Jesus Again Predicts His Death

Meditations of the Gospel of Mark

September 18, 2020

Jesus Again Predicts His Death

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:45

Read: Mark 10: 32-45

In this last passage before Jesus entered Jerusalem, Mark is providing us with insights from Jesus 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. Mark’s account uses Isaiah’s words to make clear that Jesus 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 has come. God’s favor, or God’s Kingdom, reorders the lives of individuals as well as society.

In the dialog following Jesus’ prediction of his death, Jesus makes clear that the cross and resurrection are the means God’s uses to not only provide for the forgiveness of our sins, but also for reordering the world. Sometimes Christians think of the cross and resurrection in terms of “Christ died for me, for my salvation.” Yes, Christ died and rose again for us as individuals. He also died and rose again to make it possible for his followers to change the world. This is not either /or. It is both / and. One cannot authentically exist without the other.

My Takeaway: Jesus’ disciples took him at his word and went out and began changing the world. Too many of day’s ‘disciples’ seek not to change the world, but to convert the church to the ways of the world. And too many of today’s ‘disciples’ choose to be conscientious objectors.     

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.