Our hearts and His heart.

For the fifth Sunday in Lent, we will be in Mark 9:9-13,30-37, which again shows us our need for Jesus, the Messiah, but also vividly contrasts his heart versus our hearts. Like the disciples journeying with Jesus, often strangely, we are on a quest to be great (v. 34). Jesus, on the other hand, had a remarkably different heart. As Paul Tripp puts it in Journey to the Cross, " He knew his glory and he knew his power but he also knew his calling, and pursued it with joy. Glorious and powerful, he came not to be served but to serve. and to give his life as a ransom for many." We will see that because Jesus willingly died to be raised again (v. 31), we are to tell others about the One who died and rose again (v. 9). But, we also find that this "witness" entails 1) serving like Jesus (v. 35), and 2) welcoming Jesus (v. 37).