The Low Road to the High City

Mark 9:1-8 April 18, 2021 Pastor Ricky Alcantar

Thesis The low road of suffering and sacrifice is the right road for disciples of Jesus because it is the King's own road, and it leads to the high city where God's presence dwells with His people forever.

Series

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Type

Expository

Tone

pastoraldidacticpropheticcelebratory

Method

grammatical-historicalredemptive-historicalcanonical

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

34 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #27

"Ricky's first application point directly addresses Christians facing hardship. A difficult road does not mean a wrong road. Using a pastoral illustration of parents whose child was sick, he confronts the lie that suffering means God's displeasure or personal failure. If you are following Jesus and the road is hard, you are not lost or forgotten—you are on the King's road. This is pastoral comfort grounded in the sermon's exposition."

Doctrinal loci· 12 surfaced

Christology · 14 Eschatology · 7 Soteriology · 6 Bibliology · 4 Ecclesiology · 4 Pastoral Theology · 4 Theology Proper · 4 Sanctification · 3 Anthropology · 1 Doxology / Worship · 1 Pneumatology · 1 Providence / Sovereignty · 1

Bible citations· 22

Illustrations· 2

personal story · unit #3 — Ricky tells a personal story from his childhood about getting lost on a foggy, dark road in Florida with his family. One by one, each family member—including eventually his father who was driving—lost confidence they were on the right road. The story establishes the sermon's central question: when the road is difficult and unclear, how do we know we're going the right direction?
personal story · unit #14 — Ricky tells a second personal story about driving dangerous desert back roads with his grandfather as a child. Though the roads were objectively dangerous—canyons, snakes, no cell phone—Ricky felt no fear because his grandfather was driving and he trusted his grandfather's strength, knowledge, and competence completely. The illustration reinforces the previous exposition: trust is grounded in knowledge of the person leading.

Theological claims· 7

The Transfiguration passage is positioned in Mark to encourage disciples who are questioning whether the low road of suffering and sacrifice is the right road. unit #4
The low road of the cross is the right road because Jesus, the high king, walks it and calls His people to follow Him to the glorious city. unit #6
Christians can trust Jesus on the low road because He is the Son of God, the fulfillment of Scripture, perfectly righteous, and possesses infinite power and authority. unit #15
All human longings—for peace, justice, love, and glory—are signposts pointing to the relationship with God that humanity lost in Eden and will be restored in the kingdom. unit #18
Human longing for glory and transcendence is a longing for God's unveiled presence, which the Old Testament promises will be restored in the coming kingdom. unit #19
Jesus walks the low road of the cross to make a way for sinful people to dwell in God's presence, paying for their injustice by trading His righteousness for their sin so they can stand in God's glory without dying. unit #23
The cross was not borne by a mere man but by the perfectly righteous Son of God, the lawgiver who bore the penalty for lawbreakers, and God Himself who traded His life for His people. unit #24

Quotations· 4

"Mark places the transfiguration here as confirmation of the difficult teaching Jesus had given his disciples about his suffering and death." — Wessel (unit #4)

"Jesus' glory emanates from himself. He's not reflecting. He's not like the moon shining the light of the sun on the earth at night. He is the sun." — Keller (unit #9)

"When you're on your way to the Grand Canyon, you see a billboard laying out this beautiful panorama. You don't pull off the road, get the family out and say, 'Kids, look at this. Here it is.'" — Paul Tripp (unit #21)

"The righteous is given in exchange for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God." — Peter (unit #23)

Read it

Full transcript

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0 · Ricky introduces himself, establishes the sermon's text location, and confesses that he rewrote his entire sermon mid-week when he realized the first version addressed themes in the text but not the text itself

If you're new here, my name is Ricky, and I want to invite you to turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 8. If you don't have a Bible, you can grab one on the back table, and we're going to open up God's word together. Now, I want to— I have a confession right up front at the beginning of this message, and my confession is that you will not enjoy the sermon that I am about to preach as much as you would have enjoyed the sermon I had earlier this week. The sermon earlier this week, I wrote an entire sermon. It had a way better opening and closing illustration. It was punchy. Punchier in terms of its, uh, you know, its phrasing. It was stickier. It had sharper application. The only problem was when I got to the end of the week, I did something. I read the text again, and then I read my sermon again, and I realized that I'd written a great sermon about some of the things in the text, but I had not written a sermon about the text. So I got vetoed by this. And I share that to say that I want that to be a value at our church. I want our pulpit to always be vetoed by the word of God. What you're doing when you come to church is you're not showing up because one of the pastors has some interesting insights about life. You're not showing up because, one of us has some good thoughts about parenting or marriage. We show up as a gathering because when we do, God addresses us through his word. Amen. So we're going to read the text again and you're going to hear my not as good sermon, but that is hopefully much more faithful to the point of the text.

1 · Ricky reads the primary text aloud—Mark 9:1-8—in full, presenting the Transfiguration account verbatim from the ESV

Mark chapter 9. I mean, sorry, Mark chapter 9, actually. Mark chapter 9. We've been in Mark 8 forever, so finally or in Mark 9. Mark 9:1: And he, Jesus, said to them, truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power. And after 6 days, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. For he did not know what to say, and they— for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, 'This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.' And suddenly Looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

2 · Ricky prays a brief pastoral prayer asking God to open the congregation's spiritual eyes and ears so they can receive what God intends to communicate through the text

This is God's word. And Father, I pray you give us ears to hear and eyes to see and behold what you have for us today. Address us through your word in Jesus' name. Amen.

3 · Ricky tells a personal story from his childhood about getting lost on a foggy, dark road in Florida with his family

Well, a number of years ago, we were on a family vacation in Florida and we were driving in Florida. And this was back, if you could believe this, before the days where your phone had a constant GPS. This is before the days of the little Garmin thing you'd stick on your windshield. This was the days of maps, like physical maps, like the sailors of old. And we would— when you go to a new place, you'd be trying to find your way and you'd have to take directions down and write them down from somebody. And so we were in Florida, we had, I think, met some friends for dinner, and we were going back. And as we went back, you know, it was nightfall, and we in El Paso, we're used to being able to see, oh, I'm going over there, there's a giant mountain, I'm heading toward it or I'm heading away from it. And so you can't see anything in the swamps of Florida. It is a terrifying place full of alligators and giant critters that wanna eat you. And at least that's what I thought as a kid driving around in Florida. And so as we went, my dad got directions and we were headed back to where we were staying. And as we went, I remember there was like a slight decline that we began to go down. And it began to get foggy. And so, and it became so foggy, we could not really see where we were going. All we knew is we couldn't see any more lights. There were no buildings around. We're going down this like back road somewhere. And each, and as we went, each member of the family in turn lost faith. I was the first to lose faith 'cause I was like, we're gonna die. As soon as we got into the fog, we're dead. My little sister Kara, she was much more in faith. She believed my dad much more, believed in his abilities. She began to waver in her faith eventually and began to say things like, 'Dad, are you sure you know where you're going?' Eventually then, it spread to my mom. My mom, who's up in the front seat with my dad, begins to ask Joe, 'Did you write that down right? Did you, you know, can I see the directions?' And one by one, every member of the family began to lose faith until I think eventually, if I remember right, my dad himself began to lose faith that he knew where he was going. When you're on a strange, difficult road, it is natural to wonder, is this the right road? Am I on the right road?

4 · Ricky bridges from the illustration to the sermon's theological burden: Christians often face difficult circumstances—illness, singleness, caregiving, mundane kingdom work—and wonder if they're on the right path

And there are many times in the Christian life that we'll be headed down a road and it seems like a low road. It seems like a difficult, scary road. And we begin to wonder, is this even the right road? Maybe a scary diagnosis from your doctor. He calls with a diagnosis and it's scary and it's uncertain and you wonder, is this the right road? Did I do something wrong? Maybe you're single and you have no current relational prospects and Jesus is telling you what he wants you to do with your dating life and your sexuality and it feels like sacrifice. It feels like a low, difficult road. Or maybe you're caring for a family member and it's taking a lot more of you than you expected. Maybe you've got a newborn, maybe you've got a toddler, maybe you've got an aging parent that your— much of your life is spent caring for another person and you realize Jesus calls you to that and you think, is this really what I'm supposed to be doing? Or maybe you desire to go out and advance the gospel and do something big for the kingdom, but doing something big for the kingdom looks like delivering food boxes or talking to your neighbor or building relationships with people that aren't always appreciative. Of your relationship. Are you on the right road? Sometimes we gotta be honest and ask that. This passage is meant specifically to encourage disciples of Jesus who are on the low road, who see the low road and who are on the low road. Commentator Wessel says this. Mark places the transfiguration here as confirmation of the difficult teaching Jesus had given his disciples about his suffering and death.

5 · Ricky recaps the Mark 8 conflict between Jesus and Peter, where Jesus announced His coming suffering and Peter rebuked Him, only to be rebuked in turn

So Jesus, in the passage before that Vince preached last week, Jesus has just had this dialogue with Peter where Jesus says, 'I am the Messiah, and I'm gonna go down the road of suffering and death.' And Peter says, 'No, no, no, no, that can't be the right road, Jesus.' And Jesus says, 'Get behind me, Satan.' In fact, not only am I walking this road, you too will walk this road. Take up your cross and follow me. And the disciples are befuddled. They're like, we don't understand. It seemed— I thought you're the Messiah. There should be glory. There should be amazing things happening. Instead, you're talking about death and suffering. That's why this passage is here.

6 · Ricky announces the sermon's main thesis and three-part structure

What we're gonna see today is yes, the low road of the cross is the right road. Jesus is the high king on the low road, and he calls us on the low road to the high city. He is the high king. This is his road, and he calls us to follow. Now, 3 things we're gonna look at this morning in the text. First, the high king.

7 · Ricky bridges into the sermon's first major section by reframing the disciples' (and Peter's) confusion as a trust question: does Jesus know where He's going? He notes that Jesus anticipated this need for encouragement, and that Mark's original audience—facing Roman persecution—needed the same reassurance

The high king. Now, the question is, does Jesus really know where he's going? Peter is questioning this. Peter doesn't think Jesus knows where he's going. He's like me in the backseat of the car thinking, 'Ah, this doesn't look right. This is too foggy and scary, Jesus. Well, I think you're meant to go to glory. You're talking about suffering and death.' Jesus knew his disciples would need to be encouraged on this low road. And similarly, Mark, the gospel writer, knows the disciples of his day who were facing increased pressure from the Roman government, to turn away from Jesus, they will need encouragement on the low road as well. The question is, can we trust Jesus? Does he know what he's doing?

8 · Ricky identifies the Father's declaration—'This is my beloved Son

Now, the main point of all this vision is clearly spoken by the Father. That's the main point of this vision. The Father says over Jesus and the disciples, 'This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.' him. Now, in the text, there's lots of stuff going on. There's glory, there's people resurrected, there's— I mean, there's all this stuff going on. What's the point? The point is this: listen to the Son. That's the point of this vision. This is meant to reinforce that the disciples are to follow Jesus. As strange and countercultural as Jesus' directions for life are, he must be followed.

9 · Ricky establishes the first reason to obey Jesus: His divine nature

Now, why? Why should he be followed? Well, look at what reinforces that command to listen to him. First, we see Jesus' nature. Jesus is no mere man. In the Old Testament, there's that famous story where Moses asked to see the glory of the Lord, and he goes and sees just a glimpse of the glory of the Lord, and then he comes down and his face shines like, like, like light, like the sun, right? Now, in that story, Moses was shining because he encountered the glory of the Lord. He was reflecting the glory, in a sense. What Keller points out about this passage is that Jesus is utterly different. Jesus' glory emanates from himself, right? He's not reflecting. He's not like the moon shining the light of the sun on the earth at night. He is the sun. The glory emanates from him. And notice when it says Jesus is transformed, it's not as though he's used to be like this and he transforms into something greater. The transformation is that in a sense, the veil is removed and the disciples see Jesus as he actually is. It's not as though he changes to be something else. They see who he actually is. Listen to him.

10 · Ricky explains the second reason to obey Jesus: His perfect purity

Then we see Jesus' purity. Now, Jesus' purity is highlighted by the fact that his clothes are radiant, intensely white as no one on earth. Could bleach them. In the Old Testament, the priests would put on these clean, white, bright garments to symbolize purity and righteousness and justice. Now, the problem is they had to go through these elaborate cleansing rituals because they were not righteous. They were sinful. They were unclean. They were unjust. But they had to symbolically put on righteousness and justice in order to go into the presence of God. But Jesus is different. Jesus doesn't have to put on anything external. Instead, who Jesus is internally shines out. This is the only person who is completely just, completely righteous, completely pure, completely true, whose words can be trusted absolutely.

11 · Ricky steps outside the exposition to address the congregation directly about the universal disappointment of discovering moral failures in respected public figures—politicians, comedians, etc

Man, aren't you tired of figures, public figures and politicians that maybe you respect, or somebody that, oh, I love that person, And then years later you think, 'Oh my gosh, all this stuff is revealed about him.' There's a comedian that I used to love and I accidentally quoted the other day and Jen just looked at me like, 'Can you still quote that guy?' And I was like, 'Probably not,' you know, right? These people, we think, 'Oh, they were great,' and then they fall. That's never gonna happen with Jesus.

12 · Ricky establishes the third reason to obey Jesus: His relationship to the Law and the Prophets

The Father says, 'Listen to him.' Then look at Jesus' relationship to the law and prophets. I wish we could get into Moses and Elijah and how does this happen and what is going on. And okay, this, this is Moses and Elijah. This isn't like some kind of weird apparition thing. This is them, right, back from the grave in this moment to meet with Jesus. How's that happening? We don't understand, but they are there. And why are they there? Out of all the people that, that could be here, why are they there? Because Moses is the great lawgiver. He wrote the first 5 books of the Old Testament, right? He, he represents the law itself, and then Elijah represents all the prophets of Israel. He's perhaps the greatest of the Israelite prophets prior to John. And both here, both here are there to point to Jesus, to symbolically say Jesus is the fulfillment of the whole law. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the prophets, right? If you're going to listen to anything in the Bible, listen to Jesus. That's what Moses says. If that's what the prophets say, listen to him.

13 · Ricky presents the final and decisive reason to obey Jesus: His relationship to God the Father

And then last, perhaps the trump card of it all, Jesus' relationship to God the Father. You're wondering whether to listen to Jesus? Well, think about this. Jesus is, what we've seen in the vision is Jesus is far above the rest of humanity. But there could still be an infinite gap between him and God, right? Even perhaps an angel would be a good example, right? Far above humanity in many ways, but still an infinite gulf between them and God the Father himself. That God the Father is not just saying Jesus is above humanity. God the Father is saying Jesus is with him. He is— Jesus is his beloved Son. There is no gap between him and the Heavenly Father, as we see unveiled in the pages of Scripture. Jesus is the second member of the Trinity. Trinity. Jesus is God himself, the unique, powerful Son of God. Listen to him. All of it says listen to him.

14 · Ricky tells a second personal story about driving dangerous desert back roads with his grandfather as a child

Now, years ago, we— I used to drive the back roads between kind of West Texas and into southern New Mexico all the time, and I had no idea where I was. And we went into canyons, we went up hills, we saw snakes, we saw all kinds of crazy stuff, but I was never worried. Now, if I were to do that now, I would be terrified. The difference between doing it now and what I used to do was this. My granddad, who knew every inch of the desert, I feel like, like the back of his hand, who knew every back road, who knew every desert creature and snake and whatever, who was the strongest, toughest guy I knew, He was driving. And so when he drove us down into a canyon, I didn't think twice about it. I'm like, okay, great. Now I look back on it and I think that seems incredibly dangerous, right? He didn't even have a cell phone. He would just take off and go into the desert. And I just think now, like, man, that is nuts. But in the moment, I wasn't scared of anything. I figured if we got attacked by a snake, he would just grab it and throw it, you know, snap its neck and throw it down, right? I mean, I mean, I just figured that whatever, he can handle it. If the truck gets stuck, he'll just push it out. That's fine. Why was I not afraid? Because I knew the person leading me.

15 · Ricky applies the illustration and the preceding exposition to the sermon's main burden: when disciples face the low road and doubt whether Jesus knows what He's doing, they must return to who Jesus is

And in a similar way, if we see Jesus as he truly is, when we are on the low road, when we face those moments of wondering, does Jesus actually know what he's doing? We go back to this. Oh, he's the Son of God. He is the summation of all the law and the prophets. He is the only perfect righteous, trustworthy person. He is the one with all infinite power and authority and glory. You can trust him, church, even on the low road.

16 · Ricky transitions to the sermon's second major section by explaining his metaphor 'the high city' and connecting it to Jesus' prophecy in Mark 9:1

Second, the high city. The high city. Now, in that phrase, the high city, I'm trying to summarize something in the text that is hard to get our minds around, and it is the fact that this moment is a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven that is at hand and coming into the world and still to come, right? Jesus says, I read 9:1, I read that verse in particular, even though rightly, the pericope, the passage starts in 2, because I wanted you to see this connection. Jesus says, some of you will not taste death until you see the kingdom. And I believe this passage is the fulfillment of that phrase from Jesus, that this is a glimpse of the kingdom. Not only is this a glimpse of the High King, but it is a glimpse of his kingdom that he is bringing his people to.

17 · Ricky identifies the defining characteristic of the kingdom of God: the presence of God dwelling with His people

Now, what then do we learn about the kingdom of God here? Well, we see the thing that distinguishes, that marks out the kingdom of God against all other good. Kingdoms. You know how— this is kind of a weird illustration, but you know how in a disaster movie, whenever, you know, aliens or meteors or something are destroying the world, they don't have time to show like all of America being destroyed, so they just have the Golden Gate Bridge go down, right? Or the Statue of Liberty. It's like, America's gone! Well, how do we know that? The Statue of Liberty's gone! Like, oh, America's gone, right? And then the Eiffel Tower, there went France, right? The Sydney Opera House, there goes Australia. And you're, you You just know, like they just show you the image and you're like, yeah, I get it, it's gone. Or at the end of the movie, you know, the Golden Gate Bridge is rebuilt and you're like, ah, we're back, America's back, right? It's kind of like that's the essence of that thing, that place. What is the essence? What's the distinguishing feature of the kingdom of God? It is this, the presence of God with his people. Because you might be thinking, well, what about the streets of gold? What about the loved ones that are back? What about all the feasts? What about all the other good stuff? Sure, that's good, that's in the Bible. The thing that distinguishes the kingdom of God is the presence of God dwelling with his people.

18 · Ricky establishes that all human longings—for peace, justice, love, and transcendence—are signposts pointing to the relationship with God that humanity lost in Eden

And in this, we see a glimpse of what humanity's deepest longing is for. The Garden of Eden, where God created this place of abundance and goodness, but the thing that distinguished the Garden of Eden was not fundamentally the weren't the friendly animals or the abundant food. It was that humanity dwelt and walked with God. And all of the deepest desires of our heart are signposts, are pointing us to the relationship with God, to this thing that we have lost. Think about it. We long for, as humans, we long for peace and wholeness without God. We give ourselves to self-care and counseling and medicine and all these things to try to make our mind and body and soul whole again. Again, but apart from this moment, it ultimately falls short. We long for justice and equity, especially in the last few years, right? We see rampant injustice. We see things being said that are not true. We see all of this turmoil. We see the inefficiencies and glories of law enforcement. We see protests. We see all of this, and our hearts long for justice and equity. To finally have their day, to wash over the earth. Why do we long for that? Because that's what we experience in the presence of God. In the presence of God, there is only justice. We long for love and relationships. That's why we remain obsessed with rom-coms. That's why we long for good friends. That's why we long for these deep relationships or to have children. We long for love and relationship. And those things are good, but they have to come They point to the relationship that we're meant to enjoy with God himself. And last, we long for glory and transcendence.

19 · Ricky extends the previous claim about human longing specifically to our desire for glory and transcendence—sunsets, natural wonders, awe-inspiring experiences

We long for sunsets on the ocean, right? We long for endless beaches. We long for movies that wow us. We long for experiences that make us stand in awe. We long to stand at the rim of the Grand Canyon and look over. Why? Because there's something in our heart that longs for the glory of God and sees a glimpse here and there and here and there. All of it's pointing to, this is the thing you were longing for. Now we can take this part and that part and this part and that part and feel a taste of it, a glimpse of it, but we're never fully satisfied until we are here, standing in the unveiled presence of God as we were meant to. Throughout the Old Testament, the thing that distinguishes God's people The thing that marks out God's city, the thing that is most looked forward to in the future kingdom of God is that God's presence would dwell with His people. That's right, the end of Revelation, the voice rings out, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.' It's a return to what we lost in the first few pages of our Bibles. We long for Mount Sinai. The mountain of glory. We long to see God's glory fill the temple. The disciples are brought back into this for one brief, glorious moment. Jesus is giving them a glimpse of where He is taking them.

20 · Ricky explains Peter's bizarre suggestion to build tents

And Peter then makes what first seems like a bizarre suggestion, but in the end is a bizarre suggestion. You think that doesn't make a lot of sense. And Mark, the gospel writer, says, 'It does not, correct.' And he, by, I think Mark, trying to be kind to Peter, said, 'He didn't know what he was saying. He was terrified.' And you're like, 'Okay, that's what it seems like. I just, is there some kind of theological thing?' No, Peter's just nuts. He's just like freaking out. He doesn't know, he's, it's good because we are here and we can now build, Tents for you? You know, like it's just one of those things that you or I would say in that moment. Now, I do think, though, his suggestion, while bizarre, actually points to something. I think Peter is thinking, this is it. This is where the kingdom comes. It's never going to end. Let's start making this thing permanent, right? If this is going to last, this is the new seat of power. If we're going to take back Jerusalem and Rome and take over the earth, Like, okay, great, well, let's start getting some stuff up. You want a tent? We can start with tents, I guess. I mean, you want a tent? We can build a temple later or a palace, but we'll start. You want a tent? We can do tents. He wants this to be permanent, right? The thing that he experiences in that moment is like, yes, this is it, okay, great, perfect, let's go. But Jesus says, not yet, right? They get this beautiful glimpse and then it's gone. Why? Because this wasn't the full coming of the kingdom. This was only a glimpse. This was a foretaste, but graciously given to Peter so that in the long days ahead, he would remember.

21 · Ricky applies the exposition about the glimpse of the kingdom with direct exhortation: Christians must be willing to endure the low road knowing it leads to the high city

Here's the question: Are we willing to endure the low road knowing it leads to the high city? All the things we long for, perfect love, perfect peace, perfect joy, perfect glory, all of them are signposts pointing us to that thing for which we long most. I think Paul Tripp uses this illustration that when you're on your way to the Grand Canyon, maybe on the way to the Grand Canyon, you see a billboard, a glorious billboard laying out this beautiful panorama, and then it says, 'Visit the Grand Canyon.' Paul Tripp says, you don't in that moment pull off the road, get the family out of the car and say, 'Kids, look at this. Here it is.' And set up your picnic and have a picnic and, you know, and one of the kids is like, 'Do you want to go to the actual Grand Canyon?' 'No, this is glorious right here. This is where we are,' right? But isn't that what we do? We take the best that this world has to offer and we think, 'Well, this must be it, right? Let's just stop here.' And Jesus is telling his disciples and telling us, no, not yet. Look at it, glory in the billboard, but let it point you to something far greater.

22 · Ricky transitions to the sermon's third section by addressing the disciples' continued confusion

All right, point number 3 now: the low road. Now in this last section, the disciples struggle to square Jesus' low road of the cross with the glimpse of the high kingdom they just saw, right? In verse 10, it says that they are questioning what this rising from the dead might mean, because Jesus said, you don't tell anybody about this until I've risen from the dead. And so they're still struggling with, I don't understand. We just had the glory and then the glory went away. Why are we back on the cross path? We like the glory path. They're questioning, but they ask Jesus in a roundabout way, kind of a, well, hey, you know, we don't have to do the cross now because Elijah— we saw Elijah and it says Elijah is supposed to come before the glory. So we saw Elijah. So then next stop glorying, not the cross or whatever that is. And Jesus says no. He points something out. Jesus says even the Old Testament prophets like Elijah were treated poorly. Even the second Elijah, John the Baptist, he was treated poorly to the point of death. He was killed. Jesus is saying the way you get to the high city is on the low road. There's no shortcut.

23 · Ricky presents the gospel core of the sermon

Jesus takes the low road because it is the only way to make a path for us to the high city. Jesus doesn't need access to the presence of God. Jesus doesn't need access to the high city, right? Jesus has it. Jesus does not need to get there and, oh, now I can be with God. No, he's the beloved Son of God. He lives in the kingdom of heaven. Why then is he on He is on the low road for us. He is on the low road for us. And here's what Jesus intends to do. Through the cross, Jesus will make a way to the glory of God and the presence of God for his people again. There is something uniquely striking about this passage where you have these sinful, you know, humans in the presence of God's glory. And we miss something. The thing we miss is that nobody dies. In the Old Testament, when sinful humanity, unjust humanity comes in contact with the justice of God, right, death occurs, 'cause justice and injustice can't coexist. God's justice will do away with all injustice, including those who are unjust. So how then are these three people standing in the glory of God and not dying? The distinguishing thing is this, that they are with Jesus. Jesus is the one that will make a way for the unjust to dwell with the just again. And he does it by paying for their injustice. 2 Peter 3:15, Peter says, 'The righteous is given in exchange for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God.' Jesus intends to take his followers, his disciples, his people, up to the high mountain, but that means the road of the cross.

24 · Ricky elevates the doctrine of the atonement by emphasizing who the cross-bearer is: not a mere man, but the blindingly white, perfectly righteous Son of God

And we see finally in this passage that the road of the cross is not walked by any mere man. The man who hung on the cross for us was this blindingly white, righteous, holy man who trades his life for sinners. It was the lawgiver himself who bore the penalty for lawbreakers. It was the beloved Son himself who bore the penalty for rebels and prodigals. It was God himself who traded his life for his people. That is what Jesus is here to do. Jesus takes the low road for our sake and then calls us to follow.

25 · Ricky issues an evangelistic call

And if you don't know who Jesus is, if you're not welcomed into that road yet, you can today believe that Christ is the Son of God, that he gave himself for you, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God.

26 · Ricky transitions into the sermon's closing application section, acknowledging that the message has been theologically dense ('heady') and promising to make it concrete and actionable

Now, in wrapping this up, I want to give just a couple points of application, because this is one of those messages that's very heady. You're like, wow, okay, so, but how do I get my hands around this? Let me try to break this down real briefly here at the end.

27 · Ricky's first application point directly addresses Christians facing hardship

First, what does this mean? It means that a low road does not mean the wrong road. Christian, hear that. If you are on a low road today, it does not mean that you are on the wrong road. I remember tearfully meeting with, talking with a couple parents who had a severe health issue in one of their kids, and they tearfully just asked, Are we doing something wrong that my child is sick like this? We can all ask that from time to time. We can feel like we must be doing something wrong. This is hard. It feels like sacrifice. Christian, take heart. The low road does not mean you are on the wrong road. If you are following Jesus and if it is hard, And if you've set your face to follow him but the road is difficult, you have not gotten lost. You have not been forgotten. You are on the road of Jesus.

28 · Ricky's second application point is a warning: Christians and churches who preach only victory and abundance without suffering are avoiding the King's road and thus avoiding the King Himself

Second, avoiding the low road may mean avoiding the king and his city. This is also a warning for us. There are many, even Christians and even churches, who make it their goal to avoid the low road at all costs. They preach victory and abundance with none of the suffering. And here's what our response should be. We should say amen to the glory and the victory and the abundance they preach. Amen to that, but first the low road. Why? Because that's what Jesus did. We do not walk a better path than Christ.

29 · Ricky's third application point offers pastoral comfort: Jesus will never ask His followers to walk a road He hasn't already walked, and He will never ask them to walk it as far as He did (to the deepest valley of the cross)

Third, the King is on the low road with you. Christian, take heart that the King will never ask you to walk a path that he has not walked before you, nor will he ask you to walk the path as far as he walked, to the deepest valley. If you are on the low road, Jesus is close at hand. This is the road. This is the royal road. This is the King's road. And on the King's road, The King is there with you.

30 · Ricky's fourth application point instructs Christians to seek and savor glimpses of the kingdom—in creation, beauty, celebrations, moments of common grace—but warns against stopping at these signposts

Fourth, seek and savor glimpses of the high city. We need this. We need these moments just the way the disciples did, to look off and see there is a shining city in the distance. We, we can glimpse this in creation and the goodness of God's common grace, that beach sunset, that Grand Canyon, the stars overhead, right? Maybe a glorious glorious wedding or a glorious, you know, family celebration. Amen. But that is not it. Do not stop at the side of the road. Keep going to glory.

31 · Ricky applies the fourth point specifically to corporate worship

And let me just say this: what we do on Sundays is a glimpse of glory. It may feel mundane at times. It may not feel glorious at times. But every Sunday we have the promise that where two or three are gathered in Jesus' name, he He is there. And this is what I think we've learned in the pandemic. This is what's been reinforced in me. I know that there are some who cannot yet come and be here in person, but from everybody that I've talked to that's come back and gathered in person with the church, their testimony has been, it's not the same to sit at home. And it's not just because video doesn't convey across, you know, the same thing or a video system needs to be better. You know why it's not the same? Because when the people of God gather in the presence of God, God's presence uniquely dwells with his people. So if you're feeling weary, if you're feeling tired, if you're feeling beat up and you think, man, I just, I'm too tired to get to church this week. No, get to church so that you can get a glimpse of the glory of God and the shining city in the distance and put strength back into you. Your steps. See the glimpse of glory in the gathered people.

32 · Ricky's fifth and final application point calls for fellowship and community

And fifth and last, let me just say this: travelers need each other on this road, right? We, we are meant to walk this road with others. Jesus brings 3 disciples, not just one, up to this. Peter shares this reflection to the community of the church. Why? Because we need to encourage one another, right? I, I wonder if these the three disciples looked at each other when James the Apostle is killed and said, 'Remember the road, remember the King, remember the city. We walk the royal road. Take courage, friend.' We need one another. And let me just say, listen, if you're new to the church or you've maybe gotten disconnected from a community group or fellowship in the last year, this is the time, man. Get back in fellowship. Get back to a group. And this is what I'm worried about a little bit, is that as all these parts of normalcy come back online in our lives, sometimes community and fellowship will be the last thing. Right, it's like, oh, after I do this and this and this, after I see a movie and go visit my family and do this and this and this, then I'll get back to the gathering, get back to fellowship. No, no, no, we need each other. Even now, we need one another. And in fact, if you are interested in joining a community group, we have an interest meeting right here in like 10 minutes in that corner of the building. So just stick around for that and hear about what it would look like.

33 · Ricky concludes the sermon with self-deprecating humor about length, then transitions to the service's next element: baptisms

Well, with that, we're going to transition, uh, to baptisms because I've talked too long. The other one was shorter too. The other message was a bit shorter as well, but I did not have enough time to make this one shorter. So this is what you get. Um, so what we're going to do is we're going to sing, uh, a bit, and then we're going to baptize 2 people. Who have chosen to walk the low road to the high city with their King Jesus. So John's going to lead us and then we'll watch these baptisms.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Mar 28, 2021

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

Jesus is not a great man among others but the Christ—the preeminent King in a category altogether different—who demands and deserves the totality of our lives, not mere tribute or admiration.

Mark 8:27-30

Apr 4, 2021

Easter Sunday - Jesus Lives

Jesus defeated death itself by suffering and rising again, offering to exchange our contract of sin and death for his righteousness and eternal life.

Mark 8:31

Apr 11, 2021

Doing Life Jesus' Way

We don't do life our way—we do life Jesus' way, which requires suffering and cross-bearing, but promises resurrection life and eternal glory.

Mark 8:27-9:1

April 18 · This sermon

The Low Road to the High City

The low road of suffering and sacrifice is the right road for disciples of Jesus because it is the King's own road, and it leads to the high city where God's presence dwells with His people forever.

Mark 9:1-8

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

In Mark 8:34, Jesus says 'whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.' When you read that ve…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we follow the low road of the cross to the high city of God's presence, learning why Jesus walked it first and why His followers can trust Him on the difficult path.

Prayer

Father, Give Us Eyes for the High City

Father, we come before You in wonder at the vision You gave to Peter, James, and John on that mountain. We adore You for Your faithfulness t…

Family table

The Low Road and the High City

This prompt invites kids to think about a journey—Jesus's journey and their own. The goal is to help them see that hard roads aren't wrong r…

Couples

Walking the Low Road Together

When you heard that Jesus calls us to the low road of suffering and sacrifice, what stirred in your heart? Where do you feel that road most…

Memorize

Mark 8:34

This verse encapsulates the sermon's central claim: the low road of suffering and sacrifice is the right road because Jesus Himself walked it first and calls His followers to the same path. It grounds the entire argument that difficulty does not mean wrongness—it means alignment with the King.

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

This week we follow the low road of the cross to the high city of God's presence, learning why Jesus walked it first and why His followers can trust Him on the difficult path.

Monday Mark 8:34

Jesus does not hide the cost of following Him—He names it plainly: deny yourself, take up your cross, follow. This is not a side road or an optional detour. The King Himself walked this road first, and He invites His disciples to walk it with Him, knowing that a difficult road does not mean a wrong road when the King walks it ahead of us.

Tuesday Genesis 2-3

In the garden, before sin, humanity dwelt in God's presence without fear or shame. Every longing we feel now—for home, for beauty, for justice, for someone to make things right—is an echo of that lost communion. The cross-references our deepest ache back to our deepest loss, and the Transfiguration shows us that the King is making a way home.

Wednesday Revelation 21:3

Here is the promise: God's dwelling place is with humanity, and He will dwell with us, and we will be His people. This is not a distant abstraction—it is the end of all longing, the restoration of what was lost in Eden. When Jesus walked the low road of the cross, He was purchasing access to this high city, this unbroken communion with the living God.

Thursday 1 Kings 8:10-11

When Solomon's temple was dedicated, the glory of the Lord filled the house so completely that the priests could not stand to minister. This is the glory that rested on Moses' face, that spoke from Sinai, that has filled God's dwelling place throughout Scripture. In the Transfiguration, Peter sees Jesus clothed in this same glory—the very presence and power of God made visible. Trust the One who bears the Father's glory.

Friday 2 Peter 3:15

The patience of our Lord is salvation—His willingness to walk the low road, to bear the cross, to trade His perfect righteousness for our sin. This is how sinners enter the high city without judgment. This week, as you face your own low road, remember: the King has already walked it for you, and He walks it with you still.

Draft · pending review

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

In Mark 8:34, Jesus says 'whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.' When you read that verse, what questions or doubts surface in your mind about whether that low road is actually the right road?

Mark 8:34

→ Can you think of a time when following Jesus felt hard enough that you wondered if you were on the wrong path?
The Transfiguration happens right after Jesus tells His disciples they must take up their cross. What do you think the vision of Jesus' transformation, and the voice from heaven saying 'This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him,' is meant to communicate to confused disciples?

Mark 9:2-7
In the sermon, Ricky says that all human longings—for peace, justice, love, and glory—are signposts pointing back to God's presence that we lost in Eden. What is one longing you feel regularly, and how does understanding it as a signpost change the way you relate to it?

Genesis 2-3
The sermon argues that Jesus walked the low road of the cross to make a way for sinful people to stand in God's presence. How does understanding the cross as Jesus trading His righteousness for our sin reshape the way you think about your own standing before God?

→ Does that change how you approach a difficult season of obedience right now?
Ricky says 'a difficult road does not mean a wrong road.' Where in your life right now might you be tempted to assume that hardship means you're off the path, when actually you might be exactly where Jesus is calling you?
The sermon ends with the promise that 'the King Himself walks with His people on the royal road to glory.' As you look at the low road ahead of you this week, how does the presence of Jesus on that road with you change what obedience looks like?

Revelation 21:3

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

Walking the Low Road Together

When you heard that Jesus calls us to the low road of suffering and sacrifice, what stirred in your heart? Where do you feel that road most acutely right now?
In our marriage, where are we tempted to stop at the good things this world offers instead of pressing toward God's presence together? How can we encourage each other to keep walking toward the high city?
What is one way your spouse has walked the low road faithfully this season—and how can you pray for them to persevere, knowing the King walks with you both?

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Father, Give Us Eyes for the High City

Father, we come before You in wonder at the vision You gave to Peter, James, and John on that mountain. We adore You for Your faithfulness to Your people—that You do not leave us in darkness about who Jesus is and where His road leads. You are the God who dwells with Your people, whose presence is the deepest longing of every human heart, and whose kingdom is the true home we are made for. We confess that we often mistake the low road of suffering and sacrifice for the wrong road. When the path grows hard, when following Jesus costs us comfort or ease or the approval of those around us, we doubt. We wonder if we have gotten lost, if we have been forgotten by the King, if the difficult way could possibly be the right way. We are tempted to settle for the good things this world offers—peace that is only partial, justice that is only incomplete, love that is only earthly—and to forget that these are only billboards pointing to something far greater.

But here is the good news: Jesus, the High King whose divine authority fills the heavens, walked the low road of the cross first. He took the path of suffering and sacrifice to make a way for us to dwell in God's presence forever. He traded His righteousness for our sin so that we, sinful and unworthy, could stand in the glory of God without dying. And now He calls us to follow Him on that same royal road to the high city, promising that He walks with us every step of the way.

Grant us, Father, the grace to trust Jesus on the low road. When we are weary, remind us that a difficult road does not mean a wrong road—it means we are following the King. Give us eyes to see beyond this present suffering to the unveiled presence of God that awaits us, the restoration of all things that was lost in Eden and will be made new in Your kingdom. And give us courage to endure, to resist the temptation to turn back, and to press forward with our eyes fixed on Jesus and the city whose builder and maker is God. To You be all glory and honor, now and forever. Amen.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

The Low Road and the High City

For the parent

This prompt invites kids to think about a journey—Jesus's journey and their own. The goal is to help them see that hard roads aren't wrong roads when Jesus is walking them with us. Let them answer first; don't correct or explain unless they're stuck.

In the sermon, Pastor Ricky talked about a low road and a high city. Jesus took the low road—the hard road of the cross—to get to the high city where God lives. If you're on a hard road right now—maybe something hurts, or you're waiting for something, or something feels unfair—how does it help to know that Jesus already walked that same kind of hard road first?

works for ages 8+; younger kids (6-7) can listen while a parent helps them think of one hard thing they're facing

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

Mark 8:34

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'

Why this verse: This verse encapsulates the sermon's central claim: the low road of suffering and sacrifice is the right road because Jesus Himself walked it first and calls His followers to the same path. It grounds the entire argument that difficulty does not mean wrongness—it means alignment with the King.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Cross of Grace Church

About us · What we believe

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# Cross of Grace Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [Who Do You Say Jesus Is? (Mark 8:27-30, 2021-03-28)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2021/03/who-do-you-say-jesus-is)
- [Easter Sunday - Jesus Lives (Mark 8:31, 2021-04-04)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2021/04/easter-sunday-jesus-lives)
- [Doing Life Jesus' Way (Mark 8:27-9:1, 2021-04-11)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2021/04/doing-life-jesus-way)
- [The Low Road to the High City (Mark 9:1-8, 2021-04-18)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2021/04/the-low-road-to-the-high-city)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

The page itself ships with Schema.org Article + Church markup, Open Graph + Twitter cards for share previews, and a canonical URL. Transcripts are server-rendered HTML — no JS dependency for the readable body.