What I am amazed at, as I read the Gospels, is Jesus' patience with his semi-loyal band of zealous followers. Time and time again he speaks words of truth concerning the Kingdom of God, time and time again they find themselves confused, misinterpreting, and disobedient. In those moments, though there may be a sharp rebuke, we see a patient Jesus-- much like a patient father-- re-explaining, re-focusing, and loving his disciples.
One such instance occurs on Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem. Joining in with crowds of pilgrims traveling to the Holy City for the Passover festival, Jesus begins to prepare his disciples for what was to occur upon their arrival.
Mark 10:32b-34
... and taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him, saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him, and kill him. And after three days he will rise.I have two daughters, and as a pastor, they often find themselves in situations where they are asked to act much older than they are. Emergency hospital visits, visiting the home of someone struggling with God, or countless other such events bring rise to the need for preparation. I can't tell you how many times I've sat down with my girls and explained to them what was going to happen, and how they were expected to respond. It can be a very intense moment as a father.
I can only imagine the intensity of this emotion-filled minute Jesus shares with his disciples.
He's going to die. It's going to be bad. I just want to give you a heads up. Don't be surprised.
But don't worry, this isn't the end... I'm going to rise from the dead!
Now, if your teacher, mentor, and friend had come to you and told you that he was going to die, but then be raised again.... how would you respond? Look at how the disciples respond.
Mark 10:35-37
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grand us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."Now don't be mistaken. I don't think that James and John are being escatological here. I don't think they are talking about a future, heavenly glory. The Jews had no concept of a two-time messianic arrival. There was no way for them to be thinking of any other Jesus-filled kingdom than the Kingdom that he was going to introduce in Jerusalem when he arrived. Now, if Jesus was talking about his death... well.... then... someone needs to be in charge. Someone needs to be the go-to guys.
Hence the request-- Jesus, place us as number 2 and number 3 so that once you're gone.... we will be in spotlight. Jesus was about to pay the ultimate price for mankind's sin-- and all they can think about is their own personal glory.
It hurts my heart to say this. But most of the time I'm no different.
Jesus has placed before my eyes the very Word of God, and has charged me to carry it to my congregation and the world. And yet, if I'm not careful, the applause that my heart longs for is not the applause of my creator, but his created.
And I don't think I'm alone.
What do you think? How easy is it for us to satisfy the desire for the applause of mankind? How easy is it for us to seek to please other people around us, our spouses, children, co-workers, neighbors, friends, rather than to seek to please God?
Galatians 1:1
Paul, an apostle-- not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.
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