Untitled Sermon

BIBLE STUDY for September 12, 2024

Mark 10:32-45

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

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.”

The Request of James and John

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?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 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?” 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.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 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. 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.”

You will note that there are two subheadings in our text today: Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time over verses 32-34 and The Request of James and John over verses 35-45. The translators provided these subheadings presumably to notify the reader that the following verses have to do with a specific topic, thus making it easier to understand the narrative. At least that’s what make sense to me. Yet today, we’re going to take a look at how these two seemingly different topical areas are connected.

Three themes popped out to me as I was studying these verses. They are:

GOD’S WILL & GOD’S PLANS ARE PREEMINENT: Preeminent means the highest place of ascendency, above all, over all, surpassing all, to the point that nothing and no one else can even come close. It is the quality of being superior.

JESUS IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THE OBEDIENT SERVANT

FOLLOWING JESUS COMES WITH A COST

I’ve distilled those three themes into the Big Idea of this passage which is:

JESUS IS OUR ROLE MODEL for BOTH SERVING AND SUFFERING: TO TAKE PART IN HIS GLORY MEANS TO TAKE PART IN HIS SUFFERING

Mark chronicles the last days of Jesus’ journey from Capernaum to Jerusalem, the last journey he would take before his crucifixion. Today, traveling from Capernaum to Jerusalem through Jericho as Jesus did, covers 200km or about 124 miles by highway. That’s like driving from here to Sauk Center MN. On the nice, even terrain between here and Sauk Center, a person used to walking a lot can theoretically get there in about 45 hours of walking, or about 4 to 5 days. That would be you, not me!

Imagine adding undulating terrain over dirt roads, rocks, dodging road apples in your sandals, carrying ancient backpacks, maybe dragging a handcart, searching for food and water along the way, making pit stops along the way (sorry, but there’re no Charmin Bath Tissues available anywhere!), setting up and breaking camp every day and so forth. On top of that, imagine all your Facebook Friends are plodding along with you, watching every step you take and trying to listen in on all your conversations. It’s easy to imagine that this was quite the journey taking place over several days, even though Jesus and his disciples were used to walking everywhere and were no doubt in excellent condition and used to the rigors of the road. Still, no one was running, but no one was dragging their feet, either. At least not Jesus.

JESUS IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THE OBEDIENT SERVANT

But let’s back up a few days. Can you imagine Jesus striding with determined confidence toward Jerusalem, a man on a mission? Still, along the way there were opportunities to disciple his disciples. In Bethsaida, located near the northeast end of The Sea of Galilee in northern Israel, Jesus heals a blind man in (Mark 8:22-26). You’ll recall that Jesus tells him not to go back into the village afterwards. Why? Jesus was on a mission. Time was of the essence and he didn’t want to be held up in traffic, so to speak. While healing the blind man was certainly important, especially to the blind man, Jesus’ mission to get to Jerusalem was even more important.

Even so, I find it interesting that Mark records this miracle in the narrative. Why does he do that? I suspect that there were many other blind people whose sight was restored by Jesus but not recorded in scripture. So why this one? Then it occured to me: Jesus is never too busy to stop and meet us where we are. He is never too preoccupied with other things that he doesn’t pay attention to those who he came to save and deliver. It’s the very nature of his servant heart that compels him to stop and meet the needs of you and me.

Traveling along the way to Caesarea Philippi, we see that Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ; the promised Messiah, the promised savior of not only Israel, but of all mankind, though I’m not sure that Peter truly grasped the scope, the vast size of Jesus’ mission at the time. This is followed immediately in Mark 8:31 by Jesus clearly telling his disciples - for the first time, though without much detail - that he will meet his end in Jerusalem.

Now imagine our walk to Sauk Center. How many of us, if we knew that once we got to Sauk Center, we would be facing our last days on earth. Even more, what if we knew that once we got to Sauk Center, people there would slap us on the back in welcoming us one day, and then a couple of days later suddenly turn on us and haul us off to be beaten, tortured, humiliated, and rejected while having us brought up on false charges in a mock trial that would end in our brutal death?

How many of us would be eager to take that walk? I’m pretty sure none of us here would go willingly, but Jesus not only went willingly, he went without any hesitation. In doing so, Jesus is the perfect example of the obedient servant, willingly and lovingly doing what the Father has asked him to do. Praise God, indeed, for his love toward us.

FOLLOWING JESUS COMES WITH A COST

Back to our story… Right after Jesus tells his disciples what will happen in Jerusalem, Peter rebukes Jesus for telling the disciples that he would suffer at the hands of the elders, chief priests and scribes. But Peter himself is rebuked by Jesus for not “setting [his] mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Jesus then takes this opportunity, once again, to teach the crowd accompanying them about the cost of being his disciple in Mark 8:34-38., which reads:

34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Imagine being in the crowd that day and hearing for the first time that to continue following Jesus, you have to pick up your cross and carry it. Imagine the shock. You didn’t even know you HAD a cross! But you would have known that a cross was Rome’s chosen, cruel instrument of death meant for criminals. And here Jesus is telling you that if you want to live you have to die and somehow it has something to do with a cross, as though you and I are criminals! And indeed we are. Before we came to Christ, we were guilty of cosmic treason against a Holy and Just God. I suspect it was at this point that many of those in the crowd that day suddenly stopped listening, like “Huh? What did he just say? I have to die!?! What?” It makes me wonder if anyone heard what Jesus had to say after that in verses 36 through 38.

The timeline continues when six days later in Mark 9:2 the Transfiguration takes place on what scholars believe to be Mount Tabor which is located in northern Israel in Lower Galilee 11 miles west of the Sea of Galilee.

Immediately afterwards as he returned from the Transfiguration experience with Peter, James and John to rejoin his disciples, Jesus is compelled to heal a demon possessed boy and rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith. Even along the fateful journey to Jerusalem we watch Jesus ministering to the last, the least and the lost, and teaching his disciples to do the same. Why? Because he has the heart of a servant, even for those who are far from him.

From there he leaves and passes through Galilee and for the second time in Mark 9:30-32 foretells his coming death. This time, however, he tells them that he will rise again in three days. But again, the disciples could not wrap their heads around what he was telling them and were too afraid to ask him about it.

Why were they afraid to ask? Could it be that they simply did not want to accept what was to them undesirable and unfathomable, and maybe even a bit outrageous? That maybe asking him about what he had just said would confirm their greatest fears? How many of us can identify with such a fear? The phrase comes to mind, “If you don’t want to know the answer, don’t ask the question” as though somehow by not knowing, it won’t happen. Fear is a powerful emotion that can be totally debilitating, keeping us from taking steps to prepare emotionally, physically and even spiritually.

I wonder… if we were the disciples mentioned in this passage of scripture, without the benefit of 2000 years of hindsight and perspective as we have now, would we be any different? Would we not also be afraid to ask Jesus to explain what he just said? Would we be any less fearful or any more brave? I don’t think so. We’ve had centuries in which to gain understanding and still there are people today who “don’t get it”. I only began to begin to “get it” 41 years ago myself. These guys were in the moment. It was right now. It was real. And they had to process what they knew, what they understood, what they were experiencing mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually in the here and now. That was a lot to take in. No wonder Jesus made it a habit to teach and mentor his disciples as they walked along in journeys together.

Arriving in Capernaum a short time later, Jesus questions his disciples about their discussion of who was greatest. And again, Jesus takes the opportunity to school his disciples, this time about what it means to be truly great, and that is - once again - to be a servant to many.

From there, they head for “Judea and beyond the Jordan” where he teaches about divorce and the necessity of having the faith of a child to enter into God’s kingdom. Remember: he does all this knowing that with each step he is drawing closer to the cross. Setting out again, he encounters the rich young ruler upon whom he shows compassion by pointing him to faith and trust in God, not his money, position or possessions. Then as he is going up to Jerusalem, Jesus foretells his coming crucifixion for the third time in Mark 10:32-34. In this, the third telling, Jesus is even more clear about what is about to happen to him.

All these events take place in a short period of time; only a couple of weeks before he enters Jerusalem for the last time.

The Bible tells us they were amazed and afraid. Why? What were they afraid of?

“They” were the 12 and those who accompanied them were other disciples or followers. It is likely that this entourage was comprised of people who had been with Jesus for some time, hearing him speak and teach, watching him perform miracles, and likely many who believed he was going to lead them in removing the Romans from their land and setting them free from Rome’s oppression.

The word for amazed is thambeo which is to be astonished, amazed, frightened. What were the 12 amazed at?

By this time, the 12 had heard twice before (Matt 20:17-19 and Luke 18:31-34) that Jesus knew what he would face in Jerusalem, their current destination. It’s not unrealistic to understand that they would be amazed that knowing this, Jesus was still intent on getting to Jerusalem quickly. He wasn’t dragging his feet on the journey. He was leading them and they were following. Nothing was going to deter Jesus. He knew what was in front of him and he knew the time was now.

It’s also understandable that they were afraid of what was about to happen. Though Jesus had told them three times already, there was a lot of the unknown in the mix. Certainly they feared his death and what that might mean to them, but again, it would not be unreasonable for them to be afraid of what might happen to them as his disciples. But Jesus was not afraid. He knew exactly what would happen.

So it’s interesting that after this, James and John created quite a stir among the 12 by asking to be seated at Jesus’ right and left hand in heaven in Mark 10:35-37.

What was going on between verses 34 & 35? There is no indication of a time lapse, though we can easily imagine that there may have been at least some short intermission as they were walking along the road, getting ever closer to Jerusalem.

Interestingly, the brother’s request was made after the events of Mark 9:33-37 when the disciples were discussing who among them was the greatest. Apparently, James and John had not yet fully grasped what it meant to be a servant in the way Christ was teaching. It may even seem arrogant of them having been challenged by Jesus earlier.

Why would they feel bold enough to ask for this favor?

Inherently, they knew they were part of Jesus’ inner circle along with Peter. The three of them had just recently witnessed the stunning and miraculous event we refer to as the Transfiguration. Invitations to the Transfiguration were limited and access was highly restricted; kind of like being invited to a royal black-tie dinner where the King is to make a special announcement to his closest and most trusted subjects. James and John would have felt very special, for sure.

The question was bold in and of itself. They wanted Jesus to commit to answering their request even before they had stated what it was. They must have trusted that Jesus, the Son of Man, the Messiah, the Christ, could and would honor their request, after all they were close buds with Jesus, right? Jesus knew what they wanted and even if he didn’t, he knew better than to say “yes” before they had voiced their request.

Their request for a position of power, authority and favor next to Jesus in his kingdom comprised the bulk of what Jesus was compelled to address in this passage of scripture (Mark 10:35-45): i.e., position, power, ego, pride, and servanthood. But first, he clarified and reemphasized for James and John that following him comes with a cost, and while they felt confident that they could afford to pay the price, Jesus knew it was important that they understood that it was a lifelong commitment they were making, not just for a season. We read in verses 42-45:

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. 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.”1

Throughout the journey we just quickly covered, one thing stands out to me. Jesus never failed to take an opportunity to reveal his heart for people. Everywhere he went and everything he did put his servant’s heart on display. It was the poor in health and the poor in spirit - that is, people like you and me who were dead in their sins - who drew his attention. And we still do today. Our sinfulness and brokenness doesn’t repel him. Quite the contrary, it pulls at his heartstrings. After all, that is why he came. To seek and save the lost; to replace our selfishness, our lust, our lack, our sinful lives, our broken and bent bodies - all those things and more, he came to replace with an abundant life in him. And he did this at a cost that we can only imagine.

In the world and culture that you and I live in today, the idea of what’s fair and equitable is likely to come up during any negotiation. If you want to sell your used car and if I were a potential buyer, it won’t be long before the discussion about twill take place. Am I willing to exchange a certain amount of my hard-earned money for your used car? Is the price you’re asking me to pay a fair and equitable price for the car you’re willing to exchange for the money I’m willing to pay? In short, is it a good deal for me and is it a good deal for you? Is the deal equitable?

In God’s economy, it seems equity is thrown out of the window. Romans 6:23 proves that. It clearly declares, 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It’s not a fair exchange at all. Jesus was crushed, beaten, tortured, rejected, ridiculed, and killed in our place, yet in exchange for all that we deserve, we get forgiveness, peace, joy, and eternal life. So what’s the catch?

There is a cost in following Jesus

In verse 44 Jesus says, “and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” And what is a slave? A person who is legally owned by someone else and whose entire livelihood and purpose was determined by their master. Jesus continues in verse 45 by saying, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

1 Cor 6:19-20 says: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

The Amplified Bible says it this way: You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made his own].

Jesus was fully submitted to the will of the Father. There was no turning back. He was fully committed and determined to serve the creation that rejected him and suffer beyond our comprehension to secure our freedom.

How should we respond to that? Regarding how Jesus responded to James’ and John’s request, RC Sproul writes that what Jesus was telling them is this: “You say you want to be at My right hand and My left hand in My glory, but there is no theologia gloriae without first theologia crucis. There is no glory without the cross.”

Jesus would remind us that if we want to follow him, if we want to join him in his glory, then we must pick up our cross and walk-the-walk, not just talk-the-talk, and be willing to suffer for his sake until he takes us home. When we choose to do so, one day we can expect to hear, Matthew 25:21 “…’Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”

In this we are reminded that Jesus is our role model for both serving and suffering: to take part in his glory means to take part in his suffering.

Amen.

Romans 8:16–18 ESV

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

2 Timothy 3:12–13 ESV

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

2 Thessalonians 1:4–6 ESV

Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,

2 Corinthians 11:23–29 ESV

Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Romans 5:3–4 ESV

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mk 10:32.