Well, this past week and a bit, I've been reading through the Gospel of Mark.
And I was amazed again at just how quickly Mark takes us from the beginning,
where it all started at Jesus' baptism, to the cross.
It's almost like you can sense the cross looming the whole way through.
In one particular moment, Peter, one of Jesus' disciples,
comes to that wonderful moment of declaring what he believes about Jesus.
Mark 8, verse 29, he says,
You are the Messiah.
How exciting!
You are God's chosen king, promised and prophesied long ago.
And how does Jesus respond to Peter?
Peter, Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
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.
Just when the excitement was likely flooding Peter's heart,
you are the king that we've long been waiting for.
Jesus almost seems to snuff it out with these foreboding words.
Yes, but first, the cross.
First, I must suffer, be rejected, and die.
He spoke plainly about this,
and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
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.
It's as if Peter's saying,
no, no, Jesus, you mustn't say such things.
You mustn't talk like this.
Let's not talk of suffering or rejection or failure here.
But Jesus responds very strongly,
no, Peter, stop it.
You're wrong.
You do not have in mind the concerns of God,
but merely human concerns.
I got thinking about those words this week.
Peter's expressing the human concerns.
No, you're not going to die.
May it never be.
Don't even talk like this, Jesus.
You're the Messiah.
May you live and reign forever.
However, these are the human concerns.
But God has his concerns in all this.
God has his things that he wants to accomplish here.
Things that he wants to do for his people,
for you, for me.
And those things that he wants to do requires the suffering,
the rejection,
and the death of his dear son first.
The cross looms over Jesus here and now.
Jesus is the Messiah.
He is the king.
Yes.
He is the son of man who, a few verses down,
will come in his father's glory with the holy angels.
Yes.
But first, the cross.
Not long after this moment,
six days later to be exact,
we catch a glimpse of the glory that Jesus will come with at the end.
Or rather, Peter, James, and John do,
as they see Jesus transfigured on the mountain.
A beautiful, even if brief, foretaste
of who Jesus is
and what he will be when he returns.
But then again, not too long after that,
they are traveling the back roads with Jesus through Galilee
and hearing him say this
in Mark chapter 9, 31 and 32.
The son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.
They will kill him.
And after three days, he will rise again.
But they did not understand what he meant
and were afraid to ask him about it.
The cross looms over Jesus here too,
holding back for now the wonder and the joy
of what they saw up on the mountain
when his face shone gloriously before them.
Well, finally, Jesus and his company
begin their journey up to Jerusalem for the last time.
Mark chapter 10, verse 32.
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 12 aside
and told them what was going to happen to him.
We are going up to Jerusalem, he said,
and the son of man will be delivered over
to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.
They will condemn him to death
and will hand him over to the Gentiles
who will mock him
and spit on him,
flog him,
and kill him.
Three days later,
he will rise.
The cross looms over Jesus here as well.
Jesus knew it was coming.
He even knew the details beforehand.
He would be delivered over to the chief priests
and the teachers of the law.
They would condemn him to death
and would hand him over to the Romans,
the Gentiles.
The Roman soldiers would mock him
and spit on him,
flog him,
and kill him.
And yet Jesus marches on
to Jericho,
then to Bethphagia,
then to Bethany.
And finally,
he rides right into the city of Jerusalem
on a colt.
And at first,
all seems quite well.
The crowd with him
makes quite the noise.
Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Blessed is the coming kingdom
of our father David,
they shout.
Hosanna!
In the highest heaven!
It was quite the procession.
But it wasn't long
before the excitement
of this procession
gave way
to these somber words
of Jesus
at the Passover meal
later that week.
While they were reclining
at the table,
eating,
he said,
truly,
I tell you,
one of you
will betray me.
One who is eating
with me.
They were saddened
and one by one
they said to him,
surely you don't mean me.
It is one of the twelve,
he replied,
one who dips bread
into the bowl
with me.
The Son of Man
will go
just as it is written
about him.
But woe to that man
who betrays
the Son of Man.
it would be better
for him
if he had not been born.
While they were eating,
Jesus took bread
and when he had given
thanks,
he broke it
and gave it to them
saying,
take it.
This
is my body.
then he took
a cup
and when he had
given thanks,
he gave it to them
and they all
drank from it.
This is my
blood
of the covenant
which is poured
out for many,
he said to them.
Truly,
I tell you,
I will not
drink again
from the fruit
of the vine
until that day
when I drink it
new
in the kingdom
of God.
Here again,
here at the table
with his disciples,
the cross
looms
over Jesus.
The Son of Man
will go
just as it is
written
about him.
I will be
betrayed.
I will die,
says Jesus.
My body
will be broken.
My blood
poured out.
But there's
a reason
it must
go this way.
My death
has a great
purpose
and it's
to secure
a covenant
between God
and many.
To broker
an arrangement,
I will die.
To see to it
that the promises
of God
are kept
to many.
To you.
To me.
My blood
will be poured
out.
Even here
at the table,
Jesus reminds
them,
as he did
time and time
again,
I will rise
again.
But I wonder
if they heard it
that night.
there will
come a day
when I drink
this cup
with you
again
in the
kingdom of
God.
But first,
the cross.
And just as
Jesus had told
them these four
times,
so it went.
He was
betrayed.
He was
delivered over
to the chief
priests
and the teachers
of the law
by Judas,
one of the
twelve.
He was
condemned to
death by
the chief
priests and
the teachers
of the law,
handed over
to the
Gentiles,
the Romans,
and was
mocked by
the soldiers,
spit on,
flogged,
and finally
crucified,
executed as
though he
were a
criminal.
But you
know,
without
Jesus'
suffering
and death,
we'd all
be lost.
We'd have
no hope.
There would
be no
new covenant.
There would
be no
better
arrangement
with God
to be had.
No
forgiveness.
We would
all get
just what
we deserve
from God,
each of
us,
for our
sins.
We could
have no
Messiah
and no
king,
without
first
having
a
cross.
There
came a
moment
before
Jesus
was
handed
over
in the
garden
when he
was
praying
and
pouring
out
his
heart
to
the
father.
In
the
garden,
Mark
tells
us
that
he
fell
to
the
ground
and
prayed
that
if
it
was
possible
the
hour
might
pass
from
him.
Abba,
father,
everything
is
possible
for
you.
Take
this
cup
from
me.
Yet
not
what
I
will,
but
what
you
will.
The
suffering
and the
agony
of
Jesus
on
the
cross
was
horrible
and
Jesus
knew
it
would
be.
But
unlike
Peter,
he
had
in
his
mind
and
in
his
heart
the
concerns
of
God
and
not
just
the
concerns
of
men.
He
prayed,
not
my
will,
but
what
you
will
be
done.
He
bent
his
will
to
the
fathers.
He
submitted
his
wants
and
desires
to
the
fathers
and
he
chose
to
do
what
was
needed,
what
was
required
for
our
salvation,
for
the
salvation
of
his
friends,
the
disciples,
and
for
all
who
would
repent
and
believe
in
him.
And
then
he
went
through
with
it.
He
suffered
and
died.
Do
you
know
that
God
has
you
in
his
concerns?
Do
you
know
that
Jesus
has
you
in
his
heart?
That
both
father
and
son
love
you
like
nobody
in
this
world
ever
could.
Week
after week
as I
read my
Bible,
I see
again
just how
far
short
I fall
of God's
holy and
perfect
standard.
I
see my
own
sins
glaring
but
the
cross
of our
Savior
Jesus
does
for me
what I
can't
do
for
myself.
It
gives me
forgiveness,
hope,
the
guarantee
of all
that God
has
promised
for his
people.
Eternal
life
and
citizenship
in this
glorious
kingdom of
God
that will
soon
break
forth
upon
our
world.
This is
what we
remember
when we
come to
the
Lord's
table
and
pass
out
the
bread
and
the
cup.
We
remember
the
love
of
our
Lord.
We
remember
the
mercy
of
God.
We
remember
the
cross
that
came
before
the
crown
and
saved
us
forever.
if you
believe
this
with
all
your
heart
this
table
is
for
you.
And
in
these
next
moments
as we
pass
out
the
elements
and
partake
I
invite
you
to
partake
with
us
if
this
is
your
faith.
If
it's
not
if
you're
not
sure
I
would
ask
that
you
would
abstain.
we'll
wait
until
everyone
has
been
served
and
once
we
all
have
been
served
we'll
partake
together
in
unison.
Take
the
next
few
minutes
to
pray
quietly
and
to
reflect
on
what
the
Lord
Jesus
has
done
for
us.
O
Thank you.
Thank you so much for going to the cross for us, for suffering what you did for us, for our sins to be forgiven.
We are so grateful and we love you.
We do this in remembrance of you.
Amen.
I'll invite you to remain seated for this next song.
Amen.
And now I am happy all the day.
When I surveyed the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died.
My riches, I count, I count, but loss.
My riches gain, I count, but loss.
I count, but loss, and poor contempt on all my pride.
And poor contempt on all my pride.
flow, and poor, and poor, and poor, and poor.
Did there's such love and sorrow mean.
me
poor thorns
composed
so rich
a crown
the cross
but we all know
that's not the end of the story is it
Mark 8 31
and after three days
rise again
Mark 9 31
and after three days he will rise
Mark 10 34
three days later
the son of man will rise
said Jesus
and to Peter and his disciples
Mark 14 28
but after I have risen
I will go ahead of you into Galilee
even before
Jesus went to the cross he knew it wouldn't
be over there
his body which was broken
for us was laid in the tomb
but three days later
he did rise
the tomb was empty
you are looking for
Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified
said the angel to the women
at the tomb
early Sunday morning
he is risen
he is not here
see the place where they laid him
but go
tell his disciples
and Peter
he is going ahead of you
into Galilee
there you will see him
just as he told you
this is not a fateful tragedy
that we mark with
bread and cup
but a glorious
victory
so I invite you to stand
and we'll continue
singing praise
to our risen Lord
ha