My Disciples Were Filed With Dread

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

January 7, 2020

My Disciples Were Filed With Dread

Page 205-206

Matthew 20: 17-19, 23:37-39;

Mark 10:32-34;

Luke 13:22-35, 18:31-34

There are different depths to knowing. I learned about the aeronautical principals of airplane flight from a book. Those principals took on another level of meaning when I made my first solo flight. In our passage today, Jesus, for the third time tells his disciples how his story will end; but they still don’t understand, and they will not grasp the truth until they behold the Resurrected Lord. Jesus knows what awaited him in Jerusalem and he was grieving over those of his own nation who would not seek their salvation in him. His reference to working two days and accomplishing his purpose on the third day is a thinly veiled reference to his resurrection on the third day. Jesus provided us with these insights to help us understand the meaning of what will happen in Jerusalem, Gethsemane, Golgotha, and the Garden Tomb.  The heart of our faith is in these places.

Isaiah, in Chapters 40-55, presents the Messiah of God who suffers and dies for the sins of Israel and the world. Jesus referenced Isaiah’s words to make clear that he is the Messiah. It is impossible to embrace the Christian faith apart from the cross, and it is impossible to embrace the cross without embracing the resurrection. However, neither makes sense apart from understanding Jesus as God’s Messiah. God sent his Messiah to announce the time of the Lord’s favor had come. God’s favor, or God’s Kingdom, reorders the lives of individuals as well as society.

What did Jesus mean when he said, “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom” (Luke 13:24)? The entrance door to the Kingdom of God is narrow and the pathway through the doorway is not paved by good works. It is difficult to enter into the Kingdom of God because there is no drive-through window. The Kingdom is not for the casual observer, or for those who want just a piece of the Kingdom to add to their life. The Kingdom demands all or nothing; and Jesus says, there will come a time when the doors to the Kingdom are closed. There will come a time when all people will be rewarded with the eternal consequences of the choices they have made. Some will choose to be with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and others will not.

My Takeaway: God’s grace is radical as He calls us from a life of brokenness to a “rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10). So also, His call to discipleship is radical. Grace abounds with Jesus; but not cheap grace.

“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer,

The Cost of Discipleship

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.