Lenten Daily Reflection 2020-03-30
Mark 9:30-41
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ 32But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ 34But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ 36Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’
38 John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone* casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’39But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. 40Whoever is not against us is for us. 41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
I think the disciples did understand what Jesus was telling them but they didn’t want to hear it. I imagine they were just beginning their journey with Jesus and a)didn’t want to hear they Jesus expected to die and b)were thinking they had just given up everything to follow him and what will their future be if he died.
We often don’t want to hear the truth even when we know it in our hearts. It can be natural to avoid bad news because facing reality often requires some action on our part or at least requires us to imagine a different reality.
We are facing a difficult reality and uncertain right now. Feeling safe requires us to have faith that our leaders are doing their best for us. We can rejoice in knowing our faith in Jesus Christ gives us the strength to do our best for each other.