In Luke 9: 22 Jesus defined himself. He did so using four verbs. “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” This is a hard lesson, yet it is the heart of the gospel.
It is not pretty, it is not easy, it is not soft, it is not sentimental and it is not gentle. But it is the truth.
Jesus told us that he had to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and be raised again, all on our account. This is for us.
And then in verse 23 Jesus also used four verbs in defining Messiah’s followers: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
If our Messiah is defined by suffering, rejection, death and resurrection, we, his followers, are defined by loosing our lives through the complete commitment with which we follow Jesus.
Our very lives are not ours to keep, but to give. To keep one’s life to yourself is to forfeit life. But to pour out one’s life for God and for others in following Jesus, is to truly find life and life everlasting!
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