He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Mark 8:31
Here Jesus speaks clearly about His own suffering and death for the first time. From this point on, everything is about the cross. The death of Jesus is central to the gospel. This is why He came into the world. This is how He saves His people.
Those who follow Jesus Christ have to understand what He is about: “If you are going to follow me, you need to know where I am heading. I am going to die. Not just die… I am going to suffer. I am going to be rejected. Then in three days I will rise again.”
If you follow Him, this is what you get yourself into: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (8:34). He says, “I’m going to the cross, and if you follow me, that’s where you are going too.”
Notice, Jesus does not say that following Him might involve a cost. He says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself.” Following Jesus means saying no to self and yes to God. It means saying no to the flesh and yes to the Spirit. It means saying no to comfort and yes to ministry.
Following Jesus will cause you pain that you could avoid if you were not a Christian. Jesus makes this very clear. If you want an easy comfortable life, don’t become a Christian.
Have you fully weighed the cost of following Christ?
