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耶稣一直在教导什么人才能得救并进入天国，祂的门徒们常感到诧异、惊奇。他们将因着舍弃一切跟随耶稣得到丰厚的回报！（参可 10:24-31）但其他跟随的人却很害怕。他们可能在想：“这到底是什么意思？”

然后，耶稣提醒祂的门徒，等祂到达耶路撒冷时，将会发生在祂身上的事情包括：背叛、戏弄、痛苦、受死和复活。你会认为门徒会停下来思考这一切，尤其是自己是否也会被逮捕。

但是，雅各和约翰却提出了一个令人惊讶的问题。他们问，在耶稣的国度里，他们能否在耶稣的追随者中拥有第一和第二的位置。他们似乎完全不明白；他们基本上忽略了一个事实，即耶稣到了耶路撒冷要受苦和受死。

也许他们只是不想面对这个事实。应对苦难的现实可能很困难。我们可能会想要试图走捷径，避开困难，以完成任务。但是，我们最好去面对医治、修复、悲伤、向自己死和悔改等事情，而不是否认它们的必要性。

耶稣会带领我们去必须要去的地方。所以我们不必害怕，祂会与我们同行。

Jesus had been teaching about who can be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven, and his disciples were astonished, amazed. They were going to be richly rewarded for giving up everything to follow him (see Mark 10:24-31)! But other people who were following along were afraid. They were probably wondering, “What exactly does this mean?”

Then Jesus reminded his disciples about what would happen to him when he got to Jerusalem: betrayal, mockery, suffering, death, and resurrection. You’d think they would pause and wonder about all that, especially if it might mean they could be arrested too.

But instead, James and John raised a surprising question. They asked if they could have first and second place among Jesus’ followers in his kingdom. It seems they were fully not getting it; they basically ignored the fact that Jesus was going to suffer and die when he got to Jerusalem.

Maybe they just didn’t want to face the truth. It can be difficult to deal with the realities of suffering. We can be inclined to try to cut corners, aiming to avoid the hard parts to get to the finish line. But it is better to deal with things like surgeries, repairs, grief, dying to self, and repentance than to deny that these things are needed.

Jesus will take us where we need to go. So we need not be afraid; he goes there with us.