Lecture Notes:Week 6.

Richard Okello

Mark’s three Passion prediction.There are three strategically located passion prediction in Mark’s

Gospel.The first prediction is found in Mark 8,and for the first time one of the disciple is going

to confess Jesus to be the Messiah.This is preceded by the twice touched blind man.Jesus

touched his eye and he could partially see.The disciples are like the twice touched blind man

because they see partially.The second touch is going t be at the resurrection 8:22-26.Mathew has

a much more details account of the confession of Peter of who Jesus is than Mark and Luke.Jesus

is going to his disciples instruction on discipleship.Peter wanted a king with a kingdom .When

Jesus said take up your cross,he was saying are you willing to live for me and die for me?To

crucify the flesh means to see our sin as despicable to God.We should not only die for Jesus,but

should also live for Jesus.And in the same way,we should not only be willing to die for our

family but also live for our family.

Luke alone tells us that Jesus went to the mountain of transfiguration to pray.Why Moses and

Elijah at the transfiguration?Moses is the Law giver and Elijah was the first of the great

Prophet.The Law and the prophet pointed to the cross.Deuteronomy 18:15-18.The Messiah is

going to be a prophet like Moses and Elijah is going to be a forerunner of the Messiah.Jesus was

not caught off guard of what happened in Jerusalem.As Jesus comes down from the mountain,he

talked to the disciples about Moses and Elijah.

Jesus and the demons possessed boy following his return from the mount of transfiguration.The

Disciples had failed to cast out demons from the boy.It is most likely that Jesus was rebuking the

disciples not the parents of the boy.Matthew Gospel focuses on Faith while Mark's Gospel

focuses on prayer to show why the disciples failed to cast out demons from the boy.Faith and
prayer goes hand in hand for an answer to be realized.We also see the power of intercessory

prayer by the parents on behalf of their children.

Mark 9:30-32 gives us the second passion prediction.The emphasis here is on humble service

(Mark 9:33-37).Jesus is talking about servant leadership .He was saying you can know a lot

about people based on how they treat those who can not increase their own popularity .The

important of true greatness is seen in being humble and loving those who are lower in the eyes

of people.

The third passion prediction is situated in where the story where Jesus had an encounter with the

rich young ruler.This man is asking a genuine question on how to attain eternal life .The man

responses is based on his external knowledge of sin, but not based on internal awareness of

sin.Sometimes a person wealth is a curse rather than a blessings.Jesus is able to do the

impossible as we can see in the case of Zachaeus who is liken to the camel who entered the eye

of the needle.Only God can work on the heart of a person like Zachaeus and brings

transformation.We need to ask yourself the same question:what do we want from Jesus ?Is it his

heart or his hand?

The three passion predictions teaches us what true discipleship is.You become great by

becoming a servant and serves God's people with humility.Even those who love Jesus must do

battle with the desires of the world.Pride is devilist,it is a sin that is not easily destroyed.We

need to do things without expectation for recognitions.