As an older person, I am aware that my salt and pepper hair tells the truth about my age and indicates an aging person. Have you ever had the experience of someone telling you something and as you sit there processing the news, the other thinks you couldn’t hear and so they say their piece again only louder and slower? You heard, but the news did not make sense. Jesus is walking with disciples and followers to Jerusalem. He knows he is headed to the cross but they think he is headed to usher in the new kingdom. He is going to be king with “power” and he can heal, multiply fish and loaves, and walk on water. They are ready to cheer but they are not understanding. Jesus tells them a third time that he is headed to the cross only this time he adds details.
Mark 10: 32-34
32 They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; 34 they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’
What is different and what does he want me to hear? He uses his title, “Son of Man,” and does not self-identify as “Son of God.” He is talking about his identification with humanity and suffering. He adds details about the event — mocking, spitting, flogging. He closes with a specific promise specifying his resurrection will occur after three days. We know this is how the days will unroll but the followers do not.
As I ponder this scenario in the context of Lent, reflecting on the implications for my life, I wonder how many things God tells us about how life might unfold but it doesn’t seem real. Returning love for hate just is counter intuitive. Generosity when I have not reached the end of the month and suspect I will be short, makes no sense. For sure the death of a loved one is always too soon, too ugly and unwelcome even as a diagnosis with disease is. Like the followers we are amazed and or scared.
Jesus does not sugar coat his predictions like our candidates who make promises we doubt will come true. He is not seeking our votes. He is not raising funds for his campaign. He is telling us the truth. Today he spoke as “Son of Man,” but we can read in John 3:16 as Jesus speaks with Nicodemus about inheriting the kingdom of God, “God so loved the world that he gave his Son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” That’s next Sunday’s text but maybe I need to hear it more than three times. God loves you as you face your challenges today.
On the Way to Wonder 