Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Mark 10 and Psalm 61

Jesus had already told His disciples twice that He was going to be put to death, only to rise again (Mark 8:31 and 9:31). Now in 10:33-34 he repeats Himself yet again:

³³ ‘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 Gentiles, ³⁴ who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.’

What strikes me most as I ponder this today is not so much that Jesus knew in quite fine detail what His future held. What’s most remarkable to me is that He continued to live and speak in perfect step with the Father’s will, even when He could see so clearly what the outcome of that obedience would be. Jesus was willing to pay any price for His obedience to the will of the Father.

This is a very sobering realization, because it’s precisely this determined obedience to which Jesus calls us. Whether it is in our marriages (v.1-12), in our treatment of the vulnerable (v.13-16), in the use of our finances (v.17-31), or our approach to leadership (v.35-45) – in fact in every corner of our lives – Jesus calls us to an exceptionally high level of commitment to obeying God’s will above all else.

So perhaps we need to end our devotional time today praying in the words of Blind Bartimaeus in v.47 and 48:

‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’

Life application: Is there something really difficult I know the Lord is calling me to do for Him today? Pray for his mercy and grace to empower you to step out in obedience. He is with you. You can do it!