The Way of Jesus, Pt. 6: Cross-Shaped Discipleship
Victory Life Church, Central — Sunday, April 13, 2025 (Palm Sunday)
Introduction
Today is Palm Sunday when we commemorate Jesus’ “Triumphal Entry” into Jerusalem. These symbols mean something, and what they mean matters.
When the crowds waved palm branches as Jesus entered Jerusalem, they weren’t just grabbing the nearest greenery—they were making a bold statement rooted in history. Over a century earlier (167-160 BC), Judas Maccabeus led a revolt against the oppressive Seleucid Empire, cleansing the temple and restoring Jewish worship. After the victory, palm branches became a national symbol of deliverance and pride—Judas even minted coins bearing palm branches to commemorate freedom and victory (not unlike a national flag would). That symbol stuck, and the Maccabean (or Hasmonean) dynasty ruled Judea for nearly a century (from 141 to 63 BCE) before the Romans brought their reign to an end. So when people waved palm branches for Jesus, they were signaling their hope for another liberator.
But here’s the twist: Jesus wasn’t coming to overthrow Rome like Judas. He was coming to conquer sin, death, and the spiritual forces of evil animating the evil in this world. And for us today, the palm branches remind us that our praise shouldn’t just be loud—it should be rightly placed. We don’t just wave palms for what we want Jesus to do, but for who He truly is: the humble, saving King.
Finding the Real Jesus
This is the challenge we face today in the American Church (and the Western Church in general); we think we can project our assumptions and desires onto Jesus rather than trust him and follow him as he is, not as we want him to be.
“Bumper-sticker Christianity” — “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.”
Many consider Jesus to be a “good option” or “supplement” to a plethora of many other good options in the market of religious and spiritual ideas, practices, and beliefs. Remember the “chest of drawers” analogy in the first message. Our “spirituality” is more self-curated and arranged to fit my own needs and desires, Jesus serving me at my pleasure. Or worse yet, many people’s faith treats Jesus as little more than a cosmic genie or spiritual vending machine. “I just punch in the right prayer formula, swipe my ‘Jesus’ blood’ credit card, and God gives me what I want, as long as I tag it with ‘in Jesus’ name.’”
Beyond the shallow consumerism that marks many people’s faith or the syncretist faith that marks others, there are more people open to faith now than in previous years. Many people are spiritually curious and seeking. But what are those seekers finding in the church?
Admirers and Fans versus Followers
What you may find in many Christians’ lives is that they may be considered “Fans” or “Admirers” of Jesus, but will people find genuine “Followers” of Jesus? Where are those who have committed to Jesus more than mental ascent to certain doctrinal truths but actual commitment to be his disciples? Where are those whose discipleship to Jesus has made such a marked difference that those searching for truth find it in them? My prayer is that those seekers would find Jesus in you, our church. But only if we remain committed to the truth and not be more formed by culture.
Writing in mid-19th century Denmark, philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard offers sharp critiques of a watered-down commitment to Jesus during a time when “Christendom” and culture were often blurred. Writing about the differences between an admirer versus a follower, he says:
“A follower is or strives to be what he admires. An admirer, however, keeps himself personally detached. He fails to see that what is admired involves a claim upon him, and thus he fails to be or strive to be what he admires.”
Referencing what conditions will mark the difference between them, he continues:
“When there is no danger, when there is a dead calm, when everything is favorable to our Christianity, it is all too easy to confuse an admirer with a follower.” ~ Soren Kierkegaard
This is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer, writing in Nazi Germany amidst a culturally and politically compromised church, refers to as the difference between “Cheap Grace v. Costly Grace.” I don’t want to lambast “cheap grace” in a way that causes more confusion, but it matters to get our bearings on our discipleship. He states it this way:
[When describing “Cheap Grace”] “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
[When referencing “Costly Grace”] “Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son…and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
This is the basis for our text today, Jesus’ invitation to be his disciple. But Jesus is clear about what it means to be his disciple. We do not get to make discipleship up. We do not get to tell Jesus what it means to be his disciple. If we are truly his disciples, we need to know what it means and what it will cost us.
The Cost of Discipleship
Luke 9:23 (ESV) And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
The statement “come after me” is a clear description of a disciple, one who has chosen to follow a master. Again, Jesus’ invitation is not to accept him but to follow him. This is implicit in the invitation, one the American church has strayed from to our detriment.
To be clear about what it means to be his disciple, Jesus gives three descriptions that act as invitations: deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow him. This is not the place for excessive cultural commentary, but this is the idol of our day: the “self.” Culturally, we have become a people of narcissism. We are obsessed with ourselves. The search for our own unique identity has become most people’s purpose in life, and the more provocative, the better for many. Self-help is not just a book genre; it’s an industrial complex. It has become the engine that drives our consumeristic economy. “Life’s pursuit is about making our lives better.” Jesus’ first invitation is to de-center the self. Life is not about you, and discipleship is about orienting your life around another: Jesus himself. We follow him, not another guru, or spiritual teacher, or politician. Jesus, nothing else, is the center of a disciple’s life.
The second invitation is to “take up your cross daily.” Jesus here is using the “cross” as a symbol of daily discipleship. In our day, the cross is simply a symbol we see on jewelry or in figures of speech. “In the first century, the cross was …a repugnant instrument of cruelty, pain, dehumanization, and shame. The cross was the most visible and omnipresent aspect of Rome’s terror apparatus, designed especially to punish criminals and quash slave rebellions in the most painful, protracted, and public manner possible as a warning against rebellion.” And yet, Jesus uses this image as the symbol of salvation. This was not just his destiny; he says that this is the symbolic (and, in many cases, literal) destiny of the disciple.
“To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ…When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
To put it bluntly, in all of recorded Roman history, there are no known survivors of a Roman crucifixion. This is the invitation of Jesus: come and die. To follow Jesus is to surrender our lives to the one who gave his life for us. The Apostle Paul would later state it like this:
Galatians 2:20 (ESV)20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Jesus clarifies this apparent paradox, enabling us to see this invitation through different eyes. “Self-centeredness is actually more deadly than self-sacrifice.”
Luke 9:24 (ESV) For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
The key is “for my sake.” This is not blindly martyring yourself at the mercy of other people’s expectations and needs. Discipleship is a daily surrender (“death”) to self for the sake of Jesus, to honor and glorify him, and to become more like him each day.
The story of the missionary Jim Elliot is an inspiring one that should deepen our understanding of this verse. Jim Elliot was an American missionary who gave his life in 1956 while trying to share the gospel with the Waorani (“wah-RAH-nee”) people of Ecuador—a tribe known for their isolation and violence. Passionate about Jesus and committed to the call of missions, Elliot lived with bold faith; he is famous for these words that guided his life and ultimate sacrifice:
“He is no fool who gives away what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” ~ Jim Elliot
After his death on the mission field, his wife, Elisabeth Elliot, along with their young daughter, returned to live among the very tribe that had killed him. Through their courageous love, forgiveness, and steady witness, many of the Waorani people eventually came to faith in Christ—including some of the very men involved in the attack. Their story became a powerful testimony of grace, redemption, and the unstoppable power of the gospel.
Luke 9:24 (MSG)24 Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.
That’s the irony of discipleship: self-centeredness is more deadly than self-sacrifice. The desperate attempt to find yourself will inevitably lead to losing yourself. But surrounding to Jesus as his disciple, denying self, considering your life dead to self, is actually what enables you to find your true self.
Luke 9:25 (ESV) For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
I think Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray offers a haunting illustration of Jesus’ words from this text. Dorian Gray trades his soul for eternal youth and beauty, indulging in every pleasure while his hidden portrait absorbs the cost—growing more grotesque with each sinful choice. Outwardly, he gains everything the world offers, but inwardly he is decaying. In the end, his pursuit of self leads to self-destruction. Trying to erase the consequences, Dorian stabs the portrait—only to kill himself in the process, revealing too late that the soul cannot be ignored or hidden forever. This is Jesus’ warning: gaining the world means nothing if it comes at the cost of your soul.
Luke 9:25 (MSG)25 What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?
Conclusion The Cost of Non-Discipleship
In Jesus’ upside-down kingdom, the greatest cost is actually not the cost of discipleship. It’s the cost of non-discipleship.
Matthew 11:28–29 (ESV)28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
“But the cost of nondiscipleship far greater—even when this life alone is considered—than the price paid to walk with Jesus, constantly learning from him…Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God overiding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, non-discipleship cost you exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10). The cross-shaped yoke of Christ is after all instrument of liberation and power to those who live in it with him and learn to meekness and lowliness of heart that brings rest to the soul.” ~ Dallas Willard
Soren Kierkegaard. Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard. p. 86\
Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The Cost of Discipleship. pp. 44-45
Cross-reference this with the multiple texts in Luke’s gospel accounting for the cost of discipleship: Luke 9:57-61, 14:25-33, and Jesus’ surrender to the Father’s will in prayer in Luke 22:39-44.
James R. Edwards. The Gospel according to Luke.The Pillar New Testament Commentary. p. 275.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The Cost of Discipleship. pp. 88-89
Dallas Willard. The Great Ommission. p. 9