“Then he [Jesus] said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:23-26)
Yikes! On first reading that does not sound like the Jesus that we often hear preached these days, does it? What is going on here?
As with most Bible passages, the context is important. Jesus has just asked his disciples who they think he is and Peter has replied, “You are the Christ of God” (verse 20). Jesus then tells them that he is going to be killed and raised again on the third day. He then says the things found in the first paragraph of this article.
So why does Jesus sound so strict and restrictive?
Jesus does not say these words to be mean or to make them somehow prove their faith. I think, rather, that he is simply asking them to focus on following him. Without a serious focus on Christ, life can be full of good things and still be a mess.
Think of it this way. What would happen if you went into your kitchen, got your biggest bowl and then mixed together every last piece of food you had in the house? You would end up with a pile of garbage.
Now, what would happen if you restricted yourself to a recipe and used only the ingredients that it specifies? Those same ingredients could make hundreds of good things.
Restrictions are not always bad. In fact, they can help us focus and produce something wonderful.
Jesus offers us a new life, with new goals, new visions, and a new purpose.
While we can never earn this great gift, we are called to live differently in response to it (Romans 6:1-14).
Yikes! On first reading that does not sound like the Jesus that we often hear preached these days, does it? What is going on here?
As with most Bible passages, the context is important. Jesus has just asked his disciples who they think he is and Peter has replied, “You are the Christ of God” (verse 20). Jesus then tells them that he is going to be killed and raised again on the third day. He then says the things found in the first paragraph of this article.
So why does Jesus sound so strict and restrictive?
Jesus does not say these words to be mean or to make them somehow prove their faith. I think, rather, that he is simply asking them to focus on following him. Without a serious focus on Christ, life can be full of good things and still be a mess.
Think of it this way. What would happen if you went into your kitchen, got your biggest bowl and then mixed together every last piece of food you had in the house? You would end up with a pile of garbage.
Now, what would happen if you restricted yourself to a recipe and used only the ingredients that it specifies? Those same ingredients could make hundreds of good things.
Restrictions are not always bad. In fact, they can help us focus and produce something wonderful.
Jesus offers us a new life, with new goals, new visions, and a new purpose.
While we can never earn this great gift, we are called to live differently in response to it (Romans 6:1-14).
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