Sermon Tone Analysis

PO -

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Abraham Lincoln

INTRO - How do you define power?

What does it mean to have a place of power?

How did the people of Jesus’ day view persons in authority?

Is it any different for us today?

TRANS - Let’s go back to the time of Jesus and experience His words and how the people understood them to have meaning.

Let’s find out what principles of God related in today’s text still have meaning for us today.

Let’s begin our time today with high expectations that God is going to communicate directly to us just as Jesus does in this text to those with Him walking up to Jerusalem.

What does it say?

PRAY

What does it mean?

Powerful Positions

How does James and John’s request reflect their misunderstanding of Jesus’ mission?

It seems a pattern of misunderstanding had developed even among those closest to Jesus.

Here, they completely missed what Jesus was teaching!

Jesus didn’t get the idea or meaning of the way Jesus, the contempt and treatment, was going to be treated.

The request of these sons of Zebedee comes at the heals of Jesus’ teaching about his being handed over, his suffering, and horrible way of death and that He will rise from the grave.

It appears these two see Jesus as heading to Jerusalem in order to restore the glory of David’s throne.

They really “blew up” their own ideas of how things pertaining to Jesus were going to play out.

Apparently they hoped to become seated at the banquet places of honor.

Perhaps they wanted power and prominence as Jesus was enthroned as Judge.

Their concept indicates they viewed Jerusalem as the goal of their travels with Jesus and imminent glory awaited there.

ILL - I’m very cautious explaining what the Bible teaches about the “End Times.”

Many go so far as to attempt to convince everyone else their idea is correct; hence they have all the answers.

Yet, even with the best of scholarship, to date we only have theories about how things will happen at the end.

Sure, the Bible offers much, but God chose to keep some of the story encapsulated in mystery.

As for my view, the best factual way I can tell you things will work out is “God only knows.”

We get bits and pieces, but the missing parts are still in the hands of God.

Bigger than will there be a rapture or will it happen like the church believed for the first 1800 years or so before someone made up the word, “rapture,” is the part we have following Jesus as servants and not as “know it alls,” who, like these brothers, wanted things to work out to their way of thinking and failed to see what God had in mind.

What is the significance of the seats to the right and left?

For the Jewish person of the period, these “seats” next to the king were prominent.

To the right of the king was the greatest seat and to his left the second in prominence.

So, keeping in mind that today is “Mother’s Day” we might relate this to the action of King Solomon:

Solomon in his wisdom knew who to grant such a special place.

Remember these brothers, guided by their own interpretation of Jesus’ teaching, came to the wrong conclusions.

A person can be dogmatic, but to fail to hear any objection is not only foolish, but may well keep you blinded to the truth.

Powerful Purposes

What do the “cup” and “baptism” represent in Mark 10:39?

The cup and baptism is a way of stating the same thing differently; they convey the same thought.

The people of that time would have understood this common manner for describing what was to happen in short order.

It points to Jesus’ death repeated foretold in this Gospel.

While the “cup” can mean blessing in Scripture, the more frequent use designates suffering and/or death.

Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Laminations, Ezekiel, & Habakuk all speak of a cup or “wrath, judgement, punishment” or in some way indicate other than a cup of blessing.

The idea of a cup of blessing, fury, or wrath even continues in the NT.

So, to understand as these people did, we must see the cup and baptism do not speak of pleasant things, but of Jesus’ suffering and coming death.

Does history confirm Jesus’ predictions about James and John recorded in Mark 10:39?

We don’t know if the brothers understood to what they agreed.

We do know that James was beheaded as a martyr by Harod Agrippa as noted in Acts:

In this way, James became the first apostle to be killed for Christ.

Tradition tells us that John was the only apostle not martyred.

However, he was persecuted and in the end died exiled on the island of Patmos.

What does it mean to “lord it over” someone, and how were Jesus’ followers expected to be different?

The spiritual attitude of the other 10, their anger, was no better than the brothers.

How easily we condemn other people.

Nathan had to point out David’s failure.

The Bible give us insight to this behavior:

All 12 men caused Jesus sorrow because they failed to put to practice His teachings.

Yet, he responds gently.

He calls them to himself and calmly leads them to understand.

He speaks of worldly leaders, working to get to the top, then causing others to feel their authority.

To “lord over” actually means to “lord it down on” their subjects.

While doing so, they hope their subjects believe their “leader” had their interests at heart.

We have lots of evidence to this fact.

We see it on coins, in books, and from witnesses of all ages.

Titles ascribed to tyrants such as: savior, benefactor, protector, leader, and liberator all suggest these “lords” wanted people to “think” they were acting in the interest of the people.

Powerful Provision

In what way was Jesus’ death a “ransom”?

The idea of Jesus’ death serving as a ransom shows us his very reason for coming to earth.

The idea says through his death we are purchased regardless of being a prisoner or slave; His death pays for our release.

The idea of an equivalent substitution, the concept of ransom, finds in Jesus one who willingly gave His life for the sins of others.

Jesus became the sin offering that makes up for the sin of people.

Because Jesus and God’s will are the same, He has to die in the place of guilty men.

That is what it means to Jesus to give his life as ransom.

What do I do with this?

James and John’s request reflected their longing for power and privilege.

Jesus warned the disciples against such desires.

Examine your heart for unhealthy ambitions for power or control, and let us strive to follow Jesus’ example by serving others.

During the Lord’s Supper remember that Jesus relinquished His privileges in order to become a ransom for us.