Luke 9:23-27: Jesus' Upside-down Economy

Luke 9:23-24 "And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.'"

When is the last time you heard of a political movement where the main goal was to die? Most of the time, when people in this life are making power plays, the main goal is to do anything but perish. However, Jesus' economy is upside-down. Jesus says that in order to be great in his kingdom, you must deny yourself and take up your cross daily.

Now before we get carried away (and perhaps we already have), let us look at what it actually means to deny yourself and daily take up your cross. What Christ is refering to here is not to be taken literally, but it is to be seen as a metaphor. He was not asking us to grab a cross and tote it around with us 24/7 (although that probably would be a pretty good evangelism strategy). But what is he trying to point out here? In biblical times, the cross was the main symbol of persecution, that is, persecution unto death. The Romans were famous for crucifying their criminals on a cross. Thus, when Jesus spoke of "taking up your cross daily," it surely had a great impact on his disciples, as it directly pointed them to persecution and martyrdom. However, let us point out that what Jesus is not saying that everyone who serves him must die for him; however, everyone who serves him must be willing to die for him if this be what Christ calls him to. Jesus Christ said to take up one's cross daily, which in a nutshell meant daily sacrificing one's own desires for the sake of the kingdom, even if that meant giving up your desire for life.

But Jesus doesn't stop here. Jesus continued: "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." This, once again, is where we see God's upside-down economy. In his first statement, we see God's upside-down economy in that we ought to give up our desires instead of maximize them as the world tells us to do. Here, we see God's upside-down economy in the fact that we ought to seek to lose our lives instead of save them. What is Jesus saying here? Well, in a way, he is simply taking what he just said and emphasizing it. The one who, in his own power, tries to save himself from this world will perish. But Jesus offers another way: give up your life for the sake of the kingdom, and you will have life forevermore.

Surely there is more that we could say about this, but time only permits so much. The application today here is simple, and straight from the words of Jesus: "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?" (Luke 9:25). The question this morning is this: have you accepted and embraced God's upside-down economy? Brother and sister, if you are still trying to save yourself and are resistant to sacrifice your own desires on a cross for the sake of God's name, then you have not embraced this kingdom. However, let me encourage you, look to Christ. He went all the way, sacrificing all of his desires to the point of a physical and spiritual death on a cross. He fully embraced this upside-down kingdom in order that you could be saved. Brothers and sisters, embrace the upside-down kingdom. Take up your cross daily. Give up your life that you might find it. Amen.