Even in the ignorance and arrogance of the disciples, Jesus is choosing to go to the cross for them.
Mark gives us a couple of insights into what the disciples where thinking and feeling as they went on the way with Jesus toward Jerusalem and the cross. I want to suggest preaching this text by way of analogy.
The basic goal of working with analogy is to move from what your hearers are more familiar with towards a deeper understanding and experience of something they are less familiar with. The former serves the latter. Here is the analogy I see in this text: Just as people participate differently as audience members receiving a story, so we can think about how we might participate in the narrative Scripture reveals to us.
Let us begin with how people participate differently as audience members receiving a story. There are lots of ways people participate, but I am going to highlight three: Questioning, Interacting, and Going Along with It.
Questioning
You know this person. You are watching a movie together. It is the first time either of you have seen it. The story is unfolding before both of you at the same time. Suddenly, a new character appears without any introduction. Your friend asks you, “Who’s that?” You have no idea. You are also watching as it develops. You say (or maybe you do not respond aloud, but you think in your head), “How should I know? I have no idea. Just wait. If it matters, I bet they will tell us soon enough.”
This is the default way my kids watch any movie or listen to any story. The moment something unexpected or unfamiliar happens, they interrupt the narrative to ask what it means or who it is or why it happened. Sometimes a sibling will offer a conjecture. I usually end up saying something like, “That is a really good question. Let’s wait and see.”
Here, with Jesus’ second Passion prediction, the disciples have questions. The last time Jesus talked about being killed, Peter called Him out on it, but then Peter got called Satan by Jesus. So, this time, despite their desire to understand, they bottle-up their urge and keep their questions to themselves. They do not understand. They want to ask their question, but they are afraid to ask.
Interacting
I have not seen a movie in the theatre since before Covid. I love the convenience of watching at home. But one of the costs of watching a movie at home is that I do not get to experience the audience’s interaction. The audience makes a difference. Their participation in the story changes the experience of the story.
Have you ever seen a comedy in the theatre and someone in the room has a unique or a contagious laugh? It is amazing! It is similar to the reason stand-up comics have opening acts; they loosen up the crowd so the audience will be more interactive.
One of my best movie-going experiences of all time was seeing a scary movie in a predominantly African American neighborhood in St. Louis. I loved it! People were shouting at the characters left and right. Any time there was the possibility of a character being startled or ambushed, multiple audience members were shouting their words of warning, as if they might be able to save the unsuspecting minor character from their inevitable demise.
Oftentimes, when I read the events of Holy Week, I feel like that movie crowd. I want to shout, “Look out Jesus! Don’t turn your back on Judas! Come on Jesus, you don’t have to take that from Pilate! You better look out guards, one snap of Jesus’ finger and you’ll all be obliterated!”
Here, the disciples are with Jesus on the way to Jerusalem. They are not just passively watching it all unfold. They are in the scene. What is happening before them impacts them. They are interacting with the implications of what Jesus said in their thinking and in their conversing.
Here, the disciples are with Jesus on the way to Jerusalem. They are not just passively watching it all unfold. They are in the scene.
But they are not interested in actually interacting with Jesus about it. When Jesus invites dialogue, they keep quiet. Here, Jesus interacts with them, whether they want to or not. Because even when they do not like it, this unfolding drama does involve them, and it has implications for their lives.
Going Along with It (At Least for Now)
You can come up with a better way of capturing the sense of this in your own words. I wanted to say “trusting” or “faithful,” but that felt too forced. Maybe “suspending disbelief” is closer to the point. “Suspending disbelief” or “qualified unbelief” hearkens back to Mark 9:24 and gets us closer to the “in-process faith” I am getting at here.
You are watching a movie. Something odd happens. You do not immediately understand who the new character is, or why they did that, or what the implications are going to be later. You have a hunch it will matter; otherwise, why would the director include it? But your attitude is, “Let’s just see where this goes,” or, “Okay, I can go along with that... for now. Let’s see where this takes us.”
Jesus says, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.” It is appropriate to have all kinds of questions. Can God really die? Do these executioners have free will if this is happening by divine necessity? Does Jesus feel physical pain the same way I do? Did the Son and the Father have any discussion about this, or did the Father simply tell the Son this is happening? If Jesus is going to suffer, and I am following Jesus, what does this mean for me?
The answer to this last question might lead to the kind of shouting that happens during a scary movie: “Don’t do it!”
Questions are fine. It is godly to search the Scripture for what God may have revealed as an answer. It is totally appropriate to bring our questions to the Lord in prayer. It is a good thing to be so engaged in what God is saying and revealing that we want to know more.
Interacting is good. We should see how the Word of God challenges us and calls us to God’s holy will. 2 Timothy 3:16 says much about what God’s Word does, in addition to what it is. We should be prepared for God’s Word to interact with us and change us, even when we are not looking for such interaction.
And there are times to go with it, to suspend disbelief, to embrace a qualified unbelief. Or, to say it more directly, to take another step in faith, to keep walking with Jesus even if your questions are not answered, to keep journeying with Jesus even when His Word challenges (and even accuses) you.
The disciples did not get it. The disciples wanted to rewrite parts of the story, even as God wanted to correct parts of their own lives. But in the midst of it, Jesus is with them. Even in their ignorance and arrogance, Jesus is choosing to go to the cross for them.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Mark 9:30-37.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Mark 9:30-37.
Text Week-A treasury of resources from various traditions to help you preach Mark 9:30-37.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
Lectionary Podcast-Dr. Arthur Just of Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN walks us through Mark 9:30-37.
