Suggestions for leading a study:
A Wasted Life?
22 And (Jesus) said,
"The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief
priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be
raised to life."
23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
Discussion Questions
-Verse 22 lists four things
that were going to happen to Jesus.
Which of these are most likely to happen to you in the near future:
Be rejected
Suffer many things
Be killed
Be raised from the dead
-Of those likely to happen,
what are some specific ways that you either have experienced them, or might be
likely to, especially in regards to your faith?
-Re-read verse 23. What do you think that people normally
understand that to mean?
-When Jesus says to “take up”
our cross, he implies it is something we
do deliberately: not just an ability to
put up with bad things that happen to us.
How might we do that in regards to the things we identified in the first
question?
-When Jesus says to take up
our cross “daily” he is implying a lifestyle decision rather than an occasional
event. How might that apply to these
same issues?
-In verse 24 Jesus reveals an
issue that can get in the way of following Jesus in these kinds of ways. What is that, and why can it get in the way
of sacrificial discipleship?
-Verse 25 reveals another
common problem with this kind of discipleship.
What is that, and how can it get in the way of a whole-hearted devotion
to Christ?
-In verse 25 Jesus warns us
that if we refuse to follow him in this way, we could jeopardize our “eternal
selves”, or the very essence of who we are.
How does self-denial develop our character? Is that enough of a motivation for us to “take
up our cross daily and follow him?”
This lesson explores what it means to “take up your cross and follow Jesus.” It attempts to clear up the misconception that “taking up your cross” means to be able to put up with bad things we don’t want to happen. Rather, it is a deliberate, daily choice to deny our own desires in order to become more like Christ.
-Verse 22 lists four things that were going to happen
to Jesus. Which of these are most likely
to happen to you in the near future:
Be
rejected
Suffer
many things
Be
killed
Be
raised from the dead
This
one is an opener: a little tongue in cheek, obviously as we’re not likely to be
killed or raised from the dead anytime soon.
But rejection and suffering are certainly options, and what the
remainder of the lesson will focus on, so in the end make sure that these two
get affirmed as at least possible for us.
-Of those likely to happen, what are some specific
ways that you either have experienced them, or might be likely to, especially
in regards to your faith?
In regards to rejection and suffering, any number of
things could come up in the context of relationships and living out our
lives. Jesus is specifically talking
about those things that could come up because we choose to be followers of his,
however. Relationally, following Christ
could easily cause people to reject us in any number of ways, from just thinking
we’re stupid to refusing to be with us.
In regards to suffering, we could experience any number of hardships
that result from insisting on integrity, say if a boss asks us to lie for him,
etc. Specific experiences your group may
have had will be very meaningful, but also encourage them to come up with
things that might happen because they choose to follow Christ.
-Re-read verse 23.
What do you think that people normally understand that to mean?
One of the points of this lesson is to get people to
understand this phrase correctly. It has
become a common idiom in our culture for being willing to bear up under some
kind of hardship that we haven’t chosen,
such as a disease or some other calamity, that people call “our cross to
bear.”
-When Jesus says to “take up” our cross, he implies it is something we do
deliberately: not just an ability to put
up with bad things that happen to us.
How might we do that in regards to the things we identified in the first
question?
Here is where we need to understand this phrase
differently from the idiomatic way it has come to be used. Jesus is speaking here not of something that
happens to us that we wish we didn’t have to put up with, but a deliberate
choice. The point of this question is to
tie that into the two issues of rejection and suffering from the first
question. How do we actually make the
choice to put ourselves in the position of being rejected? Certainly by making moral and lifestyle
decisions that others think strange, or are even threatened by. In regards to suffering, make it clear that
doesn’t necessarily mean getting tortured: it simply means being deprived, or
having a difficulty of some kind. One
way that we might do that deliberately is to make financial decisions that are
not self-indulgent. This issue will come
up again later in the study.
-When Jesus says to take up our cross “daily” he is
implying a lifestyle decision rather than an occasional event. How might that apply to these same issues?
Here again, this helps to understand this phrase differently. To take up our cross is not regarding stuff
that “just happens” to us, and is also not regarding things that may or may not
happen, or only happen occasionally (such as sickness, or financial
calamity). This is a daily lifestyle
decision for us. Again, try to key it
back to the two issues under discussion.
Every day our decisions and behavior should set us apart, even in little
ways. And every day we should be making
choices that deny indulging ourselves, but rather benefit others.
-In verse 24 Jesus reveals an issue that can get in
the way of following Jesus in these kinds of ways. What is that, and why can it get in the way
of sacrificial discipleship?
“Saving your life” refers to our physical well-being. If we are obsessively focused on staying safe
and comfortable, that will never create the kind of motivation and attitude that
results in decisions that require sacrifice and self-denial.
-Verse 25 reveals another common problem with this
kind of discipleship. What is that, and
how can it get in the way of a whole-hearted devotion to Christ?
This one’s easy:
money. Stuff. It should be obvious how it is that being too
devoted to that can get in the way of self-denial for the sake of following
Christ.
-In verse 25 Jesus warns us that if we refuse to
follow him in this way, we could jeopardize our “eternal selves”, or the very
essence of who we are. How does
self-denial develop our character? Is
that enough of a motivation for us to “take up our cross daily and follow him?”
Some translations use the word “souls.” The problem with that is how we often think
of our “souls” as some part of us that is separate from everything else that we
are (the part that gets to go to heaven).
The NIV takes pains to make sure we understand that the way biblical
authors use this term refers to everything we are: physical, emotional,
intellectual, spiritual, etc. The point
here is that what is ultimately important to Jesus is that we are developing
our character and identity as followers of his.
The essence of that is the process of dying to our selfish natures and
learning to live in service to God and others.
To take up our cross daily is to make deliberate, daily, lifestyle
choices that deny our selfish impulses for safety and security in deference to
making sacrifices to serve others. Jesus
is our ultimate example of that and the model for us to follow. That is what this passage is all about.