The master craftsman was well respected in his barungay. His little shop stood along a side street next to the family home. People came from all over to have their furniture repaired or homes refitted. In the small town atmosphere, everyone knew the carpenter, the son of Joseph. At the peek of his career, when business was going well, unexpectedly, a sign appeared outside the door: “Closed.” People wondered why? Who else could help them? When would the carpenter be back to fix their table? The shop stayed closed for one week, then two, and more. Where had the carpenter gone?
Rumors spread that the craftsman was on a trip. Word spread that he had taken up a new career as a philosopher, an itinerant, traveling teacher. He began showing up in markets, on farms, in the city, even on fishing boats, speaking a message that he said he had gotten from his father. The simple people loved his stories, but the intellectuals criticized and despised him. Many people were suspicious about him, but no one could find any fault in him.
Soon, he had a large following. Over time, he developed enemies who sought to destroy him, but they were afraid of his followers. Everywhere he went, there were miracles. He healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, cast out demons, fed thousands with only a handful of pandesal and fish. Some people thought his magic was from the devil, but many believed he came from God.
After several years, the religious leaders joined forces with the national police and called the man a terrorist. They had him arrested and tried for treason. They organized a riot in the streets against him. The judge pronounced death for the traitor in spite of no evidence to prove him guilty. And so the life of the carpenter was cut short at the age of 33.
Death is the one mystery that troubles many people. It is called the last enemy. It is the enemy that overcomes every one of us. Everything we do somehow fights against this great enemy. We feed our bodies to fight starvation. We take medicine to overcome sickness. We sleep to find added strength for life’s battles.
The crucified carpenter from Nazareth gives us a hope that outlasts death. Death is not the end for those who put their trust in Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection shows His victory over sin and death.
Everything that the curse of Adam brought to us, Jesus has reversed. The Bible says, “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor 15:21-22).
Jesus died for our sins.
Every one of us has done what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden so long ago. Each of us has sinned against God, broken his commands, and turned out backs and walked away. God? Who needs God? I can do what I want. We have made our own God, a god of convenience, like a genie in a magic lamp who is around anytime we need a wish. “But all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“We all like sheep have wandered away from God and have gone our own way. And God has laid on Jesus our sins” (Isaiah 53:6, paraphrased).
“But we can be made right with God by his free gift of grace through what Jesus did on the cross and empty tomb for us” (Romans 3:24, paraphrased).
The message of Easter is the message of victory. George Bernard Shaw: “We crucified him on a stick, but we always had a curious feeling that He somehow managed to get hold of the right end of it.”
Jesus did not fight back. He could have, but He did not. Jesus came for one reason, to save us. He said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:9-11).
What does Jesus ask of us in return for this gift? The answer is quite simple but it demands all we have. It is: FAITH.
Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:34).
We have the advantage of knowing that the story ends with an empty tomb, but we nevertheless struggle with Jesus’ call to cross-bearing. Christians go to church hoping to learn how to be happy, and preachers are tempted to fill the hour with cheerful music and happy-talk. Ironically, churches that avoid mention of crosses (Christ’s and ours) usually die on the vine after awhile, while churches that keep the cross at the center of their worship keep plugging along.
The Gospel is not one of convenience but one of investment.
Jesus outlines a threefold requirement for those of us who would follow after him. He requires that we (1) deny ourselves (2) take up our cross and (3) follow him. These three summarize the purest Gospel.
1. The First Requirement: Putting Jesus first by Dying to our Self, v. 34
Jesus clearly lays out the terms of following him. He never tried to make following him something easy, that we can do twice a year by attending church on Christmas and Easter. It is more than simply stopping doing certain things or starting doing certain other things. “The call is not deny oneself something, but to deny self” (Williamson, Mark, 154). Self-denial is literally saying no to one’s self and yes to Christ, saying no to instincts and desires of self-seeking and self-will. The Apostle Paul understood this when he wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives me” (Galatians 2:20).
The call is instead to make Jesus the central focus of life rather than self — to no longer live for pleasure but to live for Jesus — to put ourselves into the hands of Jesus and to serve him. We do not have the power to save ourselves, but only to lose ourselves.
2. The Second Requirement: Taking up our Cross, v. 34.
The cross in the ancient world was the sign of a criminal and was associated with death. No one wanted to come near a cross or even talk about a cross in public. A cross was a dishonorable death.
For the followers of Jesus, the cross mean entering the narrow gate and following the difficult path of self-denial. Most people go through the wide gate and follow the easy path because it does not cost anything but offers the empty promise of happiness (Matthew 7:13-14). The broad path may start off easy, but in the end, it is rough and will destroy you. The path of the cross leads to eternal life and true happiness.
If you die with Him, you shall also live with Him, and if you share His suffering, you shall also share His glory.
We may think that the cross is heavy to bear. Sometimes we talk of carrying our heavy cross. “I have a heavy cross to bear.” Remove your cross and take up Jesus’ cross, for He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29).
It is said that there was once a monk who prayed much that he might have the marks of the Lord upon his hands and feet. A vision was given him in which he was shown a mark on the Lord’s body that the world had forgotten. It was the mark upon the shoulder, and the monk learned that he could only have the marks on the hands and feet as he first had the mark upon the shoulder.
To carry your cross means that you willingly follow Jesus to Golgotha, that you lay your life down before him. You say, “I am tired of fighting the battle with sin. I need you, Lord Jesus, to help me. I say goodbye to my old ways and I trust your Holy Spirit to help me live a new life.”
The Bible says, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin” (Romans 6:5-7).
3. The Third Requirement: Losing One’s Life, v. 35
We can either lose our life now or later. Jesus is the model. Life is not about trying to gain and make life more comfortable. It is not about what kind of car I drive or what kind of house I live in. It is not about what kind of clothes I wear or what school my children go to. If we think it is, we are seriously misguided. Life is all about giving and loving unconditionally.
The paradox of the gospel is that God’s power is seen in the weakness of the cross (1 Cor 1:18ff). It is when we are trust God that he can work his powerful change in our life.
Jesus asks rhetorically, “For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?” The original word for “life” here can express life, soul, or one’s very existence. This question addresses the disease of our age. The choice is very clear.
You must lead a dying life; the more a man dies to himself, the more he begins to live unto God (Thomas A Kempis).
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Have you died to your life controlled by the power of sin? Have you allowed the full promise of Easter to change your life—the way you live, the way you think, the way you speak, the way you see? Have you laid yourself before the victory of the empty tomb?
A friend visited an elderly woman badly crippled by arthritis. Her friend asked her, “Do you suffer much?” She answered, “Yes, but there is no nail here,” and she pointed to her hand. ‘He had the nails, I have the peace.” She pointed to her head. “There are no thorns here. He had the thorns, I have the peace.” She touched her side. “There is no spear here. He had the spear, I have the peace.” That is what Jesus Christ did for us. He gave himself so that we might have the peace.
The ancient words of Thomas A Kempis invite us: “Follow Me. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Without the Way, there is no going. Without the Truth, there is no knowing. Without the Life, there is no living. I am the Way which you must follow, the Truth which you must believe, the Life for which you must hope. I am the firm Way, the perfect Truth, the unending Life. I am the Way that is straight, the supreme Truth, the Life that is true, the blessed, the uncreated Life. If you abide in My Way you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free, and you shall attain life everlasting.”
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