Reflection Questions: Orienting Ourselves to the Kingship of Jesus (John 20.30-31, Matthew 16.24-27)

Matthew 16:24-27: Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.”

1. The idea that sews all of John’s Seven Signs together is the idea of Jesus as King, both NOW and in the COMING AGE. He is King over illness, over the issues of life and death, over darkness, over the forces of nature; He is the King who will provide abundantly for His subjects as He inaugurates a Kingdom characterized by ebullient joy, by ‘Kingdom wine.’ So, what does it really mean for you to live with Jesus as your King? (Not just ‘Savior,’ but King!) See Luke 6:46.
2. Read Matthew 16:24-27. Consider this passage carefully as a whole. What are your thoughts about not getting to choose ‘which road’ Jesus leads you down (16:24)? What does “(1) let him deny himself and (2) take up his cross” mean to you? Why ‘take up HIS cross’? – don’t all believers have the same ‘cross’? What is implicit about Jesus’ presence in the word “follow”? How does this radically change things? Matthew 16:25 answers the question of ‘why’ we should follow Jesus down the often-difficult road He leads us: so that we might experience real life – our exuberant/forever life (see 1 Tim. 6:12 & Gal. 6:8). Discuss this enigmatic verse. What do you think Jesus means by this? (Remember, the context is not salvation, but ‘following’ Him – and so, discipleship.)
3. 16:27 states the fact which I see as the ‘great equalizer’: “the Son of Man IS GOING TO COME” – and, when He does, He will “repay each person according to what he has done.” For believers, there will be no condemnation (Rom. 8:1), but our ‘works’ will certainly be evaluated by the Lord Himself (1 Cor. 3:10-15). Read and discuss the sobering words of 2 Cor. 5:9-10. How do they make you think about your own Christian walk? 1 Cor. 4:5 takes things a step further: Jesus will not only judge what we’ve done with the life He’s given us, but ‘why’ we did what we did. He will “bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of [our] hearts.” What we hide from others is never hidden from God (Heb. 4:13; Job 34:21; Psa. 33:13-15)! Discuss our coming ‘final exam.’ How does it motivate us to purify our lives?
4. How does grumbling undermine the fruit Jesus desires to bear through us (1 Cor. 10:9-10, 10:6; Philippians 2:14-15)?