Mark 10:32-34

Mark 10:32-34 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “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. Three days later he will rise.”

Jesus leading the way, leading the way into the lions' den--leading the way into certain trouble. His followers knew it, for they were afraid. I am sure they thought, this is crazy, what is Jesus doing? Jesus took some aside, his disciples, and tried to explain what He was doing and what would happen in Jerusalem, but I am sure the disciples didn't really understand because they all quickly abandoned him when Jesus was captured except for Peter. And what about this idea of three days later he will rise? How will that happen? And why should He place himself in the hands of the wicked to be mocked, flogged, and killed? None of it made sense to the disciples. But Jesus had other plans for them. He would send the Holy Spirit to them to explain his Jerusalem experience, and why rising again would be so important to mankind. This Holy Spirit would be the interpreter of everything that Jesus said and went through. Even today, we are totally dependent upon the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of Jesus and his words. Jesus chose to walk into the lion's den, and not like Daniel who was spared: Jesus was devoured by them. He was humiliated and then destroyed. He became nothing, so that we could become something.

Sometimes our lives don't seem to add up to much; we seem to have become nothing rather than something. Other people seem to have a bigger house, more experiences, lavish vacations, and a lot more things. Our journey seems to have not nearly that many wonderful benefits in it. But God is saying to each of us, out of little I will make much. Out of sacrifice, I will make abundance. Jesus is the ultimate example of sacrifice. He chose the necessary way, the way of death. I think death is a big part of a Christian's life. Jesus chose that path. For us it is not always physical death, but spiritual death--not my will, not my spirit, but your Spirit arise in me. This kind of death requires that we place everything on the altar--who we want to be, where we want to go (definitely not Jerusalem), and what we want to possess. Every day is the Sabbath for us; every day is first committed to him and and his perfect will. The flesh doesn't like this kind of commitment. The flesh is like some baby birds; they kick the weakest and smallest out of the nest so that they have it all to themselves. We can be like that. We can say, "I want it all, I'm not going to share. This world is all I have. I am only going around once." Only when we surrender the flesh and its selfish desires to the Lord will we find the will and the desire to follow the Lord to Jerusalem.

When I was young, I heard my dad talk about a man of God who he had known in his ministry. This man's ministry was one of power and miracles. Many people were saved through his ministry. Dad decided to visit this man in another little town not too far from Spokane. Well, I suspected when we got to his house, his house would be magnificent, beautiful. We would find a man in God's house--the best around. But I remember as we drove to his house that it was located in a dusty little town, and it seemed to be the smallest, maybe even the shabbiest house around. I thought, "This man is a mighty man of God!" However, this man had gone to Jerusalem. He sacrificed his wealth and health for the Lord. The carnal Christian does not want that. The carnality in all of us does not want that. We may want to fill up our houses, attics, garages, and storage bins with everything we can get our hands on, and we may complain if we don't have more money to buy more stuff. But Jerusalem isn't on that road, and neither is resurrection life. Abundant life in Christ comes from every word from the Lord's mouth. Jesus said, he who would lose his life for my sake will gain it. Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Luke 17:33) What is necessary for you to have everlasting life, life that you can share with others?