Where is the good news in a gospel that requires us to deny ourselves?
Read: Luke 6:1-11
When we look at Jesus’ central message, particularly in the Gospel of Luke, it initially comes across as a bit harsh, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). It’s not what we typically think of in a gospel presentation. You might be asking yourself, “Where is the good news in that?” You’re not alone.
Jesus isn’t subtle. He doesn’t hide the difficult parts of His message in the fine print. He makes it very clear up front that if we are going to be His disciples, it is going to require a denial of self and a daily struggle.
Yet, this message resonated with the people of Jesus’ day, despite their already present needy and challenging lives They left their livelihoods to become His disciples. They abandoned their daily needs in order to go hear Him teach in the wilderness. What was so compelling about Jesus’ message?
We have a hard time accepting such a demand upon our lives. We are more like the rich young ruler who weighed the cost and walked away sad because there were too many treasures of this world that he was unwilling to lay aside (Luke 18:18-30).
Where is the good news in a gospel that requires us to deny ourselves? Why did it resonate so strongly with Jesus’ early followers? Why is it so difficult for us to take up our cross daily and follow Christ?
We find the answer in one of Jesus’ central confrontations with the religious leaders. Ironically enough, the disagreement wasn’t over Jesus’ message being too tough, but that He wasn’t being strict enough with His disciples.
First, The Context
In this story, we find Jesus with His disciples on a Sabbath day. This is a small detail, but it is worth noting: Jesus typically ministered on the Sabbath. He would travel to various synagogues and teach from the Scriptures regarding Himself as the Messiah. This would upset the religious leaders but it would also draw a crowd from those who were genuinely seeking to worship God. This model was later picked up by the Apostles throughout the Book of Acts, the second part of Luke’s two part volume.
On this particular Sabbath day, the religious leaders were looking for a reason to attack Jesus. Seeing the disciples plucking grain and eating it as they walked, they accused Jesus of allowing His followers to break the Sabbath laws of gathering and harvesting on the day that God had set aside for rest.
Jesus references their hypocrisy by reminding them of a story of King David, but then He makes a peculiar statement, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5). What does that mean? Encapsulated in these words is the deeper truth that captured the hearts of Jesus’ earliest followers and continues to make disciples to this day.
Deny Yourself…Rest
Tied to this story, at the tail end of the previous chapter, Jesus is asked about the importance of fasting. There is a direct correlation between fasting and resting. They appear, at least on the surface, to be polar opposites. Fasting is an overt act of self-denial. Resting is a conscious act of self-care. Jesus tells His followers that there is a time and place for fasting, but not while He, being the Lord of the Sabbath, is in their midst (Luke 5:34-35).
In direct contrast, the Pharisees had turned the Sabbath into a time of self-denial and an exercise of self-righteousness. The rules that they had put into place were above and beyond what God had required of them. Instead of providing rest, they were heaping burdens on those who were already overwhelmed with the weight of sin in a fallen world.
In a complete twist, Jesus calls us to both deny ourselves and enter His rest. Where the Pharisees were demanding that people deny themselves in order to earn their righteousness, Jesus calls us to deny ourselves in order to receive His righteousness. We must accept the fact that we cannot save ourselves by our own works, but by losing our life in Christ, we will be saved (Luke 9:24).
Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath because He is the source of our rest. Without Him we would be left alone with our own righteousness, and we would all fall short of the glory of God.
Take Up Your Cross…Advance the Kingdom
Following Jesus’ statement that He is the Lord of the Sabbath, there is a story of Him healing a man with a withered hand on a Sabbath day. Knowing that this would aggravate the religious leaders, Jesus preemptively asked this question, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it” (Luke 6:9)?
Jesus is making a statement about the very nature of what the Sabbath represents. Should the Sabbath be about us having a day to ourselves so that we can check out from any sense of responsibility, or should it refocus us on what we are meant to be doing in the first place?
Jesus heals the man on the Sabbath day because that is what the mission of God entails. He is restoring the broken world, ravaged by the affects of sin. Two more times Jesus heals on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17, 14:1-6). This is a sign of the Kingdom of God advancing in our world.
True rest is not in conflict with good works. Without a purpose or mission, we would be, for lack of a better word, restless. By calling us to take up our cross, Jesus is inviting us into His work and mission. Instead of just one day being set aside for worship, we are called to take up our cross daily. This means that every action has a direct correlation to advancing the Kingdom of God.
As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus is calling us to see every opportunity around us as an act of worship. He is inviting us into His work while also providing us a means by which we can be transformed into His image. We will share with Him in His rest, but we will also share with Him in His mission.
Follow Jesus
What is it that caused Jesus’ earliest followers to deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow Him? What did they gain for such a sacrifice? They gained Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath. They were given rest. No longer was their worth and merit based on their own righteousness. Christ’s righteousness was now credited to their account. They were given a new purpose, not to labor and toil in a world where moth and rust corrode and where thieves break in and steal, but to store up their treasures in heaven, where it will last for eternity.
Find comfort in the fact that we can rest in Christ. Let us deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him. And through our worship and good works, may others join with us in giving glory to our Father in heaven.
Adam Miller is the President and host of Songtime Radio and serves as the pastor of South Chatham Community Church.
You can hear his teaching on our daily broadcast on the radio or online, watch his preaching live on Facebook, and read his articles on our website.
