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Jesus Leading the Way (Mark 10:32-34)
In Mark 1:16-18 we read:
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he
saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they
were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers
of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.
By the time we are looking at in Mark 10 they perhaps wondered where he
was leading them. We are told that, "the
disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid."
Maybe they wondered if Jesus knew what he was doing and what fate potentially
lay in store for him. They didn't have to wonder for long because:
He took the Twelve aside and told them
what was going to happen to him. (v.32)
Often, like the disciples, we can only see part of the picture and the
darkest part at that, and are left astonished by circumstances, and fearful
of the future. But with Jesus leading the way we may not know what the
future holds but he does and confidently goes before us.
What Jesus told them must have seemed worse than their darkest fears:
We are going up to Jerusalem," he said,
"and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers
of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the
gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him." (v.v.
33-34)
I can imagine them thinking, perhaps crying in anguish, "That's what we
have been afraid of and were too afraid to speak! What madness is this?"
Then Jesus said something truly astonishing. So astonishing it simply
didn't sink in until after the event:
"Three days later he will rise."
The call on our lives is the same as that on those early followers. "Come,
follow me," Jesus says to each of us, and we put down what we are doing
and follow. And, for a while, it's a wonderful life in which we see God
everywhere and in everything, colours take on a fresh hue, the world is
a different place and the possibilities seem endless. Then he resolutely
turns his face to Jerusalem and if we continue to follow we are often
astonished and afraid. Then he turns to us and tells us what is going
to happen:
"If anyone would come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever loses his
life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man
to gain the whole word, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:34-36)
Following Jesus is a serious business. Those who would follow Jesus have
a choice to make and a cross to bear. The choice is between standing with
the world or standing with Jesus; gaining this world's rewards or eternal
rewards. We can join in the throng of those in the world baying for his
blood, or we can join him outside the city walls and say, with the thief
on the cross beside him, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom."
In his letter to believers in Rome Paul wrote of "those who live according
to the sinful nature" and those who live "by the Spirit" (v.v. 511). Going
on to show that those in whom "the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from
the dead is living" are born again as children of God (v.v.15-16) he goes
on:
Now if we are children, then we are heirs
- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings
in order that we may share in his glory (v.17)
You see, now that we have answered the call to follow, all that Jesus
inherits is ours also because we have become family. However, we also
share in the rigours and demands of the family business and that requires
sacrifice and suffering for the successful establishment of the kingdom.
But even this suffering brings it rewards because:
We know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint
us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
whom he has given us. (Romans 5:3-5)
As we look ahead we might do so with fear and astonishment. Lets not forget
why we chose to follow him, what we are committed to do in following him,
and what will be our reward as we, with Jesus leading the way, climb toward
Jerusalem, a cross on a hill, and an eternal reward that is ours as a
sure hope.
Who would true valour see,
Let him come hither;
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather;
There's no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim.