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LUKE 9:23 “IF ANY MAN WILL COME AFTER ME, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF, AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS DAILY, AND FOLLOW ME.” (KJV, NKJV, RSV, NASB)
“If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (NET)
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (NLT)
This chapter is definitely not going to be for everyone. It should be for every Christian. But to be honest, most followers of Jesus will not choose to follow Him when it gets really hard.
During my first Air Force tour in England, Cheryl and I attended a Baptist church and our pastor invited several of us to join a “Discipleship Training Class.” I was certainly used to following Jesus…I had been a Christian at that point for over twenty years and was pretty sure I had followed Him faithfully for all those years.
I also felt I was very familiar with what discipline and discipleship meant. After all, I attended the Air Force Academy for four years and here, on my second tour in the Air Force, I was learning what it meant to be a leader as well as a follower.
Our first task in this discipleship class was to memorize Luke 9:23. I have already shared with you that I have a lifetime of that discipline in me already. I memorized the Scout Law and the Boy Scout Oath as a kid. We memorized lots of quotes at the Air Force Academy so this should have been easy.
The one quote I remember most being forced to learn at the Academy is a quote by Major General John M. Schofield to the 1879 graduating class at West Point: “The discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment.”
We memorized lots of “inspirational” quotes that first year as “doolies” under the merciless scrutiny of the upperclassmen. I remember screaming this quote at the top of my lungs while holding a rifle over my head, running in place and being screamed at by an upperclassman…all while thinking, “this sure seems like harsh and tyrannical treatment.” The quote continues on much longer than this…but I will spare you the anguish.
I really prefer a quote from a modern general, General Colin Powell, who distinguished himself in the Gulf War and said, “The most important thing I learned is that soldiers watch what their leaders do. You can give them classes and lecture them forever, but it is your personal example they will follow.”
I have learned in all my years of being a Christian that if we are to follow Jesus, we should truly, honestly want to be just like Him. But I also learned that it doesn’t take too much examination of His life, ministry and sacrificial example to see that being like Him is going to be very hard!
Having signed up for this discipleship training class, I quickly found out it was going to demand a lot more of my time than I had available. The Scripture memory wasn’t that difficult but the commitment to weekly meetings was hard to fit in with ten to twelve hour days in my F-111 flying squadron, additional duties and responsibilities at home. I didn’t get far in the course before I had to humbly admit that I needed to withdraw from the class because it was too hard for me to fit into my life.
I didn’t like admitting that I had found something that was too hard for me to do. Honestly, it kind of felt like a failure. If I commit to something, I have always found a way to “stick with it” even if it became difficult. I was admitting that the cost of continuing my commitment to this course was costing me too much.
Hmmm. I wonder why we started that discipleship course by memorizing Luke 9:23? Apparently, Jesus requires three things of his “disciples:” self denial, taking up a cross and following Him. I wasn’t admitting that I didn’t want to do those things in following Him. I was admitting I didn’t want to do those things to complete this training course. Sure!
Self-denial is a “nasty” word in our modern culture. If anything, the world encourages us to do exactly the opposite. “As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, you can do whatever you want.” Not what Jesus said. He said, “if you want to follow me, deny yourself.”
That term probably means if we want to do, see, say or think something that might be appealing to us that isn’t appealing to what Jesus wants in our lives, we should probably deny ourselves that! It means turning away from some of the things in life that would hinder us from following Him fully.
I don’t want to be a “nudge” here, but denying what we want for ourselves might mean giving up some things that we really want to hold onto. Some habits, luxuries and indulgences might not keep us from heaven, but they might not make the Lord real happy with us either. Denying ourselves in order to follow Jesus might mean giving some of those things up. I’m just saying... Ask the Lord what He wants you to do about that truth.
For most of us, taking up our cross to follow Jesus will not literally mean carrying a cross like He did to our deaths. However, there are Christians in some places of the world who are, today, being killed for their faith in Jesus. That hasn’t reached us yet…but we should be prepared to sacrifice even our lives if that is what the Lord calls us to do.
This discipleship course explained that “the cross” here indicates the “redemptive ministry that the Lord has called us to.” Denying ourselves means what we choose not to do. Taking up our cross then, would lead us to what He has called us TO do. Now that He has saved you, what has He called you to DO for Him?
There is a popular “theology” in the church today that says that we are not human-“doings,” we are human “beings.” It says that God has called us to “BE” His light to the world. We might be spending too much time trying to DO things to gain the favor of the Lord.
Although there is a certain degree of truth in this thinking, Jesus did call every one of His disciples to leave their former lives behind and DO what He would ask them to do. When Jesus sent them out two-by-two, He didn’t send them out to “shine by their examples.” He told them to heal the sick, cast out demons, declare the Gospel of the Kingdom. It was an exercise in getting them to see that they could also do the same works the He was doing in the world. That was a lot of doing!
I shared in earlier chapters about missionaries who gave up everything to move somewhere far from home and take the Gospel to those people there. Some did, in fact, carry a cross of ministry that led to their deaths. How easily we reject the notion that the Lord is actually calling us to tell the good news of the Gospel to our best friends.
Jesus walked with the cross…he dragged it up the hill to Golgotha. Sometimes following Him means some real movement in our lives…maybe a similar mission trip ourselves?
Jesus carried the cross…a real example of the burden of doing the work of the Lord in a sinful world that would just as soon reject us as look at us. Carrying the cross the Lord has called us to is going to cost us. Considering His sacrifice for us, our sacrifice would seem to always pale in comparison.
After walking with that cross and carrying its burden all the way to Calvary, Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The cross always carries the symbolism of death in some way. Are we willing to die to ourselves, our comforts and our sins to follow Jesus? We already learned Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ…” “yet not I, but Christ lives in me.” Can you put to death enough of your own pleasures and sins that you can start showing that He lives in you, not your old shameful, sinful self?
Last, a disciple is called to FOLLOW JESUS. “And follow me.” I love the dramatic portrayal of Jesus calling Matthew to leave his life of tax collecting and to follow Him. I grew up hearing many times the old hymn, “I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord.” The message to us was always, where will you go for Jesus? The correct answer, of course, was “wherever you want me to go.”
Maybe it was the innocence of youth or pure naivete, but I always admitted in my heart that I really was willing to go wherever the Lord wanted me to go. Are you? I’m not telling everyone they need to GO on a mission trip…although it would change your life and your outlook on your calling as a follower of Jesus.
What I think the Lord is saying is that He didn’t just save us so we could go to heaven one day. Our lives as followers of Jesus and disciples are just beginning at salvation. Jesus immediately says to us, “Here is what I have for you next.”
Find out what His calling is for you saint, and walk in it. Follow Jesus…wherever He leads you. Take up the cross of the redemptive ministry that He has just for you. You may not know what that ministry is. But I can promise you that if you seek Him, ask Him and listen for His voice to speak to your heart, He will tell you what He has for you to do.
It may start with nothing more than giving up, denying yourself, of those things that He reveals to you that are not pleasing to Him. Don’t be afraid to do that.
My grandpa Jack shared with me one time his testimony that when he gave his life to the Lord, he took the last pack of cigarettes he ever owned and threw them away. That was small but significant symbol to him that he had turned away from what had pleased him before and denied it now, to never return to it again.
Do you even want to be a disciple of Jesus? What is He calling you to deny in your life for Him? What is the cross of discipleship that maybe only you can carry for Jesus? Will you pick up that cross and carry it for Him? Discipleship literally means following the one to whom you have been called to be a disciple. Follow Jesus. Like Matthew, He is calling you.
Questions to Ponder: Does Jesus call all of us all to be disciples? Does “coming after Jesus” mean giving up everything just to follow Him? Verse 26 describes being “ashamed of Me and My words.” What does that mean? How might we demonstrate being ashamed of Jesus? How does a mission trip/visit affect a follower of Jesus who might have chosen to not do one? What does self denial mean to you? What things might the Lord ask us to deny to ourselves that would make us better disciples? What is YOUR redemptive ministry?
Other Scriptures to consider: Galatians 2:20 “Crucified with Christ.” Read past Luke 9:23, verses 24-26. Contrast “saving your life” and “losing your life” in this context. Mark 10:28, Matthew 19:27 “We have left all and followed You.” Acts 15:26 “…men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Matt 19:29, Mark 10:29, Luke 18:29 “…everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands.” Matthew 16:24
 
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