So if you'll stand in honor of God's word as I read from Mark chapter 10 verse 32. Just verse 32 to 34, that's our passage today. This is our next section of scripture. We are, as you look ahead, if you'll peek ahead, if you look at Mark 10, if you look at Mark 11, see that? If your Bible has a heading there, it will say the triumphal entry. The triumphal entry is what starts the Passion Week of Christ. And so you can see that we are just right on the cusp of walking through the Passion Week together through the Gospel of Mark. We will walk through the Passion Week together through Christmas. which I think is appropriate, because that is why Jesus was born. He was born to die. And so we will begin that process of walking through the Passion Week with Christ through Christmas, and we'll probably end somewhere around Easter, appropriately. That's sort of the plan. So if you'll follow with me, Mark chapter 10, verses 32 to 34, you see that Jesus makes his third and final prediction of his crucifixion as recorded in the Gospel of Mark, as he's on his way to Jerusalem to die. Mark 10.32, and they were on the road going up to Jerusalem and Jesus was walking ahead of them and they were amazed. And those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes. And they will condemn him and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him. And after three days, he will rise. And so, Father, we thank you this morning for the sacrificial death of Christ. Indeed, everything he said was going to happen to him, it happened to him. And it was for your glory and our sake that he submitted himself to brutal crucifixion. And so this morning, as we prepare our hearts to take of communion and remember that perfect sacrifice of Christ, I pray that you would help us to not be complacent as we come to the cross this morning, as we evaluate what Christ went through and endured for us because we're so familiar with it. Father, give us a freshness, a new appreciation today for the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. And I pray in Christ's name, amen. You can be seated. And so as we find Jesus on his way to be crucified, we see that he tells his disciples in great detail exactly everything that's going to happen to him just weeks before it's going to happen. And you say, well, what's the significance of that? What's the big deal that Jesus knew what was going to happen to him? What it tells us is, is what Jesus did as he marched up to Jerusalem with this determination, is he did it, he did it with a full knowledge of what would happen to him, which makes him not a victim, but a volunteer. He did it willingly. He knew exactly what he was getting himself into. Christ went to the cross and died that brutal death with a full awareness of all of the details of everything that would happen to him. And he did it out of obedience to the Father and his predetermined plan, which God the Father had orchestrated before the foundation of the world. And he did it because he loves you and he loves me. It was the joy that was set before him. That's the reason he did it. The joy of hearing his father saying to him, well done son, you did well. And also so that he could redeem and purchase you so that you could be the children of God. Spend eternity with him. He knew. He knew. The significance of the prediction of crisis, he knew what was going to happen to him. Have you ever gotten involved in a situation where if you had known ahead of time what was going to happen, you would not have volunteered for such an activity? Have you ever volunteered for something? Somebody says, oh, come and help us move. And you think, OK, that'll be easy. It'll be a couple of hours. And 12 hours later, you're thinking, what has happened? Why am I here right now? I was asked years ago when I was at Desert Christian, I was the principal of the high school and they asked me if I would be the dinosaur at the jog-a-thon for the elementary. I thought, what a simple task. I'll dress up in a dinosaur outfit and I'll be the dinosaur. I don't exactly know what I had done wrong that I got that duty, but they asked me would I be willing. I said, how hard can that be to be a dinosaur, dress up dinosaur? It was a disaster. It was awful. It was horrible. It was the worst thing I've ever volunteered for. And in the middle of it, I just quit. I literally walked off the field. Right back here, I just walked off. I said, they will not have a dinosaur at the jog-a-thon. I resign as the dinosaur of Desert Christian. You say, well, what was so bad about it? What was so bad about it was, is the kids actually didn't realize there was a human being inside of that costume. And say, they were punching me, they were kicking me, they were hitting, like, hey, Mr. Dinosaur, wham! And then finally, it was a strategically placed punch that caused me to resign from that. And I just walked off and saying mean things under my breath, like, these kids are driving me crazy. I hate them. I'm sure they're like, oh, the dinosaur talks now. You know what I mean? Everything is just wrong. I didn't know what I was getting into when I had volunteered. I said, yes, I'll do that. Jesus knew. He knew full well. The other two predictions in Mark are general predictions that he gives to his disciples. Not as much detail, but in this passage, we see great detail. Words like scourging or flogging, crucifixion, that he would die, be murdered, that they would kill him. There's no doubt that Christ was a willing lamb. And so what I'd like to do today is I'd like to point out to you just two things. I'd like for you to see the determination of Christ to be obedient to his Father. I also would like you to see the details of his death. that we might understand in a greater way the sacrifice that he made and also the depth of our sin that would require such a sacrifice. In case there's anybody here that maybe is overestimating their own goodness today. May Christ's sacrifice remind us of our sinfulness and His great love for us. So verse 32, if you pick it up, it says, And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem. The words there, up to Jerusalem, are fitting, even though they weren't necessarily headed north. They were down in Jericho, and it says they were going up to Jerusalem because it is a 3,500-foot climb from Jericho up to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city on a hill. That is the place where if they were moving from Jericho, which is about a thousand feet below sea level, on the level of just about the same level as the Dead Sea, they would go up and rise up to a 2,500 foot level, which is about where Jerusalem is at. So it's accurate to say geographically they're going up to Jerusalem, but it's much more than that. For a Jewish reader, for somebody that understood Jerusalem, going up to Jerusalem, that is the holy city to them. That is the place of sacrifice. That's the appointed location. That was the destination that Jesus would come and die at. And it says he was headed up to Jerusalem, and I love this, and it says, and he was walking ahead of them. I think this is significant. Jesus was out in front. He was not being dragged up that hill. He was the one leading the way, and there's something about the way he's walking that causes a reaction in his disciples. Notice what it says is, it says he was walking ahead of them, and walking ahead of them, it says, and those who followed him were amazed. This is in reference to his disciples. So they're astonished. They're amazed at the way Jesus is walking. What is it about the way that he's walking? He's walking with this steely sort of determination. In Isaiah 50, prophetically it says, his face was like flint. In other words, it was like stone. He was stubbornly walking up to Jerusalem because he was so committed to being obedient to the Father. Turn in your Bibles for a minute to John 10, verse 18. You see, the reality is, is Jesus did not have his life taken away from him. Jesus offered up his life as a perfect sacrifice for sins. In John chapter 10, verse 18, Jesus said this, I have authority to lay it down. I have authority to take it up. Again, notice there, verse 18, I lay it down. Jesus wasn't sort of like a, okay, I don't know about you guys. I don't like roller coasters. I don't know if you like roller coasters. I don't like roller coasters very much, so I've taken my kids to Magic Mountain over the years just because I don't want to sort of, it caused my fear to prevent them from having fun that they might be willing to have, but whenever I get there, they always beg me, Dad, come on, come with us, come with us, because it's never sufficient that you take them there and offer them that opportunity. You have to go with them. And it's embarrassing, but I'm the dad that's like, ha, ha, ha, okay, okay. You know, and the whole time I'm thinking, if I take one more step, I can step across this car and be off of this ride. I remember one time I took one of my kids, we went to Disneyland just as a father getaway. I was going to say son, but then that would mean you would know that it's one of my two boys that we did this with, and I don't want to embarrass either one of them. And so I'll say just one of my kids. We went with one of my kids. It was years ago, so now I'm narrowing in on which kid I might be talking about. And so we went on that, what's that ride where it drops? What's the ride that drops? What's it called? Tower of Terror. Listen, people. If it's called the Tower of Terror, why do we pay to get on that? It's insane. So we get on it, and I have no idea. It looks like an elevator to me. It just looks like an elevator. So they take me up the first drop, and then it drops, and I'm like, oh, that was okay. That was really not bad. And then it goes up again higher, and it drops again. I'm like, this ride better be over now. And it starts to elevate even higher the third time it goes up. And then these doors open. I'm like, we're that high right now? I can't believe it. And just then, as you're looking outside and your guard is down, it drops again. And then, as if to somehow shame you, they take your picture in that moment. And so I am literally coiled up in a ball. I'm like this, ah. And the worst part is, you get to the end, you look at your pictures up on the screen. There's these little boys that are sitting in front of me, and they're all smiling like, And there's an old man behind him like, I'm going to die. Why do people do such things? I'll never go on that ride again. Never, ever. And some of you are like, that's not even scary. I understand you think that. And that's because you're demented. You don't understand Tower of Terror. I'm a reluctant rollercoaster rider. If you see me, I'm never like, let's go on this ride, let's go, let's go. No, that's not me. I'm the guy that's like, come on, come on, is it over, is it over? I close my eyes the whole time on a rollercoaster. I don't like them. I pray, God, God, if you'll spare my life, I'll never ride this ride again. You know, that's the kind of things that I make deals with God on rollercoasters. I'm reluctant. They drag me on. They bribe me. I'll buy you this, if you know that. That's not Jesus. There's something about There's something about the way Jesus is walking. There's a determination. You got a picture on his face. He's the one out front. He's dragging the ones along who he will die for to redeem. Notice a little more carefully. Look at these words. They're important. It says, and they were amazed because of how he's walking. That means to be astonished. I think that's a reference to the 12, and it says, and those who followed him were afraid. After taking the 12 again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him. So there seems to be this. There seems to be the 12 that are following him, and they're amazed. What are they amazed about? You know what I think they're amazed about is his conviction and his courage. Do you ever find yourself, when you see somebody that's so devoted to the things of God that they'll do anything for Christ, do you ever just, are you like, man, I want that. Like, I'm amazed at the sacrifice they've just made. I'm amazed that they just sold everything and headed off to the mission field. I'm amazed at how they so willingly part with their possessions. I'm amazed, honestly, at a Raleigh Weaver. You have no idea who he's been ministering to behind the scenes as he's been so sick. Like, ah, such conviction, such courage, such devotion to Christ. So they're watching this going, Here's a guy that's already told us when he goes up to Jerusalem he's going to be crucified, and yet he's leading the way. Turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 14, verse 28. Luke 14, 28. What I would say to you is that Jesus counted the cost. Let's look at verse 25. Jesus had already counted the cost. It was calculated. He knew from eternity past what it meant for him to come to the earth. He knew what it meant for him to be born. It was his choice. The Father had the plan, but he willingly submitted to the Father's plan. And in verse 25, Jesus reminds us that we're to count the cost. He counted the cost. He knew what it was going to take. He had already made up his mind. What I want to ask you today is have you made up your mind that you're going to walk in obedience to the plan of God in your life? Do you walk with determination even if it's to the point of suffering? Like I will not compromise. I'm going to live a life of conviction. I want that same determination of the Savior in my own life. Look at verse 25. Now great crowds accompanied him and he turned and said to them. Now this is so unusual here. Jesus says something that most pastors would never say. Great crowds are following him and he's trying to shrink the crowd. He wants a smaller church because he figures probably a smaller group of followers who are truly devoted are much more effective than a whole bunch of half-hearted people. Look what he says in verse 26. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciples. Now, that sounds crazy. Jesus is using here a Hebrew idiom. And what he's saying is, is if you don't love me so much that in comparison it's as if you hate everyone else, you can't follow me. In other words, what he's calling for here is supreme affection to Christ and to the Lord. He's not saying you have to hate your parents, he's just saying, If you don't love me so much that it compares as if you hate everybody else in your life, then you can't follow me. That's the kind of love Jesus had for the Father. Verse 27, whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. He's calling for supreme devotion. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down, count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? And so what he's saying there is, and you've probably all seen this before, and maybe there's even some men in the room that have done this before, are there any men in the room that have started a project that you didn't finish at home? Is there anybody, is there any men in the room? Women, are there any men in the room who have started a project they didn't? You know, I mean, more hands are gonna go up, right? Because, you know, because it's just, men are notorious for that. We do this all the time. We start it, and we, and you know what, the problem is, is we're like any great artist. Once we sort of see what it's gonna look like when it's done, we move on to the next project, right? You know, like, how many women have waited years for baseboards? They got the new floor, but the baseboards never went in. Hon, it looks good enough, you know, do it yourself, whatever. Yeah, do it yourself. Okay, so Jesus counted the cost. He took his own counsel. He knew, if I'm gonna come to earth, it will not be sufficient for me to be born of a woman, God, very God, setting aside the independent use of his divine attributes, the kenosis, that wouldn't be sufficient. It's not sufficient to live a perfectly righteous life. All of this ends in Jerusalem with me being brutally murdered, and not only that, but having the wrath of God poured out on me in a given moment for all the sins of mankind. That's where this is headed. He counted the cost. I wanna ask you an honest question today, have you? Have you counted the cost of following Christ? Are you willing to just say, you know what, Jesus, you're everything. Nothing else in my life compares to having you. Jesus counted the cost. They were amazed at how he walked. And notice back in Mark chapter 10, verse 32, it says, and taking the 12 to him, so the wider group of people are afraid, they're scared, There's just something about Jesus's gate. I was running yesterday morning. I'm running next weekend in a little half marathon thing. So yesterday morning I was running eight miles as a part of just that training. I find eight miles harder to run now than it used to be, even five years ago. And so I guess it was at the end of my run, and somebody came last night who's brand new to the church, and they said, oh, you must live around us, because we saw you running. And I said, oh, yeah, I was running. And she said, that was kind of a hard run. And the guy looks at me and goes, yeah, I could tell. I was like, what did I look like? I was like, oh, thank you so much. Like, yeah, you looked like you were struggling. That's not how Jesus looked. I looked like I was pooping out. And Jesus looked like he was passionate, a man on a mission, headed to Jerusalem. And it scared those people around him. Like, what is with this guy? And if we follow him there, are we gonna end up just like he's going to end up? You see the determination of Christ. And then he gives the details. I find it interesting that Jesus, in the midst of the determination that he had, his disciples are amazed, the bigger crowd is afraid, they're scared, that he doesn't sort of try to alleviate their fears by telling them something that isn't true, but instead he says, okay, you're amazed and you're afraid, let me tell you what's going to happen there. And you might ask the question, how did Jesus knew? So he knew, how did he know he was going to die in such a short time? There's really three reasons you can know that Jesus knew. Number one is he knew the scriptures. The Old Testament said it all of the time. Every single thing we're gonna read about Jesus is gonna say here about his death is all recorded in the Old Testament hundreds of years before it ever happened. That he'd be spit on, that he'd be flogged, that he'd be mocked, that he'd be killed. All of it's recorded in the Old Testament. Hundreds of years before it ever happened. I also think that the season, the scripture said it. I also think the season said it. The Jews were sending people from Jerusalem to oppose him in Galilee. He knew that was the hotbed of opposition. He knew that to go there was to lose his life. because the season, the times, just everything that was happening. But there's a third reason I think Jesus knew, because he is the omniscient creator of the universe. The Bible says that Jesus didn't have to sort of guess what was in the heart of a man, because he knew what was in the heart of a man. Remember when the woman at the well came to him in John chapter four? He has the questions asked about her husband. Oh, but you've had five husbands. She goes, you're right, I've had five. He knew the details of her life, so he knew. And what does he say about what he knew? Verse 33, saying, here's the details, see, we're going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be delivered. over to the chief priests and the scribes, or delivered, or betrayed. That's Judas's act. Judas hands him over to the religious leaders, the priests and the scribes, who out of their jealousy and an unwillingness to submit and recognize their Messiah, reject him. And they will condemn him to death. You see these, there's eight verbs here, future tense verbs. He'll be delivered, he'll be condemned. They will condemn him to death. and then deliver him over to the Gentiles. Don't take that word lightly at all, the idea of being delivered over to the Gentiles. Delivered over to the Gentiles was a Jew's biggest nightmare. If you think of the Old Testament, when God judged the nation of Israel, how would he judge them? With the Gentile nations. So to be handed over to the Gentiles, he was handed over to the Gentiles primarily because the Jews didn't have the authority or the power for execution. They could beat him, they could flog him, even though his trial was a total miscarriage of justice, They had no charges to bring against him. They just hated him. They were jealous of him. They didn't want to give up their spiritual authority. They would not submit. They wouldn't submit to his baptism. They wouldn't submit to his teaching. They would not recognize his miracles. And so they deliver him over. to the Gentiles. The book of Habakkuk, I think, is somewhat instructive here. Remember the book of Habakkuk? Habakkuk comes, and he's the minor prophet, and he comes to God, and he just goes, God, look at how sinful your children are. When are you going to do something about your kids? Which, by the way, I must confess to you, on rare occasion, I have the same question I was gonna say about some of you, but I'll just say about some people at the store. You know what I mean? Sometimes you ever see children, you're like, when do you think you might do something about your child? I was working one time many years ago at Sears, and there was this family that would always come in, this was back in my college days, and this family would always come in, and this kid was always out of control, and I always wondered, when is that parent going to, I mean, they were throwing things around the toys section, everything was always a mess, and so finally I decided one day I will intervene and correct this child. It's the last time I've ever done such a thing because I said, listen boy, every day you come in this store, you mess up this section. I got to clean it. I'm going to ask you to stop doing that. And the little boy looked at me and he came over to me and he kicked me as hard as he could in my shins. And I realized I don't, I don't, I don't stand a chance with this child. I'll just clean up the toy section because otherwise it was that or go to jail for kicking the boy back. And so God, in the Old Testament, this is how he would deal with the sinfulness of his children. He would hand them over to the Gentile nations. And so they went into captivity to Assyria, then to Babylon. They destroyed the temple. And God eventually, in his grace, allowed them to come back into the land and rebuild the temple so that Christ could come and be presented there, crucified there. And so God administers discipline through the Gentiles. I want to ask you this question today. How do you receive God's discipline? I also want to ask you today, did Jesus deserve such discipline? No. Here's the point. I want you to get this. By being handed over to the Gentiles, it was a sign that Jesus was under the judgment and wrath of God. Even though he had done nothing to deserve it. Because he was standing in our place. God's condemnation was upon His Son, and one of the indications of that is that He was handed over to the Gentiles. And then notice verse 34, and they will mock Him and spit on Him, as if words weren't enough, cruel words. If you're the Son of God, pull yourself off of the cross. If that wasn't enough, they then resort to something beyond just words, and they spit on our Lord as He's hanging naked on a cross, abusing Him. and they flog him, and they will flog him and kill him. Remember, Jesus is saying all this in the future tense. This is what's going to happen to who? To me. All so that our sins can be forgiven. You say, well, how do we know, how do we know for sure that the Father accepted his sacrifice for our sins? That is in the next verse. And after three days, he will rise. It's the resurrection of Jesus Christ that authenticates Jesus' person, but it also tells us that God accepted his sacrifice. And he rose from the dead. All that Christ said and did is validated by God the Father as he rises from the dead. So what does this mean for us today? First, turn to Matthew chapter 27. I want to take you to Matthew chapter 27. All of this we're reading would be in the future tense. I want you to turn to Matthew 27, verse 27. Matthew 27, 27. This is what happened to Jesus just a short time after he had predicted this. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him, and they stripped him. and put a scarlet robe on him in order to mock him. And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, hail, king of the Jews. And they spit on him and took a reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. Was Jesus accurate in his prediction? He was accurate. That had been decided in eternity past. So what do we make of this passage? Number one, number one, may the determination of Christ make us appreciate in a greater way the affection of Christ for us, and also his devotion to obedience to the Father. So may we see in a fresh way his love for us, and also may we make up our minds to be determined to also walk as Jesus walked in obedience to the Father, even when it means suffering. See, there's nothing wrong, there is nothing wrong with desiring comfort. There's not. So I noticed, as I was getting ready to speak, that I saw people fanning themselves around the room. That means it's hot in here. And so I sent a text message to our faithful Pastor Brad and said, hey, it's a little warm in here, can you turn on it? Listen, I'm not the pastor standing here going, it would be good. if it was a little extra warm in the room today, just to make people uncomfortable. And in case anybody doesn't know Jesus, maybe they would get the idea of what hot is like. There's nothing wrong with asking, Brad, can you turn on the air? We have air. Let's turn it on, amen? Let's use the air. Some of you are still fanning yourselves, like yes, you're making me even hotter still. Turn it down more. There's nothing wrong with desiring comfort, but here's the problem. The comfort, the problem with comfort is, is when comfort determines what you do. Comfort can't make your decisions when you're a follower of Jesus. Obedience and righteousness must make your decisions for you. Not your emotions, not your feelings. You must, we must follow in the footsteps of Jesus. So when you get in the middle of a hard marriage, and I know sometimes people get in a hard marriage, it can't be, it can't be. Well then I just, my first option is divorce because this is just too hard. This can't be the desire God would have for me because this is too difficult. Really? Is it more difficult than the cross? And so sometimes we're given in our flesh to desires that the Bible forbids. And our culture would say, you just shouldn't have to live such a hard life. You shouldn't have to make those kinds of sacrifices. Just live according to your desires, whatever you're attracted to, just go for that. If Jesus had been compelled by comfort, he never would have gone to the cross. He knew exactly what was coming. So we have to make up our minds, no, I love God because he first loved me, I'm gonna walk in obedience. By his power, by the power of his spirit living in me. Can't do it on my own. Secondly, I think that this passage is really instructive in terms of God's love for you. I do. Think about this just for a minute. Jesus knew the price that it was gonna pay to purchase us. He knew. He said, there's no price too high that I won't pay to have these people as my people. I find that incredible because this man wasn't worth a penny. Sinful, separate from God, rebellious, and yet Jesus, while I'm still a sinner, dies for me. So one of the things that most people struggle with is their sense of identity and their worth and value, and today you can just put that Too bad, you don't have to worry about that anymore, why? You have tremendous worth and value because of the price that Christ was willing to pay to have you. And so if you want to be comfortable, that's okay, but don't let your comfort level control you. Instead, be compelled by a love for God that he first had for you. And today, remember that God loves you so much that his son Jesus shed his blood for you. I'm going to ask the ushers to come to the front. We're going to pray. We're going to prepare our hearts for communion. If you're somebody that has given your life to Jesus, this is for you. If you're somebody who has not yet come to the Savior, then we would ask you to just wait. You don't have to be a member of the church, but you do have to have a personal relationship with Christ. And if you want to have that, you can do that now. Last night after the service, there was a young lady that came up. She's a teenager, a high school student. And the family that she stays with didn't know she was a believer and she took communion even after that instruction. And so after the service, they came and they came up to me and they said, yeah, we decided we were going to go ahead and let her take communion because we didn't know, like, we don't think she's a believer. But she asked after the service, she said, no, this last week I gave my life to Christ. That's why I took communion. And so. She got to, she was so excited to tell that, that story to me. And you know what I said? I said, now you have a job to do. Go tell your friends. And she goes, Oh, I'm gonna, don't worry. So, so I want to ask, I want to ask you, have you given your life to Christ? If you haven't, you can do that right now. You can literally, it only takes a moment to confess your sin and to come to the savior. You could do that before the bread gets to you. If you start right now, if you have given your life to Christ, Then when you, will you remember, will you remember this as you take the bread? He knew, he knew what was gonna happen in Jerusalem and he still did it. Out of obedience to the Father and out of an affection and love for you. Let me pray. Father, we thank you for your word. I thank you that you, Jesus, were obedient. Your face was set. You were determined. Because of that determination, because of that devotion to your Father, and because of your love for us, you went to that cross and bore our sin. And we are grateful, and so we take communion today, and we remember. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.