Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

  

Mark 8:31-37

 

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.   And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.   But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.   For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.   For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?   For what can a man give in return for his soul?   For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels?”

I have no doubt Peter is not the only one that has tried to change God’s mind on His will.  I believe we all have, and it’s because we are not desiring His will but ours.  Most of us have our grocery list of things we desire, the healing of a friend or family member, the job we have desired, or in my case it may be a router table for the woodshop or a drill press, and the big one is a planer.  Here is the kicker, you cannot heal that sick friend or family member, and I know you ask God to do so, but have you desired His will or your own?  In my case, I could buy those items, but as a manager of what God has entrusted me, I need to seek His approval.  He may desire to provide those items, or He may show me how to live and work without them.

How are you at denying yourself?  Put Jesus before your plans, most do not, my friend Bill Gilman would say often, the Christian life is an impossible life to live, for only one person has done so, and that is Jesus Christ.   He desires to live his life in you, if you ask Him to.

A question everyone must answer; For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?   It matters not if you gain wealth and fame but never bow your knee to the Lord and take His free gift of salvation, this short life is very short and in eternity you will have a lot of time to ponder why, and wish you had.   For what can a man give in return for his soul?  Not one cotton-picking thing!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice