What did Jesus want? What did the Son of God want? What did Jesus desire? Did Jesus desire betrayal? Did he desire being condemned to death? Did he desire to be mocked and spat at? Did Jesus desire to be flogged? Did he desire to be scorched, crucified? Did he desire to drink this cup of God's wrath down to the dregs? No, he did not…It was the father's will for the son to die. And why was it the father's will? Well, it was the only way to save us from our sins. It was the only way to save us from desiring our will more than the father's will. The son puts down his will and takes up the father's to save us from desiring our own will more than the fathers.

Twice in our text for this Sunday, Jesus asks, "What do you want me to do for you?" If Jesus asked you the same question, how would you respond?The first time, Jesus asks the question of James and John, who requested: "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."How does Jesus respond to this request? He says, "You do not know what you are asking." 

And the question is about marriage. So we're not dealing with a ceremonial ordinance, but with the moral law. And Jesus already warned not to think that He had come to destroy the law or nullify it. He has come to teach it and fulfill it.

In my prayers for the church and over the sermon this week, the Lord brought to mind Nehemiah chapter 8. Nehemiah had been sent by God to rebuild Jerusalem's physical infrastructure. As he worked to rebuild physical Jerusalem, he enlisted the help of Ezra the priest to rebuild Jerusalem's spiritual infrastructure by teaching the people the Book of the Law of Moses. To truly rebuild the city, the Word of God had to rebuild the people of the city. Ezra got up in the city square, gathered the people around him, and read the Word of God from early morning until midday. The people listened attentively. After reading the Word of God, Ezra enlisted trusted men to help people understand the Law, and "They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading" (Nehemiah 8:8).

And Jesus' answer of course is, "Yes. I didn't come just to save you from hell on earth. I didn't come just to save you from the hell of the Romans, or the hell of the Pharisees, or even the hell of your own sin-infected bodies. I've come to save your soul from eternal hell. And I've come to offer eternal life," which only comes through the death of the eternal son of God who chose to become son of man. So yes, life comes only through death and eternal life comes only through the death of the eternal one, Jesus Christ.

As many of you know, our church body has been fervently praying (for years) for the Lord to allow us to acquire real estate from which to build the Kingdom of God.Tremendous news! The Lord has sent us a building. Well, part of a building. After getting a resounding green light at an emergency members' meeting, we signed the purchase and sale agreement for 20 Chapel St. CS2 in Brookline, just down the street from our current worship location. The centerpiece of the space is a ballroom, encastled beneath three residential towers.If you know about real estate in Boston, the ability to acquire a worship/ministry space is a miracle of untold proportions. All Glory be to God. The miracle continues. CS2 is the left wing of the central lobby. The right wing, CS1 is also on the market. This space would add another 5,000+ sq ft of ministry space, plus it comes with 4,000+ sq ft of unfinished basement space, which could be built into classrooms and offices.We have until September to secure financing for CS2 and raise capital to purchase CS1.Would you help us in the effort? Here's how you can help:

It's the same sentiment in Martin Luther's great phrase, "Simul Justus et Peccator." Lord, I'm a simultaneously righteous and a sinner. I am simultaneously justified by the blood of Jesus Christ, but I'm still a sinner. I still struggle. Lord, I want to see more of you. I want more of your power released in my life and in the lives of the people around me. Lord, help my unbelief.

The last painting by the great artist Raphael is called The Transfiguration, and beautifully and powerfully depicts the account in Mark 9:1-29, our text for Sunday. The top part of the painting pictures the transfigured Jesus, his clothes "radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them" (9:3). To his left and right are Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Below them are Peter, James, and John, blinded by the brilliant glory of the transfigured Jesus. Below the three disciples, the painting gets drastically darker. Enshrouded in the darkness are the rest of the disciples, attempting to cast a demon out of a tormented little boy, to no avail. By the boy's side is his desperate father. Raphael captures the overwhelming contrast between the glorious presence of God in the person of Christ on the mountain, and the demonic oppression below. 

CS Lewis once presented a paper at the Oxford Socratic Club entitled, Is Theology Poetry? And in that paper he has this one line where he says, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." And when you see Christ for who he truly is, you begin to see reality as it truly is.