Title: Suffering, Death, and Resurrection
Contents
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, his parables, and the seven hypothetical words he spoke on the cross were all words of life and the Spirit. It is also important that this Jesus prayed. Everything has been done and is being done. It is also important that Jesus performed miracles. Jesus revealed that the kingdom of God had already come, and confirmed His Word with the miracles and signs that followed. It is also important that Jesus healed. But the highlight of Jesus' life was His suffering, death, and resurrection. In particular, the suffering of the week before He died on the cross, His death on the cross, and His resurrection on the third day are the purpose and highest point of Jesus' coming.
God's suffering, our suffering
The cross of Jesus, our cross
Jesus suffered and took up the cross. The cross of the Lord was also a cross for us. It is said that Jesus was crucified and hung on a tree. To hang on a tree means to be cursed. When Jesus was cursed by hanging on a tree, we were cursed as a result of our sins. Those who are cursed are those who are rejected by God. Not every single thing you do. It fails. We have no choice but to live in pain, misery, sorrow, and resentment. You will not be able to leave from any disease. We are free from this curse!
The death of Jesus on the cross was the death for sin. Jesus is without sin. But God took our place and took on all our sins and died.
Not only. The cross of Jesus is the cross that died on our behalf.
Death was not necessary for the consequences of our sins. We must die ourselves. The old man must die. Only then can you be reborn as a new person. Our old man is ruled by sin. Sin reigns. Sin tempts us and makes us sin. Because you are a sinner. The master is free to do what he wants. Since Adam, we have all been slaves to sin. We are born in sin, we are born with a propensity to sin. He is powerless against sin. The only way out of this is death. That is why Jesus made us united and united with Jesus Christ. Through baptism we are united to Jesus Christ. And Jesus died for us.
So our old man died on the cross with Christ. This is so that the body of sin will be destroyed so that we will not be slaves to sin again (Romans 6:6).
So we are dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:1-11).
Not only that, Jesus says we must carry our cross.
Because of the cross of Jesus, it is no longer a person who has graduated from the cross and is irrelevant. He tells us to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow me. Such a person is a true disciple of Jesus. If you do not take up the cross and follow Jesus, you will be like Peter.
Jesus gathered these 10,000 people for a meeting and performed a miracle of five fish, and the ministry was passing the peak of popularity. Even Peter was filled with anticipation. You must have been thinking, ‘I’m going to occupy some big place’. However, Jesus gathered his disciples together and spoke words that might sound sloppy.
“And he taught his disciples that he must go up to Jerusalem, and suffer and be killed by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be raised on the third day” (21).
He spoke of suffering, death, and resurrection. This is the heart of the Lord's life.
Peter cared for his own interests. So, he stopped Jesus saying, “Please don’t do that.” Jesus rebuked the most. “Go away, Satan, for you are a stumbling block to me, for you do not think about the things of God, but the things of men” (23) and then gave me a very important message. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (24) If he does not deny himself and does not take up his cross, he is doing human work. It is even being used by Satan.
To deny oneself is to reject one's own thoughts, one's views, one's own interests, one's pity, one's self-centeredness, one's own love. To take up the cross means death to oneself. A person who does not take up the cross cannot become a disciple. You become a person who interferes with the work of Jesus. He tells us to carry our cross every day. Even the apostle Paul said, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). Before receiving the glory, power and blessing of the resurrection, Jesus also went through suffering and death. In order to receive the glory, power, and blessings of the resurrection, we too must first suffer and die on the cross. There is no resurrection without the cross. Let's face hardships well. Let us always deny ourselves and always die. Like Jesus, let's do "not my will, but your will...". Total suffering, complete self-denial, and death see full glory and power, victory and blessing!