Journeying With Jesus

The gospel texts for the next several Sunday mornings come from Mark 9 and 10, chapters that take place on Jesus’ journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, the journey that will end with his passion, death, and resurrection.

Last Sunday’s text from Mark 8 relates the climactic moment of Jesus’ ministry. He asks the question, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter correctly answers, “You are the Messiah.” This announcement should have been the cause of loud cries of celebration, yet Jesus orders the disciples not to tell anyone, and then goes on to explain that he will be going to Jerusalem, and that, once there, he will experience rejection, suffering, and death. Instinctively, Peter, who had answered Jesus’ question perfectly, begins to rebuke Jesus, because the Messiah God’s people was expecting was a conquering king, not a suffering servant. After Jesus rebukes Peter, he issues his famous call to discipleship, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Jesus was going to Jerusalem to die, and he was calling his disciples to come with him. To be intimate with the Messiah was not to be in a position of power and influence, but to be radically dependent on the God who suffers. The disciples’ expectation of the nature of God’s Messiah, and thus the nature of a relationship with God, had been redefined in such a way that left them reeling and confused. So it often is with those who entrust themselves to Jesus.

Over the next several weeks we’ll look at the disciples’ journey to Jerusalem, asking what we might learn from them as they walk with Jesus on this challenging road. My hope and prayer is that as we observe, listen, and reflect, we’ll meet the One the disciples were, quite imperfectly, seeking to follow, finding ourselves at the foot of the cross – the place where God’s perfect love and perfect justice meet, where we find forgiveness and grace, where we discover that, to use Tim Keller’s words, “Everyone is wrong, everyone is loved, and everyone is called to recognize this and change.” I’m looking forward to diving deeply into this life in which we recognize the depth of our sin, but also recognize that God’s love is deeper still, and that as we embrace this, everything will change.

Peace,

Chris