The Joy of Glory

Mark 10:32-34
And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “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.”

Reflection
Amazed and afraid.

These were the complex feelings swirling around in the hearts of the disciples as they followed Jesus to Jerusalem.

They were amazed because of his confident resolve to go to Jerusalem even though he knew that meant his death. Thus, they were also afraid because his death might mean their own as well.

Yet, onward Jesus walked… leading the way to his own grave. But, Jesus was not actually leading his disciples to the grave… but through it!

Yes… he told them that death was waiting for him in Jerusalem, but he also sovereignly declared, “…after three days he (the Son of Man… aka Jesus) will rise.” Jesus knew he was going to die AND that he was going to rise! He wasn’t just going to death, but through it!

Does that make you amazed or afraid?… or both?

We still follow Jesus to this day… and let’s be honest… he can lead us to some scary places. He may even lead us to our own death. But hear the confident, sovereign claim of Christ from Mark 10 that still ring true today… he doesn’t lead any of us merely to the grave, but through it!

Do not be afraid but be amazed because of this word that Jesus spoke over his own death and he speaks it over yours… “AFTER!” There is an after! No matter where Christ leads you… no matter what suffering or difficulties you have to walk through… it is always “through” and there is an “after.” Even when we speak of death and the grave… there is an “after!”

Let Christ’s sovereign promise of “after” transform us from being afraid to being amazed as we follow wherever he leads… even to the grave and through it.

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Mark 9:30-32
They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Reflection
Do you know what is coming? Do you know what will happen later today… or tomorrow… or a year from now?

We like to think that we know the future, but when we are at our most honest with ourselves… we know that we have no control over what unfolds next. Such a thought can be terrifying… unless…

Unless there is totally trustworthy someone who does know the future… and not only knows it, but rules over it!

Oh what an amazing comfort that we know and love the God who rules over all of time from beginning to end! Still… don’t we wish he would tell us what is coming? I mean, if he just laid the future out for us, that would seem to make things easier… wouldn’t it?

In Mark 9, we see one of many instances where Jesus tells his disciples what is coming in the future, namely, his death. And, what is absolutely clear is that they could not fully grasp what he was saying. It seems so clear to us in retrospect, but their minds were unable to imagine things yet to come. I believe that is true for all of us. Even if God were to lay out the future for us, I don’t think we could understand that kind of knowledge which makes sense to God alone.

Further, I believe that Christ has done the same thing for us that he did for the disciples in Mark 9. In his word, Jesus has told us enough about the future for us to know that he knows it! He rules over it! And he can be trusted!

At the heart of Jesus telling his disciples about his coming cross was an invitation for them to trust him no matter what was about to unfold. It was an invitation for them to believe that he knew and ruled over the future and that was enough.

Jesus extends the same invitation to you and to me. In his word, he has told us enough to prove that he can be trusted! We can trust him with our today, with our tomorrow, and with our forever.

Do you know what is coming? Do you know what will happen later today… or tomorrow… or a year from now?

Christ does! The real question for us is… do we trust him?

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Matthew 9:14-17
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Reflection
Jesus changes everything.

Once you have encountered him and the reality of who he is and what he has done… nothing can be the same! This has always been the case!

Jesus arrived on the scene in first century Israel “breaking” all sorts of traditional rules. The truth was that he was not actually breaking anything but fulfilling and therefore changing everything.

In Matthew 9, some of John the Baptist’s followers are confused as to why Jesus’ disciples do not live in step with the traditional rules of Judaism. The specific issue at hand has to do with keeping certain fasts.

Three times Jesus explains that he has transformed everything. He is the long-anticipated messiah, the bridegroom who has come. It doesn’t make sense to fast and mourn while he is present. That’s like putting an unshrunk patch on pre-shrunk clothes… it doesn’t work. It’s like putting still-fermenting wine in an old, hardened wineskin. The expanding gases will make the skin burst… it doesn’t work!

And trying to pour the new covenant age that Jesus has begun into the old covenant age doesn’t work! It’s not that the two are disconnected, but that they move in a particular direction… from old to new… not the other way around. Jesus fulfills the old and inaugurates the new.

Jesus changes everything!

And the same is true for you… and for me. All too often, I try to pour Jesus into my old way of life… my life before Christ. I try to keep on living without him as king while simultaneously claiming him as king… but like unshrunk patches and new wine I can’t stitch Jesus onto, or pour him into my old way of life. No.

Jesus changes everything!

Today… how is he still at work, by his Spirit changing you? In what way is he stripping away the old and making you new? The bridegroom, your messiah, has saved you and is with you… it is impossible for things to stay the same. I’ll say it one more time because it is gloriously true…

Jesus changes everything!

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.