The Jesus-Centered Life

Luke 9:18-27

Main Point

Because Jesus is the Christ, the great rescuer King sent from God, the son of God, trade your self-centered life for a Jesus-centered life.

Opening

Most of you know, I do a little sailing from time to time. We own a 19-foot catamaran that sits on the north end of Delray Beach. I’m not a great sailor, but I have done it long enough to know a few things about catching the breeze off the beach and making it home safely. 

It’s tough to sail upwind. It can be done but it requires patience and it is usually slow going as you tack back and forth. The fastest direction to sail, is the direction that allows the wind to move fastest across your sails. This is what’s called a beam reach where the wind direction is nearly perpendicular to the direction of the boat. This provides the fastest boat speed.

You have to set your sails to catch the wind. You cannot tell the wind which way to blow. Spiritually, we are more like sailboats than motorboats. In a motorboat, you can go any direction you choose because you have the source of power in your boat. But with a sailboat, to go fast, you have to set your sails according to the wind. You could say that sailing is a wind-centered adventure. Conversely, motorboating is a self-directed adventure.

Today, I want to talk to you about living a Jesus-Centered Life from Luke 9:18-27.

Luke 9:18–20 (ESV) 

18Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 

19And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 

20Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

The disciples had just experienced the miraculous feeding of the 5000. They had learned that if they place the little they had in the hands of Jesus, an incredible miracle was possible. Jesus was able to do what their instincts told them was impossible. 

Jesus led them away to provide rest. But He provided an unexpected type of rest. He demonstrated they were distributors and He was the provider. Now they seem to be getting some restful time alone with Jesus.

Jesus and His disciples are alone. The crowds are gone. Jesus is praying. During or after this prayer meeting, Jesus asks them about His perceived identity among the crowds. Their three answers all are that Jesus is someone from the past. This heightens the theme that runs throughout the Gospels that everyone expected Jesus to be something the world had already experienced. No one was able to see Jesus as something new. 

When Jesus asks His followers, the answer is clearly different. His close followers, His chosen ones, are well represented by Peter who says, “The Christ of God.” This phrase means Jesus is the anointed one, the long-awaited king, the new David, the one who would rescue Israel and restore her to a glory beyond anything in her history. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise.

Peter is correct, but he does not understand the implications of Jesus’ identity. He, nor anyone else had ever known of a king like Jesus.

Luke 9:21–22 (ESV) 

21And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 

22saying, “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.”

Jesus doesn’t want them to share this view, at least not yet. He knows the people will seek to make Him political king and disrupt His plans.

However, this great king Jesus must submit himself to suffering at the hands of the leaders of His own people. This was something His followers had never considered and could not take in at this time. Great kings were victorious. They were not abused and killed by their own people. 

This is the first time Luke quotes Jesus speaking of His death. This idea flies in the face of His followers’ dreams of new kingdom that would be even better than their great king David’s kingdom. 

Jesus shares what this will mean to His followers.

Luke 9:23 (ESV) 

23And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

This is the verse that encapsulates what is means to follow Jesus. It is not joining a movement that comes along side you and helps you achieve your goals and purposes. Jesus is not a typical king that goes out and wipes out His enemies. Rather, He is a king who will suffer and sacrifice himself for His followers. His followers must understand that following Him is a different life than one they are used to living or even hoping to live. We all have to reconcile the paradox that Jesus is the great king and that He willingly suffered.

Jesus describes the life of a follower with three imperative verbal phrases. Followers must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him.

Darrell Bock describes there phrases this way:

The tense sequence (two aorist imperatives followed by a present imperative) shows that fundamental decisions made about the self and about day-by-day bearing of the cross emerge in a continual following of Jesus. In other words, the last act emerges from the others. The disciple’s life consists of basic self-denial.

Darrell Bock,

Luke : 2 Volumes 

Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament

An aorist imperative is a command to do something that can be completed. It is the opposite of an ongoing action or continuous action. Jesus is saying, you have to make a decision to deny yourself and instead of pursuing your self-centered life, willingly carry your cross. The metaphor of taking up your cross illustrates the action of willing sacrifice. This is the opposite of living a self-centered life.

They were familiar with condemned prisoners carrying their crosses to their execution. They did not know Jesus would himself demonstrate this action. So, to the 12 disciples carrying one’s cross was to willingly, humbly, relinquish control of their lives.

The actions of denying yourself and carrying your cross would set someone on a completely different course than the one they were on. It would mean choosing a different life with a much different goal. 

These two actions set the stage for one to follow Jesus. This imperative verb is a present active imperative which means the command is do this, to follow Jesus continually. When you deny yourself and take up your cross you can then live like Jesus.

Next, Jesus states why this matters.

Luke 9:24–26 (ESV) 

24For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 

25For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 

26For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

There is nothing more important or more valuable than following Jesus. The stakes are very high. Those that choose to preserve their way of life, those that want to add Jesus to their way of life rather than live an entirely new life, will lose their lives. Even if they gain all the riches and power in the world, they are still losers.

Jesus says He will be ashamed of those who are ashamed of Him. He is telling them that following Him will mean being associated with one who allows himself to appear to lose. This is an important part of following Jesus.

But there is encouragement.

Luke 9:27 (ESV) 

27But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

There is some debate as what Jesus means. Everyone he is speaking to have died and Jesus is yet to complete Him kingdom by returning. But next week we will look at an event that peeled back the curtain to reveal a glimpse of Jesus as the true king He really is.

Jesus always wants us to know this world is passing away. What we see an experience is temporal and very limited. He, Jesus, is far greater than we can imagine.

Applications

What is Jesus communicating in this passage?

Jesus is saying: 

Because I am the Christ, the great King sent from God, the son of God, trade your self-centered life for a Jesus-centered life.

Some of you are living good, moral lives but they are self-centered lives. You expect God to meet your needs because, in your mind, you hardly ever sin. But your life is not lived in pursuit of the mission of Jesus. It’s lived in pursuit of the successful life you have envisioned for yourself.

Some of you are living lives that are barely influenced by Jesus at all. Yet you wonder why you don’t feel His presence on experience the blessing of His love.

Some of you are judging God by His performance in meeting your needs, wants, and desires. You don’t worship Him for who He is or for the incredible gift of salvation. You worship Him only when His actions meet with your approval. 

Some of you read scripture and listen to sermons hoping to glean some insight to help you live your self-centered life and achieve your self-centered goals.

Some of you are constantly negotiating with Jesus like a 4 year-old negotiates with His parents. Negotiating is different from following.

Some of us need to remember who Jesus is before we make decisions about our lifestyle and life direction.

Consider this from Paul’s writings in Colossians 3.

Colossians 3:1–10 (ESV) 

1If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 

2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 

3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 

4When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 

5Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 

6On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 

7In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

8But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 

9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 

10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

You died when you received Jesus’ gift of salvation. Your old self-centered life died. Why do you keep wanting to live that old dead life? When you intentionally live differently than Jesus you are telling the world you do not know Him or fear Him.

People tell us all the time they struggle have with lifestyle Jesus taught. His humility, His love for the lower classes. His teaching on the place and boundaries for sex as only appropriate between one man and one woman in a committed marriage relationship. When we struggle with these, we are not denying ourselves, we are not taking up our cross, and we are not following Jesus. We just need to be honest. If it doesn’t make sense to follow Jesus, you probably don’t know Him. 

The Gospel is not an add-on to improve the life you already have. The life of one who has received the Gospel is a completely new life. We too often miss this point. We try to fit Jesus into our lives. Or, we try to keep the life we had and just add Jesus to it. But Jesus didn’t say, “Keep doing what you are doing and I will join you.” No, He said, “follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” 

I apologize if we have ever made you think the Gospel would not fundamentally change your life, that you could add it to your life without disruption. You cannot drive to Jupiter and Miami from Delray Beach at the same time. 

You must abandon your self-centered life, be willing to die, and live like Jesus. Most of us live self-centered lives. We live in response to the instincts we discussed last week. We pursue self-preservation, self-gratification, and world domination. But when we follow Jesus, we lay aside our instinctual lives in favor of a Jesus-centered life. 

How do I function in this new Jesus-centered life?

·      Your goal is to make disciples

·      Your daily activities are shaped by Jesus rather than fulfilling selfish desires.

·      You are willing to be publicly identified with Jesus.

·      You look for ways to conform your life to Jesus’ life.

·      Iyou read God’s word to be transformed rather than as a how to book on how to live a better life.

Live to follow Jesus and to help others follow Him.

Parents, your goal is to help your children follow Jesus.

Husbands, your goal is to help your wife follow Jesus.

Children, you goal is honor your parents by following Jesus.

Bosses, your goal is help your employees follow Jesus.

Employees, your goal is demonstrate the life of Jesus in your workpace.

Students, your goal is to develop as a Christ follower to help others follow Jesus while helping others follow Jesus.

Close

Are you operating like a motorboat when in fact you are a sailboat?

Are you constantly trying to get God to do what you want Him to do rather than centering you life on Jesus?

Jesus is the great rescuing and victorious King. 

Stop fighting Him.

Trade you self-centered life for the Jesus-centered life.