For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in
this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be
ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
– Mark 8.38
Several times in his gospel Mark reports Jesus’ prophecy of
His death. In this incident, when He did so, Peter and the others protested.
After correcting Peter Jesus went on to talk about the cost of discipleship. He
talked about the importance of keeping one’s soul instead of gaining the world.
He then went on to talk about being ashamed of Him. ‘Whoever
is ashamed of me; the Son of Man will be ashamed of him in the presence of God
the Father.’
Ashamed of Jesus – what a horrible concept. It reminds me of
where Paul wrote to the Romans, ‘that if you confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will
be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation.’
Apparently it is impossible to be truly saved and not be
willing to confess Jesus with our mouths. Those who truly believe will not be
ashamed of Jesus.
Christians who find themselves ashamed to talk about Jesus
need to examine their hearts. Being ashamed of Him and being His are
incompatible. That means that, at best, one who is ashamed of Christ is acting
like a lost man.
Do our lips reflect our faith, or deny it?
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