This time I would ask you to turn with me to your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark. Mark chapter 10 and continuing on where we have left off the last time. Mark chapter 10 beginning of verse 32, which is a short section for tonight. Verse 32 through verse 34. Verse 32, hear the word of God. Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem. And Jesus was going before them. And they were amazed. And as they followed, they were afraid. Then he took the twelve aside again, and began to tell them the things that would happen to him. Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be betrayed into the chief, into the, excuse me, will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes. And they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and scourge him and spit on him and kill him. And the third day, he will rise again. As far as our reading of God's holy, inspired, infallible word, may he add his blessing to the preaching thereof. Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, you may note the title of our sermon tonight is called Dead Man Walking. Interesting, perhaps it It piqued some interest here, but the title here is a phrase that is used in certain contexts and typically may be used of somebody that is doomed, so to speak, or soon to meet some kind of fate that's not beneficial to them. There's a broader sense of that term, but usually it's specifically, and this is where it originated supposedly, is somebody who is being escorted to the place of their execution. It's the appointed time for them to be put to death by the state. for the crimes that they've committed which have warranted such a punishment. It's fixed. It's sure. It's unwavering. And it will happen. And so you can imagine that this condemned criminal is having to walk past all of his fellow inmates and they all know this is the time. This is where he's going. And so they may shout out, as it is sometimes portrayed in popular tropes, dead man walking. Well, he's clearly not dead yet, but given the circumstance, it is as good. He is as good as dead. He's both alive and essentially because of what is to come. That is why they say what they say. And in a similar way, we have that going on here with the Lord Jesus Christ. They are on the road. They're on the road to Jerusalem. And so, what we come to see is ultimately, he's not a dead man walking, and not in that specific sense of the term, because he is the Lord of life and the giver of life, but he is going to an appointed place. A place that had been appointed for him from before the foundation of the world. Because it was the determined purpose and the foreordination of God the Father to send him to his own death. Now picture yourself, put yourself in the shoes of an individual who's walking down a similar path. escorted by an armed guard to your own execution. You hear the shouts from other people saying, we have a dead man walking. How is it then, as you're walking there and being escorted there, that you would walk? How is it? With what manner? With what way here? And I don't think that any of us are going to be skipping and jumping and running up, telling the guards with a note of glee and joy, joking around with them, saying, last one to the gallows is a rotten egg, and you start racing them and helping the hangman get the right size of the noose and things of that nature. No, you will be contemplating the gravity of the situation. You'll be counting down. You've got one more step to go. This is the last one. It's a matter of great gravity. And so it is something for us to consider of how it is our Lord himself walks. And that will be our first point here in our sermon. How it is that our Lord is walking here as one who knows what is to come. How is it? that he walks, as we see outlined for us in this text. And then the next thing, our second point, is where is it that he is walking to? And then third is the response that we are to have, the call to follow him, to follow in his steps. And so first we consider how is it that Jesus is walking here in these verses that are before us. And the only thing that our text says about the manner in which Jesus was walking is that Jesus was going before them. Not much more. It literally means that Jesus was out in front of them. He was leading the way in front of this crowd. But does this mean that he was walking at a faster pace than everyone else? Does this mean that he was running or anything in that way? can't say for sure but we do see that there is something about this in the way that he walked that produced a response of amazement from the crowds and fear And so we have to ask ourselves and maybe scratch our heads a bit and say and ask, well, what is going on here? Why is it that the Holy Spirit saw it necessary to include these details in verse 32? What does this all mean? Well, we start by considering the Scriptures as we aren't told explicitly in the Gospel of Mark. We glean from the whole Word of God. This is the Reformed principle called the analogy of Scripture. You interpret Scripture with Scripture. And where we start is with the immediate context. And we're told at least in verse 32 that Jesus and the crowd, they're walking to Jerusalem. And so that touches on our second point, and Lord willing we'll expand on that a bit more in our second point, but that's the where. We're going to Jerusalem, but for now what we note is that Jerusalem is the place where those things of verse 33 and 34 will unfold. This is the place where Jesus will be delivered into lawless hands. He will be crucified. He will be put to death. And so we have one who is walking to the place of his own execution. And being one that is before them, it appears as though he's doing so with haste, speedily. So how was he walking? Speedily, perhaps, with haste, but what was it really that motivated him to walk in this kind of way, if this is so? To walk at least in a way that was ahead of the crowd and walk in a way that made the crowd note that with a certain aspect of amazement and fear. Now, we certainly do not want to project any of our own imperfections upon Christ, or to think that he is altogether like us. He is without sin. But you think of when somebody has something on their mind, and it is fixed in their mind, and yet they're going about something else, It's almost as though you can't shake them from that thing that's on their mind. They're not going to turn this way. They're not going to turn that way. Let me give you an example here. Maybe some of you would think that I'm a good shopping partner. Others may find it frustrating. It depends on how you do it. Some people like to meander about and look at all the things and see if there are deals and that's one way to go about it, but we would not get along in this shopping area because There's some like you, where you have something where you need, and you know where to go, and where that is in the store. So when you get to the store, it's just a beeline for that thing, or the multiple things, and you get that, and then when you've got them, beeline right back to the register, and back to the car, and it's like you've got these blinders on. You can't see anything else. You've come there for just one thing. One thing that you're there and that's the thing that you're going to do. And so how is it that Jesus is walking? Let's see that it is in this manner, and again, Mark doesn't make this explicit, but as we can glean from further witnesses and consider the analogy of Scripture and factor in how the rest of the Gospel of Mark speaks of it, and how the earlier portions of the Gospel of Mark speak of this, and how it's even explained to us in the Epistles as an inspired commentary, as it were, or explanation of the person and of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, as we consider all of these things of scripture, we note that he is one that walks with resolve. There are many places that we can go to. But we'll go to just one this evening. And I would have you turn there with me. Isaiah 50. Isaiah chapter 50. We use this as a bit of a paradigm for the way and for how he is walking. But as you are turning to Isaiah 50, we'll read verses 4 through 9. We need to take a note that this is a chapter that is about the servant who is the Christ. The one who is anointed and appointed by God to redeem his people. And so this text in Isaiah is about Jesus. And it gives us insight into how he is walking here. And note the way in which this chapter, these verses, describes the attitude of this servant, of Christ, as he goes about this work. Verse four, we'll read through verse nine. The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning, he awakens my ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened my ear and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away. I gave my back to those who struck me, my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard I did not hide my face from shame and from spitting for the Lord God will help me therefore I will not be disgraced therefore I have set my face like a flint and I know that I will not be ashamed he is near who justifies me who will contend with me Let us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near me. Surely the Lord God will help me. Who is he who will condemn me? Indeed, they will all grow old like a garment, and the moth will eat them up. Now, one thing in particular here, emphasizing what is stated in verse 7, saying that statement, I've set my face like a flint. Now, we've mentioned this phrase before, but let's break this expression down a bit. The face is something that is communicating something. The countenance and the expression on the face is something that speaks and shows what's on our minds and it shows what is on our hearts. And so maybe as you're going through the story, people can maybe see on your face that you are there for one thing. And then we have Flint. Flint is a stone. It's a rock. It's something that's hard. And it's not something that you can just bend or twist or this way and that way like you would a piece of rubber. And this is exactly the way that it's used in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 3. There God is preparing to send Elijah to the house of Israel. telling Elijah that, or Ezekiel, sorry, that he will face a people that will not listen to him. Talk about a tough ministry that he had, but the Lord is seeking to encourage Ezekiel. And so chapter 3 verse 8 describes Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. See the parallels that are there between Ezekiel, Isaiah, do not be afraid, the resolve, the determination, and how then that all has bearing upon our Lord and why it is he is ahead of the crowd. How does Jesus walk with his face like a flint, fixed upon Jerusalem, fixed upon a specific thing within Jerusalem, a specific task that he was sent to do? He walks with focus. He walks with energy. He walks with ambition. He walks with an unwavering dedication to fulfill what it is that his father had sent him to do. And it was his food and his drink to do the will of his father in heaven. And that ultimately was for him to save his people by dying in that place of execution. It was reserved, ultimately, at least in the judgment, the legal judgment and determination for the people of God to face that wrath of God. God in His grace and His mercy from before the foundation of the world said, I will send my only begotten Son. And so now he has set his face, he's engaged on this task. He has a good clip going to Jerusalem because he's purposed it within himself. A determination where he will not turn this way. He will not turn that way. He's got blinders on his eyes, so to speak. And we don't mean to speak of this in a fallible or a sinful kind of way, but it is one of focus. So he moved here and he walked with a firm and a steady intention. His whole being, this is as, to borrow the words of Psalm 69 verse 9, his whole being is consumed. eaten up as it were with the zeal, a zeal for the Lord's house, a zeal for the glory of the Lord God. That's how he's walking. He has that chief thing in mind. Borrowing again from Isaiah, he's also walking with assurance. The Lord God is with him. to uphold him, his human nature, for the accomplishment of these things that he was sent to do, the salvation of his people, with assurance. I know how that parallels with our call to worship. The Lord is my shepherd, shall not fear. He is with me. His rod and his staff, they comfort me. He walks also with confidence. I know that I will not be ashamed, says Isaiah 50 verse 7. He walks with boldness. Who is my adversary? Let him come near me. And he walks with love and with grace. For it is also a great joy that is set before him, his cross, his work of salvation. He walks knowingly. This is what is truly astonishing. And this transitions us to our second point, to where he is walking. And there's overlap here because it is building on top of how it is he is walking. He's walking knowingly. Now consider that this is, if you are using the Pew Bible here, the heading of our verses is this is the third time that Jesus predicts his death and his resurrection. And it will be the last time in the Gospel of Mark. And there were two previous times where in chapters nine and chapters eight and they each have a distinct theme to it here. But this third one is the most detailed of them all. It is astounding to the details of the specifics that are there. And this is the reason why there are many liberal scholars and critics that look at this passage and will say that, well, these things must have been put in there afterwards because there's no way that this could happen the way that it had happened. So specific. But this is certainly not the case. It's not put in there after the crucifixion. It's not put in there to make it seem like Jesus was all-knowing. Jesus knew this. He walked with knowledge because he was the one who wrote the script, as it were, of what it is that would happen. He knew what the determined and the purpose and the foreknowledge of God was concerning to Christ because he wrote the book about it. This is what we learn about in 1 Peter 1 verse 11 where it says the spirit of Christ who was in them, meaning the Old Testament prophets, was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. And so we can add another thing to the way in which he was walking. He was not walking in ignorance. He walks knowingly. He walks with his eyes wide open, knowing exactly what is there when he gets there. The details that are here indicate to us a great deal of suffering, but they scratch the surface. He came not just to die. He came not just to die a very cruel death. If you skip ahead that far in our chapter, you can see that there is even a knowledge concerning the depth of that death and that suffering that he will have when James and John challenge him about being the greatest and being at the right hand of Christ and on the left hand of Christ. Jesus alludes to this cup that he will have to drink. What is in that cup that he must drink was the wrath of God against sin. He knew this, and yet he's walking. with such a clip as it were, yet with that determination, yet with that resolve that he has, yet with that great love and grace and compassion that he has for these people that are following him, these sheep that he has set aside and his father has given to him, where he is walking At the end of the day, at least at the end of his time in Jerusalem, was into the fires of hell. Now consider the analogy, the opening analogy about walking, about you being the person walking to your own execution. You may know if it's going to be death by firing squad or ejection or hanging or electric chair or something to that effect. How would you walk if you knew where you were walking was to Golgotha or to be nailed on a Roman cross? Well, the physical pain would be unbearable, I'm sure, but in addition to that, and infinitely much more so, adding that suffering was the wrath of God, the anger, the justice that was poured out upon his only begotten son because our own sins had been imputed upon him. And yet he walks determined to accomplish that. He walks willingly and with that resolve where he will not turn to the right, to the left. Does that comfort you? as we consider how it is that our Lord carried himself in his earthly ministry, being the one who is not only a true man, but true God, the Son of God, who knew the heart of man, the mind of man, who knew what they were thinking, and knew this was coming. And yet it was the will of the father that his son would go and it was a will then of the son because they are in perfect harmony with one another. It was the will of the Holy Spirit also to save his people. With a determination, with a resolve, with anticipation, with even that joy that was set before him. for the salvation of his people. It is as though our God desires the salvation of his people more than his people desire that. Isn't that a comfort though? To consider this great grace and mercy of our God to endure and to continue on in the path and down that road. It ought to be an encouragement to us Because thirdly, we are called to follow in his steps. We are dead men walking, dead women, children walking. Now at the same time, by the work of the Spirit and the life of Christ within us, we are also at the same time alive. We are dead man walking, dead to sin, dead to self, dead to the world, dead to the reputation, dead to the good opinions of others, dead to our own ambitions, dead to our own pride, dead to our sin and to our worldly loves. And maybe even if it be in the Lord's will through his providence, death to our physical lives. The Christian walk is a walk of death. It's a path from our prison cell, so to speak, to the execution chamber, but it is one that has been walked and trod already by our Lord Jesus Christ, and it does not end ultimately in this sad, dismal state, because it issues forth into the New Jerusalem. That is where we are being led. We're not being led to this Jerusalem. That's the Jerusalem that did have all of the mocking and the scourging and the spitting and the death. But the Jerusalem that is coming, the Jerusalem that will come down from heaven adorned as a bride, there won't be any of that. For that zeal, that determination that our Lord had, just as he later on would. fashion a court of whips and things and drive out the money changers from the temple and cleansed out the temple. Jesus has cleansed out and cleared and the path ahead and has given to us a place where there will be no more sin and corruption and things that distort the worship of God and the fellowship with God and walking in step with the Spirit. But as we are here, this world, this life, this path. You and I, we are dead men walking, dead to those things, dead to self. And this may cause that response we see from the crowds, response of amazement, response of being afraid. And so we note that following in his steps, we see how far ahead is our Savior, how far ahead has he walked, and what is his stride. And we cannot match that as we seek to imitate him. He's so far ahead of us. He's so far beyond. He walked that path perfectly. And it can be something that produces an amazement before us. of how it is possible for a human being to do this, and yet this isn't just a mere human being, this is the Son of Man, the Son of God, and this is why it is to Him that we look, and because He walked it perfectly. And so it is with that note of amazement which ought to create within us a spirit of humility as we continue to sojourn in this world, looking to Him, the author, the finisher of our faith. But as we now consider the fact that in this world, in this life, we will have tribulations, we will have trials and struggles, and as Christ suffered in the flesh for us, so we also must arm our minds and our hearts with that as well. And knowing then, as we consider the world in which we live and see how things appear to be slipping away in an ungodly direction, with more and more hostility, more and more violence, we know that this also may be our fate, so to speak, what the Lord has for us in his providence. This is the path that he has trod for us, that he has cleared out for us to walk as those who have been called to take up our cross, follow after him. Does that make you afraid? You fear what is to come. Maybe what is there for the future generation. What kind of world will they inherit? What kind of things will they endure? You afraid of the future of the church? The future of the faith? Are you afraid of you yourself having to endure afflictions and the mocking and the scourging and the beatings and the vile spitting and insults from the world that is hostile? Well, our Lord is one who is going ahead before them, before the people here, and is therefore our pattern, our example. He's the trailblazer setting before us how it is that we should walk. And so we go back and consider how it is that he walked is in many ways the way we ought to walk. We are to be those who have our faces set like a flint, who have the ultimate and unwavering resolve to live solely and wholly for the glory of God. no matter what may come in this world, one that is also not just resolved, but as one that has that assurance that the Lord God is with us, even though by his providence he may bring us through valleys of the shadow of death and dark and difficult things. Yet we have the assurance that our God is with us, just as Jesus had the assurance as the Son of God He walks with confidence. And so we ought to walk with a confidence that indeed a good plan and purpose of our God will come to pass and that our God has ordained and ordered all things to work together for the good of those who love him. He walked with boldness and so we ought to walk with boldness in the face of our adversaries. not fear them, do not fear what pain they may inflict even upon us. Walk indeed with that love, love for the Lord, love for the brethren, but ultimately following in his steps, to go through and walk in and through all of this with joy. Joy. This note, and I'll reference this in passing, we don't have the time to read it all, but this is what Hebrews chapter 11 and 12, Hebrews 11 and 12 expand upon. where there is a promise that is given to the Old Testament saints of a new and an everlasting city that is not made with hands. They knew they were walking out as sojourners and as pilgrims, and yet as those who with faith behold and lay hold of those promises that are given to them, that gives to them that certain endurance by the grace of God, that determination, that confidence, that assurance that the promises will come to pass and enables them to walk in this way. Consider how it is that Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11 ends. Let me turn there a minute. I had it and I think the fan blew it away. Hebrews Hebrews 11, my faith they overcome these things and it goes through at the verse 30 through 40 of all of these various things in these tribulations that they endured. It goes on and on and on. I'll start at verse 36. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth, all of these having obtained a good testimony through faith. did not receive the promise, not in this world, not in this life, God having provided something better, better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which so easily ensnares us, Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author, finisher of our faith, who for the joy, the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He's the author, the finisher of our faith, following in His steps. That is the one to whom we look. Amen. Let us pray. Gracious God and Father, we thank you for the work of our Lord, for a great example that he has set before us. We do pray then that we would, as we look to Jesus and consider and contemplate these things, it would not be a matter of mere information, but it would be applied by your spirit to instill a zeal It's like Christ, one that is determined, resolved, unwavering, and one that ultimately sees a great calling to take up the cross. It's a joyful calling, for it does not only rest here in this world, but it is the promise of the better one. that you have given and promised to us. The new Jerusalem, the new heavens, the new earth. There'll be no more death, pain, tear, sorrow, crying, but we will behold the face of our God and Savior. And it is in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.