10-3-2020 Seventh Day Baptist Edgewater Pastor Keith “Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus” Luke 9:18-26
In our text, Jesus says to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. The cross was an instrument of death. It was used to crucify all who went against Rome. For a Jew, the crucifixion meant you had been cursed by God. The cross, an execution device, is used by Christians to represent Christ. Gods said His ways are higher than our ways and we will not always understand His ways.
In our text Jesus asked the disciples who people thought He was. They said people thought He was one of the great men of the past that had come back to life. Peter said Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said that God had revealed this to Peter. Why did Jesus ask them this? Jesus wanted the disciples to say what they believed and to say it out loud. Jesus is the rock and foundation of our Faith. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah.
Then Jesus tell the disciples that He will suffer, be killed ant then rise up on the third day. Jesus said this to make sure that they understood that He was going to die for our sins. Peter and the other disciples did not want Jesus to die and still thought of him as mortal. Jesus came to this earth to die for our sins because He loved us so much. Jesus is the only one who ever died for another man’s sins. No other gods of any other religion have ever died for another man’s sins.
Jesus says if you want to follow Him, then you must take up your cross for Him. We must feel the weight of the cross as we follow Jesus. Jesus meant that taking up the cross means the Christian has decided that his life is not his own. This is taking up the cross for Jesus. They will have their lives changed thru Jesus and will never live any other way without Jesus.
When Jesus was carrying the cross, the beatings and torturing his body had already been through, made the weight of the cross too heavy. Simon of Cyrene was chosen to help Jesus carry his cross and the weight of the cross changed Simon’s life forever. Simon and his family became Christians and followers of Jesus. Daily we must take up our cross and remain committed to Jesus. We thank God for sending Jesus to us.
Amen
In our text, Jesus says to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. The cross was an instrument of death. It was used to crucify all who went against Rome. For a Jew, the crucifixion meant you had been cursed by God. The cross, an execution device, is used by Christians to represent Christ. Gods said His ways are higher than our ways and we will not always understand His ways.
In our text Jesus asked the disciples who people thought He was. They said people thought He was one of the great men of the past that had come back to life. Peter said Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said that God had revealed this to Peter. Why did Jesus ask them this? Jesus wanted the disciples to say what they believed and to say it out loud. Jesus is the rock and foundation of our Faith. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah.
Then Jesus tell the disciples that He will suffer, be killed ant then rise up on the third day. Jesus said this to make sure that they understood that He was going to die for our sins. Peter and the other disciples did not want Jesus to die and still thought of him as mortal. Jesus came to this earth to die for our sins because He loved us so much. Jesus is the only one who ever died for another man’s sins. No other gods of any other religion have ever died for another man’s sins.
Jesus says if you want to follow Him, then you must take up your cross for Him. We must feel the weight of the cross as we follow Jesus. Jesus meant that taking up the cross means the Christian has decided that his life is not his own. This is taking up the cross for Jesus. They will have their lives changed thru Jesus and will never live any other way without Jesus.
When Jesus was carrying the cross, the beatings and torturing his body had already been through, made the weight of the cross too heavy. Simon of Cyrene was chosen to help Jesus carry his cross and the weight of the cross changed Simon’s life forever. Simon and his family became Christians and followers of Jesus. Daily we must take up our cross and remain committed to Jesus. We thank God for sending Jesus to us.
Amen