Humility vs Pride

Mark 9:30–40 KJV (WS)

30 And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. 31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. 32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him. 33 And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? 34 But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. 35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. 36 And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, 37 Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me. 38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. 39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. 40 For he that is not against us is on our part.

Introduction

Easter is next week.

I am so excited.

It’s one of the most exciting times of year.

So many people are more open to listening to the gospel message.

I want to do a little prep work for next week.

There will be a heavy emphasis on the gospel and receiving it’s message.

The gospel is just as instructive for those of us who are already saved.

This passage proves that to us.

LEt’s dive in and see how Easter can help Christians.

Jesus is the example and motivation for selfless humility. Vss 30-32

The passage begins with Jesus attempting to get some time alone with His disciples.

There is an important message that he must get across to them.

He has been opening up more and more to them regarding the purpose of his life.

Thus far, they have been slow to pick up on what he has been telling them.

This leads to the most clear presentation of what will happen to Jesus to date.

Jesus spells out the gospel message for his disciples.

He tells them that he will betrayed.

He will be killed.

On the third day he will rise again.

We aren’t surprised to read that the disciples still don’t understand.

You think, how could they not understand?

Well, the answer probably lies in Jesus’ use of the title “Son of man.”

Though we easily connect the “Son of man” to Jesus, the disciples may not have connected the dots yet.

Since they expected Jesus to reign, their brains failed to make the connection that Jesus was speaking of himself.

Now we’ve talked a lot about their failure to see Jesus for who he was.

What I really want to point out to us is the essence of the message of the cross.

It is bathed in humility and selflessness on Jesus’ part.

Even the term “Son of man” is evidence of Jesus’ humility.

He is the Son of God.

He is the King of Kings.

Son of man sounds so pedestrian.

Salvation could only come from the Son of man, though.

Jesus came to earth clothed in humility to save us from our sins.

Philippians 2:7 “7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:”

Not only was he born in humility, but he was selfless in his death.

You think about the fact that He allowed Himself to be delivered into the hands of evil men.

Did Jesus know Judas from the day he was born?

Yes.

Could God have killed Judas at any moment?

Yes, but he didn’t.

Furthermore he let Judas into his inner circle to witness the miracles and to hear the teachings just as Peter, James, and John did.

Did Jesus know what Judas was doing the night he went out to betray him?

He did, and yet he allowed it to happen.

Jesus allowed the religious leaders to arrest him.

He knew their trial would be a sham.

He knew the beating he would have to endure.

He the mockings that would hurled at him.

Worst of all, he knew there would come a moment where the Father would turn away from him.

He would experience the separation that we are born into for the first time.

He would give up his life for three days.

Then he would take it back up again and rise from the tomb victorious.

In all of this Christians receive not only the ultimate example but also the motivation for living a life of humility and selflessness.

How are we to live?

Like Jesus.

Why are we to live this way?

Because he did it for us first.

To contrast the upcoming selflessness and humility, Mark turns his attention now to the disciples.

The disciples demonstrate the selfishness and pride of humanity. Vss 33-40

First, we see how they argue with each other.

They are traveling home to Capernaum.

As they walk they get into a debate with each other.

Can’t you just see some of them walking behind the rest of the group?

They are all speaking to each other in hushed tones.

When they get to the house, Jesus asks them what they were disputing over.

I just know their faces were all shocked that Jesus had picked up on what was going on.

And then nobody wants to answer him.

Why did they not want to answer?

Because they were arguing about which of them would be the greatest in his kingdom.

Jesus doesn’t really rebuke them, but he does sit down to teach them a lesson.

Jesus illustrates the attitude that he values.

The attitude that the disciples had is not the type of attitude that is valued in the kingdom.

In God’s economy selfless service and humility is more highly valued than ambition.

A person might be inclined to serve someone who is of great importance.

But, what about those that are not deemed to be important?

Like what about a child?

Jesus brings a child into their midst.

This shouldn’t be happening.

Children were supposed to stay on the perimeter or in a different area all together.

Jesus brings a child into the middle of their male conversation.

Rather than arguing about who was greatest, they should be looking to serve even the least, even a child.

Look at the word that Jesus uses, “receive.”

Are you familiar with this word?

Martha received Jesus, and Zaccheus received Jesus.

Receive means to entertain hospitably.

It’s the same word that is used here.

If you receive a child, the lowest level of society, then it’s as though you received Jesus.

If you have received Jesus, then it’s the same as though you have received the Father.

So, we aren’t to be trying to jockey for position over each other.

Instead we look for opportunities to serve the least among us.

It’s not just children, it’s any one that is looked down upon.

If we want to be great in God’s kingdom, we serve them.

The disciples are not really understanding, because they bring up a group that they feel comfortably superior to.

John tells Jesus about someone casting out devils in His name.

It doesn’t say that he was attempting to cast out devils, but that he was.

John says, “we told him to stop.”

Why would John do that?

Because this person wasn’t following them.

He didn’t say he wasn’t following Jesus, he said he wasn’t following us.

We’re pretty good at convincing ourselves that if someone isn’t following us, he’s not following Jesus.

I had something pretty cool happen this morning.

Someone asked on the 411, “what time does the Baptist church have service?”

Lol which Baptist church, idk.

I went ahead and posted our service times.

A few minutes later Tim Prock posted their times.

A few minutes after that Andy Plunk posted their times.

I went ahead and liked both of their posts.

A little while later they both like my post.

Each of our church’s are unique, but I believe both of those men are trying to reach our community with the gospel.

Those men are not my enemy.

Neither is Fireside, Friendship, Grace, or Eastland.

You don’t have to follow me to follow Jesus.

Jesus tells his disciples not to forbid a man like this.

No man can do a miracle like that and have a bad view of Jesus.

This man was not a charlatan like some of the folks we see today.

He was legitimately doing this.

He may not have had much use for the disciples, which hurt their ego, but he was obviously a friend of Jesus.

Jesus tells them that those who are not against them are on their side.

People don’t have to be followers of “us” in order to be followers of Jesus.

This is a hard truth to swallow for people who are arguing about who is the greatest.

This is a hard truth to swallow for people who want to be served instead of serving.

What is the remedy?

Go back and consider the cross.

Look at the cross and admire the humility of Jesus.

Look at the cross and be amazed by the selflessness of Jesus.

He came to make peace with the sinner.

He came to minister not to be ministered to.

He is our example and motivation for humble selfless living.

Application

Next week, more than any other week, people will be thinking about the cross of Jesus.

We should let His cross teach us how we should live.

The death, burial, and resurrection is more than just a ticket out of hell.

It’s the example and motivation for living the Christ-like life.

Galatians 2:20 “20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

We must guard against the mentality of the disciples in this passage.

We are not supposed to be trying to act superior to anyone.

The Christian life is not a race to the top, if anything it is a race to the bottom.

Who can I serve that no one else is serving.

We also need to be careful about equating following us with following Jesus.

We are no one’s savior.

There is only one savior, one mediator between God and man, it’s me or you.

It’s Jesus.

We may all be surprised when we get to heaven and find out who all was on our time that we thought was on the other team.

This all takes humility and selflessness.

We learn to do this by looking at Jesus and what he did.

Conclusion

We need the cross to keep us straight when it comes to who we are.

We must stay humble because He was humble.

We must be selfless because He was selfless.

Would you take time this week to meditate on the cross?

Would you commit to allowing the cross and its message to influence your perception of things?

The gospel is just as much for us as it is for everyone else.