Pastor Shaun Marksbury

They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.” Some think that the crucifixion was outside of Christ’s control.   Typically, these would be those who would also deny that God had a plan in it or that it had significant meaning for you or me.   In this short passage, however, we see the boldness of Christ in facing what He knew was coming.   He even explains to His disciples what is about to take place so they are prepared—and we should notice His control. First, notice His det...

And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”   The disciples were amazed at His words.   But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!   It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”             They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” We sometimes assume that Jesus is only there for our comfort and happiness.   However, as we saw with the rich young ruler, Jesus gave him the law (vv. 19, 21) and then allowed the man to walk away sad (v. 22).   It’s not that Jesus didn’t feel compassion for him (cf. v. 21a), but this man needed to know the harsh truth.  ...