Mark - Second Prediction: Intensive Training in the Death of Christ Pt. 51

Intro

Good morning. Welcome to Countryside Vineyard. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Joe Fager, and I’m one of the pastors here.

This morning we are going to be in Mark 9:30–32, so please turn there with me.

If you are new here, we normally work our way through the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book.

At the end of our service today we will take communion together as is our custom on the first of every month. Also, we’ll have some treats out in the cafe after service to celebrate October birthday’s together.

Last week, Bill taught from the story of the father who cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” We saw that none of us is alone in our struggle with unbelief. We also saw that spiritual power does not come from trying harder in the moment. It grows out of a life of prayer, dependence, and time in God’s presence.

If you missed that message, you can find it on our YouTube channel.

This morning, we will pick up the story in Mark 9:30.

“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.”

At first, this passage may sound familiar. That is because Jesus has already told his disciples this once.

This is the second of three times in Mark that Jesus plainly tells his disciples that he will die and rise again.

He tells them in Mark chapter 8.

He tells them here in Mark chapter 9.

And he will tell them again in Mark chapter 10.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke each preserve all three announcements. These are not nine different events. They are three events recorded in three Gospel accounts. But that still means the Synoptic Gospels place these announcements before us nine times.

Why repeat this message so often?

Because the death and resurrection of Jesus are not one Christian teaching among many. They are the center of the Christian story.

And to understand that story, we have to know where it begins and where it ends.

The Bible begins in a garden.

God created humanity to live in his presence. Adam and Eve had no shame, no fear, and no reason to hide. They were created to know God, enjoy God, and represent God in his good creation.

But sin entered the garden.

After Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from God. Shame entered the human story. Death entered the human story. Humanity was driven from the garden, and the way to the tree of life was closed.

But that is not where the story ends.

The Bible also ends in a garden—a garden inside the city of God.

In Revelation 21 and 22, God lives with his people. The tree of life is there again. The curse is gone. Death is gone. Night is gone. God’s people no longer hide from him.

Revelation 22:4 gives us this incredible promise:

“They will see his face.”

The story begins with humanity losing the presence of God. It ends with redeemed humanity living forever in the unveiled presence of God.

So how do we get from the first garden to the last garden?

How do we get from hiding from God to seeing his face?

How do we get from death entering the world to death being gone forever?

That is what Jesus is teaching his disciples in Mark chapter 9.

“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.”

The death and resurrection of Jesus are the way from Eden lost to Eden restored.

The cross is the way home.

That is why Jesus keeps teaching it.

That is why the Gospel writers keep recording it.

And that is why the church must never stop proclaiming it.

So this morning, I want us to follow this story from the garden we lost, through the cross and empty tomb, to the day when we will see his face.

Before we begin, let’s pray.

I. Jesus Keeps Teaching the Way Home

Verse 30 tells us that Jesus is now trying to stay under the radar as he moves through Galilee and (spoiler alert) he’s on his way to Jerusalem. We are now only just a short time from what we call passion week.

The Galilean ministry is over, and he will spend a short time in Judea ministering before we get to the point where he enters Jerusalem for the final time.

Then verse 31 tells us why was keeping a low profile: He wanted to put all of his attention and energy into teaching the disciples that he must die, and rise again.

Let me point out two interesting things we find in this verse.

First, it says was teaching and he was saying. Both verbs are in the imperfect tense. Mark presents Jesus’ teaching as an ongoing activity. He was teaching them. He kept telling them. Mark 9:31 “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.””

The sense it gives me is that every chance he gets he’s slipping in this teaching trying to get them ready for what happens after all is fulfilled, and boy did the lights go on after the resurrection!!

The other interesting thing is that there is a play on words when it says the son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. The one who came to save men will be killed by the ones he came to save.

Now let’s focus on the message and why it’s so important.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:3–4:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”

Paul says this is “of first importance.”

Christ died for our sins.

Christ was buried.

Christ was raised.

Christianity is not mainly a set of rules for becoming a better person. It is the announcement that God has acted through the death and resurrection of Jesus to save us and give us life.

That is the story running through the whole Bible.

After humanity was driven from Eden, sin and death spread through the world. But God did not abandon us.

At Passover, God rescued Israel from slavery through the death of a lamb.

Then he brought them to Mount Sinai and gave them his law.

Notice the order: God rescued them before he gave them the law.

They did not obey their way out of Egypt. God saved them, and then he showed them how his rescued people should live.

The law was good. It showed Israel what holiness, justice, and love looked like. But the law could not heal the sinful human heart. The problem was not with God’s law. The problem was with us.

So the prophets promised something greater.

In Jeremiah 31, God promised a new covenant in which he would write his law upon human hearts.

In Ezekiel 36, God promised to give his people a new heart, put a new spirit within them, and place his own Spirit in them.

Then Jesus came.

He came as the faithful human Adam had failed to be. (Romans 5)

He came as the faithful Son Israel had failed to be.

He came as our Passover Lamb.

He came to give his life, rise from the dead, establish the new covenant, and pour out the Holy Spirit.

***The gospel is not God giving sinful people better rules.***

The gospel is Jesus giving dead people his life.

That is why Jesus keeps teaching his death and resurrection. The cross and empty tomb are the way home. Through Jesus, the presence we lost is being restored.

But the disciples still do not understand.

II. Fear Keeps the Disciples at a Distance

Verse 32 says:

“But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.”

Jesus’ words seem plain enough.

He will be handed over. He will be killed. After three days, he will rise.

So what did they not understand?

Their problem may not have been that they could not understand the words. Their problem was that those words did not fit their idea of the Messiah.

They believed Jesus was the Messiah. Peter had already confessed that.

But they expected the Messiah to conquer Israel’s enemies, restore the kingdom, and take his throne.

A Messiah who is handed over and killed did not fit their picture.

They could understand the words. They could not understand how those words could be true about Jesus.

Then Mark adds that they were afraid to ask him.

That stands out because the disciples had asked Jesus questions before.

They asked him to explain the parables.

They asked him what makes a person unclean.

They asked him why the scribes said Elijah had to come first.

Earlier in Mark 9, they asked him why they could not cast the spirit out of the boy.

Jesus had shown them that they could bring him their questions. Yet here, when they most needed to ask, they remained silent.

Mark does not tell us why they were afraid.

Maybe they remembered what happened when Peter challenged Jesus the first time.

Maybe they were afraid of appearing foolish.

Or maybe they understood enough to know they would not like the answer.

If Jesus must suffer, what might that mean for those who follow him?

If Jesus must lay down his life, what might he ask them to lay down?

If the road to the kingdom goes through a cross, then following Jesus may not bring the comfort, success, and power they expected.

Application*****

Sometimes we are not afraid that God will refuse to answer us. We are afraid that he will answer us.

We are afraid his answer will challenge what we already believe.

We are afraid his answer will interfere with our plans.

We are afraid following his answer will cost us something.

So we remain silent...

Next week we’ll look at what happens next, the disciples start arguing about who is the greatest. They completely miss the point.

Jesus is talking about giving himself away. They are talking about getting ahead.

Jesus is moving toward the lowest place. They are competing for the highest place.

When we stop listening to Jesus, we quickly go back to thinking like the world.

But there is something beautiful here.

The disciples were afraid to ask Jesus about the very event that would open the way for them to approach God without fear.

Because Jesus was handed over, killed, and raised, Hebrews 4:16 says:

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.”

We do not have to hide from God.

We do not have to pretend that we understand everything.

We do not have to clean ourselves up before we come.

We can bring him our questions, our confusion, our fear, and our failure.

Adam sinned and hid.

Israel stood at a distance.

The disciples were afraid to ask.

But Jesus opened the way, and now the Spirit says, “Come near.”

There is another warning here. If we refuse to let Jesus tell us who he is, we will begin creating the Jesus we want.

That is what Peter did in Mark chapter 8. Peter believed Jesus was the Messiah, but Peter wanted to decide what kind of Messiah Jesus would be.

He wanted a Messiah with a crown but no cross.

And the church has faced that temptation ever since.

Jesus warned in Mark 13 that false christs and false prophets would come.

Paul warned in 2 Timothy 4 that a time would come when people would not endure sound teaching. Instead, they would gather teachers who told them what they wanted to hear.

Itching ears do not always reject the name of Jesus.

Sometimes they reject the Jesus who refuses to become what we want him to be.

They want a Jesus who forgives but never calls us to repent.

They want a Jesus who comforts but never corrects.

They want a Jesus who gives success but never asks us to suffer faithfully.

They want a Jesus who teaches love but never dies for sin.

They want a resurrection that is only an inspiring idea rather than an empty tomb.

But take away the cross and resurrection, and you may still have a religious teacher named Jesus. You do not have the Christ revealed in Scripture.

That is why the church must keep returning to the apostolic message:

Jesus died for our sins. Jesus was buried. Jesus rose on the third day. Jesus is Lord. Jesus will come again.

The disciples were afraid to ask about his death and resurrection.

***The church must never become afraid to proclaim them.***

III. The Table Points Us Home

That brings us to the Table.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:23:

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread.”

The word translated “betrayed” is the same basic Greek word Jesus uses in Mark 9:31 when he says that the Son of Man will be “delivered” into human hands.

It means to be handed over.

Jesus tells his disciples that he will be handed into human hands.

Then, on the night when he is handed over, Jesus takes bread into his own hands and gives it to his disciples.

Before sinful hands seize him, Jesus places the bread in his hands and says:

“This is my body, which is for you.”

Jesus is giving himself.

His life is not being taken from him against his will. He knows where he is going, and he gives himself for us.

Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 11:26:

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

That one sentence holds the whole story together.

“The Lord’s death”—we look back to the cross.

“You proclaim”—we announce what Jesus has done.

“Until he comes”—we look forward to the day when Jesus returns and makes everything new.

Communion is a meal for people living between the gardens.

We live between Eden lost and Eden restored.

We live between the cross and the return of Jesus.

We live between the victory Jesus has already won and the full restoration that is still coming.

And Jesus has given us this meal for the time between.

Communion is an act of remembrance, but it is more than thinking about something that happened long ago.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:16:

“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?”

Paul calls this a participation.

We are not sacrificing Jesus again. His sacrifice was offered once for all. It is finished, complete, and never needs to be repeated.

But neither are we taking part in an empty religious symbol.

The risen Jesus is present with his gathered people. By the Holy Spirit, he meets us as we receive this meal in faith.

At this Table, we look backward to the cross.

We look forward to the day when Jesus comes.

And here in the present, the risen Christ meets his people.

This meal is not the final feast, but it gives us a taste of the feast that is coming.

This is not yet seeing Jesus face to face. Paul says that right now we see through a mirror dimly. We know only in part.

But Revelation 21 and 22 tell us where the story is going.

“The dwelling place of God is with man.”

The tree of life is there again.

The curse is gone.

Death is gone.

Pain is gone.

Night is gone.

And Revelation 22:4 says:

“They will see his face.”

Moses asked to see God’s glory, but he could not look upon God’s face and live.

Israel stood trembling at the mountain.

Adam hid among the trees.

The disciples were afraid to ask.

But one day, we will see his face.

We are not merely returning to the old garden. God is bringing us into something greater: a garden-city where sin, death, and the serpent will never enter again.

We are going home, but home will be greater than anything Adam ever knew.

In a moment, the elements are going to be passed. Please hold them until everyone has been served, and then we will receive them together.

This morning, instead of talking while the elements are being passed, I want us to sit quietly before the Lord.

Think about what we are doing.

We are holding the signs of the body and blood of Jesus—the price he paid to bring us home.

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you are still hiding from God.

Bring him your fear, your shame, your questions, and your sin.

And remember where this story is going.

One day, we will see his face.

Let us sit quietly in his presence as the elements are passed.

Pray over the elements...

In the first garden, humanity reached out and took what God had forbidden.

At this Table, we open our empty hands and receive what God freely gives.

Jesus said:

“This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Through his body, the way home has been opened.

Let us break and eat together.

[Receive the bread.]

Jesus said:

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”

His blood cleanses our sin.

His blood brings us near.

His blood is the promise that one day the dwelling place of God will be with humanity, and we will see his face.

Let us drink together.

[Receive the cup.]

The Bible begins in a garden.

The Bible ends in a garden-city.

And between those two gardens stands a cross and an empty tomb.

From Eden lost to Eden restored, Jesus is the way home.

We proclaim his death.

We share in his life.

And we wait for his coming.