plan A

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. (Mark 9:30-32, ESV)

Sorry about not posting these past couple of days. Headaches and work, yay.

Anyway, it's interesting that Jesus chooses to keep His teachings from the mass public, and reserves them for His disciples only. Perhaps it was to avoid having the Galileans become too attached to Him, which would prevent Him from going to His destiny on the cross.

This is the second time so far in Mark that Jesus predicts His death and resurrection, but His disciples still don't understand what He's saying, and this time, they're too afraid to ask Him what that meant.

But catch Jesus' use of words here. The Son of Man will be delivered to the hands of men. 

Jesus probably referred to Himself as the Son of Man more than any other title that He has used on Himself, which is strange, because realistically, that doesn't make Him sound like a big deal. The word in the Gospels can even be translated as the son of a human being, which everyone is. Most argue that this title merely demonstrates his human nature, which is most definitely does. But in Daniel 7, the idea of Son of Man seems to be used to address some kind of exalted figure. If that is the case, then Jesus is being very subtle in hinting at His deity.

But either way, Jesus here is STILL saying that the Messiah, the one that was prophesied to save the Jews, was going to be handed to mankind to die. The supposed political liberator of the Jews was going to die by the ones the Jews hoping to be saved from.

Maybe that's why the disciples were always stupid, or never understood what was going on. The supposed God-man was going to die by the hands of men. This glorious figure was subject to death.

This wasn't supposed to happen. At least, the disciples didn't think so. Having heard such a strange and paradoxical idea from their Rabbi was probably what made them so afraid to ask.

But the strange thing is that this was always plan A.

I once heard a speaker say that Jesus' death was plan B, but I have to strongly disagree with that. If He was plan B, then He must have existed for a while without purpose, only until Adam and Eve screwed up, which obviously doesn't make sense. This whole process was plan A, so that God may receive the most glory possible.

God resolutely sent Jesus to die for us. That was always the plan. Jesus was meant to die at the hands of mankind. That was always the plan. God was going to subject Jesus into the hands of the Romans. That was always the plan. And God was going to allow this to happen, for our sake, and for His glory.

We often confused ourselves by thinking God is so good, so He must give His followers a good life without obstacles or harm or disease or trial. As if God owed us anything! We actively rebel and sin against God both as non-Christians AND Christians, what makes us think we DESERVE any of that?

The truth is that just as God allowed Jesus to be subject to pain, God can and  most likely will allow His followers to be subject to pain and suffering as well. 

But the truth doesn't end there. The Bible affirms that His glory will be manifested all the time, no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in, but the Bible ALSO says that pain and suffering is for our own good as well.

Psalm 119 says, "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes." It is good for bad things to happen to us, for through them, we learn more about what it means to follow God through them.

James 1 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Trials teach us to persevere, they teach us to have a faith that is steadfast.

2 Corinthians 12 says, "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." Hardships reveal in us that it is in our weakness, God is strong.

And we, like the disciples, often don't get it. We, like the disciples, are too afraid to trust God in His promises when chaos happens.

God was never out of control when Jesus was sent to die. God had this perfectly conducted, perfectly coordinated, and it was perfectly executed. And because of God perfect plan, we can become the righteousness of God.

If God had THAT situation under control, how much MORE can He be in control of our situations? Our issues pale in comparison to Jesus' death.

When we face our own trials, never forget that even then, this is God's plan A for us. It will probably hurt and sting us tons, but like one of my previous blogs said before, all of this suffering and pain is only preparing us for the weight of glory that we will receive. It doesn't even compare to how much glory we will get. 

-simon