Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Mark 8:34

1. The problem with Peter's answer to Jesus' question is not that he calls Jesus the Christ, it is that he doesn't __________ what the Christ is here to ______.

2. To see Jesus as a means to an end of any kind is to have in mind the __________ of ________.

3. The __________, __________, and ____________ of Jesus the Christ, these are the things of God!

4. For us, then, __________ is all that matters.


Scripture Readings
2 Kings 2:1-12
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6
Mark 8:27-38


Take It With You!

As we follow Christ from His baptism to His cross and empty tomb, it will be helpful for everyone to be reading through the Gospel of Mark daily. Here helpful tools will be offered to aid in your study.

Quotes on the Call to Discipleship

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. Philippians 1:21-26

Jesus must therefore make it clear beyond all doubt that the "must" of suffering applies to his disciples no less than to himself. Just as Christ is Christ only in virtue of his suffering and rejection, so the disciple is a disciple only in so far as he shares his Lord’s suffering and rejection and crucifixion. Discipleship means adherence to the person of Jesus, and therefore submission to the law of Christ which is the law of the cross. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death - we give our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise godfearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship