Let them take up their cross daily

Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’ They answered, ‘John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’

He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying, ‘The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’

Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.’

- Luke 9:18-27

In this passage, Jesus continues the theme we encountered in the previous passage of Luke (on Saturday), when Herod asked who Jesus was and began to be curious about him. Jesus is becoming now a public phenomenon; there are rumors swirling about who he is. Here again, the apostles report to Jesus what the crowds say about him; they are the same rumors heard by Herod Antipas. I read in commentary that the crowds are seldom correct in the gospels - in fact most frequently the opinion of the crowds is discounted and downright wrong. This mission for the kingdom is not about pleasing the crowd. Jesus and his disciples are now in a sense outsiders knocking at a door - the leaven brought into the crowd will change it in a certain way, and there will also be those for whom this word will not take fruitful root. I think it is important to note this sense of "outsider" status; that our worship of God is not just following along with the crowds, and the apostles learn this important lesson in this passage.

Furthermore, although Peter understands and discerns who Jesus is, Jesus tells his apostles they must not announce Jesus' identity to the crowds. Although they are healing in Jesus' name, they are casting out demons, and preaching the good news of the kingdom - they are still not to identify Jesus as the Messiah. From my perspective, this is quite remarkable to note. This mission is about the kingdom: as much as we today identify this kingdom with Jesus himself, Jesus' interest is in the unfolding of this preaching, this word, the seed of the kingdom, in the proper way. I read (again in commentary) that Jesus doesn't want the imposition of the expectations and political misunderstanding that would come with the crowds if his Messiahship were the public focus of the ministry. I can quite understand why this would be a problem. It also tells me that there is a time for things to be revealed, and a time to engage in a process with patience. This is a type of unfolding that must happen in the proper sequence and in its own time. Again, going back to Jesus' parables, this kingdom must manifest itself not by radical action, or any type of hard-hitting imposition, but by a kind of "natural" process, as the leaven reaches into all the flour, as the seed of a mustard bush takes root and grows.

Furthermore, there's a test that happens here: Jesus wants true believers. He doesn't want those who are swayed by title or rhetoric, but who will love truth. He wants true relatedness, and true relationship - love. He knows of his future persecution and the reasons for it, and it is important for his purposes that people act on what is on their hearts. For me this is a signal that he truly begins the time of Judgment with his advent as a human being in our world. We are still in a time of judgment, where the weeds and wheat grow side by side, and we must not forget this. It requires our discernment - but we leave the ultimate time of its manifestation beyond our abilities to know or discern. We are still in this period of time initiated by Jesus' ministry.

But now, here in this passage, Jesus elaborates on what it means to follow him. There are times of trial that await those who follow. This process of leavening happens through the choice to follow the word, to enter the kingdom, and to allow this sacrifice of the old self to proceed at every junction, with each choice. We must learn to renounce ourselves, in the sense that when we take up a cross, we are then given new identity through this process. We expect to be changed, to transform by our "yes" to the word as our lives "naturally" take shape through this influence, as the seed grows to a great bush in which even the birds can make their nests. It requires of us a type of diligence and detachment, an awareness that change in us means that we must be prepared to put aside notions of who we think we have to be -- the "shoulds" and "musts" that tend to go along with the overvaluing of the opinions of the crowds.

As Jesus prays alone, he shares this knowledge with his apostles, his inside circle. We too, must remember what it is like to be alone in prayer with the Word, and to take definition of self and truth in our hearts sincerely, and with detachment from the crowds, and discernment for the wisdom that teaches us how to grow in the way of truth. We must make room for this in our lives, and let this word take root in ourselves.