Of First Importance

““But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to sanhedrins, and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of Me, as a witness to them. And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations. So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say. On the contrary, whatever is given to you in that hour — say it. For it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. Then brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and put them to death. And you will be hated by everyone because of My name. But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.” (Mark 13:9-13 HCSB)

I live and work in a world dominated by the tyranny of the urgent. In other words, my tasks and priorities are most often determined by whatever is most urgent in the moment. While I suspect your priorities can be determined by what is most urgent, you may not live and work in that environment every day. Many of you know that in addition to pastoring this church, I also work a full time job in information technology. Working in IT is a bit like being a fire fighter. You have periods of mundane tasks and repetitive activity and then something catches fire and you spend hours dealing with the immediate crisis.

Because I’ve worked so many years in this field, I tend to approach all of life this same way. It doesn’t help that I’m a bit of a procrastinator by nature. My wife would laugh at that statement. She’d say, “a bit of a procrastinator? How about a lot of a procrastinator?” Ok, she’s right. Don’t forget, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” (James 5:16 HCSB) So, rather than living life under the tyranny of urgency Jesus calls us to remember and to live according to what is of first importance.

In this opening, Jesus repeats the same phrase He used in verse 5 that we studied last week, but adds one important change: “you watch out” or “be on guard for yourselves!” He adds an emphatic “you” to the phrase. In other words, the danger He’s warning them about is personal and specific to them and about them and deals with how they must face this challenge. In other words, what He’s telling them isn’t just informative and something they need to be cautious about. No, He’s telling them about something that will directly affect them and will be a significant challenge to their faith and intent to follow Him. What was true for them is still true for us. We need to be “on guard” for these same threats to our faithful obedience to Christ.

Jesus then begins to give specific details of the challenges the disciples will face. They will be “handed over” to the sanhedrins (plural of Sanhedrin – referencing the local council that adjudicated any infractions of the Jewish law in towns with 125 or more Jews). This is a recurring theme in Mark’s gospel, but has previously referenced Jesus’ impending arrest, torture and death. To hand someone over is indicative of having authority and power over them, but Mark assures us that nobody has that power and authority over Jesus but God. So, Mark’s previous use of “handed over” clearly indicated that Jesus’ suffering is a part of God’s purpose and plan. I believe Jesus’ use of this same phrase here is indicative of the same truth in the lives of His disciples. What they will suffer for the sake of Jesus name and the proclamation of the Gospel is a part of God’s purpose and plan and is squarely in His hands and subject to His will.

We must never forget, this is still true for His disciples today. The success of the church is NEVER tied to ingenious marketing plans, culturally relevant programming, skilled oration and writing or leader charisma. While none of those things are bad, they aren’t the primary factor in the church’s success. God’s purpose, plan and Spirit is what empowers and drives the overall success of the Gospel.

Notice what He says, “they will hand you over to sanhedrins, you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of Me, as a witness to them. And the good news must FIRST be proclaimed to all nations.” Many have interpreted that phrase, “must first be proclaimed to all nations”, as a way of establishing a timeline of events that MUST occur prior to the second coming of Christ. So, they believe the gospel must be preached to all nations before Jesus can come back. That’s a great motivator but I believe Jesus’ statement has nothing to do with establishing a timeline of events. Why? Because Jesus directly says, “Now concerning that day or hour no one knows – neither the angels nor the Son – except the Father (v. 32).”

I don’t think it is the establishment of a timeline but rather the establishment of priorities. If you naturally read the warnings Jesus gave the disciples, being arrested by Sanhedrin, flogged in synagogues and tried before governors and kings, the natural human reaction is going to be preservation of their own life. But, watch out for yourself and your own reaction to these events because your first priority MUST always be the proclamation of the gospel to all nations and not the preservation of your own life. I believe that interpretation of Jesus’ words is more consistent with His character and overall teaching found in the gospel stories.

Many scholars question whether verse 10 belongs in Mark’s story or if he pulled it in from other things Jesus taught. They believe that these words just don’t fit the flow and context. But if you understand them in light of what I just described, they fit perfectly with what came before and with what follows. Consider it this way: “You, you must guard yourselves! You will be arrested and handed over to the Sanhedrin, flogged in the synagogues and you will stand before governors and kings because of Me, as a witness to them. But your first priority must be the proclamation of the gospel to all nations (ethnos – ethnicities, or peoples). So, when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say. On the contrary, whatever is given you in that hour – say it! For it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”

So, what they are to say when they stand before governors and kings because of their relationship with and loyalty to Jesus? It isn’t a defense of their actions to preserve and prolong their lives, as you might expect, but will be “as a witness to them.” A witness to their accusers of what? Of what they have seen, heard and now believe – the Lordship of Jesus, Son of man and Son of God. They must believe so deeply in what Jesus has shown them, taught them and now calls them to do that they are willing to stand in direct opposition to the claims of their accusers and the authority and will their judges. They must be willing to put their very lives on the line and trust God.

Some believe that the “words” the Holy Spirit will give them will be a means to defend themselves before the laws of men – a valid and irrefutable legal defense. I believe the words they will be given are words of witness – a witness of the power of God through Jesus and to the authority God has given Him over life and death. They will be witnesses not just of what has already happened, the signs, wonders and healings, but witnesses of what is about to happen – the suffering, death and resurrection of the Son of God. The Holy Spirit speaks truth, but He always points people to and glorifies God and His Son.

We need to learn to yield to the words that the Holy Spirit wants to speak through us. Instead of speaking to defend ourselves and our actions in the hope of securing our position in our culture and the preservation of our life, we must be willing to let the Spirit speak the truth of God’s Word, yielding our life to God’s purpose and plan. Guard yourselves, because our natural tendency in these situations is not to pursue God’s plan but to preserve our position and our life. I’m not even going to pretend that most of us, especially in western culture, are facing much risk to our lives when we live in obedience to Christ. American Christians like to talk about persecution, but we have no idea what that even means. We aren’t persecuted, we are simply inconvenienced. However, we have brothers and sisters in Christ all over this globe who face daily risk to their lives by living in submission to the lordship of Jesus and in obedience to God and His Word. We must pray for them and stand with them, but only as we let the Holy Spirit speak through us as witnesses to their accusers.

If you, my friend, are one of those who face this risk as you follow Jesus, know that I stand with you and I pray that you may remain faithful and obedient to the end.

Finally, Jesus tells them as these things occur (the things He describes in the previous verses) “then brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and put them to death. And you will be hated by everyone because of My name.” In other words, the Gospel and their commitment to follow and obey Jesus will fracture their own families. I’d like to be very clear and direct here. This is not because the Christ followers are rejecting their family members, but because their family members are rejecting them and turning them over to the authorities for prosecution, judgment and death.

Let me be blunt here, this is hard. We tend to put family relationships above anything and everything in life. Jesus isn’t telling us to reject our family but He is telling us how to react when our family rejects us and our faith in Him. In these situations, we need to keep a proper perspective. It is better for us to be rejected by them than to reject and walk away from Him. This is the reality and the truth of what we see lived out in the life of our Lord and in the lives of the disciples throughout the New Testament. His family, His brothers and sisters, rejected Him, His words and His claims to be the Messiah. If you’ll recall (see Mark 6:1-5), His sisters (and His brothers-in-law, we assume) were among those who rejected Him in His hometown synagogue. John tells us that “not even His brothers believed in Him” (see John 7:5), at that time.

Jesus is warning the disciples, guard yourselves when these things happen. Don’t give into the temptation to walk away from Me because of your family’s rejection of the truth. Family is important, but not to the point of denying the truth and turning away from God. You might be betrayed by those you love but don’t betray the One who loves you most.

That brings me to Jesus’ final words in our focal passage: “But the one who endures to the end will be delivered (or saved).” He who endures to the end, but the end of what? Clearly, the end here is referencing the end of life. That’s the focus of these last few verses about family betrayal and being killed for radical faith in Jesus. Stay faithful! Endure to the end, the end of physical life. He who endures will be delivered, rescued, or saved. But rescued or saved from what? Rescued from death. Delivered from death to life – eternal life. Life as God has meant for it to be. Shalom, shalom. Perfect peace. Walking with God in the garden.

How can you possibly make the gospel the first priority of life given all the struggles, resistance and threat of death? By clinging to the hope of Jesus’ promise: “the one who endures to the end of life will be delivered!” This is what all of life comes down to: If Jesus really walked out of that tomb on that third day then He promises to enable us to do the same. If He’s alive, then we too will live!

In just a few days, I will face one of the hardest days I face each year – the anniversary of my father’s death. He died 33 years ago and the pain is still very real in my heart. As I write these words, tears well up in my eyes as I think about it. But I can tell you, I stood with my brothers on the day we buried him and we proclaimed to everyone there that my dad was not in that box. His body was in that box, but he wasn’t in that box. Why? Because I know, without a doubt, he was in the presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Just minutes before that funeral service began, I knelt in prayer in the pastor’s office and I prayed for wisdom and strength. I truly didn’t feel like I could step into that room and speak because of the grief that overwhelmed me. But as I prayed, God’s peace washed over me and I knew that I could speak because I knew the truth and the power of His promise. Because Jesus lives, my dad was not dead but was alive, too! He had endured in his faith, to the very end. He would be delivered, according to Jesus’ promise.

I believe Him. I trust Him. I am trying to guard my heart so that I don’t fall victim to His warning in these verses but that I will remain faithful to that FIRST thing, the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to the very end. Regardless of what comes, I will stand firm and endure to the end! Will you stand with me?