THE NECESSITY OF THE CROSS

July 14, 2019

Rev. Bernt P. Tweit

Old Testament Lesson; Zechariah 13:7-9

Epistle Lesson; Galatians 3:23-29

Sermon Text; Luke 9:18-24

The portion of God's Word we focus on for today is taken from Luke, chapter nine, looking at verses eighteen to twenty four. This is God's Word in Jesus' name.

One time when Jesus was praying alone and the disciples were with Him, He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

They answered, “'John the Baptist', but others say, 'Elijah', and others say, 'one of the ancient prophets come back to life.'”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

He gave them a strict command not to tell this to anyone. He said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the experts in the law. He must be killed and be raised on the third day.”

Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone want to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

This is God's Word

So, I have entitled this talk with you today 'The Necessity of the Cross'. I want to look at it from two angles, or two perspectives.

-I want to look at the necessity of the cross for Jesus, on the one hand.

-And, I want to look at the necessity of the cross for you, on the other hand (and I am including myself).

But, before we get in to that, I want to look at the back story to see what it was that took place right before our text for today. This is what had taken place. Jesus had just sent out the twelve disciples. They went out, and they were proclaiming the Kingdom of God. And, they were healing the sick.

As they were doing this, they were proclaiming The Gospel. Here is what scripture says about that. Scripture says that Herod was perplexed, because Herod didn't understand the message they were teaching.

Here is what scripture says Herod said. “Herod heard about all that was going on. He was perplexed, because some were saying John had been raised from the dead. Others, that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life.”

But Herod said, “I beheaded John. Who then is this that I hear such things about?” (Luke 9:7-9)

The people were trying to figure out who this Jesus was that the disciples were talking about.

Right after that, and before our text, Jesus feeds the five thousand. He used five loaves of bread, and two fish to feed five thousand men.

The next day, scripture tells us Jesus had some hard teachings He was sharing with the people. One of which was this. Jesus said, “I have come down from Heaven to do The Will of my Father.”

The people looked at Jesus, and said, “This is Joseph's son. Who is this guy who is claiming to have come down from Heaven? And who is this guy who is claiming to do The Will of His Father?”

Scripture tells us many people started to turn away, and stopped following Jesus.

I want to read what scripture says about that.

“From this time, many of the disciples turned back,

and no longer followed Jesus.”

So, Jesus asked the twelve disciples,

“You do not want to leave, too, do you?”

Peter answered,

“Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life.

We believe, and know you are the holy One of God.”

(John 6:66-69)

That gets us into our text for today. In our text, we see Jesus spending time alone, in prayer. We see Jesus spending time with His disciples in prayer. Already, at least for me, I start to feel guilty as I look at this first sentence in our scripture for today, because I realize I am not as good in my life of prayer, as I should be.

What do we see in our text here? We see Jesus going before His Father in prayer. If Jesus goes before His Father in prayer, guess who else should go before His Father in prayer? Not only myself, but all of us. Jesus is a wonderful example of taking all of our concerns, all of our anxiety, all of our thanksgiving to Him in prayer.

And so, Jesus asked His disciples point blank, “Tell me what other people say about me?”

The answer they give is identical to what Herod had said, just before our text. They tell Jesus, “Well, some people say you are John the Baptist. Some people say you are Elijah. Some people say you are one of the ancient prophets who has come back from the dead.”
Any, and all of those, would be amazing, wouldn't they? John the Baptist had been beheaded. Elijah had gone to heaven centuries before this. And, there was a misconception that those ancient prophets could come back to life.

Now, in the answer the people give, we will give them this. They had a very high opinion of who Jesus is, a very high opinion, and yet it was a misguided opinion. It was a misunderstanding of who Jesus was.

And so, Jesus asked His disciples, “What about you? Who do you say I am?”

Here, we see Peter being a spokesman for the disciples. He said, Jesus you are ”The Christ of God.”

In saying that, Peter was making a connection with The Old Testament word, 'Messiah'. Messiah is The Old Testament word that means, 'anointed One'. Christ is the New Testament word that means, 'anointed One'. Peter was saying, “Jesus, you are the fulfillment of The Old Testament Messiah. You are the Christ.”

He was really saying what the angel had told the shepherds on the day that Jesus was born. We know this verse from memory, because we hear it every Christmas. The angels told the shepherds,

“For unto you is born this day

in the city of David

a Savior

which is Christ the Lord.”

What the angel had said all of those years ago, Peter was now confessing with his own mouth. “Jesus, you are the Christ of God.”

Many people were turning away. Jesus told the disciples not to say anything, because people had a misunderstanding of what Jesus came to do. They thought Jesus was going to establish an earthly kingdom, that He was going to establish a political kingdom. Jesus didn't come to establish an earthly, and political kingdom.

Jesus came to save us from our sin

by His death on the cross.

So, Jesus told them to be silent.

Then, He said something that is really challenging in our text for today.

“If anyone wants to come after me,

let him deny himself,

take up his cross daily,

and follow me.”

What Jesus is saying there is the life of a Christian is a life of self denial.

About twenty years ago there was a book that was written entitled The Empty Church. The author was talking about Christianity in America. He was talking about how people are making Christianity in America so easy. Here is a quote from his book, as he writes this.

“Christianity in modern America tends to be easy, upbeat, convenient, and compatible. It does not require self sacrifice, discipline, or humility. There is little guilt, and no punishment. The pay off in Heaven is virtually certain. What we now have might best be labeled, 'Consumer Christianity'. The cost is low, and the consumer satisfaction seems guaranteed.”

That is not what Jesus is teaching us in our text, at all. Again, Jesus says the life of a Christian may be difficult. “If anyone is to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

The life of a Christian is a life of self denial.

But, guess what tends to be our problem. Our problem tends to be that we are selfish. Go back to Pastor Bartels' Children's Sermon from last week. He was talking about babies. Babies are selfish, aren't they? When babies are hungry, what do they do? They cry. When babies are tired, what do they do? They cry. When babies want to be held, what do they do? They cry. Babies are selfish.

Toddlers are selfish. Toddlers don't want to share with other kids they are playing with.

Last week I was at camp. I looked at all of the campers, and said, “You guys are selfish.”

They all looked at me with wide eyes.

I said, “Our sinful, human nature is selfish. We don't want to deny ourselves.”

Then, I looked at all of the counselors, and said, “Oh by the way. You guys are selfish, and I am selfish too.”
Guess what everybody, you are selfish. Our sinful, human nature doesn't want to live a life of self denial. And yet, Jesus said, “If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
-Which gets us to the necessity of the cross for Jesus. Why was it necessary for Jesus to go to the cross? It is because we are selfish. It is because we don't want to live a life of self denial.

Listen to the words of Jesus from our text for today. He says it three ways.

“The Son of Man must suffer...”

The Son of Man “must be killed...”

“The Son of Man must “be raised on the third day.”

The Greek word there for 'must' is really the phrase, 'it is necessary'. It was necessary for Jesus to suffer. It was necessary for Jesus to be killed. And, it was necessary for Jesus to rise again on the third day. The necessity of the cross for Jesus was needed. It was a must. It was necessary.

Why? Well, this is the second part of my message for today.

-This is the necessity of the cross for you. I can't say it any better than our Catechism states, when it puts it this way, in talking about the necessity of the cross for you, and for me. Our Catechism is simply a book of questions and answers. Here is the question.

Of what benefit are the life and death of Jesus on the cross to you?
Here is the answer.

By His life, Jesus has kept the Law in our place. By His death, He has suffered the punishment for our sins. Therefore, God declares you righteous for He regards you in Christ, as having been punished for our sins, and having kept the Law.

The necessity of the cross for Jesus means this, as the necessity of the cross for you. Jesus has done everything necessary for our salvation. He did it for you.

Yesterday I was here, at Holy Cross for a funeral. I went back to my office, to do something. My son was in my office. He had written a note. Two words. They were the words, “Unto you”. The passage he was quoting was Luke 2:11.

I said, “I am quoting that passage in my sermon tomorrow, but I am focusing on other words. (I shared that with you earlier.) The message the angels shared with the shepherds

“For unto you is born this day

in the city of David a Savior,

which is Christ the Lord.”

The necessity of the cross for you is contained in those two words, “unto you”. What Jesus did at the cross, He did for you. It was necessary for Jesus to do that so we could have the forgiveness of sin, and have life in Heaven.

Back in the 1960's there was a skirmish that took place between the people of Nepal and Indonesia. The men fighters in Nepal were known as Gurkhas. They were asked, “Are you willing to jump out of planes to fight the Indonesians?”

The Gurkhas said, “Yes, we are willing to jump out of planes.”

But, they had a request. The request was, “Could the planes fly slow? Could the planes fly a hundred feet off of the ground? Could the planes fly over swampy areas?”

That is when somebody told the Gurkhas, “If you fly that low, your parachutes won't have enough time to open.”

The Gurkhas said, “You never told us we got to wear parachutes.”

What were they willing to do? They were willing to follow.

That is what Jesus asks us to do.

“If anybody wants to come after me,

he must deny himself,

take up his cross daily,

and follow me.”

Somebody once said this, when they were talking about the life of a Christian. The challenge of the life of a Christian is this. It is that it is so daily.

The challenge of the life of a Christian is that it is so daily.

Our life today can't be based on what we did in Sunday School years ago. It can't be based on our Catechism Class from years ago. Our life as a Christian is being lived out today. Jesus says, “Follow me.”

We believe, and trust in Him, as our Savior. We deny ourselves, and we follow Him.

Amen