Jesus in Mark: Wk 15

James and John ask for GLORY!

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Story of getting into full time ministry:

CF serving for nothing and call from D Young, Idlewild, call from Chris, minimum wage and dirty tasks (resource room, dumpster diving, and SATURATE!), now HERE, call from Daniel that I didn’t see coming! I never ever imagined being a full time pastor on staff at a church, being able to do all that we do and spend this incredible time with you! Can I tell you, if I was demanding that all those years, or trying to get ahead, I likely wouldn’t be here. I had no clue where I was going, no clue how to get a job, but every step of the way God provided it, he answered prayers and opened doors without me having to elevate myself.

I share this story with you all for 2 reasons:

It’s just awesome to share how God has moved and provided for me and Jenna over the years and how He got us to where we are now!

It also deeply ties into our passage for tonight in seeing God move us to different places, giving us new opportunities, not because we were trying to get some big, fancy job at a massive church- but because we served where he had us until he moved us somewhere else.

We are not called to seek our own glory, fame and recognition, we are called to serve people like Jesus has served us. Out of that we can trust God to take care of us and increase our platform if He chooses to do so.

It is easy to be either scared of never going anywhere in life, or OBSESSED with it.

God calls us to be faithful servants where we are, and He will take us where we need to be! He will elevate us to positions of influence or recognition, if that’s where he wants to use us!

Bottom Line Tonight: Don’t follow fame, follow Jesus!

As we begin tonight I want to ask you a question: what is the one big thing you want Jesus to do with your life, what would it be? maybe a job, or a lifestyle, or a college or a location to live whatever it is… If you could ask Jesus to do anything you wanted with your life in the future, what would it be? Think about that, hold onto it, because we will come back to it at the end of tonight!

But Turn with me now to Mark 10. We left off before the break in the verses just before our passage tonight. Jesus encountered the rich young ruler. We said, There is a cost to following Jesus but the reward is worth it!

It was awesome by the way, the morning after that wednesday night service, I had the chance to go to Kernodle middle school and speak at a club there- shout out Alexis for being in there with Mrs. McCraw. But God led me to share a version of that same message and share the gospel with them, and hey- multiple people in that club responded to the Gospel and were saved, isn’t that awesome? God is good and the Gospel has the power to save the lost.

But that’s where we left off. Now we are in verse 35 tonight.

But just before this passage, Jesus again predicts his death to the disciples. They are on the road travelling to Jerusalem where He will be arrested, beaten and killed, and he will rise from the dead on the 3rd day. And he tells them that is about to happen when they get there. Immediately after this we see a very interesting conversation take place. We have James and John, two brothers who were some of Jesus’ closest disciples.

Let’s jump into the text and see what happens:

Mark 10:35–45 (CSB)

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.”

“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them.

They answered him, “Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory.”

Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

“We are able,” they told him.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

When the ten disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John. Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Immediately following Jesus telling them for a THIRD time, hey I am going to Jerusalem to be tortured and killed, James and John are like ok but we want you to do something for us.

Hold up.

What is going on here? Is it really that random? are they that selfish? Do they not understand what is going on?

Well, yes and no for all of those questions I think.

First, it’s not necessarily random.

They just heard Jesus say they were going to Jerusalem for all this to happen- they realize Jerusalem is a big deal, it is the hub of Jewish culture, it is a the major religious and political center for their people. So they realize, Jesus is about to do something major. He is finally going to start that kingdom that He has been talking so much about.

And yes! Yes, the kingdom of God is about to be brought near to us through what will happen to Jesus in Jerusalem but not like they think. It will be through Him dying and raising from the dead.

But let’s look at their actual request, or honestly DEMAND is more accurate:

Mark 10:35–36 (CSB)

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.”

“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them.

Just look at how they ask it: you ever had a little sibling or a friend come up to you and make you promise to say yes to something before you know what they want? RED FLAGS EVERYWHERE right?

But Jesus doesn’t completely shut them down as we would, I mean for our case I’d be like absolutely not, go away!

But Not Jesus, he says , well, what do you want me to do? He invites them to reveal their hearts to Him. What is it that they desire so much? Jesus know their hearts but gives them space to express it to Him.

Their demand:

What do they want? Well, they want to sit at Jesus right and left hand in His kingdom.

This means to be second and third in honor and importance in a kingdom.

So, they realize Jesus is about to be on the throne of this new kingdom, they want the big positions alongside him.

Remember they still don’t even understand that it’s not a fully physical kingdom that is about to begin in Jerusalem. So, they genuinely are asking for Jesus to elevate them to positions

Now, this isn’t completely crazy to ask because Jesus had promised his disciples seats of importance in his kingdom prior to this. But you can see their hearts here. You can see their motivation. They trust Jesus and believe in his kingdom, that’s good, but they are focused on elevating themselves up to a place of importance and authority- that is the problem.

They are focused on the fame, the power, the position, the recognition, the SEATS OF HONOR!

They are focused on getting themselves ahead, not necessarily serving well where they are.

And Jesus asks them a tough question: Can you drink the cup I will drink and be baptized with my baptism?

They immediately say yes… which is weird because the cup and baptism that Jesus is referring to are symbols for his suffering in torture and death on the cross.

That’s a weird thing to immediately say yes to. Like do you want free chick fil a? YES! Do you want to go to the beach? YES! Is Eden the cutest baby ever? YES!

Easy yes’s!

But DO YOU WANT TO SUFFER AND DIE on a roman torture device? I’m sorry but that’s not a quick and easy yes for me.

Now, they say yes, which shows they do have serious faith in Jesus, like apparently they truly are willing to suffer and die for His sake, but Jesus continues to correct them.

Read with me Mark 10:39-40

Mark 10:39–40 CSB

“We are able,” they told him. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

This is a tough moment, because Jesus is foreshadowing and prophesying Jame’s and John’s future. HE is like, yeah, you will drink the cup and be baptized with the suffering and death that I am about to face too.

James will be the first ChristIan killed for his Faith in Jesus. We have this story in Acts 12.

John will face severe persecution, he will even be exiled from the rest of the population because of His faith.

So yes, they will drink the cup and be baptized with this suffering and even death.

But Jesus goes on, they can’t demand the seats of honor.

He says, that is not for Jesus to give, it is prepared for people already chosen by God the father.

Meaning, God knows, he has chosen who will sit in those seats. We don’t need to know where our seats are, that’s not where our focus should be. Our focus is meant to be on following Jesus as Lord.

Have you ever heard people constantly talking about like earning jewels and rewards in heaven? Like, not ONCE Is that the focus of Jesus’ teachings about the Kingdom of God. He tells us the kingdom is here now, and it will be here fully when he returns, so LIVE AS HE HAS CALLED US TO LIVE, because that is how life works in the Kingdom. That is how we find blessing and abundant life- in following Jesus.

Then, James and John go back to the disciples and they chew them out! You ever messed up in front of your friends or siblings, they all watched you get in trouble and then you go back to them and they just roll you for it?

WE TOLD YOU NOT TO! Y

OU REALLY THOUGHT YOU COULD DO THAT?

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

Unfortunately, the disciples were likely not just correcting James and John, they were most likely mad because they all wanted those seats too and they were made James and John tried to finesse them for themselves! They all had the same heart problem, as we do!

We want the fame, we want the recognition, we want the promotion, the award, the applause. And we usually want it without the work too!

Jesus sees this heart among his disciples and he takes a moment to address it with them all.

Read again with me:

Mark 10:42–45 CSB

Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

He is like you all desire to be in control over others, you want to have power and fame and wealth and authority. But that desire is like the world.

Our world brags about their follower count

Our world desires power over people

our world seeks fame and influence.

Why gen z wants to be famous infouencers.

But verse 43: Mark 10:43 “But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant,”

This is NOT FOR YOU!

He speaks identity into them. He says not my people, not my kingdom, not my followers. This is not for you! You are not to be focused on fame and power, focus on being a servant and slave.

That sounds wild to us, until we realize that is exactly what Jesus came to do. He could’ve come as a big powerful tyrant king and killed everyone who rejected him, wipe away sin and force us to obey him. But he didn’t.

Instead, he saw we were slaves to sin, so he came as a servant to sacrifice his own life for us, so we could be set free!

Jesus came serving people, He gave his entire life for us because of God’s love for us! Romans 5:8 “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus came to serve and give his life for us, why would we think we should desire more than servanthood to others. We love because He first loved us. We serve because JESUS served us to the point of giving up his own life on the cross for us!

He did not come to be served like any other earthly king would.

No, he came to serve us and give his life for us.

Don’t follow fame. Follow Jesus.

Don’t seek a platform, serve people!

Whether that is at school, serve people well.

At home, serve your family well.

Here at church, Serve people well!

I want us to get to the point where we have students leading the charge in serving across this church. WE should be first for every event to sign up to serve!

Holding doors open, welcoming guest, being on evangelism teams.

We are called to serve like Jesus. Giving up our comfort, our convenience, our desire to be noticed or lifted up.

But first, we must realize we are not called to be famous, we are called to follow Jesus.

Fame, and things like it, makes you known by lots of people. That can be cool, sure. But also terribly stressful and hard.

In Jesus we are known by God. If we are known by God we are famous enough. The second you understand that, you will realize you don’t have to strive for any position, or push others down to get ahead. No, you can serve faithful in the shadows wherever God has you and He will elevate you if he chooses to! He will provide for you, He will bless you right where you are.

If we are known by God we are famous enough, so don’t follow fame or popularity, or influence. Follow Jesus and trust Him to use you as you serve those around you.

Bow your heads and close your eyes with me.

Story of Bartimaeus:

Immediately following this:

Mark 10:46–52 CSB

They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many warned him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, “Have mercy on me, Son of David!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up; he’s calling for you.” He threw off his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. Then Jesus answered him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Rabboni,” the blind man said to him, “I want to see.” Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.” Immediately he could see and began to follow Jesus on the road.

This is the exact same question he asked James and John. He gave Bartimaeus the chance to reveal his heart. He could’ve asked for anything. He called Jesus MY LORD and said he wanted to see. He believed in Jesus, He knew he could heal him and he wanted that new life.

Jesus heals him and Bartimaeus immediately begins to follow JESUS!

You can ask God for your own glory

or You can ask God to give you sight- to see how to follow HIm and serve

Text in TEST:

Response: What do you want Jesus to do for you?

Give you glory: James and John?

Give you sight: Bartimaeus, finding life in being known By God and following Jesus?