The Definition of Greatness (Mark 9:30–41)

CPT: Jesus teaches his disciples that greatness is in serving the least because of him just as he will do on the cross.

Purpose: To teach the church about serving.

CPS: Greatness is in serving others because of who Jesus is in your life.

Greatness is in serving the least because of your faith in Christ.

Greatness is in aligning your life with the mission of Christ.

Introduction

If you’ve been following our series in the Gospel of Mark, one thing that’s been uncanny is how many times the Lord is addressing something we are going through in the moment just by us going through the text of this book. It’s really been hitting home.

You’re preaching the Word of God, and you know that the Word of God is, as it says in Heb. 4:12 “living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” We know that God uses his Word to teach and to guide.

The Spirit of God has done this miraculous job in our church to teach us about current things that are going on at Catalyst through verses that were laid out months ago. We are just going through the book and preaching whatever is next.

Once again, the Lord is teaching us this week through his Word. This week, the Lord is teaching us about service. Over the last couple of weeks, the Lord has given a Masterclass on what it means to be a disciple. A couple of weeks ago, we started in Mark 8:34, where we preached about following Jesus, where Jesus talks about this denial of self, taking up our cross, and following him. Last week, we talked about the importance of prayer in the Christian life. This week, we’ll talk about being a servant.

This week, the Lord not only teaches us about being a servant, he has shown me and us through people.

We have had an incredible week this past week at Catalyst Church. The Lord has blessed us with an incredible partner church in Birmingham, Alabama, called Valleydale Church. We got connected with them last year, in just a miraculous way, and they have been so gracious and loving to us and our congregation. We are so thankful for Valleydale, and if you are ever in Birmingham, Alabama, I hope you’ll visit them.

This week, Valleydale sent a missions team here, and they are some of the greatest folks that you’ll meet. They are splitting time between us and another partner church in Chula Vista, but we are thrilled to have part of their missions team with us this morning.

Show slides

The whole team came out to our church on Wednesday and did an amazing job cleaning and preparing one of the rooms in our preschool to accept new children this coming fall. We have a preschool here Monday through Friday. We have a small amount of kids and have room to grow. If you know of parents looking for a preschool for their kids, please point them our way. We have programs that can help with cost.

Their team came in, cleared out a room, organized, cleaned, scrubbed, and made it look brand new and ready for children this fall. Then Bubba from their team joined me Wednesday night as we went to a local homeless shelter, East County Transitional Living Center in El Cajon, CA, where we shared the Gospel and connected with some of the residents there.

Then Thursday, the whole team purchased a bunch of hamburgers and hotdogs at Walmart and had a cookout for Police Officers at our local division here, the SDPD Southeaster Division. The Captain let us know how they had just had a conversation with someone on how they could boost employee morale among the officers, because they have lost quite a bit of officers due to all of the stress particularly from the last few years. The officers were so grateful. They gave our team a tour, and the kids got to see a Police low-rider, which is probably the most California thing I’ve ever heard.

Then Saturday, as I came to the church to prepare the sermon, another team from Principe de Paz, our local church partner who meets here to reach the Spanish community in our area, they were here in the back fixing and repairing our stairs. I didn’t know about this and was blown away to see them back there finishing up the needed repair on our stairs.

This week, we’ve had example after example of what it means to be a Christian who serves others.

I’ve learned this week from others and from what I will share with you today from God’s Word. You know, we want to reach people in our community. There are many ways to do that. But I’ve asked myself, what is it that God wants us to do?

I’ve wanted to know why we are serving. I don’t want to just come up with activities for us. There are a lot of different ways to serve, but what makes sense for Catalyst. We have people in our church working 2 and 3 jobs, others with health problems and other things going on. We don’t need more activities. What makes sense for us? In anything that we are doing, I ask, “Why are we doing this?” I want our church to feel refreshed and renewed. I want to know, “Why are we serving?”

The Lord will answer that question today as look at the Gospel of Mark 9:30-41. In your bulletin, it says 37, but we’ll go up to verse 41.

Scripture Reading

Mark 9:30–41 CSB

30 Then they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know it. 31 For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later.” 32 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him. 33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.” 36 He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.” 38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.” 39 “Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle in my name who can soon afterward speak evil of me. 40 For whoever is not against us is for us. 41 And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ—truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.

Pray

As we look at this text, this is the second time in the Gospel of Mark that Jesus has predicted his death and resurrection. The first time he did this was back in Mark 8:31:

Mark 8:31 CSB

31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days.

This is similar to what we see in Mark 9:31. In both circumstances, after the first prediction in Mark 8:31, and the second prediction in Mark 9:31, Jesus immediately moves into a lesson on discipleship, on what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

After the first prediction of his death and resurrection, Jesus tells them in Mark 8:34, do you want to be my follower? Do you want to follow me? Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me. So the first time he predicts his death and resurrection, he says, “Okay, let me tell you what it is like to follow me.”

In the second prediction of his death and resurrection, we see the same thing. He again says, I’m going to die and rise again, so let me tell you what it takes to be my follower.

Jesus is giving a Masterclass on discipleship. Do you want to be a follower of Jesus? The Lord is showing us what that looks like.

There is an interesting conversation that the disciples are having on the road that needs a bit of context. It says in Mark 9:33-34:

Mark 9:33–34 CSB

33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest.

Now, why are they having this argument? Remember what has just happened in the Gospel of Mark. Remember that Jesus preaches to the crowds, and he had many followers. Then Jesus had these distinct group, the Twelve, disciples he had chosen to be in this group. He spent a lot of time with these twelve.

But out of these twelve, there were a core group of three disciples, Peter, James, and John. We talked about these core three disciples earlier in this chapter. I want you to see this picture. Jesus told the group this in Mark 9:1:

Mark 9:1 CSB

1 Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”

Soon after this, Jesus chooses three of the twelve disciples, Peter, James, and John, to go up with him up a mountain. They get to the top of the mountain, and the Lord is transfigured before them. He is shown in his glory, and is shown with Moses and Elijah. Then the Father speaks from a cloud.

Peter had been up there on the mountain, and he didn’t know what to say. He says this in Mark 9:5-6 “Rabbi, it’s good for us to be here. Let’s set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— because he did not know what to say, since they were terrified.” Peter is scared, and tries to come up with something to say.

While all of this mountaintop experience is happening, at the bottom of the mountain, the rest of the disciples are having a tough time. A father seeks out Jesus to get rid of a demon from his son. He doesn’t find Jesus, but he finds his disciples, which seems like the best next thing. He asks the disciples to get rid of a demon from his son, but the disciples at the bottom of the mountain could not.

So when Jesus comes down the mountain with Peter, James, and John, the rest of his disciples are at the bottom of the mountain saying, “Jesus, I know you gave us authority over demons, but we’re having trouble with this one.”

So you can picture these disciples now, as they are walking along, wondering if its such a privilege to be in the Twelve, because these three seem to have been singled out to go with Jesus to the mountain. They’re looking around at each other and wondering, “Okay then, who is the greatest among us? Is it Peter, James, and John?” Maybe some others are like, “But Peter and his attitude!” Didn’t Jesus rebuke him and say, “Get behind me Satan!” (Mark 8:33).

Why would they be worried about position, anyway? Why would they be worried about who was the greatest? Remember, they are following Jesus because they believe that Jesus is the Messiah. That is not just an empty title. The Jews believed the Messiah was a king, the King of the Jews who would bring about the renewed kingdom to Israel. Jesus is not just a good Rabbi. He is the coming and promised King of Israel.

As the King of Israel, the Messiah would rule and reign on the throne of David. The prophet Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 2:2-4 that the Lord would reign, that nations would come to him, and there would be peace in the land. The prophet Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 23:5:

Jeremiah 23:5 CSB

5 “Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration— “when I will raise up a Righteous Branch for David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land.

Also, the prophet Zechariah prophesied about the coming Messiah in Zechariah 14:9:

Zechariah 14:9 CSB

9 On that day the Lord will become King over the whole earth—the Lord alone, and his name alone.

Even when you get to the book of Acts, after Jesus has resurrected from the dead, they are still expecting the kingdom to come to Israel. Look at Acts 1:6-7:

Acts 1:6–7 CSB

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.

Notice that the Lord does not correct them about a kingdom on earth, but only about timing. I believe the Scriptures speak of a future millennial kingdom coming after Jesus returns, where he will rule and reign over the earth.

So this concept of greatness for Jesus’ inner group of Twelve had a real effect. They realize their in this kind of training ground. The Messiah is here, and he will set up his kingdoms. For them, that meant authority and power. They will throw out the Romans. They will throw out the heretics, and the kingdom of Israel will be here.

For them, maybe it was, what area would you like to be over? The north, or some section of Jerusalem? The disciples are arguing, and when they get called out for it, they feel ashamed.

Now, notice that the Lord doesn’t fault them for wanting to be great. The Lord wants you to be a strong follower of Jesus, but understand what that means. Do you want to be first? Jesus says, “Let me explain to you what greatness is in my kingdom.”

Here is the first thing Jesus says about greatness.

First,

Greatness is in serving others because of your faith in Christ.

The disciples are arguing about who is the greatest? Jesus defines for them greatness and gives them a visual lesson. Look at Mark 9:35-37:

Mark 9:35–37 CSB

35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.” 36 He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.”

Jesus is giving them a lesson on what it means to be great in his kingdom. Do you want to be a great follower of Jesus? Good. You should strive to be a great follower of Jesus.

I was having a conversation with a brother in our church. I was asking for him to consider something. He told me, “I want to be careful if I say yes. I want to be sure. Because once I’m in, I’m all in. I’m in a hundred percent.”

The Lord is not saying don’t be all in. On the contrary, the Lord is saying to be all in, but let me tell you what that looks like. If you’re going to follow me, go all the way. Being first is not going to look like what the world says. The world pushes for position. The world pushes for status. The world tells you to fight to be on a platform.

But what does the Lord say? If you want to be first, be last and a servant of all. What does that look like?

Apparently, there was a child among them. Somehow, the child was in the area. Jesus brings the child, and platforms the child among them.

A child in Jewish society was not a person of status. They are not people of privilege. Children are accepting.

Jesus puts the child on the platform. Jesus gives the child privilege.

If you want to be my servant, be a servant of all.

In Mark 9:37, notice two terms: “Welcome,” and “in my name.” The word “Welcome” is used four times. The word “welcome” is a Greek verb. It is a translation of a word that can be translated a few ways depending on the context.

The word “welcome” is also translated as “receive” or “accept.” Several times in Scripture, the word is connected with faith. Acts 8:14 describes the Samaritans as people who “had received the word of God.” James 1:21 says to “humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” 2 Thess 2:10 speaks of people who “perish because they did not accept the love of the truth and so be saved.” Welcome/receive/accept, this is the heart condition of the person. Jesus’ description is one of a heart of faith.

But it is not a blind faith. It’s not a faith in any random thing. It is a specific faith. It is a faith that is connected to his name. He says to welcome a child “in my name.” What is that about?

You need to understand the Jewish concept of a name. Today, we just call people by their name. We see someone, and they are Bob, or Bill, or Julie. We may name someone because we like the sound of the name.

But in the Jewish concept, a name has a deep significance. A name reflects a persons meaning or essence. In the beginning, the name Adam means man, and is closely related to the Hebrew word for ground. You get a picture of this man whom God created from the earth and breathed life in him.

Solomon’s name is close to the Hebrew word for shalom. In 1 Chron. 22:9, Solomon is predicted to be a son of rest, where there will be peace and quite during his reign. The essence and expectation of his reign as king is one of peace and rest for Israel.

We really see this in Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah. In Isaiah 7:14

Isaiah 7:14 CSB

14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

We learn that a virgin will give birth to a son named Immanuel. A lot of people read this and wonder, but the Messiah’s name was Jesus? What is this about? Now, this is not the name of the Messiah on his birth certificate.

What the prophet is telling us the essence of who this child will be. Particularly this verse shows why no other person could be the Messiah except Jesus. This baby born will be known as Emmanuel, which as we learn in Matt. 1:23 means “God is with us.”

The very essence of who the Messiah is will be “God with us.” That is one of the most amazing prophecies. Jesus is God with us.

So here is the crux of what Jesus is saying in Mark 9:37 when he says to welcome a child in his name. Welcoming comes out of a lifestyle of faith. It is a faith that is intrinsic in the person. But it is a faith grounded in a reality. It is grounded in the fact that my life is committed and devoted to Jesus Christ, to God with us.

There is a joy in my life in knowing that God is with me. There is an overflow of faith out of my life. I am welcoming others out of an overflow of faith in God with us.

Now, I’m not welcoming because of some sort of material benefit to myself. Notice that Jesus did not put some CEO in the middle of the disciples. You might say, “That’s a win-win. I make Jesus happy and get a job.” He didn’t put a president in the middle, where I can try to get something from the powerful.

Jesus puts a child. There’s no reward with a child. There’s nothing for them to give back. That’s not my motivation. I love others and welcome others out of an overflow of faith in my life, a faith grounded in God with me. There’s a joy in my life that overflows, and no one can take that joy away.

When Jeannette and I first came out to San Diego, we started helping out a new church plant that had a heart for the hip-hop community. A secular hip-hop artist was coming into town. We decided as an outreach to go to the stadium before the concert and pray with people in the parking lot.

We fasted and prayed for that event. On that day, people were in the parking lot drinking beer and getting ready for the concert. We went to the parking lot, walked around, talked with people about Jesus, and prayed with them. As a group, we must’ve connected with at least one hundred people. They came expecting a secular hip-hop concert and ended up being shown the love of Jesus.

Why were we doing this? We didn’t see hundreds of people come to our church from it. In fact, we didn’t see one. We weren’t getting anything from it. But after the outreach, there was this joy. People were excited to share their faith with others, to reach them where they are at and say, out of the overflow of what God was doing in their life, there is a God that loves you, and his name is Jesus.

Greatness is in serving others because of your faith in Christ.

Second,

Greatness is in aligning your life with the mission of Christ.

As we go through the text today, the disciples are struggling to understand how they fit within the wider context of Israel. They were following the Messiah, and they were part of the Twelve. They go to Jesus and say, “We saw this guy casting out demons in your name. We know that he wasn’t one of us, so we figured the right thing to do was step in and correct him.”

Look at how Jesus responded to them in Mark 9:39-41:

Mark 9:39–41 CSB

39 “Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle in my name who can soon afterward speak evil of me. 40 For whoever is not against us is for us. 41 And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ—truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.

This is the second time you see Jesus speaking about people doing things in his name. He says there is no one who’s life is filled with faith in me, trusting in God with us, a life that is committed to the Lord, a love coming out of them, doing miracles in his name who will then turn around and do evil in his name.

Why is that? Because Christianity does not work from the outside-in. Meaning you don’t go somewhere, learn a bunch of rules, and then learn to love God. Christianity works from the inside-out. Faith in Jesus Christ happens on the inside, the Holy Spirit does a work within your spirit, and then out of the overflow of the joy within your soul, you serve others.

Christianity is a joyful religion. There’s a joy in the life of a believer, because Jesus has set you free. It’s a joy that no one will take away, because God is with us.

When we serve out of the overflow of what Jesus is doing in our life, in verse 41, “because you belong to Christ,” the Lord says, “you will never lose your reward.”

When we started our text today, Jesus is predicting his coming death. He’s going to be betrayed. They are going to kill him.

Jesus was aware of the in-between time. Let me explain. He is aware that there are things that are coming up. It’s going to require sacrifice. It’s going to require blood. But he can see the end. At the end, there’s going to be a resurrection. In the end, he will never lose his reward.

At the block party recently, I was wearing a hat that I got for Father’s Day, and some were asking me about it. Before Father’s Day, my wife had come up to me asking about my favorite verse. Sometimes there are these life verses that kind of stick with you. For me, that has been Hebrews 12:2. So I told me wife, that’s my favorite verse. For Father’s Day, my son got me a baseball hat from the New York Mets, my team growing up, and on the side is embroidered, “Hebrews 12:2.”

In Hebrews 11, the writer is giving us this whole hall of faith. Then in Heb. 12:1, it says that therefore, since we’re surrounded by this big cloud of witnesses, talking about all of the people who have trusted in the Lord, it tells us to throw off sin, and it says this in Heb. 12:2:

Hebrews 12:2 CSB

2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

It tells us to keep our eyes on Jesus. But look at this part, “For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross.” The Lord knows where he is going. There is an in-between time, but he knows what lies ahead. He will sacrifice, because there is a joy set before him. So we’ll sacrifice because we know the future that God has for us. There is a joy set before us.

I used to teach an anger management class at a local shelter for a number of years. We had a lesson in the class about the way you see the world. It was a Christian shelter, so I taught about faith. We all understand the in-between time, but it depends how you see it.

I described it as putting on a pair of glasses. Suppose you put on the glasses of an atheist. For the atheist, what do they see at the end? They see a grave, and nothing else. That’s it, you’re dead, and nothing else happens. So what then is the most important thing to an atheist? It’s not money, or fame, or anything else. It is time. Because all they have is time. When they get to the end, that’s it, it’s over. So as they go forward, they’re going to do everything they can to have fun in this life, no matter what it is, no matter who it hurts, because all they have is time.

You take off those glasses, and you put on the glasses of a Christian. What do they see at the end? At the end is eternal life. At the end is an eternity with Jesus. For a Christian, on the timeline, this is but a tiny blip. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and we will be with him forever.

We know the joy that is before us. So whatever comes our way, we serve out of the overflow of the joy that is with us and the joy that is set before us, because God is with us. There is an eternal reward in glory and I can’t wait to be with Jesus.

Along the way, there’s going to be some pain. Along the way, there’s going to be some sacrifice. There are going to be things that come up, but there is a joy that is set before you in Jesus Christ.

How are you living your life? Are you trying to get everything you can out of this life, because in the end you think it’s all over? In this life, you’re going to hit pain. You think things will fill you, but they don’t.

God works from the inside out. If you want joy, there is a work of God that needs to happen on the inside. Jesus went to the cross and rose again. When the disciples saw him resurrected, there was a joy within them that no one could take away. That same joy is for you.

Greatness is serving the one who is great. He will fill your life with joy because God is with us.

Conclusion

Greatness is in serving others because of your faith in Christ.

Greatness is in aligning your life with the mission of Christ.

Conclude

Prayer

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!