Mark 10:32-34

Be Still:  Lord, I give you myself and this day. Help me, by your Spirit. Amen

Read: 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 delivered over to the chief priests and the 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.'

Encounter:  As soon as the disciples recognised who Jesus really was, he started to tell them that he would suffer a terrible death and then rise again. The verses we are looking at, describe the third time in Mark’s gospel that Jesus has tried to get them to understand (see Mark 8:31-33 & 9:30-32). They were amazed and afraid (v32).

The disciples were not incapable of understanding what Jesus was saying but they were so invested in their expectations of the Messiah, of what Jesus would be able to achieve, that they refused to accept that he would die shortly. Who could entertain the thought that the victorious sovereign, God Messiah, the deliverer of his people, would have to die? The disciples did not understand God’s amazing plan of salvation.

This reminds us that there is much about our Christian lives and the things that happen in this fallen world that we do not understand and cannot fully explain. We are not alone. Bible characters, (including Moses, Elijah, Jonah, Job and Jeremiah), complained to God and pleaded with him to allow them to die if he didn't deal differently with his people. 

How many times do we ask the question ‘why’ but don’t get a clear answer? Why do so many things, including our own personal circumstances, seem unfair? I can’t answer these questions but can only say that the God who devised this wonderful plan of salvation is good, knows what he is doing, and is in control. All will work out for good and for glory in the end.

Apply:  It’s OK to complain to God and indeed helpful to express our deepest and even darkest feelings to him. When we can’t understand, we can only trust him, in the dark, and support each other when the journey is hard.

Devote:  Lord, help me to be real and open with you. I trust my life and circumstances to you.