As Jesus was trying to help his disciples understand the

suffering and death he was about to endure, the disciples were arguing about

their status and jockeying for positions of honor. That sounds childish and

insensitive to us, doesn't it? Today on Truth for Life we'll find out why we

shouldn't be too quick to judge them.

Alistair Begg is teaching from Chapter 9 in Mark's Gospel.

Well if your Bible is open at Chapter 9 you're looking down at the section

that begins at Verse 30. We're looking at the three occasions recorded for us by

Mark in which Jesus predicts his passion. We began last time in Chapter 8 and

Verse 31 and noted that on that occasion the teaching of Jesus concerning his

suffering and death and resurrection then produced what we refer to as an ill

conceived rebuke. This morning the subsequent prediction which

interestingly is in Chapter 9 and Verse 31 we've gone from 831 to 931. This

particular prediction comes in the context of what I want to refer to as an ill

advised argument, an ill advised argument. And once again the teaching of Jesus is

responded to by the disciples in such a way as to reveal just how little they're

really getting of it, how difficult it is proving for them to grasp the nature

of the kingdom of God, how their human valuations need to be reoriented, how

their center of gravity needs to be replaced, how their topsy turvy thinking

needs to be brought under the tutelage of the words of Jesus himself. As I study

this passage I came to the conclusion that we can deal with it I think in a way

that is understandable and manageable by paying attention to two questions. One

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