Mark 8:34-38; 10:1, Discipleship is for the Home

Mark 10:1 is important.  You might think it is “just geography.”  But it reminds us that Jesus is still on His way to Jerusalem.  Note the accompanying map and the blue lines that give a general idea of Jesus’ movements in the days leading up to His crucifixion.  Joining the four Gospels, Jesus had been in Bethany for the raising of Lazarus.  John tells us that from there He and the Twelve went to a village called Ephraim (Jn. 11:54).  When it was time for Him to move He headed north into Samaria and east down the mountains into the Jordan Valley.  Here He caught the road to Jerusalem, joining crowds that typically traveled that road to and from Galilee.  Because Passover was near the road would have been even busier.  The road took them to Jericho and then up to Jerusalem. 

Why is this important to know?  Because we need to understand that Jesus’ words in Mark 8:34-38 are still in operation.  “I am going to Jerusalem, and if you want to come with Me you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.”  This is all about following Christ in complete submission.  What He was doing, heading to the place of the cross, and how He did it, in complete obedience to His Father, was the “what and how” necessary for any who would follow Him. 

This call to discipleship made perfect sense as Jesus spoke with His disciples about “greatness.”  But we have now come to teaching on divorce and marriage, and to the blessing of children.  We need to be sue we understand that we are still under the same “rule of life.”  The call to discipleship extends to the way we live our lives in our homes as well as out in the community.

I have a real love for Psalms 120-134, the “Songs of Pilgrimage.”  Pilgrimage is the OT version of discipleship.  These fifteen songs speak of the journey of the saint from the evil world into the very presence of God in the temple of Jerusalem.  Each Psalm tells how the Creator of heaven and earth will protect him along the way, through life with all its difficulties.  Amid these Songs are two, 127-128, that speak of the pilgrim’s family and marriage.  “Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain who built it.”  Marriage and family are a normal part of the pilgrimage.  So is the case with “discipleship.”  The life principle of “deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me” is to be lived out at home as with the rest of life.