The Attractiveness of Following Christ (Mark 8:34)

I must start today's article by reminding you of our place in the gospel of Mark. Mark had begun his book by revealing Jesus' identity: he is the Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1). And in the first eight chapters of his gospel, Mark shows us the beauty of Jesus' life. No one in the book had confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, the descendent of David, who would vanquish Israel's enemies and bring in an everlasting kingdom.

No one until Peter that is (Mark 8:29). This is the major revelation we saw in our last study of Mark. Jesus asked his disciples what the crowds thought of him. Then he asked his disciples what they thought of him. And Peter spoke for the group, confessing Jesus as the Christ.

Immediately, Jesus silenced his disciples. Though they were right that he was the Christ, they had the wrong idea of who the Christ would be and what he would do. If they'd gone around telling everyone they'd found the Christ, the fervor of the region about Jesus would've reached a boiling point. Everyone would've expected Jesus to drive out the Roman Empire and establish his rule.

But Jesus came first to die. He will come again to reign. But his first coming required his death. There is no kingdom without Christ's cross. So the disciples needed to be quiet until they learned the full gospel -- then they could preach with their every breath! Until then, silence.

So after Jesus started teaching his disciples about his coming death and resurrection, our scene today unfolded. He called the crowds together. He gathered them with his disciples. And he began showing them what it looks like to follow him.

Again, the disciples have only recently confided in him that they believe he is the Branch of David, who will usher in an age of righteousness that will cover the earth like the waters cover the sea. Their internal excitement and apprehension must have been off the charts. The Messiah has come! And he has -- for whatever reason -- chosen us to be his followers! What will the rest of life be like?

It is clear in other texts that these men envisioned thrones, supernatural powers, and great wealth. They thought of glory. They thought of greatness. So Jesus needed to start the process of teaching them what life in his kingdom would be like.

So Jesus told them:

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Mark 8:34)

Why Would Someone Want To Come After Jesus?

If you think about it, no one else could say what Jesus said. It hints at his deity. If a teacher -- or even a prophet -- invited people to follow him in this way, we would call it blasphemy (34). His invitation is one of full-scale devotion, ridding one of self-centeredness, and replacing it with Christ-centeredness. He wants us to lose our lives for him (35). He wants us to preserve our souls by being his disciples (36-37). He wants us to find motivation in his return in the glory of his Father with the holy angels (38). No man can ask for this. Only God can command this level of allegiance.

But the crowd and the disciples would have been interested in following him. This is why he started by saying, "If anyone would come after me" (34). This points us to the attractiveness of following Christ, the attractiveness of his life. Anyone can say something like this, but when Jesus says it, we listen because his life is so beautiful.

He Knows About Life

Of course, at this point in Mark, the crowds and the disciples didn't really understand who they were dealing with, but they knew a bit about the life of Jesus. And what they saw amazed them. G. Campbell Morgan called this attraction "the spell of Jesus."

He was appealing. He is appealing. We look at him and know he knows about life. He knows how to live. Even before the cross, the crowds could look at Jesus and see he knew the secret to life.

And the secret to life is something all of us are after. I mean, we all know how to be biologically alive. It takes no effort. We are living organisms. But we know in our souls we don't really know how to live, how to be alive. We sense something is missing, that we are doing it wrong.

We have luxuries. We have scientific advancements. We have great wealth. We have education. We have entertainment. We have literature. We have gadgets. We have great cities and societies. We've built great nations. We have innovation. But, so often, we don't have the sense we are human. Something is amiss. Like zombies, we pass through life. We don't feel we are living out a great, human destiny.

And, now, here is Jesus! He knows about life. He doesn't follow his passions, but his life has great meaning. He doesn't have many possessions, but he is satisfied like none of us have ever been. He doesn't have power, instead serving and lowering himself for others, but he is highly exalted. Jesus knows how to really live. He knows the secret of life.

Rich, Young, Ruler

When we get to Mark 10, we will observe a young, wealthy ruler who comes to Jesus looking for eternal life. He didn't know what we do. He wasn't asking, "How does salvation come? Is it by faith?" No. He wanted the kind of life Jesus had. He wanted whatever Jesus was living.

He had youth, something many in our society are chasing. People want to look young, feel young, or act young. They fear aging. Often, those who fear aging age the worst. But this man, a young man, was successful, in his prime, while young.

He had power. Luke calls him a ruler (Luke 18:18). People looked to him for leadership of some kind. Still a young man, he had an ability or talent which drove him to the top of his community.

He had wealth. Mark says he had great possessions (Mark 10:22). Luke says he was extremely rich (Luke 18:23).

But he didn't have life. He didn't have what he saw in Jesus. When he looked at Jesus, he did not see a young man. Jesus was in his early thirties, but that wasn't necessarily young in those days. And, on top of that, his ragged life of carpentry in Nazareth and his tireless ministry in Galilee seem to have taken their physical toll. When Jesus told the religious leaders that Abraham had seen his day -- a statement of divinity -- they said, "You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham?" (John 8:57). They told a thirty-year-old man he was not yet a fifty-year-old man. I take it to mean Jesus looked a lot older than he was.

When the man looked at Jesus, he did not see power. He saw a servant. He saw someone willing to move to the outskirts of town to avoid conflict with the religious leaders. And, though he didn't know it, he saw the Son of God who lowered himself by becoming flesh for humanity.

And when the man looked at Jesus, he did not see wealth. Jesus was content with no home. He was satisfied with little.

But, for all this, the man was attracted to Jesus. He knew as we know today, that Jesus was truly living. He knows how to live. This is the first thing, the attractiveness of following Christ. Don't forget it.

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For the entire Mark series, go here. Thank you.