Corona Chronicles - Crown of Thorns

A very warm welcome back to Corona Chronicles. It's great to have you tuning in. If you were watching a session earlier in this week, you know that we've just been thinking about what it means to follow Jesus, which involves both a real cost but also a real gain. And now we're moving on to the next passage where Jesus is gonna talk about his own his own loss on the on the road of the kingdom. And so we're picking up in verse 32 of chapter 10.

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 gentile who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him.

3 days later, he will rise. There you go. The third prediction of his death. Yep. And what a great way to start?

I mean, I love the way Mark paints this picture. They were on their way up to Jerusalem and Jesus was leading the way. You know, it's great. And then and then you get this next line which is puzzling, which the the disciples were astonished, while those who followed. Or being afraid and we were just scratching our heads when we go, what -- Yeah.

-- why? But I think the rest of the passage goes on to explain, you know, if he's going along and he's saying, the son of man is gonna be handed over to the teachers of the law and the chief priests, and they're gonna do all this stuff to him. He's gonna be condemned to death It's gonna be spat on mocked. No wonder, there is astonishment and fear in the people that are following him listening to him say this -- Mhmm. -- and they must be thinking, what is he doing?

Why are you still walking towards towards this place? Yeah. You know, if you think you know this is gonna happen -- Yeah. -- why are you still going there? Yeah.

You know? Yeah. I I think that's right. And I think they also may have been puzzling over the the lesson that they've just heard. So it's quite interesting when Jesus says earlier in the chapter, you know, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

It says the disciples were even more amazed. And then now we find out the disciples were astonished. Yeah. Yeah. You know?

So Jesus, as he's clarifying what it looks like to follow him -- Yeah. -- and what it looks like not to follow him, they're just I mean, I would love to have people have this reaction when I teased in something. Yeah. Like, this that's astonishing. Can you just Yeah.

Can you just say that again? Yeah. Because this is what you said. This is what I heard. Like then, they're getting a message.

Right? They're getting a message. Yeah. They might not understand it totally, but Yeah. And it's a completely, you know, revelatory experience for them, isn't it?

They're just learning. They're just astonished at what Jesus is saying about discipleship here. And then as you say, you know, you've got this whole stuff here about the son of man and what's gonna happen to him. And for any Jewish person who had an understanding of the scriptures. They would know that the son of man was was an incredibly important character in their in their scriptures.

This was the 1 who was gonna be led before the ancient of days and given authority over heaven and earth and would come back as God's appointed judge. It's a divine title. It's a divine title. A lot of people hear it and they go, oh, that must be the that's Jesus talking about sort of earthly being. Yeah.

Yeah. But, no, it's it's in Daniel 7. Yeah. Yeah. And it's probably the whole lot, isn't it?

Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And and yet, he's gonna be thrown into the hands of the gentiles. Yeah.

Condem to death, shamed spat on, flogged, I mean, that is not how you would have expected the son of man. It's also quite specific, isn't it? Yeah. It's like So you know, most a lot of people that don't believe the bible is the world of God would say, yeah. Well, you know, Mark put this in -- Yeah.

-- you know, half it all happened, then he put it back in. Mhmm. But no, if if the Bible is the Word of God, then this is what Jesus predicted. Yeah. It was the third time he said it.

He took his disciples aside. Yeah. And, you know, this is how it happened. Mhmm. You know, on his way to Jerusalem, he told them specifically that this was gonna happen.

Mhmm. And and the reason why I did that is because after so that after he had risen, after, you know, verse 34 had come true, they would go, he told us all about -- He told us. Yeah. -- you know, this is this is incredible. And that would have that would that would have gone to build their faith and, you know, that's why they were willing to go to the, you know, into the lions That's why they were willing to go to the the arena, you know, for this message, because it wasn't just the made up -- No.

-- added back in store. No. No. No. Jesus was absolutely certain about this, wasn't he?

Yeah. And and, you know, this is, as you say, this is the third time since chapter 8. Including chapter 8. He's talked about his own death. And in between that, he's been teaching them lessons about the kingdom of God.

But It's almost as if to say that the repetition of this this future for Jesus is just central to all of his teaching. Isn't it? That you know, that they're never they're never gonna get away from this idea that to follow him is the crossroad -- Yeah. -- is it. It's just so hands to write.

3 times that it uses as well. Exactly. Yeah. It's it's that it's that number again. Yeah.

And And so no part of Jesus' teaching on life in the kingdom is far removed from the cross. You know, this is gonna be unlike the pharisees and the religious leaders. This is gonna be a life of dying to self and rising again, isn't it? And every everything is is central to that central to that message. And, again, this is why someone like the Apostle Paul will come in 1 Corinthians and say, let me remind you of the first principles, you know, Jesus died according to the scriptures.

He rose again according to the scriptures, you know. So, this is the center of -- This is the center. -- Christianity. Yeah. This is this is why he when someone repeats something -- Yeah.

-- over and over again. Yeah. They're doing it because it's important. Yeah. You know?

And this is the center of of the Christian faith. It is The crucified. He was handed over, died rose again for us. Yeah. And I think it's a helpful 1, certainly for for kind of apologetics really and trying to tell other people about the center of the Christian faith because I know Muslim friends who who would claim as they do claim that Jesus didn't die on a cross.

He wasn't crucified on a cross. Or if he was crucified, he fainted or something. Yeah. But you have to say, okay, Well, given Let's say that is true, then Jesus must have been fairly deluded for quite some time because at least in his own mind, he was absolutely certain that that's what was gonna happen to him. Yeah.

At 3 times in 3 chapters, talks about this happening to him. Yeah. And then if it didn't, then he was clearly confused or lying -- Yeah. Yeah. -- about what was gonna happen.

So can you just explain explain this then? Why did Jesus say this if it didn't go on to And so, it shows that in his own mind, he was not under any doubt about the reason that he had come. Yeah. And as we're saying, for disciples, this is this is the road we follow as well, isn't it? Yeah.

Brilliant. Yeah.