Mark 8:27-37, Matthew 20:25-28
January 17 2021
preached by Pastor Doug Cooper
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“It is the madness of this ‘word of the cross’ that compels us to take it seriously. No one can say that this was some pious invention, for the cross runs counter to all notions of piety. And no one can dismiss the message as mere self-promotion, for the early believers gained nothing from telling their story. There is something so absurd, so topsy-turvy about the Christian message that it gets under my skin.”

~ Vinoth Ramachandra, Sri Lankan theologian and human rights advocate

“When Jesus finally speaks of his messianic status it is not to claim the common understanding [of Messiah] but to redefine it practically beyond recognition…”

~ James R. Edwards (1945-present), American New Testament scholar

“Sacrifice alone, bare and unrelieved, is ghastly, unnatural, and dead; but self-sacrifice, illuminated by love, is warmth and life; it is the death of Christ, the life of God, and the blessedness and only proper life of man.”

~ Frederick W. Robertson (1816 –1853), English Anglican minister and social reformer

“Our own idea of greatness is illusory, and if we pay too much attention to it we will be lured out of the peace and stability of the being God gave us, and seek to live in a myth we have created for ourselves. And when we are truly ourselves we lose most of the futile self-consciousness that keeps us constantly comparing ourselves with others in order to see how big we are.”

~ Thomas Merton (1915-1968), American Trappist monk and writer

“When God justifies us in Christ, he directly counteracts our whole self-involved strategy for living.”

~ Matt Chandler (1974-present), American pastor and writer

“Born to give it away
I’ll take to my grave
No heart at all”

~ Jason Molina (1973-2013), American musician

Sermon Passage

Mark 8:27-37, Matthew 20:25-28

Mark 8:27-37 (ESV)

²⁷ And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” ³⁰ And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

³¹ And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

³⁴ And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what can a man give in return for his soul?”

Matthew 20:25-28 (NIV)

²⁵ Jesus called [his disciples] together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”