Afraid or Not

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

AFRAID OR NOT

Mark 9:30-32

30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise."  32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

NIV

We have heard that age old adage about the only dumb question is the one not asked and it sure seems to apply to those disciples. Jesus wasn't hiding from them what was going to happen to him, but they were still thinking in terms of human understanding. We, of course having the full story, know exactly what he meant. However we do not have the full story of our lives and therefore do not know what is in store for us, perhaps even when Jesus tells us. He wants to get alone with us and teach us, let us know what we are to do, but even more importantly he wants to teach us about where we are going. He wants us to know that we too will taste death but we too will rise. Yet there seems to be another truth within this passage which is not so plain, yet is very visible. Why did the disciples not understand and why didn't they ask Jesus to explain further? It seems some of us do not really understand what the scriptures are talking about. It seems there is a lot of confusion about what they mean, which is evident because of so many different denominations, as well as different beliefs even within each denomination. Are we afraid to ask God to explain it to us? He has given us the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truths, so we should not be in any situation where we do not understand, so then why so much diversity? There is only one Spirit and one truth. Is all the differences then caused by men who are afraid to ask him about what he meant? Are all the differences caused by human understanding rather than going to God and asking what is meant by, when you said this, or said that? Maybe that is the center of all divisions, human understanding. Maybe that is the center of all spiritual conflict, not understanding and being afraid to ask. There are many believers who decide to believe something then attempt to prove their belief from the scriptures. But there are also some who base their belief on what is said in the scriptures. This then comes to one with human understanding the other with spiritual understanding, one who is afraid to ask, the other always asking. What we must ask of ourselves is are we afraid to ask or are we always asking? Are we afraid or not?