Mark 10
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Intro
Intro
Theme: Who is Jesus?
Theme statement: Jesus calls us to be disciples through a relationship with Him
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Context
Context
After the events of Mark chapter 8 we see Jesus turn toward Jerusalem and begin His final journey to the cross.
As He is traveling to Jerusalem He is continuing to teach.
For a third time Jesus teaches about His death and resurrection
32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
Here’s where our passage picks up today.
After saying this to His disciples James and John tell Jesus they want Him to do whatever they ask of Him.
This is a pretty prideful statement here.
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you”
Imagine you talking to your mom like this or your principle like this. “I want you to do anything that I tell you to.”
It’s possible that this was just a normal way to ask a favor of someone back in Jesus culture but I think that the disciples James and John were not asking out of humility but out of pride
BECAUSE!!!
After Jesus asks them what do you want me to do for you they say this
37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
Context:
At this time and in any culture where they have a King or a monarch it is a very big deal to sit beside the king.
For instance the royal family in England has all these traditions and these rules about who gets to stand where and who wears what to different events.
And when King Charles was being crowned King there were all these rules about who would attend the different ceremonies.
Some of these rules are about who sits beside the King or the Queen.
If you sit on the right of the King this is the highest level of Authority you can have.
In fact even today if our president or another leader of a country goes to visit the King they typically sit to the right of the King when they are eating dinner.
So here in Mark what has happened was that Peter and the other disciples have recognized Jesus is the Messiah in Mark chapter 8
In the Jewish understanding of the Messiah they though the Messiah would be a conquering hero who would establish Jewish authority and reign across the whole world.
They thought the messiah would kick out the Romans from Israel and that they would take over the land that was promised to them and the Messiah would reign forever on Earth with the Jews as His chosen people.
So essentially the Messiah would be an Earthly king that would rule forever.
Therefore the disciples thought they might become His trusted advisors
We see this by how James and John speak to Him saying please let us sit at your right hand and at you left.
They are asking for positions of power and of recognition in Jesus new kingdom.
Application
Application
Often times we can get so caught up in thinking we deserve to be given something by Jesus because we have done something for Him that we can act like this.
Don’t allow your pride to get in the way of your relationship with Christ.
James and John came to Jesus thinking they were going to be rulers alongside Him and they ask this incredibly prideful statement not even understanding what Jesus mission here on Earth really was.
Jesus even makes this clear in verse 38 that they didn’t know what they were asking
38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
In order to understand what Jesus is saying here we have to understand what cup Jesus is talking about and what baptism Jesus is speaking of.
In the Jewish culture Jesus is alluding to this idea of the cup of God’s wrath
In regards to baptism He is talking about this jewish understanding of being under water
Being underwater was an old testament picture of being overwhelmed by the calamity or the chaos of this world.
It’s like when people feel overwhelmed they might say I am drowning
For instance sometimes when people have a lot of debt they say I am drowning in debt.
Here Jesus is using these two examples to explain further what He is about to do
He is about to suffer and go through the most excruciating death on the cross ever.
Not only that but He is also going to take the punishment for our sins which is God’s wrath and He is going to take all of it so that God’s wrath is satisfied for our sins.
It’s important to note that only Christ is able to do this.
Only Jesus is able to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s wrath because He lived a sinless life
If Christ had not died for us on the Cross we would all still be hopelessly lost in our sins but it was Christ that made a way for us to have a relationship with a Holy and Righteous God.
And the most amazing part was that He did so willingly.
He willingly left His throne in Heaven and came down to earth to live as a man, serving and loving on us as His creation and then dying on the cross so that we may have life.
The point that Jesus is making here in the next couple verses is that if you want to be like Him you will have to be like Him
What does that mean?
James and John came to Jesus and they desired to get all the good things that Jesus had to offer.
They wanted to be put in positions of power in what they thought would be Jesus earthly kingdom but Jesus is explaining here that following Him and being His disciple will not lead to a life of earthly blessings or earthly power
In fact to be a disciple of Jesus means that you must set aside any pride or self importance and you must be a servant to all people just like Christ did for us.
39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
What’s amazing about this passage is that James and John didn’t quite yet understand who Jesus was or what they were saying yes to here.
They didn’t understand that Jesus was going to suffer and die on the cross
They didn’t understand that He would make a payment for our sins
They didn’t understand that He would rise again three days later and go back to Heaven
They also didn’t understand that they were going to face severe persecution because of their faith in Jesus
However it is important to note is that once they did understand all of that, James and John still considered it better to place their faith in Jesus than to gain the whole world and forfeit their souls.
Do you know what is significant about James and John as disciples?
James is the first recorded death among the 12 disciples when he was beheaded in Jerusalem in 44AD
John was most likely the last disciple to die after writing the book of Revelation
In Revelation John is very clear about the severe persecution that the church is facing
It is unclear as to how John died but what we do know is that like the other apostles John and James faced extreme persecution for their faith.
How were these men able to experience this kind of suffering for the name of Christ?
There was something that changed not only the disciples minds but also their hearts.
Here in this moment all the disciples are fighting to be Jesus favorite.
41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.
After James and John ask to be Jesus top officials the rest of them start getting jealous and fighting about who is more important.
As they are fighting Jesus completely flips the script on what it means to be a disciple of Christ
42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.
Jesus tells them that greatness in the eyes of God looks like serving others.
He even goes further by saying that if you desire to be first you must be a slave to all.
Someone at your school hates God, love them
Someone is mean to you, serve them
Someone is saying terrible things about you, speak kindly about them
I am so terrible at this, I honestly feel like such a hypocrite talking about this right now because I am so bad at this.
I sometimes feel like just because I know the truth about God and His word, just because I know that I am right when I hear something that is a lie or is false about God or about our world I am so quick to judge and pass people off as my enemies but Jesus is telling us that greatness looks like loving those who hate you.
And we don’t do this because we are trying to achieve some kind of heavenly greatness, we do it because we are simply following after Jesus example.
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus came to earth from His heavenly throne and served sinners.
He washed feet, healed, taught, and loved people who were lost and dying in their sin.
It was Christ who first showed us what greatness looks like when He set aside His glory and came to Earth to save us as sinners
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Even though the disciples still misunderstood Jesus here in Mark 10 there is no doubt that they all understood what Jesus was talking about at the end of their life.
All of these men died preaching the gospel to a hurting and broken world.
all of them gave their life to serve others and were obedient to the Lord.
When they realized who Jesus was and what His sacrifice on the Cross meant for the world it changed their entire purpose.
No longer were they serving themselves, but they were serving God