Not the end...

"He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders...and be killed, and rise again after three days."
Mark 8:31

Jesus foretells the end; how he must suffer and die.  What a shock for the disciples to hear that all they had worked for would end in Jesus' death (they probably didn't even hear the "rise again" part). No wonder Peter rebuked him! And what about us? How would we react if we sat down and had a conversation with Jesus about the end of our lives? Would we protest and say to Jesus, "Oh not that, Jesus! Not that way!" We wouldn't even hear the "rise again" part either. Death is not the end. The rainbow in Genesis (today's first reading, Genesis 9:1-13) should tell us that.  Death is not the end, especially our relationship with God. Death will mark a change for us, like moving into the next room, but it is not the end.  Jesus shocks the disciples when he talks about his death, but we know something they didn't at the time. We know he will be risen on the third day.  And, just as death wasn't the end for Jesus, it won't be the end for us either.  Love, heidi