Crumbs 112

 

Crumbs 112

Destiny

Scripture Mark 8:31-9:1NIV 31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” 9 And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”

Crumbs

This is challenging and difficult. Satan means enemy. The rebuke of Peter seems harsh but when we consider what is at stake here globally and spiritually we begin to understand. Jesus is moving towards that great sacrifice He had to make. Any diversion from this aim, any temptation to avoid this goal is unacceptable. These are the concerns of God but Peter sees things only from an immediate human point of view.

Out of this altercation comes some teaching that the Lord esteems so important that the Lord calls the crowd together to hear it. This world with its baubles and its riches is nothing to the value of our eternal destiny. It is a matter of values. Which is more important to me? My immediate happiness or fulfilling the demands of love; our love of the Saviour and there fore for each other

In the Bible there are some big ideas that I do not understand. Some of this inability to understand arises from my humanity. Another is that the truths are so transcendent they are beyond the wit of mortal man. Two of these realities are “the Word of God” and “The kingdom of God “. The kingdom of God is where His will is done. God’s will was the cross. It causes the effects of sin to be reversed. The broken is mended. This is the will of God. The death of Christ on the cross was the beginning of the kingdom. Those who heard Christ preach on this occasion could have seen Him die. They saw the kingdom come. We benefit from this coming.

Questions

1. In what ways do we resist Christ’s will for us?

2. What are the difference between God’s point of view and the human point of view ?.

3. What are the effects of the cross for us today ?