Sunday, April 10
Jeremiah 23:16-32
Psalms 118, 145
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Mark 8:31-9:1
Today’s reading from Mark is positioned between two of the great revelations of Jesus’ glory in the Gospels: Peter’s declaration of Jesus as the Christ and the Transfiguration of Jesus witnessed by Peter, James and John. But before the disciples see Christ in his transfigured splendor, Jesus presents another vision of the Messiah- one of great suffering and humiliating, painful death. Peter’s reaction to this vision of the Kingdom is much less accepting. Jesus rebukes him vehemently for this, because Peter is not thinking with God in mind, but rather has “in mind the things of men.”
Jesus teaches in this reading that living in His Kingdom means a different kind of new life than what many Jews expected the Messiah to bring for Israel. Jesus tells his followers that if they want to experience the glory of Christ, they must find it in sacrifice and complete giving of themselves to God. “Whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it.” He prepares his disciples not only for His rejection and suffering, but also for the hard road ahead for his followers.
He adds: “Some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God come with power.” No doubt, few who heard Jesus’ words that day expected to witness the power of the Kingdom, not in visions of brilliant beauty, but instead in Jesus’ crucifixion and in their own later sufferings for their faith. Yet many chose to so closely follow Jesus, that they also sacrificed themselves completely for Christ, and by extension, for us.
The Psalmist tells us “The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.” Jesus knew that His calls in His suffering would bring him to the Father’s Kingdom and He urges us to find the Kingdom not with “visions from our own mind” but with words from “the mouth of God.” As Christians today, most of us are truly blessed in that we can give ourselves to God without having to suffer greatly for our faith. So as we begin the last week of Lent, it is good to have this reminder from Mark that we are closest to Christ’s glory in sacrifice, surrender of self and in shamelessly following Him. As Paul explains: “I make myself a slave….of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” Giving our lives to God brings us the gift of Easter.
Karen Montgomery