Luke 9:23

Want to know how Jesus defines His followers? Read the above verse again. Now, read it again. How about just one more time? When something is repeated in Scripture even once it should red flag us – this (or the variation of this) appears in all four of the gospels (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; and John 12:23-26) highlighting it as an important issue indeed! What in the world does Jesus mean by this statement? In our world today it goes totally against our “have it your way” mentality. In fact, the crucified life is so foreign to us that, if we are honest, we have a very difficult time relating to it in any form or fashion. We have been fed a steady worldly diet of such nonsense of our “rights” and “privileges” that we as Christians have started to embrace that propaganda. As believers we are called to “pour out our lives like a drink offering” showing us to be true disciples of our Lord. Paul tells us of the crucified life in Galatians:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Gal 2:20 (NIV)
Remember anyone can espouse faith - talk is cheap; we actually live what we believe. Interestingly, Jesus did not think of those as “followers” who just trailed after Him for what they could receive. This gives some clarity to the verse in Matthew where He states:13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matt 7:13-14 (NIV)

Jesus is not looking for our external requirements but rather for our internal transformation. The first step of this according to our verse for today is the denial of self. What does that look like? Reject, denounce, decline, give up are but a few words that would encompass deny. I am reminded of Paul’s wonderful words to the Philippians:

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Phil 2:3-8 (NIV)
We are to give Jesus our rights and in turn He fills us with His precious Holy Spirit equipping us to live a life worthy of the gospel. Empowering us to do what “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived”. How exactly does that flesh out in real life? I believe that it begins by prayer asking God to help us shrink self and manifest more of the Holy Spirit. This will no doubt begin with small acts of self-sacrifice. As believers we “grow up” into Christ - this is called the sanctification process. It certainly would be easier if when we became believers we were automatically on the level of a Billy Graham but unfortunately it does not work that way! We go from milk to solid food through prayer, the study of God’s Word, obedience to His revealed will and hiding His Word in our hearts. It is simply not an overnight thing – it wasn’t for the saints in the past and neither will it be for us. “Take up his cross daily” refers to our admission to and also our public display before others that we are in agreement with Jesus. The Bible Knowledge Commentary states: “The second difficult qualification Jesus stressed was that one must carry his (i.e., his own) cross and follow Jesus (Luke 14:27; cf. 9:23). When the Roman Empire crucified a criminal or captive, the victim was often forced to carry his cross part of the way to the crucifixion site. Carrying his cross through the heart of the city was supposed to be a tacit admission that the Roman Empire was correct in the sentence of death imposed on him, an admission that Rome was right and he was wrong. So when Jesus enjoined His followers to carry their crosses and follow Him, He was referring to a public display before others that Jesus was right and that the disciples were following Him even to their deaths. This is exactly what the religious leaders refused to do.” In the New Testament Lexical Aids of the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible we are given this insightful exposition of “follow” translated from the Greek word “Akoloutheo”: “The individual calling to follow Jesus involved abiding fellowship with Him, not only for the sake of learning as a student from his teacher, but also for the sake of the salvation known or looked for, which presented itself in this fellowship. The first thing involved in following Jesus is a cleaving to Him in believing trust and obedience, those cleaving to Him also following His leading and acting according to His example. Hence the constant stress laid by the Lord Jesus upon the need of self-denial and fellowship with Himself in the cross. Thus following Jesus denotes a fellowship of faith as well as a fellowship of life, sharing in His sufferings not only inwardly but outwardly if necessary.” “Never once in the Gospels, the Epistles, or the book of Revelation, is the Christian life rewarded as something in any way naturally easy; everywhere we see the symbol that stands for what is stern, deep-cutting, inexorable. The Cross is no plaything. But ‘If the Leader bears the brunt of the battle the soldier can follow.’” Amy Carmichael