Mark 9:30-32

Mark 9:30-32 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

Jesus, besides being the great miracle worker, was primarily a teacher. In these scriptures, we see that Jesus wanted to be alone with his disciples to teach them about the many things of God. Jesus often took his disciples aside to interpret his parables, so that his disciples might fully understand them. He also took them aside to instruct them on his impending death and resurrection. Even though the disciples walked with Jesus, they still possessed many preconceived ideas about God and the Holy Writ, for they were creatures of their time and culture. I am sure the teachings of the scribes, Sadducees and Pharisees had infiltrated their minds greatly. Therefore, a primary task for Jesus was to instruct them about God and the meaning of the scriptures.

People are hard nuts to crack. We tend to believe what we want to believe. I just read today that two out of every ten Americans believe the Japanese used atomic bombs first in WWII. Also three Americans out of ten believe that the Russians bombed Japan with nuclear weapons, not us. Two years after 9/11, seven of ten Americans believed Saddam Hussein was involved with the twin tower disaster, even though the President of the United States refuted that idea. People tend to believe what they want to believe, not what is fact. The disciples were no different. Jesus chose twelve ordinary men to be with him, to walk with him, to spend every day in his presence. I am sure He used this time for instruction and indoctrination. However, they still had problems discerning the truth. I believe Jesus became very exasperated with them sometimes because of their denseness. The above verses give one that idea, for they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. I think they were afraid because they knew Jesus would be upset with their thick headedness.

I am also thick headed, and I also have my own preconceived ideas. Maybe some are basically sound, and others are not so sound. But every day as I approach these breakfasts, I try to tackle the next scriptures in context. I do not skip any. I am tempted at times to drop down to scriptures I better understand, but I feel the Lord wants me to tackle them in order: verse by verse, line by line. I believe that is the best way for us to build a solid understanding of the scriptures. Am I always right in my exposition of these scriptures? Probably not, but I do pray that the words I write will be inspired and that they will help someone that day. I ask the Holy Spirit to bring the scriptures alive, to make them food, manna, for someone that day. Many of you have written back to me and said that a particular breakfast helped you immensely that day. I always appreciate that greatly, for that is my purpose for writing these breakfasts: food for today.

Although Jesus continually instructed his disciples, no amount of teaching could have prepared them to understand or to accept that their beloved Messiah was going to be killed and then resurrected. 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.” (Mark 10:32) This was just too much for natural men to understand or to accept. But He continued to teach them, so that they would remember his words after his death and resurrection. This of course would give them strength to spread the gospel around the world. I hope some of these words that you eat of every day will be remembered years later as you see them fulfilled in your life and if God uses them to reveal himself to you in a greater way. What a wonderful reality that would be.