Given to the Way of the Cross
For Meditation (Corey Widmer)
As we cross the threshold from Epiphany to Lent, we are also shifting our focus in this series from Jesus Revealed to Jesus Given. In Mark 8:27-38, that shift is unmistakable.
Up to this point in his Gospel, Mark has been circling around one central question: Who is Jesus? The Father's voice from heaven has affirmed him. Demons have named him. Crowds have been amazed by him. But the disciples, those closest to him, have remained hesitant, confused and uncertain.
But now Jesus gets them in a corner. He asks them directly who they believe him to be. The disciples nervously look at one another, until impetuous Peter blurts out, “You are the Christ!” Finally, the answer is clear!
But instead of celebrating, Jesus immediately begins to speak of suffering, rejection, and death. He must be handed over. He must be killed. And after three days, rise again. Here, Mark pivots. The question is no longer only Who is Jesus? but What has he come to do? And the answer is startling: he has come to give himself away.
But there is another startling realization: Jesus calls those who follow him to do the same. "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me." Jesus is not just looking for admirers or believers, he is looking for disciples who will pattern their lives after his. He is gathering a community shaped by the way of the cross — people who trust him enough to lose their lives in order to find him.
As we enter Lent, we are invited not merely to admire the cross, but to walk its path with Jesus.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion:
When Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” how would you answer today—not just intellectually, but personally?
Why do you think Peter rebukes Jesus after confessing him as the Christ? Where do you see similar misunderstandings of Jesus in yourself or in your culture?
What do you think Jesus means by “deny yourself” and “take up your cross”? How is this different from self-hatred or mere self-discipline?
Jesus says that whoever loses their life for his sake will find it. Where have you experienced this paradox to be true—or where do you struggle to believe it?
As we enter Lent, what might it look like for you to follow Jesus more intentionally on the way of the cross?
Mark 8:27-38
Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He then began to teach them 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 after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
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 wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, 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 with the holy angels.”