Mark 8:34-38, “Follow Me!”

I see that in our journey through Mark we have a post entitled “following Christ” (1:9-20) and another called “following Jesus” (3:7-35).  There are various other titles that sound like “discipleship.”  That’s good.  That’s what is going on.  Jesus is making disciples.  In the process He is dealing with faithfulness, having disciples that endure in their relationship with Him.  They don’t all stay the course but Jesus keeps coming back to the basic truth of following Him.  That is the essence of discipleship.

But it’s not just that some might waver in their faith.  It should also be noted that Jesus has made a significant addition to His message.  In 8:31 Jesus became very clear concerning His upcoming suffering and death and resurrection.  The first time Jesus called Peter (and others) to follow Him He said, Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men (1:17).  He didn’t mention the cross.  Of course, He had also not locked horns with the religious leaders.  And all the other events of the first 2+ years of His ministry had not occurred.  Jesus did not hide the difficult news of the cross.  He gave them what was appropriate when it was appropriate.

Jesus’ followers, the Twelve as well as others who at one point or another claimed to be His disciples, were never locked up in their relationship with Him.  You may remember from John 6:60-71, when many were turning away from Jesus, that He asked the Twelve, does this offend you?  And then, after giving them even more astounding truth to consider, He asked them, Do you also want to go away?  The door was open for them to leave.  But Peter’s answer tells us where they were at that point: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Again, when Jesus announced that He was going to Bethany when Lazarus died, a move that was dangerous since, as the disciples said, Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, Thomas response was, Let us also go, that we may die with Him (John 11:1-16). Some left Jesus, but as for the Twelve, given the obvious exception of Judas, had come to a point of faith that they were going to stay with Christ even in the face of certain death.

Back in Mark 8, it then makes a lot of sense that, after Jesus’ first announcement of His impending death and resurrection, that He would again invite and encourage the Twelve and the crowd as well (v34), in the matter of following Him.  The call is the same (follow Me), but the invitation is fashioned for the moment, for the realization of 8:31: “If you want to come after me, you must deny yourself and take up your cross.”  With those conditions, Jesus again gave the command: “Follow Me.”  We would do well to give this passage serious and extended study.