Bosses need to review the mission of the organization. Some people say that every 28 days the mission should be reviewed, renewed. Leaders need to be clear about purpose, about passion, about direction. It helps bring about alignment in the organization.

When Jesus told the disciples that they were on their way to watching him be killed, he was doing what bosses, leaders, teachers are supposed to do. And this is the third time that Jesus has told them this in the last few chapters. (Though whether he was meeting the 28 days requirement or not, I don’t know.)

On one hand, this looks like a strange management strategy. After all, most people in most organizations I know would listen to their boss say that he was on his way to be killed and would talk to the board about medical leave for him.

On the other hand, this isn’t an organization. This is not a business. This is not an association or a social club or a lecture series. This is Jesus and a group of twelve guys who have become a band of brothers, a team, a family. They have been laughed at together. They have been in the wilderness together. They have seen things that no one else in the history of the world has ever seen. Though they don’t understand everything, and they will still completely fumble the ball and lose sight of the mission, they are the disciples, the followers.

I’m a little sad as I write. I’m afraid of telling people, sometimes, that if we follow Jesus our kids will still die and we will still suffer depression and we will still lose jobs.

Of course, Jesus also mentioned that after all that stuff happened to him, he would be raised to life.

There is that.