Mark 8:31-9:1

Jesus Predicts His Death the First Time

 

32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

 

33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter.

 

'Get behind me, Satan!' he said. 'You do not have in mind the things of God but the things of men.'

 

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

 

35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

 

36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

 

37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

 

38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.'

 

9:1 And he said to them, 'I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.'"

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This is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change the way that we think, and the way that we live.

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Commentary by Bob Pardue

Jesus predicts his death

Wow! There are so many lessons here that I hardly know where to begin! You may want to take out your Bible or study Bible and read this more than once for comprehension.

 

The main point for me in this passage, and it is one I have lots of trouble with, is the material gain and loss of life and soul.

 

What good is our life if we lose our soul?

 

I just recently finished a study called "Men's Fraternity" and the creed of this fellowship is "Die to Live". It means that sometimes, in order to get what you want, you have to give up something first.

 

In our society (especially in the USA) we tend to value people's worth by what they do for a living or worse yet, what they do for us. For example; Look at the staggering amounts of money we bestow on sports figures and movie stars!

 

I am not condemning sports or movies. I thoroughly enjoy entertainment myself but we sometimes spend so much of our time engaged in these material things that we only think about doing God's work on Sunday morning, or maybe less often.

 

A saying I heard a few years ago (don't know who said it) is: Money may can buy some happiness but it can't buy peace of mind.

 

We may find some joy in making money, having status in the community, or just by having a position of power at work but none of these things are going to last.

 

No matter how hard you work; no matter how much money or possessions you own; no matter how much power you have; how many of these things will you still own after your death?

 

And, are any of these things mentioned worth the price of your eternal soul?

 

To take up your cross and follow Jesus does not mean that you quit your job, stop watching movies or sports, or seek out pain just because you are a Christian.

 

We should, however, be willing to give our lives for Christ and let Him guide us in our decisions. If we give our time, talents and obedience to Him here on earth, He will reward us in Heaven.

 

May God help us to give up more for Him. He gave everything for us.

 

Love in Christ

- Bob

Mark 8:27-30 - Peter Admits Jesus is the Messiah