2026-06-07 - Josh Patterson

Well I've pointed this out before but in Mark chapter 8 and Mark chapter 9 and Mark chapter 10.

Three times Jesus tells his disciples what is going to happen to him.

We read that from verse 30 to verse 32 in our reading.

And Jesus is saying that he will suffer.

He's going to be rejected.

He's going to be killed.

And then three days rise again.

And I think we could say in these three chapters, 8, 9, and 10 of Mark, Jesus is specifically talking to his disciples.

We'll read that in verse 31.

It says, because he was teaching the disciples.

And then in verse 35, Jesus sits down and calls his disciples to him.

And so definitely the verses we've read, Jesus is just talking to his people.

But I think we could say that of chapter 8, 9, 10.

And 10.

And so what does Jesus have to say in these verses to his disciples, to his followers? And I think as we think about these few verses, as Christians today, as followers of Jesus, there's still lessons that we need to be learning.

So what is Jesus trying to teach his disciples here? Well, I think it all sort of revolves around pride.

He is trying to show his disciples in their own life where pride has arisen.

And he is trying to train them to teach them about how they are to live, that they should be humble disciples.

What is pride? Well, it's just that feeling of pleasure and satisfaction at ourselves for who we are and for what we have done.

I think there's probably a legitimate satisfaction we can have in work we have done.

I put up some shelves this last week, and every time I walk past them, I look at the shelves and think, well, I did a good job there.

It's borderline pride, I'll be honest with you.

But I think you can have a satisfaction in what you have done.

That is fine.

But sinful pride begins when our focus shifts from gratitude of everyone who has helped us get to this point and all that has helped us to get to this point.