THEY DID NOT GET IT
Mark 9:30-32 NKJ
30 Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. 31 For He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” 32 But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.
In chapters eight and nine of Mark, Jesus is telling His disciples what is going to happen to Him. But they just don’t get it. Three times in these two chapters Jesus tells them that He will be rejected, killed and then rise from the dead. They do not understand what rising from the dead means. Three times, Jesus, based on the scriptures, prophesies what will take place. The disciples did not understand then, and even after the resurrection, they still were in the dark.
My question is, why didn’t they get what He was telling them? They really could not comprehend what rising from the dead meant. The disciples were the men closest to Jesus. If anyone should have understood, it was them. But verse 32 gives us more clarity. They were afraid to ask Jesus what rising from the dead meant. So now I am thinking, why were they afraid to ask? We know Jesus would not have punished them for asking. He might have corrected them, but He was not going to abandon them or kick them out.
We can learn from the disciples’ example. There will be things that the Lord speaks to our hearts that we will not have a full understanding of what He means. If we don’t understand, we need to ask. And not be afraid of the answer.
In my late 20s, the Lord began to witness to my heart about being a pastor. For years, I had thought I would travel and teach God’s Word. In the eighties, traveling teachers were much more of a thing. When I finally understood that traveling and teaching were not in my future, I became open to being a pastor. One thing I noticed. If we are not open to hearing what the Lord is saying to us, we most likely will not get answers. When I became open to being a pastor, I was ready to go, and here is where I did not understand. My lack of understanding caused me to jump out and try to start a church in my hometown. It was a mistake, and by the grace of God, we shut it down quickly and then came back to Texas. I didn’t get it. The Lord was telling me something, but I added my own interpretation to it. Some greater understanding of what the Lord was saying to my heart would have really helped me and saved me a great deal of time and heartache.
APPLICATION
What is our takeaway from the passage today and the principle of not “getting it?” First, I believe it’s wiser to assume that when it comes to the Lord’s words to us, we need greater understanding. To get greater understanding, we need to ask. And in order to ask, we can’t be afraid. Not afraid to ask the Lord and not afraid of the answer. The first chapter of James tells us that if we ask for wisdom, God will give it to us and not demean us or rebuke us. We don’t need to be afraid to ask.
The more I know of God’s word, the more I realize how little I actually do know. So, in 2025, I am going to do a lot more asking. I don’t want to be in the dark. I want to know what the Lord is speaking about my future. In fact, I don’t think I will wait until 2025 comes; I plan to start asking now. I want to get it.
PRAYER
Lord, I want to understand what you are saying about my future as it pertains to Your kingdom. So, I am asking You for clarity. I don’t want to miss what You have for me.