"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.' Mark 10:32-34.
It strikes me that, just as the disciples are about to enter Jerusalem and hear hundreds of people shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David," - Jesus is telling them that death lies ahead. Jesus has a vision that looks somewhat like a roller coaster - a trip up to the heights of human glory, followed by a plunge to the utmost darkness of his passion and death, to be topped off by his greatest glory - rising from the dead. He sees all of this, but the discples do not share his vision or understanding. They hear him predict his death, but they see before them only signs that the King of the Jews has come - worldly glory and fame, adulation of their Rabbi. If they really knew where they were headed, what would it feel like? Would they have the courage to follow Jesus through the parades and the palms? If they knew what was ahead, would they have the courge to celebrate the present moment? I don't know. Probably not. Only God, seeing the full vision, could have the courage to walk all of it and live it as it came.
I hear moms say sometimes, "If I had known what labor was like, I would have rethought the whole idea of getting pregnant!" But then, the baby is born, and they somehow forget the pains of childbirth. In fact, going through the process of having a baby kind of mirrors the type of experience Jesus underwent. Finding out that you are expecting a baby carries joy and hope with it, probably like the hope the disciples experienced on entering Jerusalem. The passion and death of Jesus is like labor pains - meaningless if not for the actual birth that it coming. Jesus' resurrection and ascension ameliorate the pains of the cross just as the birth of a baby can numb the pains of childbirth.
For first-time moms, it is necessary to experience every stage of the journey: joyful, sorrowful and glorious alike. And for us, it is necessary not to know the entire experience beforehand. Like the disciples, we might know from others' experiences, rumors or predictions, that the coming time will be hard, but we are saved from the full knowledge of the difficulties maybe because we wouldn't be willing to walk into them otherwise. And, if we don't have the joy to lead us into a time of trial and testing, we will not be prepared for the greater glory following the trial.
Jesus knew, I am sure, how important it was for the disciples to experience joy and hope before the coming difficulties. I am reminded of the times of great joy in my life that helped me enter into experiences that caused growth, sometimes through pain: enrolling in grad school was a time of excitement, but the process of working through my degree was often grueling. However, the hard work led to the even greater joy of graduating!
This chapter reminds me not to live in dread of possible future pain. There is "a purpose to every season under heaven." Alone, the hardships mean nothing, but taken as a whole, joyful and sorrowful experiences can offer us a profound understanding of life's meaning and purpose, and can point us to God. I remember a character in "War and Peace" who is always giving thanks to God, even as he is a hungry, cold, prisoner of war. Thinking about that always reminds me that the times of suffering are a gift because there is a reward to come. We need to fully experience each leg of the journey as it is, trusting that there is an overarching purpose and a glory to be revealed in the entirety.
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