Mark 8:31-38

The date: May 21, 1946. The location: Los Alamos, New Mexico. The experiment: To determine the amount of U-235 necessary for a chain reaction for the atomic bomb. In his effort to discover the amount of uranium it takes to produce the “critical mass,” scientist Louis Slotin would push two hemispheres of uranium together. At precisely the right moment he would interrupt the chain reaction by prying the two spheres apart with the common screwdriver. But not on May 21 for just as the material became critical, the screwdriver slipped. The uranium hemispheres bounced to close together and instantly the room was filled with a dazzling bluish haze. All Slotin would have to do is duck and he would be saved, but instead he tore the two hemispheres apart with his bare hands and interrupted the chain reaction. His unselfish act saved the lives of the seven other individuals that occupied that room. The chain reaction did not instantly kill him. As he waited for the black sedan that would whisk him away to a local hospital, he said to his companion, “You’ll come through all right. But I haven’t the faintest chance myself.” His prediction came true for in less than two weeks later he died in agony. Two thousand years ago, Jesus, whom Mark calls, “The Son of Man” walked directly into the most concentrated radiation of sin’s power ever and allowed himself to be touched by its curse, and let it take his life. By that selfless act he broke the chain reaction . . . he broke the power of sin!5 The text centers on the priority of the cross and the words of Jesus that state, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34 NIV).

I. The Cross Changes our Understanding of Jesus. Mark 8:31-33.

Our understanding of Jesus is that he is the suffering Savior. The truth is evident that he must suffer under the persecution of the “Elders . . . chief priest and the scribes” (v. 31). He will go to trial and his Lordship, Sonship, and Sovereignty will be totally rejected (v.31). Not only will he be rejected, but he will be “killed” (v.31). As crucial as the cross of death is it only serves the purpose of human redemption. The life giving blood that will flow down the wooden cross will only drip into the lives of anyone who will accept the truth. Our understanding of Jesus must also recognize the powerful Savior. His suffering sustains the truth that the blood of Jesus paves the way for the Resurrection of the Son of Man as proof positive of human redemption and eternal life. This power of redemption is in no other person.

II. The Cross Rebukes the Plans of Satan. Mark 8:33.