Dear Christian friends:

Tonight we focus on Mount of Suffering. How do we climb this mountain triumphantly?

As I have mentioned in previous sermons, there are various kinds of suffering that Christians must endure in this life. Together with non-Christians we suffer the common woes of life due to sin in the world. The Bible plainly tells us: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned." (Romans 5:12) There is a definite connection between sin and suffering.

However, we Christians have the additional suffering to endure which is unique to Christians, which the non-Christian does not experience, namely the ridicule, pressure and discrimination from non-Christians. It is the suffering which we experience because we follow Christ and are his witnesses. This is the suffering Jesus speaks of in our text, and it is the suffering we shall focus on this evening.

We tend to rebel against this suffering and fail to witness because we wish to avoid it. In our text we see Peter rebelling against this suffering. When Jesus told his disciples that he, "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." (Mark 8:31-32)

We recall also that later on Peter failed to stand up for Jesus while Jesus was being tried at the palace of the high priest that he stood by the fire with the soldiers and servants in the courtyard, denying his Lord three times.

Perhaps we are thinking, "Well, I'm glad that I am not a coward like Peter was. I would never deny my dear Jesus." Is that true?

Perhaps we have already denied our dear Lord many times and in many ways. When we refuse to accept an office in the church because we don't want the criticism or trouble are we not denying our Lord? When we fail to speak to an un-churched friend or neighbor of our faith and hope in Jesus are we not denying our Lord. When we fail to attend public worship services without good reason are we not denying our Lord. When we fail to give for the support of the church, missions, and benevolences as we are able, is that not denying our Lord?

Like Peter, we all have an aversion to suffering for the sake of the cross. We have in mind the things of men, and not the things of God, and so we play into the hands of Satan himself. Jesus rebuked Peter as He rebukes us saying, "Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Mark 8:33)

Thank God that Jesus did not rebel against the suffering of the cross. Instead, he submitted to excruciating pain as he suffered the penalty for our sin and rebellion against God. Jesus knew that he had to suffer if he was to accomplish our salvation, there was no way around it. The God of justice required a payment of all mankind's transgressions, a payment we are to weak and poor to pay.

Only one person could offer a sufficient ransom for us: Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God. Out of his great love for us, Jesus chose to save us despite our sins and rebellions, but Jesus knew it would cost him his life. It is this great love and mercy of Jesus that should move us to tears for our sins and for our failures and rebellions as disciples. It is this amazing love of Jesus which empowers us to repent and by his grace take up our cross daily after his example.

Jesus also gives us further incentives to climb the Mount of Suffering. He gives us both a warning and encouragement. First the warning in our text:

"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.” (Mark 8:34-38)

It is a soul destroying thing to deny our faith, to refuse the suffering that goes with faith in Jesus. We need to heed this warning.

On the other hand Jesus encourages us to accept the suffering of the Gospel. He says, "but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:35b) By this he means real, new, satisfying life here on earth in his service and eternal life in heaven's glory. The suffering that we endure as Christians does not negate our joy in Christ now on earth nor our hope of glory hereafter.

When it comes to climbing the Mount of Suffering we tend to over-look the glory at the summit. When Jesus told his disciples that he must go up to Jerusalem to suffer, they heard only the words, "suffer", "be rejected" and "be killed." They were so overwhelmed that they missed the Easter words, "rise again."

We, too, often focus only on the negative, the here and now, while climbing the Mount of Suffering, and therefore miss the Gospel message about the eventual glorious outcome at the summit.

A woman had a radical mastectomy. The doctors thought they had removed all the cancer, but it spread to other vital organs. When she was back in the hospital for what turned out to be the final time, her friends would come and lament that such a youthful, healthy looking woman should suffer so. But she witnessed to them of her faith, saying, "Look at Jesus, he suffered the pain of all of us. By his suffering and death, he made it possible for my suffering to end in eternal life. His suffering ended in resurrection, and by God's grace, so will mine!"

This Christian woman connected the cross of her suffering to the cross of Jesus. Her cross was quite different, of course, because she was not atoning for sin; only Jesus suffered the wrath of God to atone for our sin. But she knew that Jesus called his followers to bear their crosses just as he bore his. She believed that on the cross the love of God was revealed, her sin was removed, and eternal life was guaranteed for her. The cross of Jesus transformed her suffering into victory.

When you suffer, keep your eyes on the cross of Jesus. The mountain that seems impossible to you may be climbed by his grace. Suffering is an opportunity for us to be drawn into a closer relationship with Jesus, sharing the offense of the cross, as we rely on him for strength, comfort, and the hope of glory.

Amen.