Jesus’ Reward for Man

DAILY READING

Matthew 16:24-28

REFLECTION

Dying to Live

by Mary McGinnis

What did Jesus mean when He said I must deny myself and take up my cross and follow Him? 

I find myself feeling like the Pharisee who asked, “Who is my neighbor?” when Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I want to ask, “But Jesus, what does denying myself really mean? What does taking up my cross entail? You don’t REALLY mean I need to give up everything I love and be a martyr, do You?”

Then the words, “and follow Me,” shouted out to me. What did Jesus do? He left His seat on the throne of Heaven in all its majesty. And for what? To be born in a feeding trough in a smelly stable among the animals and the poor. He walked our sod, felt our pain, experienced all our humanness. And He did all of this even though He knew it meant betrayal, abandonment, suffering, and a certain death of the most shaming, cruel, and gruesome kind imaginable. 

And why did He do this? His love for His Father, and His desire to be obedient to Him first and foremost. And deeply woven into the fabric of His desire to do the Father’s will was His lavish love for US!! He first had to die to be resurrected.  He was willing to die so that WE CAN LIVE too!!

Jesus goes on to say that the more we try to pursue our own agenda, chase after finding what satisfies our selfish hearts, what makes us feel alive, what puts breath into our soul, the more we will be destroyed. It is a dead end!

He basically says, “If you are dying to live, you must live to die.”   

You see, Jesus also wants to bring us the life that is TRUE life. He is now seated again in glory at the righthand of the Father. The resurrected Jesus lives in the kingly majesty which belongs to Him as supreme ruler, the majesty of His absolute perfection. And He offers us this life of absolute perfection, being wash clean by His blood. 

For a seed to grow, it first must die.  You don’t lose a seed when you plant it, though it seems dead and buried. Instead, you set the seed free to be what it was always intended to be.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:3-5

Forgive me Lord when I selfishly look to my own interests.  Fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit, Your breath of life.  Only then will I be able to die to myself and be raised to living the resurrected life!  

Prayer Practice

Lectio – Read today’s passage through once. Then spend some time praying and asking God to show you what you need to pay attention to in the text. Read it again. Now ask God to help you see what this text, and the part that has stood out, may mean for you. Don’t expect to get a clear word every time but always be ready to really hear from God through His Word.