble for it because it has its own appeal and attraction. But be careful not to care for the body excessively, to the point that we forget there are other dimensions in this life. There are people who serve God, but they serve Him only as long as it does not disturb their physical well-being. The moment they get a headache, they start to question whether to serve God or not. The moment they become unwell, they immediately stop. The physical aspect seems so important in life. I am not saying you should destroy your body. That is not the message. But be careful with idolizing health, physical well-being, fearing old age, fearing sickness, and so on. This is what Jesus Christ says: whoever follows Me, whoever follows Jesus, might experience a certain loss regarding the physical aspect of their life. But Jesus wants to say, be careful not to disregard the loss that occurs to the soul. A person might be physically full and not starving, but spiritually they are starving and do not realize it. A person might not lack anything economically and have enough, but spiritually they might be very poor, not understanding the riches found in Christ, which are actually given to those who believe and follow Him. They do not care about that; what matters is how they can be financially secure. You might experience disruption or even damage in the physical aspect when following Jesus, but what about damage and loss to the soul? Often, people are so intent on preserving their physical, biological life, their economy, and so forth. But what is no less essential here is their soul, which they harm. Whoever destroys their soul faces consequences connected to eternity, and that cannot be replaced even by gaining the whole world. It is said here, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can a man give in return for his soul?” Is this not the true loss - eternal destruction?

There are people who live in great abundance, have many resources, but have almost no friends in their life because they are suspicious. They think every time someone wants to be friends, they just want their money. How pitiful such a person is. They think every time someone befriends them, it is just to get a benefit, as if they are the one who can help the whole world with their wealth. There are people who genuinely want to be friends, but because of these suspicions, they do not dare to open up, and ultimately live in loneliness. And what accompanies them? Accompanied by a cat, or accompanied by a dog. Their life deals more with dogs and cats than with humans. We do need to realize that this life is not just about physical well-being. A person who harms or destroys their soul must realize that the consequences are eternal. In a brief life, it is a shame if a person only cares about the bodily aspect. What is this challenge from Jesus Christ? It is an invitation to happiness for those who dare to stake their existence, considering it less important than Jesus Christ. As you and I grow, we will grow from childishness toward maturity. What is maturity? It is when you see that the real thing that matters in this life is Jesus Christ. I want to follow Him. I am deeply loved by Him, and I want to love Him. This is it, and not my personal well-being, personal success, personal happiness, my existence, or my individual flourishing. But a person who does not grow thinks that way. They look for a church not for Christ, but for how they can be served well. Again, it revolves around them, not about Christ. They do not look for a church where they can experience the love of Christ, the glory of Christ, and love Christ deeper, or love others deeper. That is not what is in their mind. They want to go to a church that is comfortable, one where they will not be offended, one that appreciates them, or one where there is food after the service. And if possible, Indonesian food, because we are abroad and miss Indonesian food, so we want to come to where there is Indonesian food because it is important to satisfy our taste buds. People who think like this are actually children who do not grow; everything revolves around their own affairs, not about Christ.

But Jesus here wants to invite people to dare to surrender their soul, their life for Christ, to lose it as long as they still gain Christ. They are more willing to lose themselves and their life than to lose Christ, because Christ is everything to this person. I know that in this life, this might not be black and white. We are still in the process of struggle, leaving ourselves behind. Some people interpret this section by looking back at the previous verse where it says, “Whoever wants to follow me must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.” This imagery is a metaphor of a journey, because following implies a journey. A journey has not only a destination, but also a place left behind. If you go from city A to city B, you leave city A, you bring provisions, and your destination is city B. Everyone who wants to follow Jesus must deny themselves. This is what is left behind. We leave ourselves behind, meaning we deny ourselves and separate from a life where the center is always the self. We need to leave this because this is actually a recipe for destruction. A person who constantly tries to save their life, who refuses to leave and deny themselves, is actually destroying themselves. The self was created by God to follow God. The sinful self is called to come out so that we can follow God, rather than the sinful self following the sinful self. That would be foolish. If a person lacks knowledge, a student learns from someone who is more knowledgeable. Would you, being ignorant, learn from yourself and make yourself the teacher? What kind of person, being ignorant, wants to be taught by their own ignorant self? That is going in circles. The self has fallen into sin. We must separate from this self. That is what self-denial means. The self that needs to follow God ends up following itself instead; that is going in circles. A cross on a journey implies a burden; there is a burden we need to carry along the way. This is the cross throughout the journey. It is not without a cross; without a cross, our fallen nature runs wild. There will be no shaping if there is no cross carried. We think we are already free. Yes, later in heaven, we will not need a cross anymore because there we will truly have no more struggle against sin. But here in the world, there are still remnants that we must fight: a sinful nature that we must fight for a lifetime. It is impossible to face this without a cross; you will not win or experience continuous growth without carrying a cross. We are not perfect, for example, in our patience. If God wants to shape us to become more patient, increasingly patient until one day we have patience like Christ’s, what do you think the shaping would look like? Meeting patient people who always understand you and who are mature? How would our patience be shaped there? If God wants to shape our patience, would He send people who are all patient and always understanding toward us? We would not grow in patience. Does our patience not actually grow when God allows people who might speak carelessly, whom we find hard to tolerate? But this is what is called a cross that we carry by continuing to love them. And that is what makes you and I ultimately grow in patience, rather than being spoiled by people whose spirituality is already very good. We might not grow here. The people around us might grow because of our immaturity; their patience will grow, but we ourselves will not grow because we do not encounter difficult people.

A cross is usually something entrusted to our lives. We have also discussed that the yoke placed by God, the burden from God, is easy and light. We must believe this. Carrying a cross and denying oneself can sometimes feel heavy. True, with regard to our fallen nature, we can feel it is heavy. But we should be able to carry this willingly, and if we grow, there is even delight. Why? Because we carry it together with Christ. We carry the cross not without Christ. Christ has already carried the cross; He went before us. When we carry our cross, we do not carry it without Christ, and therefore there is comfort, and we can even say joy, in carrying the cross on this journey. It is impossible without a burden as there would be no shaping. We will not become more patient, more loving, holier, or more righteous if there is no cross. Calvin taught about this. He said God allows the cross and suffering to happen in our lives so that we may be shaped and may increasingly resemble Christ. Without suffering, our lives would remain unshaped and untested. Even Jesus had a cross. It is not that there was no cross; as a man, He Himself carried His cross here, providing a perfect example for you and me.

A person who grows and understands the beauty of following Christ will leave behind themselves. This is the city left behind. You remember the story of Lot’s wife looking back. God wanted to lead her forward, but her heart was too attached to Sodom and Gomorrah. We do not know what she was attached to, perhaps her habits, the rituals she did every day, the amusements there, or the stability of life. We do not know what attracted her there, but when God wanted to call her and bring her out of it, just as God brought Abraham out, Lot’s wife refused. She looked back and ultimately threw herself away. She rejected God’s call and threw herself away because she refused to leave Sodom and Gomorrah. She refused to deny herself. She wanted to hold onto it tightly. These are the people who cannot be used by God. They are ultimately cast away; they cast themselves away.

I have quoted Paul Washer several times regarding the difference between the elect and the non-elect. The elect will certainly be shaped by God. And during the shaping, of course, there is pain. But what hurts is the old man. That is fine; it must die together with Christ. The old man must experience pain. It must be crucified together with Christ. But a person who refuses to let their old man experience pain, whose ego refuses to be broken, cannot follow Christ. They cannot follow Christ because, for them, Christ is not everything. Following Christ is not an accessory. Many people see the cross as an accessory that is worn. How dangerous it is to see carrying the cross as an accessory in the Christian life. You know what the function of an accessory is. If you leave your house and forget to wear an accessory, it is alright. An accessory is optional. How dangerous it is to turn the cross into an accessory in our lives. Denying oneself is so essential in our discipleship; it is certainly not a decoration. A house without decorations is fine. If your house has no paintings, it does not matter; it is not essential for a house. Right now, many people are looking for air conditioning; suddenly air conditioning has become essential because it is so hot. Previously, air conditioning might not have been very essential, but now it is becoming essential. But what is truly essential in our lives as we follow Christ? It is that Christ is everything, and I leave things behind, denying myself, carrying the cross because it is necessary for shaping, and following Christ with a purpose. The purpose is God the Father, to whom Christ brings us. He is the goal, and Christ is the way. He wants to bring you and me to follow Him so that we may have fellowship with the Father in heaven. The way is only Christ. And in Christ, it is this way of the cross, the way of self-denial, the way of carrying the cross and following Christ. If you and I grow, we will care less and less about our existence. We are willing to lose it for the sake of Jesus. People who value and love themselves and not Christ, people who love their face, wealth, time, pleasure, and so on, will lose everything. They will lose not only themselves but also Jesus. How foolish these people are, as they lose the Lord and their lives.

There is only one way: to put our whole life on the altar of offering so it becomes a pleasing aroma for Christ. This is the only way, which is an invitation to happiness. It is not because Jesus needs followers, but we are the ones who need to follow Him. May the Lord bless us all. (S.W.)