With Easter approaching next week, we’re taking a momentary jump in the sequence from our series on the gospel of Mark to celebrate Palm Sunday, and the confrontational entrance of Jesus into Jerusalum.

Jesus overhears an argument between his best friends over which of them is the greatest. He takes this opportunity to try to teach them the difference between Kingdom greatness and the version they had in mind. This is arguably one of the best core teachings of what following Jesus is really about.

Jesus and his core team come down off their mountaintop experience and into a father’s hell. This time, instead of a Savior transfigured into a heavenly figure, we see a little boy transformed into the torment of hell.

The first half of Mark focused on who Jesus was, and the second half will now focus on why he has come: He was born to go to the cross. Here on the mountain, his closest three friends will get a glimpse of his glory.

When put to the test, Peter will declare that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the son of the living God. But he is not the kind of king he expected. This king must suffer and die.

There have been no shortage of miracles and wonders but the religious people want a sign that suit their tastes. Jesus would have none of it. He chides them for their hardness, their deafness, and their blindness.

This week we look at two stories told back-to-back involving the healing of two Gentiles. This is a fascinating look at the mission of Jesus inviting the broken and desperate, the poor and the powerless to come and eat at the table of the Kingdom.

This week is an unusual change-up of the narrative. Jesus stops and tries to explain the real root of an issue to both his friends and enemies. It is not what they wrestle with outside that ultimately matters. God is concerned about what is going on in our hearts.

It is in the difficult and trying times of our lives that God often shows up in the most unexpected ways. If we fight the urge to panic, those same circumstances can also produce unexpected change in us.

The people chasing after Jesus were looking for a conquering king. They were even willing to make him do it by force if necessary, but can you make God into a god of your choosing?