Are You Glad They Killed Jesus?

I hope I got your attention with that headline. I intended to! I did it because too often we are lulled to sleep by the world around us. When this happens, we need a wake-up call. We need to shake the cobwebs out of our head and begin thinking clearly again. In this case, I want to do it by telling you that I am glad they killed Jesus!

What Are Your Emotions?

When you first read those last six words, what are your thoughts? What emotions do you experience? Is there any confusion? Anger? Frustration? If so, you are normal. In fact, I felt some of these emotions just by typing those words. Fortunately, we are in good company. Peter had some of the same emotions. Take a look:

Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. He was openly talking about this. So Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.
Mark 8:31-32

Peter Rebukes Jesus!

Clearly, when Jesus began teaching the disciples about how He would be tortured, killed, and raised from the dead, Peter felt some of the same emotions as we did. Being prone to quick action without thinking, Peter immediately pulled Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. Keep in mind that only two verses earlier, Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah. Now he is rebuking Him!

Put yourself in Peter’s shoes. Would you have done the same thing? Why do you think Peter was so opposed to Jesus’ teaching about His pending suffering, death, and resurrection? What do you think was going through Peter’s mind at that moment?

While Scripture does not clearly explain Peter’s thoughts, we do get a sense of them from Jesus’ response. See what Jesus says here:

But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said,“Get behind Me, Satan, because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns, but man’s!”
Mark 8:33

Jesus Killed For A Purpose

Based on this response, we can assume that Peter was being selfish in his thoughts. We can also assume he was thinking about the short term, not eternity, right? For that thinking, Jesus rebuked him with some very strong words. He actually identified Satan as being behind Peter’s words!

See, Jesus had to die. There had to be an ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Either we had to pay or Jesus could pay. God sent Jesus as that sacrifice. If He was not killed, the penalty for our sins would remain unpaid. Jesus understood this and recognized Peter’s words of rebuke as coming from Satan’s desire to thwart God’s plan.

After rebuking Peter, Jesus saw a teachable moment. Jesus called the disciples and the crowd to gather around and listen. He went on to say the following:

If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it. For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his life? What can a man give in exchange for his life?

For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.
Mark 8:34-38

Eternal Perspective

So, let’s turn our thoughts back to ourselves and what we can learn from this. When we experienced the emotions of anger and frustration around the killing of Jesus, the cause was a mindset that is based on the here and now. Like Peter, we often get focused on what is going on around us, not on what is happening in 1,000 years. It is natural, but it is not Jesus’ desire for us.

His words above, and throughout Scripture, point our thoughts and actions to the eternal. He desires that we deny ourselves in the here and now. He wants us to forsake the immediate pleasures and desires of this world and instead think and act in such a way as to maximize the rewards in the next life.

When it comes to our businesses, we are to change our scoreboard. No longer should profit be our primary focus. Profit is absolutely necessary for the growth and health of our business, but it is a temporal goal. The true goal should be to point others to an eternity with God. Our primary focus should be running our businesses in such a way as to populate heaven with as many as come into contact with us.

God’s Concerns Or Man’s?

Peter was focused on man’s concerns and Jesus sternly rebuked him for it. What about you? Are you more attentive to God’s concerns or man’s? Where is your heart?

I encourage you to stop right now and pray about it. Ask God to reveal to you where you are overly concerned about the here and now. Ask Him to show you how to begin acting in a way that reflects an eternal scoreboard, a focus on His concerns. He is faithful to do it!

Are you glad Jesus was killed?

Do you have your mind on God’s concerns or man’s?

Where do you need to reset your eyes on an eternal perspective?

Photo by Kevin Schreiber/iStock