Scripture: Mark 10:32-34
They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again."
Reflection Questions:
How would you have reacted to Jesus’ prediction of his suffering and crucifixion? What does it mean to you that God chooses the hard path of human suffering – to be found in the depths of human experience? Is this redemptive for you? What does Jesus suffering mean for you in your own times of trial and sorrow?
Five-minute Story:
It was one of the most massive pop-up trailers on the market at the time. Coleman manufactured the collapsable “home on wheels,” which we took up and down the Eastern Seaboard and out west as far as South Dakota. We even gave our first camping trailer a nickname; “Sunny.”
Sunny was the first trailer that I owned and only the second that I drove. In New Providence, we lived on the top of a knoll with a winding driveway. The night that we brought it home, It took me forty minutes to back Sunny into place. My backing up skill improved over time but it still took awhile to get Sunny situated at the end of a long trip. Not everything about camping is fun.
One night, after returning from an excursion and my lengthy backing up ritual, I finally parked Sunny. I put the plastic wheel chocks in place. I unhitched the trailer and pulled my truck away. After parking the tow vehicle in its spot, I began unloading the gear. Whenever you go camping as a family of four, there is a lot of stuff that gets stowed everywhere. Somewhere in my multiple trips back and forth to the house, I noticed something was wrong. Sunny was starting to move!
Sunny was slowly moving down the steep driveway. My expletive gasp announced to the whole neighborhood the gravity of the unfolding calamity. Quickly, I ran to the front of the 1500 pound trailer vehicle and put my weight against it. At that moment I learned something about physics, objects in motion, force, and the inability of an under two hundred pound man trying to stop a vehicle that weighed approximately six times more.
I did manage to guide the massive object into the lawn. Crash. Thud. Like a plow, Sunny’s tongue pushed up the sod in a small furrow. The whole incident left me out of breath, frazzled, and lying on the ground. I was lucky though. Sunny could have crushed me.
Although I was never bitten by a radioactive spider, somewhere along the line, I imagined myself to possess superhuman powers. Being ordinary was never all that attractive to me. I guess it comes from a spirit of determination that some might call ‘bullheaded stubbornness.’ I put my weight and energy behind a bunch of things. My track record is reasonable. I can do a bunch of things and over the years have acquired a fair amount of practical skill and knowledge.
I share these things about myself, not for the sake of bragging. I share to talk about the drawback of these attributes - they support the lie that I can do anything.
The “I-can-do-anything” lie quickly picks up steam as it heads down a steep slope of unstoppability and blasphemy. Like Thor, from Marvel comics, we mislead ourselves into believing in ourselves as little gods. It is an idea that our consumer culture encourages. All we need are the right products, gadgets, treatments, and diet and we are able/capable of doing all things. We are our ‘best selves’ and capable of solving all problems, surpassing all obstacles, and strong as a herd of bulls. Faith and belief in ourselves are paramount to faith in Jesus, which our culture has turned into a personal trainer and coach whose sole purpose is to let us master all tasks and dominate our world. It is a series of runaway lies that ultimately crashes.
Read the stories of Jesus, the good news about God’s hope and dreams for creation. When you do, you will discover that Jesus’ purpose in the world is not for individual success. It is not to equip followers with superpowers that they can use to get ahead. Instead, Jesus comes into the sphere of broken and limited time and space to redeem the whole of creation. Salvation is not a matter of individual advancement. Salvation is a goal for the fractured cosmos. It seeks wholeness and shalom among all created reality, and it comes unearned from God. Jesus loves the world: loves every little-broken bit and piece; every crash site; Jesus loves every person caught up in forces beyond their control.
The experience of being chased by a trailer and being unable to stop it by my strength and willpower continues to teach me. I am not capable of traveling faster than a speeding bullet. I don’t have unlimited agency. I stumble as much as I stand.
In my weakness and brokenness, however, I am never alone. The God who gives me life remains close at hand. What is more, I am always a beloved child of God that is part of a beloved creation. Though I lack superhero status and ability, God invites me to align my limited agency with God’s purposes of love and compassion. I am asked to put my life behind Jesus’ life for the sake of others. That is pretty super if you ask me.