Thursday, February 21, 2013

February 22, 2013


“He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.”  Mark 9:31
 
Have you ever taken a risk to make yourself very vulnerable to someone only to have them respond in a very inappropriate insensitive way?
 
That is what happened here!
 
As Jesus was trying (for the second time) to tell the disciples about the selfless suffering He was soon to endure they were arguing over who would be the greatest.
 
How selfish is that?
 
About as selfish as you and I are capable of being and sometimes are!
 
But it gets worse!
 
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 twelve 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 betrayed to the chief priests and 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. ”Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”  MARK 10:32-37
 
Come on, guys! Get a clue!

Consider this – Peter, James and John had been with Jesus for the Transfiguration! They even made THAT about themselves.
 
JUST AS PETER PROVED IT IS POSSIBLE TO FOLLOW JESUS CLOSELY FOR TWO YEARS AND BE “MINDED” LIKE HIM - NOW THE DISCIPLES SHOW THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO BE ON THE SAME ROAD WITH JESUS BUT IN A DIFFERENT WORLD!
 
Here's why, Martin Luther said that man is born “cor incurvitas ad se”, meaning that his heart is curved inward upon itself. If you have or ever have known a small child you know we are born with a self-centered nature.
 
See if you recognize any of these symptoms:
 
 - A critical spirit – You think your ideas are much better simply because they are yours.

- Looking out for no. 1 – Look at a group photo that you are in and who do you look for first? Why?

- Arrogance – Thinking too highly of yourself and your opinions OR covering up for feelings of inferiority.

- Inability to forgive self – Even though God has forgiven us, we hold on to our opinion of self.

- Overly competitive – Need to win in order to prove self to others. Losing is too hard on insecure self-image.
 
- Talk about self too much - When you aren't talking about yourself you are getting ready to.
 
- Holding grudges – Can’t get over things done to us or against us.

Jesus is not like that – AT ALL!
 
He is 180 degrees different! He is curved outward and everything He does is focused on others. Everything He thinks is for the interest of others and everything He does is to benefit and enrich others.