In the Gospel of Mark, we read that as Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem and led the disciples toward what would ultimately be His death on the cross, those who followed Him were both amazed and afraid (Mark 10:32 ESV). Jesus went about doing good, healing people from all kinds of afflictions and announcing the arrival of the kingdom of God. But in these pivotal central chapters of the gospel, He more clearly reveals that He is indeed the Messiah, and He more clearly reveals some things about God’s kingdom that seem upside down to us—if you try to save your life, you will lose it, but if you lose it for His sake, you will save it.
Short-term sacrifice is worth long-term gain. Painful and public removal of things that cause us to sin is good because it’s better to enter life lame than with two feet go into hell. If we want to be great, we must make ourselves the least of all. Our reception of the God of the universe is based on our reception of the lowliest and most vulnerable among us. In fact, we must become utterly dependent, entirely trusting, and completely able to accept a gift with no thought of being able to pay for it if we want to enter into this kingdom.
Short-term sacrifice is worth long-term gain
Though these are the ways of the Most High God, to our limited vision here, they appear upside-down. And from the time that Jesus began to declare these things, He also began to invite His followers to walk down the same path of living out and proclaiming this good news of the upside-down Kingdom.
This is why the disciples were afraid as they followed Jesus to Jerusalem. But after the resurrection, we find that every one of the remaining 11 disciples did exactly that—they lived out and proclaimed the gospel of the upside-down Kingdom.
We are no different today. Jesus’ invitation to us is the same: join me in this Great Commission. But herein lies the rub—it seems to make a lot more sense to us to proclaim a different good news, one that is a lot more self-serving, self-promoting, and allows us to continue living in self-autonomy. Who is going to receive “good news” like die to yourself and your own desires? Who is going to receive “good news” like if you want to be great, make yourself a servant to all? How is this even “good news”?
This article does not permit space to adequately dig into all of this, so hopefully you are willing to spend your own time contemplating and responding. But let me offer at least two compelling reasons to never stop proclaiming the gospel of the upside-down Kingdom.
First, there is the blatant truth that if you try to save your life, you will lose it. So, there are millions of people, including people around every one of us, who are busy trying to save, preserve, enhance, promote, protect, enrich, or otherwise bring ease to their lives, and in doing so, they will end up losing their life ultimately. Who will tell them? Who will let them know that the very thing they are naturally doing in their flesh is actually upside down in God’s kingdom, and is the very thing that will be their ultimate downfall?
Second, there is already so much suffering and affliction and hurt in the world. Apart from the gospel of the upside-down Kingdom, that suffering is a senseless tragedy. But the good news of God’s kingdom is that even things that are painful can have meaning and produce eternal fruit in us when we are surrendered to Him.
For all of those who are already suffering in this world, the good news we have to offer is that through Christ, something beautiful and everlasting can emerge. May we continue to live out and proclaim the gospel of the upside-down Kingdom.
Photo credit: AI-generated
