Calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. [Because] whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. [Because] what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? [Because] what can a man give in return for his soul? [Because] whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34–38)

“If you would come after me, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me because . . . because . . . because . . . because.” I will only linger here at the surface level of grammar for a moment, just long enough to make two points.

First, if any of these graduates (college or seminary) can read that paragraph without seeing those four layers of argumentation (“because . . . because . . . because . . . because”), in their case we have failed. Because that’s what we do here at Bethlehem College and Seminary: We learn together how to see — how to see what is really there in the word and in the world.

The second point, while I’m lingering at the level of grammar, is this: We don’t just learn together how to see, but we also learn how to see through. Words exist (and grammar exists) to communicate reality. Who cares about words? Well, God cares about words, because that’s what he gave us. But ultimately, they are his appointed means through which we see reality — ultimately, the reality of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

“Preferring comfort over cross-bearing will destroy you, and preferring Christ over life will save you.”

Almost all of my earthly life is behind me. What’s left, I hope to live with all my might while I live. And when I look back, it is increasingly clear to me that, for over fifty years, most of my time has been devoted to seeing and seeing through to reality: understanding it, valuing it, feeling it, applying it, saying it. These are the habits of mind and heart I long for our students to gain. We are learning together how to see and how to see through.

Through Words to Reality

Let’s move through the grammar of Jesus’s words — through the argument — and focus on the reality behind the fourth and final reason Jesus gives for taking up our cross and following him.

Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him, first, because preferring comfort over cross-bearing will destroy you, and preferring Christ over life will save you.

Why is that? Because if you devote your life to the pursuit of security and comfort and ease, and you succeed and gain the whole world, it will be of zero benefit, because you will lose your soul forever.

Why is that? Because no matter how much you gain in this world, the soul is not for sale. There will be no dealing, no negotiating on the last day. If you lose it, it’s over — forever.

Why is that? Why is it too late? Why no dealing or negotiating? Because “whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).

So, let’s try to see through that last argument. What does it mean that Jesus will be ashamed of those who were ashamed of him?

Humiliation on the Last Day

Shame is a painful thing. Another word for it would be humiliation. Will Jesus be humiliated at the last judgment? When Jesus says the Son of Man will be ashamed of those who were ashamed of him, does he mean, “The Son of Man will be humiliated on the day of judgment”? No. Jesus will never feel the pain of shame at being scorned for acting foolishly, because he never has acted foolishly and never will, and because he is not controlled by what others think of him. He won’t be humiliated. “[He] endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2).

What then does it mean that the Son of Man will be ashamed of those who were ashamed of him? It means the same thing as people being ashamed of him here in Mark 8:34–37. The way they were ashamed of him, he will be ashamed of them. How did that play out — that people were ashamed of him? What did it mean for them to be ashamed of Jesus and his words?

The people Jesus will be ashamed of in this text are not people who were shamed and humiliated because they stood up for Jesus. No. The people he will be ashamed of are those who sought to save their earthly lives and get rich by avoiding the negative effects of standing up for Jesus and his words — by avoiding the pain of being shamed.

In other words, in this text, to be ashamed of Jesus means to be so fearful of being shamed for Jesus that you don’t stand up for Jesus. You don’t get humiliated. You love your reputation, your comfort, your money, your life. So, to save your life — your ego — you keep your mouth shut. But the apostles were shamed for the name of Jesus in Acts 5:41, and they embraced it. They went out “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer [shame] for the name.” They were shamed, but they were not ashamed. The people in Mark 8:34–38 who are ashamed of Jesus did not embrace the shame or rejoice over it. They avoided it. They did not stand up for Jesus. They saved their lives and padded them with wealth and comfort and the approval of an adulterous and sinful generation.

Now we can see what it will mean for Jesus to be ashamed of those who were ashamed of him. Just as these faithless ones would have been humiliated if they had stood up for Jesus in an adulterous and sinful generation (and so, they chose not to), so Jesus would be humiliated if he were to stand up for them in the presence of his Father and the holy angels (and so, he chooses not to).

They avoid humiliation by not acknowledging Jesus; he avoids humiliation by not acknowledging them (Matthew 10:32–33). They refused to advocate for Jesus to avoid shame; Jesus will refuse to advocate for them to avoid shame. They saved face with fools by distancing themselves from the wise; Jesus will save face with the wise by distancing himself from fools.

Or, to simply use the words of Mark 8:38, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

See and See Through

To bring this now to a particular application and exhortation for the graduates, I ask this question: Is what we have seen in Mark 8:38 salvation by grace through faith? Or is it an earned salvation through works? To answer that question, ask another one: Do you earn the love Christ has for you by treasuring the love of Christ? You don’t. Ephesians 2:4–5 says that you weren’t even alive when God loved you with a great love that made you alive. This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8–9).

If you are ashamed of Christ and his words — if you value the approval of an adulterous generation more than you value Christ — you are not failing to earn the love of Christ. You are failing to see it for what it is.

“To be ashamed of Jesus means to be so fearful of being shamed for Jesus that you don’t stand up for Jesus.”

We have spent four years laboring with you to learn how to see and to see through — to value and embrace and treasure the infinite worth and beauty and greatness of the love of God in Christ. This is what you will do for the rest of your life. You will labor to see and to see through to the infinite value of Christ. If you turn away from the treasure of Christ and value the approval of an adulterous generation more than you value him and his approval — if you are ashamed of him — this will not be a failure to earn the love of Christ; it will be a failure to see.

These four years have been a beginning, a launch into lifelong learning to see and to see through — to see that Jesus is wiser, stronger, more precious, more valuable, more desirable, more satisfying than the approval of all the world. Keep on seeing the word and seeing through to reality, and you will never be ashamed.