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Mark 10:32-34
In Mark 10:32 (NKJV) the Bible teaches us, “32Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid.” Many of the scholars teach that this is because of what Jesus says to His disciples in Mark 10:33-34, “33“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the Chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; 34and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” But possibly, Mark 10:32 is a lingering afterthought from what Jesus has said in Mark 10:31, “31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” The NIV separates Mark 10:32 into two parts as it states, “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.” In this translation, the disciples (who Jesus pulled aside privately to tell them about His coming crucifixion and resurrection) are described as astonished, while those who followed (being the second group) were afraid. However, as Jesus goes on to say in Mark 10:33-34 (NKJV), “33Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the Chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; 34and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”
In whichever view you take in this situation, the main point is that the words and teachings of Jesus has pierced to the hearts and souls of His hearers. To contemplate that as we strive to follow Jesus and know that growing as a Christian is a life-long process that is always drawing us closer and closer to God, and then to hear that “31But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Mark 10:31) can be quite astonishing. And then as we wrestle with this comment made by Jesus, He then tells us, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the Chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; 34and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” is also enough to make us all afraid of what is about to happen.
This is a promise and example that God/Jesus/Holy Spirit works in our lives in ways that may be/seem quite difficult for us to imagine, but He is growing us to have a faith in Him that will always see us through whatever difficulties we may fathom.
As we read through the Bible/God’s Word we sometimes come to conclusions that we maybe had not seen before, or maybe that are different than what we had previously believed – maybe for many years. But what is important is that we spend time in prayer with God to lead us to the proper understanding of what He is trying to teach us. I have recently encountered in my Bible study that there is very possibly a teaching of Ephesians 4:9 than what I had previously believed, in that, this passage is teaching about receiving spiritual gifts from above, and not (as I have taught) about Jesus descending into hell to defeat Satan in his own world. I had to wrestle with this and do a lot of research to convince myself of the teaching, but God is right, I was wrong. We may be astonished or afraid of a new teaching we learn from the Bible, but it is most important that we seek out the proper understanding and interpretation of what God is teaching us for us to be most useful to Him – in Christ.
Dear LORD,
We are always learning and growing in our relationship with You. Please help this lesson to be a positive way to see that we must put You first in our lives, just as Jesus taught the rich young ruler. Please help us to strive in prayer and study of Your Word to glean the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and insight that You would have us to learn, not of what we may desire for ourselves to learn. In Jesus name I pray, amen.