THE CROSS OF DISCIPLESHIP:
THE SHAPE OF A CRUCIFIED LIFE
What does it mean to follow in the steps of Jesus? Anyone of us could answer this question and back up our answer with scripture. Love your neighbor. Love your enemy. Do good. Forgive. But the doing is not as easy as the answering.
One thing in this life that feels as natural as breathing is getting even. If someone wounds you, something in you reaches for a weapon. Maybe not a fist; maybe it’s a word or a sentence. Maybe it’s silence. Something sharp. Our culture even encourages getting even as if it were a human right.
Have you ever experienced a moment where you knew something was wrong but felt justified in doing it anyways? You may have said to yourself, “Yes, it’s wrong to _______ but because of __________, I had no choice.”
It is wrong to gossip, but this person is so infuriating I need to tell others about him.
It is wrong to steal, but the company charges huge fees, they won’t miss it.
It is wrong to assault a person, but they deserved it.
And if we don’t retaliate in some form or fashion, the person doing the greater wrong will get away with it. If we don’t even the score, we will look weak and invite more abuse.
But does this fit the pattern of following in the steps of Jesus? I am certain you will agree it does not.
The same Peter who felt justified in slicing an ear off a guy to protect Jesus, now says something completely different. Peter tells us that Jesus does not simply save us by his cross, he also set the pattern for how we are to walk in life. To follow in Jesus’ steps leads to the cross and that means suffering for doing good. In fact, God used the weakness of Christ to change the world. And now God is asking us to trust him to use our weakness to change our little corner of the world. In 1 Peter 2 we are called to step into the footprints of Jesus, to take up our cross, and follow him.
1. The Calling: A Life Shaped by the Cross (2:21a; Mark 8:34)
We have been called to follow Jesus. Jesus said in Mark 8:34, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Tradition says that John Mark wrote this gospel account with the help of the Apostle Peter. There is an echo of Jesus’ invitation in Peter’s letter.
“To this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you…” (21a). Do you see the connection? The invitation to follow Jesus leads to the cross, and the cross is the place where we surrender our egos to suffer, even unjustly.
We need to back up a little in the text because we have jumped right into the middle of Peter’s point. Looking back, we read twice in verses 13-20 the words “be subject.” In two unusual situations, Peter encourages followers of Jesus to submit to authorities who are over us.
The first situation calls on believers to “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution…” (13). Then he says it again in a different way, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor,”(17). A person who has been born again (1:3) through faith in Christ is someone who submits to “every” authority no matter how just or unjust. This is astounding because the emperor at this time is likely Nero. And Peter says submit! Imagine submitting to a regime that doesn’t acknowledge God. Imagine a government that deems your faith to be out of sync with national values. And you are just supposed to live peaceably and honorably under this authority.
The second situation calls on believers to “be subject to your masters with all respect. It is said that one quarter of the Roman Empire consisted of slaves; 60 million people were slaves. This is not the same as the American experience of slavery. Many slaves were beloved members of families; they were doctors and teachers. But they were enslaved. Now Peter tells the slave who loves Jesus to submit to his or her master if they are good or even if they are unjust. And if you are beaten for something you didn’t do, or for something you did that was good, endure it. We modern preachers often try to liken this to a bad boss, but you and I have a choice when it comes to where we work. We can quit and find a new job. This situation is inescapable. But the principle stands: If you suffer for doing something good “this is a gracious thing in the sight of God” (20). Why? Because Christ also suffered for you…
This “following Jesus” invitation is a difficult path. A life shaped by the cross asks you to join in Christ’s suffering.
2. The Pattern: Following in the Steps of Jesus (21b-23)
Peter tells us that Jesus left us a pattern to follow. He wrote that Christ “also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps,” (21b-d).
The word “example” was used to describe the way children learned to write their letters and numbers by tracing over them. I remember doing that in grade school tracing over our ABCs again and again till I got the shapes right. You could also think of trying to step into dad’s footprints in the snow to avoid getting a boot full of snow.
Jesus set a pattern in suffering. When he invited you to take up your cross and follow him, suffering was an inherent part of the journey. These are difficult steps to follow. Look at how Peter describes these steps: “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten…” Essentially, Jesus did not retaliate when they insulted him or hurt him. He didn’t strike back and take a shot at Caiaphas or Pilate. He entrusted himself to God in that moment. That is NOT what comes naturally to humans like us. We are inclined to seek revenge.
In the movie Braveheart, William Wallace and his horse are prancing between the English and the Scottish armies, and someone says, “Where do you think you’re going?” And Wallace answers, “I’m going to pick a fight.” Our instincts sound more like Braveheart than Jesus. “Pick a fight. Take them down. Defend your freedom.” We are familiar with that feeling.
That is not the way of Jesus when he suffered injury. Peter countered vengeance when suffering with the call to be “mindful of God” (19). And what does that mean? It means we care more about God’s reputation than our own. It means we are thinking of how he might be glorified rather than how we might be vindicated. It means that, like Jesus, we are so confident that God will cause justice to prevail that we don’t need to pursue it ourselves. It means that we are so conscious of his commitment to set things right in the end that we don’t need to set things right in the present (Sam Storms).
Following in the steps of Jesus is not about weakness and becoming a doormat. It’s not about enabling abuse or refusing to seek help when harm is done. It’s about trusting God (see end of v. 23). It looks like weakness. “We worship – as incredible as it sounds – a crucified God. All religions…worship some version of a powerful, glorious, triumphant God; but Christians are unique in worshiping a betrayed, tortured, crucified God. This is the original scandal of the Christian faith – the worship of a God who was nailed to a tree! (Brian Zahnd). God demonstrates his power precisely in the weakness of Christ on the cross. And that is the pattern we are called to step into.
3. The Purpose: Where do these Steps lead? (24-25)
We know the purpose of Christ’s suffering. He went to the cross to die for our sins. But what is the purpose of stepping into this suffering ourselves? His suffering saves: our suffering seems pointless.
Peter speaks to both Christ’s suffering and ours in the plan of God. First, he emphasizes why Jesus suffered. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed,” (24). If Jesus did not suffer and die, we could not be saved. He died for our sins so that we could live without sin; that’s what it means to live to righteousness. Or to say it another way, “You are free to live differently.” And that’s where we begin to react to injury and insult with a new perspective.
Second, Peter emphasizes that the suffering of Jesus brings us back to God. Peter heavily references Isaiah 53 when he says, “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls,” (25). This was Christ’s main goal – to bring us to God (see 3:18).
But this does not explain why we have to suffer. Or does it? It does! When the Christian suffers insult and injury without complaint and with unfailing love, he or she demonstrates a life to others that will lead them to God. This is what verses 11-12 explain (read). That we are “sojourners and exiles” simply means that we don’t belong to this world; we are “not of this world” and so we don’t respond to offenses the way the world does. And when others see the good deeds, we do it will lead them back to the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls.
We don’t suffer to save the world. But in our suffering, we show the world what Jesus is like.
Warren Wiersbe said, “Here, then, is the wonderful truth Peter wanted to share: as we live godly lives and submit in times of suffering, we are following Christ’s example and becoming more like him. We submit and obey, not only for the sake of lost souls and for the Lord’s sake, but also for our own sake, that we might grow spiritually and become more like Christ…The unsaved world is watching us, but the Shepherd in heaven is also watching over us; so, we have nothing to fear. We can submit to him and know that he will work everything together for our good and his glory.”
In Mark 8:34 Jesus invites us to take up the cross and follow him.
In 1 Peter 2:21-25, Peter shows us what it looks like when we do.
What does it mean to follow in the steps of Jesus?
In 1896 a man named Charles M. Sheldon wrote a book entitled In His Steps. It became a best-selling Christian novel in its time and is in the top 10 best-selling books of all time. Have you heard of it?
The story follows a fictional pastor named Henry Maxwell who was preaching one Sunday morning when a homeless man enters the sanctuary and challenges the congregation. The homeless man eventually dies in the home of Maxwell who had taken him in. It spurs the pastor to do something with their faith. He poses a question to the congregation and challenges them to do nothing without first asking, “What would Jesus do?” You’ve heard of that saying, right? It has a powerful effect on the community, and the story goes on to follow a popular and gifted singer who decides to use her voice to bless people at a soup kitchen. A newspaperman also decides to use his paper to print the truth.
The question, “What would Jesus do?” has become a popular catchphrase among evangelicals. But someone once said it is the wrong question. A better question is “What did Jesus do?” If that’s the case, then the question is not “What would Jesus do?” but “What did Jesus do…and will I follow him there?” Because following him will lead you into moments where you could strike back…but don’t. Where you could defend yourself…but instead entrust yourself to God.
As Michael said last Sunday in his message, we were not saved to go to heaven; we were saved to live as difference makers on earth. To follow in his steps and entrust ourselves to God’s justice means taking up the cross of discipleship and live differently.
AMEN
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