Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here. You're listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, and my objective is to deliver, hopefully, compelling practical insights in faith, culture, and current events from a biblical perspective. To find out more about our ministry, just go to our website, harvest.org.
So thanks for joining me for this podcast. In this message, I want to talk to you from, again, the Gospel of Mark. We're in a series there, and the title of my message is, Lost in Translation.
So grab your Bible and turn to Mark chapter 8. Again, the title is, Lost in Translation. I heard about an older couple. They were celebrating 50 years of marriage together. Now the problem was the wife was getting a little hard of hearing, and the husband announced in front of family and friends, to his wife, my dear wife, after 50 years, I have found you tried and true. Again, she couldn't hear very well. She said, what? He said, my dear wife, after 50 years, I have found you tried and true.
And then she shot back, well, after 50 years, I'm tired of you too. There's a little communication breakdown there. You know, there's a lot of American companies that have tried to offer their products overseas, but sometimes there's a language barrier that has to be overcome. It's called something getting lost in translation.
As an example, the Parker Pen Company was expanding their ballpoint line to Mexico. Another slogan was, it won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you. But the problem was they didn't fully understand how it would come out in Spanish. And instead it was translated to say, on billboards, this pen will not leak in your pocket and impregnate you.
A little different than what they intended. In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes tonic water translated into Schweppes toilet water. Needless to say, not a lot of people wanted to drink toilet water. Jolly Green Giant, you remember them, ho ho ho, and their slogan, the Jolly Green Giant, they tried to market in the Arabic market, and instead it came out to intimidating green ogre.
Have you tried some of those beans from the intimidating green ogre? In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan, come alive with the Pepsi generation, instead came out to say, Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead. Now depending on what ancestors those were, maybe that's a promising thing, maybe not so. Clairol tried to market its mystic curling iron in Germany, and instead of it saying mystic, it said manure stick. Not a lot of German ladies were all that excited about using a manure stick. In China, Kentucky Fried Chicken took their slogan, figure licking good, and instead it came out in Chinese as, eat your fingers off. It gives a whole new meaning to chicken fingers, doesn't it? And finally, Scandinavian vacuum cleaner manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American ad campaign. So they came over to America and used this phrase, nothing sucks like an Electrolux. Yeah, something is lost in translation.
Well guess what? Jesus seemed to have this issue with his own disciples. They did not understand why he had come to this earth in the first place.
We're on the verge of celebrating Christmas, and we'll talk a lot about that baby born in the manger, the beauty of the incarnation. But listen, the incarnation was for the purpose of the atonement, the birth of Jesus, was so there would be the death of Jesus, and ultimately the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus came to this earth to die for the sins of the world.
But his disciples did not get that because it was lost in translation. Their hope and their belief was he was going to establish an earthly kingdom then and there. Their hope and belief was he was going to drive the Romans out who were occupying the land. In fact, you remember after he fed the 5,000, that was his most popular miracle to date, the people wanted to make Jesus king by force.
And what is that all about? That means that they wanted to make him the king so he would drive out Rome. They did not understand that that is not why he had primarily come. Now look, one day Christ will come back and establish his kingdom. One day he will rule as king of kings and lord of lords. But before Christ would wear a crown, he would first have to bear a cross. Now as we come to our text here in Mark chapter 8, his ministry in Galilee is coming to a close. This is a transitional moment in his ministry and for the first time he is going to speak very clearly and in great detail about why he has come.
And he also asks a powerful question that we still need to answer today. Let's look at our text, Mark chapter 8, starting in verse 27. Jesus sent his disciples of Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, who do people say that I am? Well, they replied, some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Elijah, and some say you're one of the other prophets. Then Jesus asks them, but who do you say that I am? Peter replies, you are the Messiah.
And Jesus warned them to not tell anyone about him. Now this is the most important question of all. Jesus asks this question, who do men say that I am? And this is a question we all must ultimately answer.
I'm going to tell you the answer now. Ultimately, everyone will say Jesus Christ is the Lord. Every Christian will say it. Every non-Christian will say it. Every atheist will say it. Every agnostic will say it. Every person will ultimately say Jesus is Lord.
You'll say, now Greg, you're wrong about that. Not everybody believes. Well, I didn't say they would necessarily say it during their lives on earth. But one day when they stand before God Almighty, they will acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. Philippians 2 10 says, at the name of Jesus Christ, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Now here's a big thing we don't want to miss. Where did Jesus ask this question? This question, who do men say that I am? Where did he ask it? He asked it at a place called Caesarea Philippi.
Now we could breeze by that and miss its significance altogether. Caesarea Philippi was named after the Greek god Pan. You know it's one thing to say, oh Jesus is Lord when we're with our Christian friends. Oh Jesus is Lord when we're at church and singing praise to him. But will you say Jesus is Lord when you're gathered together with family from out of town? Will you say Jesus is Lord when you're at work? Will you say Jesus is Lord when you're out and about in life? See it's one thing to make us stand with fellow believers.
It's another thing to make us stand in our culture. Jesus said this, if a person is ashamed of me and my message, I the son of man will be ashamed of that person when I return in my glory and in the glory of my father with the holy angels. Don't be ashamed of Christ.
Speak up for him. So Jesus asked him, who do men say that I am? Basically the Lord saying, hey guys what's the word on the street?
What are people actually saying about me right now? Here's the question, did Jesus know what the word on the street was? Did he know what people thought about him and what they said about him? Absolutely. In fact he would call people out for their thoughts while he was engaging them.
Why do you think this? In your heart he would say to someone. So he was aware. But the reason he asked this question of his disciples is he's giving them a test. And why does a teacher give a test?
Answer, to see if the class is learning the material. They'd seen Jesus perform his miracles. They'd seen Jesus walk on the water. They'd seen Jesus heal leprosy and drive out demons from people and even raise the dead. Did they really understand who he was yet?
Apparently not. Because they replied, well some say you're John the Baptist. Others say you're Elijah. Still others say you're one of the prophets.
That was not the right answer. But Simon Peter, known for his outspokenness, got it. Peter says in verse 30, you are the Messiah. In Matthew's version of this story he has Peter saying you are the Christ, the son of the living God.
And that's it. Peter understands you're not Elijah. You're not John the Baptist. You're not even a mere prophet.
You are the very son of God. See Jesus was not a mere man. He was not just one of the prophets. He was God coming to us in human flesh. God had a face. It was God with skin on walking among us as the Lord entered our world. The birth of Jesus Christ was the most momentous event that has ever occurred in the history of the planet. It was the eternal God confining himself to a single cell and being born of a woman in order to be the savior of the world.
God literally became a fetus. And then in this earth shaking event, Simon Peter got it. You, he says to Jesus, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And in Matthew's version of the story, Matthew 16, Jesus says, blessed are you.
Simon bar Jonah, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. And I say to you, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. Can you imagine how Peter felt?
Singled out by Jesus. Hey Peter, guess what? You didn't just come up with that on your own. My father gave that thought to you. That's where the inspiration for those words came.
Man, Peter was just thinking this is so awesome. I'm being singled out and complimented by Jesus, but now the Lord continues on and he drops what could best be described as a bombshell. Look at Mark chapter 8 verse 31. Then Jesus began to teach him that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law and that he must be killed and three days later rise again.
Notice the detail in those words. He laid it out. Guys, here's who's going to betray me. It's going to be the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law and I will be killed and I will rise again in three days. He spoke plainly about this.
Now look at this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him and when Jesus turned and looked at the disciples he rebuked Peter saying get behind me Satan. For you do not have in mind the concerns of God but merely human concerns.
Stop there. By the way, this is the first time Jesus ever talked specifically, clearly and I might even add graphically about the fact that he was going to die. I don't even think they heard the he'll be raised on the third day part. They just heard he was going to die.
I don't think I'm overstating it when this was really shocking to them. He was effectively saying I Jesus who you've given up everything to follow. I'm going to be murdered in cold blood. I'm going to be taken from you and they're thinking how could that be part of any plan. You're the Messiah. You're supposed to establish your kingdom here and now.
How is this going to be part of something good for you to be taken and murdered. And in fact we've given up everything to follow you Jesus and we made these great sacrifices. And so Peter thought since he's the guy who got an inspired thought from the father that he would sort of set Jesus straight. And we read in verse 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
And by the way in the original language that implies it was done over and over again. I mean I'm trying to imagine this. Peter says Jesus come here for a second. Buddy listen. Come on man. What are you doing? I rebuke you Jesus.
You cannot do this. He's rebuking God Almighty. I mean this is insane. And Jesus listens to him and then Jesus turns and rebukes Peter.
Now we say boy I can't believe Peter did that. Oh excuse me. Have you ever given God advice before. You know the Bible asks the questions in Romans 11 34. Who has known the mind of the Lord and who has been his counselor. Well I would say the answer to that question is I have.
You have. And we'll say to the Lord now Lord I've got this all figured out. I met this girl. This is the one I'm supposed to marry.
So you need to reveal this to her. And Lord here's my business plan and you need to bless it. And here's the way I'm going to do my ministry.
And here's what you need to do next. I'm not asking God for wisdom. I'm not praying about direction. I'm making my plan and asking God to bless it. And the question is who's in charge here and who is leading who.
Jesus was in charge. Peter says no bad plan. I veto it. I reject it. Jesus says I rebuke you Peter. The devil gave you that thought to deter me from this course. Listen it was always God's plan for Christ to die.
I already mentioned that. We read in Revelation 13 8 Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world. What does that mean? That means before there was a planet called earth. Before there was a garden called Eden. Before there was a couple known as Adam and Eve who ate of the forbidden fruit. God knew man would blow it. The sin of Adam and Eve did not come as a surprise or shock to the Lord. He knew it would happen. It was just the Lord knowing the future. And so he said I already have a plan.
And it's not a backup plan. It is the main plan. My son is going to come to this earth and be born in a manger. Live a perfect life and is going to die on the cross for the sin of the world. Because of the sin that will be committed there in the garden of Eden. And the result is sin spread through the human race. And this reminds us that the devil was trying to stop Jesus from reaching his objective.
Again what was that objective? It was to die on the cross. Remember that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. The father spoke from heaven and said this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
The Holy Spirit came upon him in the form of a dove. And we read immediately Jesus was driven into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And among those temptations the devil said to Jesus here is all the kingdoms of the world. They all belong to me and I can give them to you if you will simply worship me. Jesus replied it is written you should worship the Lord God in him only shall you serve.
What was that all about? The devil is saying allow me to loosely paraphrase Jesus we both know why you're here. We both know you're going to go die on a cross for the sin of the world.
And I'm going to make you an offer now. I'm going to give you what you've come for. I know you've come to purchase back that which was lost in the Garden of Eden.
I'll give it to you on a silver platter if you'll give me the momentary pleasure of worshiping me. And Jesus rejected that. Jesus knew he had to go to the cross. And this is a reminder that the devil often hits us as Christians in the beginning and at the end of our lives. In the middle too but you remember when you were a brand new believer. Some of the first attacks that came your way were the devil challenging what had happened.
You had that little thought in your mind. Am I really a Christian? Did Christ really forgive me? He challenges us to doubt our salvation. Now fast forward we're coming to the end of our journey as a follower of Jesus.
The devil wants to trip us up because if he can he can discredit all the good we did for all of those years. That's why Paul said I want to finish this race with joy. So it's a good thing to know that God will be with us and give us the strength we need to finish the race we need to run. So Jesus is saying look I'm going to die on the cross and there's no getting around this. Now Jesus shall we say shifts gears.
Now he personalizes it. And in effect he's saying look guys I'm not the only one who's going to bear a cross. You're going to bear a cross too.
In fact you need to bear a cross. And though these words were given some 2,000 years ago they ring true for us today. These words that we're about to read are not just for first century Christians.
They are also for 21st century Christians. Let's go back to Mark chapter 8 verse 34. Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever seeks to save his life will lose it and whoever loses their life for me and the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit their soul?
Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father's glory. We'll stop there.
You can insert your name here. If Greg will take up the cross and follow me. If Josh will take up the cross and follow me. If Mary will take up the cross and follow me. This isn't just for the 12 disciples of Jesus.
This is for you. Now you say, but I don't even know what that means to take up the cross and follow him. Well, first he says deny yourself. The word deny means to say no to yourself. It means to put God's will above your will. What is this cross that we're all called to bear?
Well, first let me tell you what it isn't. Because I think we have a lot of misconceptions about the cross today. You know, we adorn our churches with massive crosses. We got into lawsuits about where crosses can be displayed. We tat a cross on our arm.
We make it a fashion accessory. But in the first century, know this, the cross was a repulsive symbol. By the way, the cross was not the symbol of the church in the beginning. Now later it came to be a symbol of the church. But back then, if you had a cross, that was a despicable symbol because a cross was an incredibly horrible way to die.
It was not invented by the Romans, but shall we say it was perfected by them. And the Romans crucified thousands of people and lined Roman streets with them as a warning to not rebel against Rome. Crucifixion was saved for the worst of criminals. So if you were in town getting food for dinner and you saw a man walking by you surrounded by Roman soldiers, burying a cross, you knew this man was going to die a horrible, painful, torturous death. To even use the picture of a cross was repugnant and repulsive.
Now we say, okay, it was a bad thing, so what does it mean? I think we use this phrase, burying a cross, in ways that are not really biblical. For instance, a mother might say, well, my cross to bear, it's my children. And then the children of that mother say, well, our cross to bear is our mother. Or someone else might say, well, my affliction or this difficulty I have is my cross to bear. You identify whatever issue you have or difficulty you have as your cross to bear. That's not what it means to bear the cross.
Listen to this. To bear the cross means one thing. It means deny yourself and put God first.
Let me illustrate. I've been a Christian now for 50 years and I've seen a lot of things. I've seen gifted preachers shoot up like rockets and then come crashing down. I've seen people that had their lives changed by Jesus walk away from their faith.
I've seen very talented people that I thought would do great things for the kingdom sort of flame out. So as time has passed, I'm not so much impressed by charisma as much as I am impressed by character and longevity. For instance, I'm more impressed with someone who just lives a faithful Christian life. I'm impressed by a husband who keeps his vows to his wife to a lifetime. I am impressed by a wife who stands by her husband through thick and thin. I'm impressed by a Christian who stays with it every day, sunny days and stormy nights.
I am impressed by a believer who weathers the storms of life and continues to give glory to God. Because that's what following Jesus is all about. As one person defined it, being a Christian is long obedience in the same direction. Long obedience in the same direction.
But listen to this. Burying a cross isn't as awful as you might think. Look at verse 25. Jesus says, whoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Here's what the Lord is effectively saying. If you'll get your priorities in order, if you'll deny yourself and take up the cross, you will find fulfillment in life. Listen, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be happy. And God is really telling you how to be happy. But it's not by chasing happiness. As one person said, the pursuit of happiness is one of the least happy things a person can do. So you don't find happiness by pursuing it.
You find it by putting God first in your life and following Him. This is contrary to our narcissistic culture of today. Our selfie culture where people literally die trying to get the ultimate selfie hanging off the side of a cliff or doing something dangerous. We want to look good.
We want to put out this appearance that we have it all together. We're so obsessed with ourselves. The Bible even says, by the way, that one of the signs of the last days would be people would love only themselves.
2 Timothy 3. Is that not an accurate statement of today? People loving only themselves?
Here's what you need to know. Selfish people are unhappy people. Now studies have confirmed this.
Research has shown this is true. Now you can get a momentary burst of what we might call a temporary happiness by doing something selfish. In other words, just catering to yourself. You know, they talk about when people shop that there's a certain euphoria that they can get buying something.
They call it retail therapy, right? You get sort of a rush. Oh, I got this thing. But then, you know, you get it home and you wear it once and you're not as excited by that thing. And so experts say that basically selfish people are unhappy and selfish people are happy. One expert said, selfish acts bring you happiness but only in the short term. But selfish happiness fades quickly and then drives you to more selfish behavior. On the other hand, selfless acts bring happiness.
You know this from experience. When you've done something for someone else, you put the needs of another person before your own. And after you did that thing, you experienced this happiness. And that's really what Jesus is saying. Look, instead of loving yourself and being obsessed with yourself, deny yourself. And if you will lose your life, you will find your life. What does it mean to deny yourself?
Let me give some examples. To deny yourself means you're not embarrassed to bow your head and pray over a meal, even around non-believers. To deny yourself means you speak up for your faith even when it's unpopular. To deny yourself means you take up the cross and resist the allure and temptation of this world to live for self and instead you choose to serve others. To deny yourself in marriage is to put the needs of your mate above your own. To deny yourself is to control your impulses as a single person. To deny yourself means you get up every day and you open up the Word of God. I could just go on and on.
You say, well, I don't know. That sounds like a miserable life. Now listen to me. This is the happy life. This is the joyful life because you have your priorities in order. And this is why Paul wrote in Galatians 2, 20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives in me. Look at the positive outcome that comes when you take up the cross and put Christ first. Verse 35, Jesus says if you'll seek to save your life, you'll lose it.
But if you lose your life for my sake in the Gospels, you will find it. Listen, as I said earlier, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be happy. God wants you to be happy.
He's even described in Scripture as the happy God. But go about it in the right way and don't chase after your desires. Put His will above your own and as you lose your life, you will find your life by following Jesus Christ. And one day you'll look back on your life and realize it was all worth it. Think of people who've wasted their lives. In the pursuit of what?
In the pursuit of success, in the pursuit of so many experiences, in the pursuit of whatever it is they think is important. But listen to this. One day your life will be summed up in a paragraph on a program that will be handed out at your funeral service. And no one will really care about how much money you made. No one will really care about your awesome car collection. No one will really care about how many sexual experiences you had.
No one will really care about how famous you were. What they'll want to talk about is, oh, you were a selfless person. You were a caring person. You were a loving person. Oh, we've seen so many who've wasted their lives. I've been to funerals and as they're describing the person, I'm thinking, did they know the same person I knew?
That's not the person I knew. But how wonderful it is when a child of God passes into eternity. We can talk about how they followed Jesus and put Him first and what they did for other people. And it brings glory to God and that is why I exist. In closing, back to this question of Jesus to His disciples.
Who do men say that I am? Now let me ask you this, who is Jesus to you? Is He the Son of God? Is He the Savior of the world?
If so, then follow Him. Pick up your cross and follow Him and put God first in your life. You know, it's interesting how many times Jesus uses the word must in the verses we've read. He said He must be killed. Then He said we must take up the cross and follow Him. But none of this makes sense until we come into a relationship with Him.
So let me share with you one more must. Jesus said to Nicodemus, the religious ruler, one night, you must be born again. Let me ask you in closing, are you born again? Some people say, well, you know, I'm a Christian. I'm just on one of those born agains. News flash, you can't be a Christian without being born again.
Again, Jesus said you must be born again. What does it mean? It means to be born from above. It means you'll have a spiritual birth. Listen to this, if you're born once, you'll die twice. But if you're born twice, you'll die once.
What does that mean? If you're born once, you'll die twice. So you're born physically and then you'll ultimately die physically and spiritually. But if you're born twice, that is born physically and born again spiritually, you'll only die once.
Yes, your body will die. But your soul, your spirit will live on. You must be born again.
You need Jesus to come and live inside of you. Listen, Jesus came to this earth, as we pointed out, to be born in the manger, to die on the cross for your sins, for my sins, because we're all separated from him and we've all broken his commandments time and time again. And then he rose from the dead and he will give you complete forgiveness. Can you imagine that? Sure, I'm talking to somebody right now that is so ashamed of certain things that they've done and they wonder, could God ever forgive a person like me?
And the answer is a resounding yes. Not only can he forgive you, he will forgive you right here, right now. You say, well, what do you mean by that? I mean by coming to the Lord in prayer, you can ask for his forgiveness and he will wipe away every sin you've ever committed. He'll forgive it and he'll forget it. Jesus said in John 3.16, by the way, in that same conversation with Nicodemus, after he said, you must be born again, he said, for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son and whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Did you hear that? You can have everlasting life and you can know that you'll go to heaven one day. How do you do that? By asking Jesus to come into your life. So in a moment, we're going to pray and I'm going to extend an invitation to you to ask Jesus into your heart, if you will, into your life to be your savior and your Lord and your friend. You must be born again. Who do you say Jesus is? You think he's the Lord?
Then call out to him right now. If you want your sin forgiven, if you want to know you'll go to heaven when you die, if you want Christ to come into your life, if you want all of your past forgiven, it can happen right now as we pray. If you need Jesus in your life, pray this prayer with me right now. Just pray these words. Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know you're the savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my savior and Lord. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering it. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here. Thanks for listening to our podcast and to learn more about Harvest Ministries, please subscribe and consider supporting this show. Just go to harvest.org. And by the way, if you want to find out how to come into a personal relationship with God, go to knowgod.org. That's K-N-O-W-G-O-D.org.
