This is another one of the parables that is a judgment against the Pharisees and against the religious rulers and against the people of Israel who have rejected the prophets and now are rejecting the Christ. And so, what is Jesus talking about here? What is this parable? Well, we just read it, but let's review it just a little bit. The idea here is that this man got this vineyard and this wine press and did everything to this property to prepare it to yield the harvest. He sends servants to do the harvest, and the people that work there keep killing them or beating them.

So, to understand this passage for today, we need to think back. We need to remember what happened when Jesus came in for the triumphal entry. What did Jesus do? Where did he go? And what was the big deal about what happened when he went there? Well, he went to the temple. Now, remember, when we talk about Jesus going to the temple, he is not going to the temple and going into the most holy place. He wouldn't have been allowed there because he wasn't a priest and a Levite. So, when we say that Jesus went to the temple, he went to the outer court.

Our passage for today has this going back to that fig tree from just a few verses ago. They're coming back to Jerusalem and they see the fig tree again. It's the morning, and Peter notices and points out that what Jesus had commanded, what he had cursed had come to pass. And so, Jesus takes this opportunity to have a little discussion with his disciples about prayer, and he says to them to have faith in God. Now, Jesus goes on to use some hyperbole. He says, Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and thrown to the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, believes that what he says will come to pass, it'll be done for him. ' Now, is Jesus suggesting that his disciples should renovate the landscape of the Middle East using their faith? No, he is not.

Our passage today, because it happens during the period of Passion Week, is relatively familiar for us. We're not sure what to do with a lot of it, but we know the story, and we are probably familiar with Mark's quick telling of it because it's just easy to remember. It's a quick hit of it. But these events happen in other Gospels. Now, we usually read through the text, and we don't want to do too much interpretation in light of what is coming after, because if we're reading it for the first time, we don't know what is coming.

So, where we land today with the triumphal entry, has us understanding one thing as we continue through the Book of Mark. Business is about to pick up. This is the beginning of passion week. We see Jesus arriving near Jerusalem, and he asked for his disciples to get the cold. We know this story. And ultimately, what is happening here is Jesus is coming into the city and people have heard about him. We've been seeing the excitement surrounding Jesus, the people who have been following him and people thinking they know who he is. And now this excitement is going to follow him into Jerusalem where things are a little bit different. So far he has not been around Jerusalem.

So, as we land here in the end of chapter 10, we come across another story of Jesus healing. And what do we see about Jesus here? Who is he with? He's with his disciples. We expect that. And once again, we see something else we expect because we've seen it so many times in the Gospel of Mark, he is with a crowd. And so, he is walking and Jesus is in the midst of all these people, and the word gets out. Now, it seems as though Bartimaeus must have been able to ascertain that this was a crowd, and the word must have gotten to him that Jesus was the reason for the crowd. He can't see Jesus himself.

Where we land today is one of my favorite passages from the Gospel of Mark. It's an interesting story. We have seen the disciples asking questions that are getting them in trouble with Jesus because they are seeking to elevate themselves. They're not seeking to be servants. And this one has two of the best-known disciples doing just that: James and John go up to Jesus and ask to sit at his right-hand and his left hand in his glory.

Like I said, this is a big chunk of text today getting us through a whole lot of Mark Chapter 10. It is, once again, a very well-known story. And here it is. This young man comes up to Jesus and asks what he has to do to inherit eternal life. Well, the first thing that Jesus does is confusing to us because we know that Jesus is good. He is without sin. But what does he ask the young man? Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. What Jesus is trying to do for this young man here is to say, Hey, look, only God is good. Jesus isn't saying that he isn't good, that Jesus himself isn't good. He is saying that you need to understand that only God is perfectly holy.

So, on this Wednesday, we come once again to a very well-known passage of scripture here in the Gospel of Mark. We see what is happening. Jesus is teaching and little children are being brought to him. Now, notice here, they're bringing the children. These are not kids walking up to Jesus. The idea here is that these are small children who are not able to come on their own. And so, the disciples rebuked the people that are bringing these children.

As we step into Chapter 10 of Mark, we come to Jesus teaching about divorce. Now, this is an interesting passage because we have these questions too, right? Well, the Pharisees come to Jesus and ask a very vague question, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Now, there's no situations attached to this here. It seems as though the Pharisees are trying to do what the Pharisees often do. They're trying to trap Jesus.

This is one of those passages where Jesus puts it all out there. He is really intense here. And it's important that we understand and remember the context that comes before this. We've looked at it in the last few passages. The disciples aren't getting it. They don't understand what Jesus says that when he is going to suffer and rise again, they're asking questions like, which one of us will be the greatest when we enter his kingdom? Truly, they do not understand. They're more concerned with their own prospering here than really what the ministry of Jesus is and what it will be. The disciples just don't get it.

As we arrive in this passage today, I think it is important that we understand that the first part, which seems to be detached, is what informs the second part. There's a reason these two stories are by each other. Jesus is once again foretelling his death and his resurrection. In fact, He says in verse 31, The Son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he was killed, after three days, he will rise. Now, to you and I, that is very clear, very cut and dry here.

Well, this passage is a little bit longer than some of the other passages that we have been looking at, and it is very unique. But we see some themes repeating themselves. That's what we're going to really see as we look into this passage a little bit today. Well, the story is pretty straightforward. This man brings his son, who is having issues with a demon, to the disciples, and they are unable to cast this demon out.

I believe that one of the more difficult things to understand in the life of Jesus is what we have read today, the Mount of transfiguration. What is this all about? What's going on? Well, I think the way that we have been going through Mark really helps us to understand what's happening here. What have we been seeing throughout the entire Book of Mark so far? This Messianic Secret, this idea that Jesus is veiling the truth, even from his disciples, not just from the people that are out seeing him, but even his disciples don't fully understand who he is.

In order to understand this passage, we have to think about the context of what we read just two days ago, when we were looking at Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ. Peter has just been the man who has just said who Jesus is. He is right. He is on point. He knows this to be true. And it seems as though Peter here is no longer the guy who messes things up, right? Instead, he's the guy who gets it. But now we have Peter not truly getting it. We're seeing the full story here because Jesus is going on about all the things that are going to happen that he isn't going to be liked by the Pharisees and the elders and all these chief priests, etc. And in fact, they're going to kill him. And then he also tells them that he is going to rise again after three days.

As I said, this is a very familiar passage. I'm sure many of you, when I started reading it, you said, Oh, it's this one. This one occurs in other Gospels too. This is an important moment. What is happening here. They're once again traveling. They're moving away from people, more than likely. Jesus decides to ask people something. The crowds are talking about Jesus. Everyone has, I'm sure, a very strong opinion about Jesus and who he is and whether or not they believe what he's doing and whether or not he is actually the one that they've been hoping for, the Messiah.