Fully God and fully Man, that is the standing of orthodox Christianity on the nature of Jesus of Nazareth. Nowhere in Scripture is that more clearly displayed than in the narrative of the arrest, trial, and execution of the Messiah

There is a Spanish proverb that says: “To a good understander, few words are enough”. If you have ever managed a diverse group of students or workers, you have experienced this. There are always a few of them that seem to grasp exactly what you are saying or the directions you are giving, before you are even done speaking. Yes, they tend to make the manager’s job easier; and some days we might wish that everybody else was like them…

If we define the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as the first time that disciples started to follow Him, then we know exactly when that happened. It is recorded in the gospel of John as the day that John the baptizer told His disciples, as Jesus was walking by: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” That day, John and Andrew met Jesus.

By this point in the gospel of Mark, there is no turning back. All events that will lead Jesus to the cross have been set in motion. The religious leaders have seen the size of the crowds and the kinds of emotions He can stir. And they know they are powerless to contradict Him. They have to act before it is too late. Likewise, Jesus has to warn us before it is too late.

The hostility of the religious leaders against Jesus finally comes to a head. It had to happen; Jesus has precipitated it because that is what will lead to the cross. But that doesn’t excuse it. That hostility is recorded in the gospel so that we can learn to recognize it in our own lives

Early in Jesus’ ministry, He told those He healed to go back home and not tell anyone. He was trying to avoid attracting large crowds. He wanted to travel from town to town and teach God’s Word to as many people as He could; and a crowd of admirers would have gotten in the way. But there was another reason to avoid such crowds: in the eyes of the world, a crowd of followers represents power.