the cross then and now
TRANSCRIPT
The Cross
Then and Now
Then
Then
Old Testament
Age
Then
Old Testament
Age
New Testament
Age
Now
Old Testament
Age
New Testament
Age
“I would like to invite you to my church [again] because it is the Easter season.”
Disequilibrium Equilibrium
Open to Explore Closed to Explore
Looking for Intangible Solutions Resting in Tangible Solutions
Exposure to Personal Testimony No Exposure to Christians
Exposure to Church No Exposure to Church
Experiencing Emptiness Experiencing Satisfaction
Exposure to the Gospel No Exposure to the Gospel
New Friends
Now
• Luke 9 22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” 23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
The Cross
• Identification
• Torture
• Humiliation
• Public
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross
• Not physical ... But personal
• Not symbolic ... But real
• Not theoretical ... But practical
• Not internal ... But external
• Not an event ... But a lifetime
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
His Life Reputation
1. The Jews ... Illegitimate Child
– “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.” John 8:41
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
His Life Reputation
1. The Jews ... Illegitimate Child
– “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.” John 8:41
2. The Crowds ... A Deceiver
– Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” John 7:12
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
His Life Reputation
3. The Religious ... Mentally Ill
– Many of them said, “He is ... raving mad. Why listen to him?” John 10:20
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
His Life Reputation
3. The Religious ... Mentally Ill
– Many of them said, “He is ... raving mad. Why listen to him?” John 10:20
4. The Crowds ... Demon Possessed
– “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. John 7:20
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
His Life Reputation
5. The Teachers of the Law ... Satan
– And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! ...” Mark 3:22
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
His Life Reputation
5. The Teachers of the Law ... Satan
– And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! ...” Mark 3:22
6. The Teachers of the Law ... Blasphemer
– Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone? Mark 2:7
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
His Life Reputation
7. The Believers ... Misunderstood
– ... Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers ... John 21:22
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
His Life Reputation
7. The Believers ... Misunderstood
– ... Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers ... John 21:22
8. His Detractors ... Misrepresented
– Finally two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’ Matthew 26:60
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
His Life Reputation
9. The World ... No Reputation
– ... Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross! Philippians 2:6-8
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross
• Luke 9:23
– Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Life Reputation
• The Household ... Rejected
– “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! Matthew 10:24-25
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross
1. Desiring to be and to become
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross
1. Desiring to be and to become
2. Abandoning success, comfort and ease
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross
1. Desiring to be and to become
2. Abandoning success, comfort and ease
3. Volunteering to suffer daily
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross
1. Desiring to be and to become
2. Abandoning success, comfort and ease
3. Volunteering to suffer daily
4. Setting aside reputation
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross
1. Desiring to be and to become
2. Abandoning success, comfort and ease
3. Volunteering to suffer daily
4. Setting aside reputation
5. Expecting trouble
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross
1. Desiring to be and to become
2. Abandoning success, comfort and ease
3. Volunteering to suffer daily
4. Setting aside reputation
5. Expecting trouble
6. Living in complete obedience
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross – Why Bother?
1. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross – Why Bother?
1. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
2. Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross – Why Bother?
3. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. John 12:46
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross – Why Bother?
3. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. John 12:46
4. “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:29-30
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
My Cross – Why Bother?
3. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. John 12:46
4. “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:29-30
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
The Cross
Then and Now