Amazed, Afraid, Then Affirmed: Jesus Went Before Them (Mark 10:32-34)

Picture the road. Twelve men are climbing toward Jerusalem, and one Man is out in front of them setting the pace. He is not dragging His feet. He knows what is waiting at the top of that road, and in a few minutes He is going to tell them in the plainest words He has ever used.

He keeps walking anyway.

Mark 10:32 says Jesus went before them. Then it tells you two things about the men walking behind Him.

“And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.” (Mark 10:32-34)

They were amazed, and as they followed, they were afraid. Both happened on the same road, about the same Lord. If you have followed Christ for any length of time, you know that feeling. You look at Him and you are in awe. You look at where He is leading and your stomach turns over.

We think of the apostles as godly and special, and they were. But humanly speaking, they were no different than you and me. God did not use them because of some unique quality. He used them because they were common men willing to be used, sinners saved by grace. Only Judas Iscariot was an imposter, and the Lord chose him knowing full well he would betray Him.

This was the trip that would finish His mission: His death, the shedding of His blood, His burial, and seventy-two hours later His resurrection. Walk that road with the apostles. Watch them be amazed, then afraid, then affirmed. When you can look upon Christ spiritually the way they looked upon Him physically, your life will change.

“Pastor, how can I see Christ in this life?” Right here. This Book. Jesus is the living Word of God, and this is the written Word of God that reveals Him. And if you are saved, the Holy Spirit lives within you and shows Him to you.

Jesus went before them, and He still leads from the front

Notice right off the bat that the Lord leads from the front. He did not sit in the back and send the twelve on ahead of Him.

Have you ever known a lollygagger? You never trust a lollygagger to get something done. Our Lord was not that way. When it came time to go up to Jerusalem and accomplish His passion, He went in full determination, knowing exactly what lay ahead.

“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,” (Luke 9:51)

That is what leaders do. True leadership does not demand obedience to commands the leader has not obeyed himself. Later He would send these same men out knowing their obedience would put their lives in jeopardy, and that most of them would die as martyrs. He led in such a way that their love for Him would carry them the distance, whatever that distance looked like.

They did not grasp all of it that day. But He had already told them who would help them remember:

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26)

I think of a missionary couple who were sitting with us that afternoon. Forty-seven years ago they went to South Africa. In and of themselves, it was not something they would have chosen. God called them, they were surrendered, and they went. When you do something because God is leading you and you are surrendered to do it, God will bless you immensely.

It is not something you have to do. It is something you get to do.

Why were they amazed? He would not turn back

Intrepid is not a word you hear much, but it means incredibly brave, brave at the risk of your own life. That is what the apostles were looking at.

They knew the Pharisees wanted Him dead. They knew He knew it. And He headed for Jerusalem, not hesitantly but boldly, with a determination nothing could turn aside. Why would He do that? He told them:

“Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.” (John 14:30-31)

He did it because He loved the Father. And John tells you what that kind of love does to fear:

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

We get ourselves into trouble when we think we can’t do what God is expecting us to do. When there is true devotion and true love for the Lord, there is nothing for God that you cannot accomplish.

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)

Am I saying you should line up to be a martyr? No. I am saying that whatever God directs you to do, the proof of your love to the world is not grudging compliance. It is cheerful obedience that follows through. The Lord knows you are weak. He knows you are but flesh. But He is the one who empowers you and gives the strength. You falter when you rely upon yourself.

Abraham did not withhold his only son

Remember the story. Sarah tried to help the Lord out by giving Abraham her maid Hagar, and Ishmael was born. Later they did it God’s way, and Isaac came. His name means laughter, because Sarah laughed when God told her she would bear a son long past the age for it.

Isaac was about twenty-two when God told Abraham to take his only son and offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain He would show him. As far as the Bible records, there was no complaining. There was no “What?” Abraham traveled three days to the base of Mount Moriah and told his servants to wait.

“And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” (Genesis 22:5)

Look at the words “come again to you.” We will both come back. Hebrews spells out what was in that old man’s heart:

“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” (Hebrews 11:17-19)

I would love to tell you I had the faith of Abraham. If God told me to take my son up that mountain, I think two factors would work against it. One, I would have a real hard time. Two, I think he would have a real hard time. I’m just being honest.

Up they went, and Isaac asked the question.

“And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” (Genesis 22:7-8)

Centuries later, John the Baptist would point Him out:

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

Isaac knew then that he was the offering. He did not fight it. He let himself be laid on that wood. And when Abraham lifted his hand, God stopped him:

“And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” (Genesis 22:12)

Abraham had not withheld his son. That is devotion proved by obedience. It is the same thing the Lord Jesus said on His way to the cross: as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.

Everything the apostles saw on that road would play into their service after He rose. They would be more determined than ever, willing to serve Him however He wanted, even if it cost their lives. That is the impact Christ has on a person.

Has He had that impact on you? What level of impact have you allowed Him to have?

Don’t half-step with the Lord

The Son of God obeyed every command of the Father.

“And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.” (John 8:29)

He said “I do always,” and He did. Then He turns to you:

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)

So how do you do that? You don’t half-step with the Lord.

When I was in the military, we would march in column. On a turning movement you’d hear “Column left, march.” You turn, and then you half-step, taking short steps until everybody is lined back up. Then “Forward, march,” and you’re off again. The half step is for getting back in line. It isn’t for marching.

Take the full step. Whatever He has laid on your heart, go all the way with it.

God will never ask you to go anywhere He isn’t already out in front. When He called that couple to South Africa, they found a lot of people when they got there. But those people were not the first ones they found. God was already there, preparing the hearts they would witness to. They couldn’t see it. They went by faith, and look what God did.

So never say you will when you know in your heart you won’t. And don’t start a right thing and then stop short. That’s just as bad.

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” (Luke 14:28)

The churches of Macedonia went beyond their power

If you want a pattern for going all the way, look at what Paul wrote to Corinth:

“Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.” (2 Corinthians 8:1-5)

“We do you to wit” means pay attention. Look at this.

They were in a great trial of affliction, and they had great joy anyway. They were in deep poverty, and they were great givers anyway. Their giving came out of the abundance of their joy, not the abundance of their finances. They gave to their power, and then beyond it. And before they gave anything else, they gave their own selves to the Lord.

“Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf.” (2 Corinthians 8:24)

Isn’t that interesting? God measures a great deal of the proof of your love by how willing you are to give of yourself: your time, your talents, your finances. Anyone can serve by the letter of the law. What the Lord looks for is when you go beyond your own power, in His power. Going above and beyond is a heart matter.

Amazement ought to move your feet

Being amazed at Christ should bring you to action, not inaction.

I remember watching a World War II battle scene set during the Battle of the Bulge. The Germans were entrenched in a town called Foy, and the Americans were in the woods. We had bombed that town again and again, but it would never be taken unless men charged in. It was going to cost lives, but the objective could not be taken any other way. As they went in, one lieutenant panicked, and the whole group froze. The major directing from behind shouted at him to move forward, keep going, don’t stop.

Stopping ultimately cost that lieutenant his life. You don’t go so far and then stop. You press.

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)

Have you ever handled a single plow? We had one on the farm. Before my time, a big farm horse pulled it, almost a Clydesdale. By my day we pulled it with an International Farmall H, that old red tricycle tractor. We cut furrows along the road for irrigation and broke ground for my grandmother’s garden. It was a nice big garden.

My grandfather put my hands on the plow and said, “If you push down too hard, it’ll come up to the surface. If you let it go too far, it’ll bury itself. You’ve got to hold it just right.” So there I am, holding it just right. I look back at that furrow and think, wow, look at that. And there it went.

“And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

That is not talking about salvation. It’s talking about being used of the Lord. Sometimes you hit a rock, and I have never seen fields grow rocks like the fields around here. But if you didn’t have rocks in the field, where would the fun be?

It’s good when people come alongside you. That’s what a church family is for. But no matter what anybody else is doing, keep your eye on the prize. It is easy to get so distracted by what other people aren’t doing that you forget what you ought to be doing.

As they followed, they were afraid

Think of who they were following. He was Emmanuel, God with us. He walked on water and calmed the storm. He raised Jairus’s daughter, the widow of Nain’s son, and Lazarus. Now He was heading into the greatest battle of all. He would be reviled, ridiculed, and worst of all rejected, and the Father Himself would turn His face away. Knowing all of that did not stop Him.

The apostles were afraid for themselves and for their Lord. Yet on that road they did not fall away. They were fearful, yet faithful. But in a few days they would all flee, and Peter was the most adamant of them:

“And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.” (Mark 14:30-31)

They all fled, and Peter denied Him just as the Lord said. On the third denial, as the cock crowed:

“And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.” (Luke 22:61-62)

I call that a watershed moment. After that night, Peter never wanted to feel that way again.

I believe each of us has moments like that. We talk about what we are going to do for the Lord, and then we don’t do it. So we humble ourselves before God, beg for mercy, and ask His forgiveness, which He gives. All the fluff and all the self-righteousness get out of the way.

When we are nothing and He is everything, He will use us.

Then they were affirmed

Those humbled men became thankful men. After the resurrection they were thankful for three and a half years of training, and humbled to be part of the most significant movement in the history of mankind. From then on they followed with unfaltering determination, even to a martyr’s death.

And the world noticed.

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

The apostles were amazed at what they saw in Christ. Later, people were amazed at the apostles, because they saw Christ in them. He had told them it would be so:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:12)

It is still true. When Christ shows in your life, people see something they can’t name. How does that person have such peace? How can they face that awful tragedy with that kind of comfort? It eludes them, because they don’t know the King of peace. The answer is Him. It’s all the Lord.

On that road in Mark 10, they did not understand what He meant when He said He would rise again. But they kept following, and after He rose, He finished what the road had started:

“Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,” (Luke 24:45)

They followed the Lord, and then they led the followers.

Jesus went before them, and He goes before you. Whatever He has laid on your heart, He is already out in front of it. You may be amazed. You may be afraid. Will you follow Him anyway? Take the full step. Don’t look back. Go.

Adapted from a message preached from Mark 10:32-34.