For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

 

Jeweled Cross mosaic, 4th century.  Santa Pudenziana, Rome.  Photo courtesy personal use digital file license, Andre Durand Digital Gallery

 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.  But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."

 

- Luke 9:18–27 

 

On Saturday we read that Jesus called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him.  And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.  When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

 

And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."   My study bible comments that, as in every generation, what the crowds have to say about Jesus is usually unpredictable and misguided.  This is consistent throughout the Gospels themselves.

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God." My study bible tells us that Who do you say that I am? is the ultimate question in Scripture and in all theology.  This is because how this question is answered defines the universe.  Christ (Messiah in Hebrew) means "Anointed One."  This declaration by Peter that Jesus is the Christ of God reveals Jesus to be something set apart from an anointed king or prophet, but rather a statement that He is the long-awaited Savior.  

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."  Jesus' desire to keep His identity as the Christ hidden is in order to avoid popular political and theological misunderstandings.  My study bible says that only after His Passion and Resurrection can His identity as Messiah be understood.  Christ's ministry must evolve and manifest in a particular way and within time.  Among other reasons my study bible cites for secrecy include the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders, the people's expectation of the Messiah as an earthly, political leader; and Christ's desire for genuine faith which is not based only on miraculous signs.

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.  But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."  My study bible tells us that we must note two things about what Jesus teaches here.  First, that each person must take up one's own cross.   The worldly burden is different for each person, it says, and each person has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for one's own salvation and the salvation of those around oneself.  Second, the cross is to be taken up daily.  The commitment to follow Christ isn't just a one-time event.  It asks of us, instead, the continual practice of faith and obedience -- even to the point of being shamed and persecuted by the world.  Christ's final remark (But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God) is considered to be a reference to those who will witness the Transfiguration (told in the following verses, Luke 9:28-36), as well as to those in each generation who experience the presence of the kingdom of God.

There are so many potential misunderstandings of Christ and His mission that Jesus must seek to address in His ministry.  Throughout the Gospels, we're taught about the people's response to Him, just as in the first verses in today's reading.  His disciples tell Him the thoughts of the crowds as to His identity:  "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  On Saturday (see above), we read that Herod Antipas fears that Jesus is John the Baptist returned from the dead.  While we understand the crowds of Jesus' place and time have all kinds of mistaken ideas about Him, so we also must come to see the huge variety of perceptions about Christ throughout the centuries since His time on earth.  The name of Jesus is known around the world, even in countries where there are very few nominal followers of Christ, and opinions about Jesus most likely vary more widely today than they ever did.  In a world where daily events can frequently remind us that we are not in control of everything, and anxiety over such lack of control a seemingly more and more widespread, we might look to Jesus in His mission as a tremendous model for disregarding what the crowds might have to say about us, or how the world will respond to us.  Think of the dangerous enemies He was making.  A powerful tetrarch like Herod Antipas, who ruled for Rome, and had John the Baptist beheaded on a whim (Mark 6:14-29), could do nearly anything He wished to do to Jesus.   The Jewish leaders are now hostile Him as well, as His fame among the people grows and rumors about Him swirl.  He has no "institutional" authority they respect, and He also defies their criticisms.  As the disciples report to Him all the varied responses of the people as to who Jesus really is, we can can only marvel at Jesus' seeming lack of concern for all the things the people get wrong about Him.  That is, Christ's real focus is on His mission, not on correcting every little thing people get wrong about Him, or "fixing" His public image.  The popular expectations regarding the Messiah alone could fill a lifetime of misunderstanding.  But Jesus' mission is focused on a few essential things.  He wants to find those of true faith, those who are capable of perceiving the things He's preaching about.  In the illustration of the "good ground" of the Parable of the Sower, that means those who, having heard His word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.  His ministry has to unfold in a particular way, and above all, in accordance with the will of the Father.  Jesus always takes time out for prayer, to keep His own ministry on track in the way it is meant to unfold.  He follows the Father who is always with Him, and His concern is with those who are and will be His disciples (see John 17:9-21).   In the times that we find ourselves becoming overburdened, overanxious, and overwhelmed with the things we think we have to keep under our control, we should consider Christ, and His extraordinary coolness in the midst of His earth-shaking mission.  There are those particular things which are essential and important, and the rest He must leave in the hands of the Father, and simply fulfill what He must do.  That is enough.  Perhaps we should all take a powerful clue from Christ as to the power of faith and prayer in this light.  Our lives are not meant to be the be-all and end-all of everything in this world, all the powerful images the world seems to offer to us, nor the thousand-and-one shocks and betrayals that might await.  As the text tells us, Jesus says that we each have our own cross to bear daily, just as He had His own.  And this is our mission in this life, and the rest we must let go, because we cannot control it all.  Our Lord Himself did not do so.  In the midst of pandemic, political crises, and a future we can't necessarily foresee, let us remember Christ.  With the world on His shoulders, and salvation in the balance, He still has His Cross and His mission, as do we.  He tells us, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it."  With faith and prayer, let us be like Him, and let the crowds follow the crowds.  For what profit is it if we gain the whole world, and lose ourselves?