Mark 10
Watch a group of boys as they split up
teams to play ball. Note the posturing, the bragging, and the ways they try to
show one another up. It starts with who is made captains, and a pecking order
is made as they choose who is worthy to be on their team.
This is nothing new. In fact there is
much going on in Mark 10 that displays people posturing, pushing to the front,
and assuming ways to be better than someone else. In the questioning about
divorce the Pharisees were posturing to be pure keepers of the law. In the
event with the children the disciples assumed that they (and Jesus) were too
important to be bothered by little ones. The rich young man had every social
advantage and was sure he had done everything God desired. James and John put
themselves forward as captains; to be at Jesus’ right and left when He entered
His kingdom. The crowd rebuked blind begging Bartimaeus.
Jesus undercut them all. Pharisees: Divorce is adultery. Apostles: Let the children come to me. Here is the
kingdom! Young Man: Your wealth has become your god, give it
away. James and John: You don’t know
what you are asking! Bartimaeus: Go your way!
See again!
In the middle of all this posturing and
pride Jesus tells the disciples, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the
Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and
they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the gentiles. And they
will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days
he will rise.”
No posing. No pride. Jesus stands seeing
clearly that salvation will be won not in power but in weakness. Suffering,
abuse, death, and loss; these are the hallmarks of Christ’s salvation. They are
also important marks of the Christian life on earth. Sin has marred our lives in
painful ways, and in the cross we see our own brokenness.
No, our boasting cannot be in ourselves.
It can only be in Jesus who died and rose again. He gives us His death and
resurrection and it is by these that we overcome sin, suffering, death, and
this world.
Lord, let me humbly live in the salvation of
the cross, and fill me with hope of Your resurrection at work in my life even
now. Amen.
Comments