Jesus Stresses Me this I Know

Jesus Stresses Me This I Know

It seems contradictory to admit that following Jesus can actually create stress. After all, doesn’t Jesus relieve us of our worries, call us to come to him and cast our burdens his way and invite us to deep and lasting peace? How could Jesus be the source of my stress?

The truth is, when our lives are not aligned with the will of God, it produces stress in the life of the believer.

Two things Jesus does that can bring us stress:

1. He demands I handle situations

2. He asks me to

Mark 8:22-38

Mark 8:22-25: Only Mark records the man who requires a second touch. Does it seem strange Jesus almost healed him, but not fully? It is unusual indeed. I think this double healing of sight is in Mark at this point in the Gospel because it is a picture of what is about to happen. The blind man is a living parable. Some people have sight, but they don’t yet see fully. That is the disciples. They can see that Jesus is the Messiah, but they do not fully see what it means to follow him. To understand fully, they will need a second touch.

Mark 8:22: Notice Jesus and the man walking out of the village hand in hand. That’s beautiful.

Mark 8:29: Jesus personalizes the discussion about who he is. It is not enough to know what others think about Jesus, he wants them to express what they believe.

Mark 8:29: “Christ” is Christos which means “anointed one.” It’s Greek for Messiah.

Mark 8:30: Jesus demanding his identity be kept a secret is sometimes called, “The messianic Secret.” Three reasons Jesus told them to keep quiet:

1. He wanted people to discover personally who he was.

2. He did not want the crowds to try and force him to become king. He did not come to stir a political uprising.

3. The disciples are not ready to fully share who Jesus is. They still have blurry vision about what means follow.

Mark 8:32: Peter rebukes Jesus!

Mark 8:33: Notice that Jesus does not take kindly to someone trying to correct him. He rebukes Peter. Jesus is stern and direct; what Peter is saying is of the flesh and directed by Satan. He is tempting Jesus, and Jesus will have none of it.

Mark 8:34-38: Jesus has a frank “plain” conversation about what it means to follow him.

Mark 8:34: Following Jesus has two aspects: Denying ones own self in favor of Christ. That is, doing what Jesus wants over what we want. And taking up the “cross.”

What did it mean to “take up a cross” in that culture?

How Does Jesus/His Cross Bring Peace:

1. Jesus does not

2. Jesus gives me a .