Who is the Greatest

Mark 9:30-37

If you brought your bibles turn with me over to the gospel of Mark chapter 9, the gospel of Mark chapter 9, and in a moment we are going to read Verses 30-37, as we continue our study this morning in the gospel of Mark chapter 9.

Many of us remember growing up: Muhammed Ali was the self-proclaimed greatest in the world. He would always say, “I must be the greatest,” and he probably was the greatest heavyweight boxer to ever live, I don’t know.

He certainly was not the greatest in his personal life, at least not according to his four wives. However, it begs to question: What does it mean to be great?

 You see, Our culture has a distorted view of greatness. We call people great because they can hit a baseball, or throw a football.

We call people great because they can sing and dance and produce number one hits. We call people great who walk on red carpets, and win awards for playing make believe.

And I can’t help but wonder what we consider of our first responders. The men and women who serve on the front lines: nurses, fireman, police officers, and line men. Are those people great?

We are obsessed with power and wealth in this country, and as great as those things, they amount to nothing in the Kingdom of God.

Do not hear me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being successful in life, but it is what you do with it that counts. The greatest in the Kingdom of God is the one who willingly sets aside his own needs to serve the needs of others.

 That is what Jesus did with His life. He willingly set aside His privilege and rights as the God of heaven and came into the world to serve mankind.

The greater laid down His life for the lesser. In humility the Creator choose the cross over the crown.

 As Christians we are never more like Jesus than when we do the same, and things like self-centeredness, arrogance, and superiority cannot co-exist in the life of a Christian.

We have been saved to serve. That is what Jesus teaches us in this passage: Christ is the servant of God for the world, and calls us to serve others.

Mark 9:30–37 KJV

And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. 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. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him. And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. 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. 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, 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.

Lets Pray Together,

Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we ask Father, that you bless this time we spend in Your Word.

We pray You would use it to glorify Your Son in us. Speak to us through Your Word. Help us to hear what You would say to us and help us to grow by Your Word. Lord let us not deny that Your Word speaks truth and every man a liar.

If there are those who are lost among us let Your Word convict and conform and draw them to Your Son!

We Pray this in Jesus Name, Amen!

  In our passage this morning, Jesus is teaching His disciples what it truly means to be great by the standards of God, and He turns their entire concept of greatness upside down.

You see the disciples thought being great meant having power and authority. They believed it meant they would be in charge of things in the world.

However, Jesus teaches them: true greatness has nothing to do with power and authority, but it has everything to do with serving God, by serving others.

The same thing is true in our life today.  What we learn from this passage is Christ is the servant of God for the world, and He calls us to serve others.

We are going to look at this passage under three headings: first, we are going to see the purpose of the servant in verses 30-32. Second, we will see the problem of the servant in verses 33-34, and finally we will talk about the pattern of the servant in verses 35-37.

So, first, lets look at:

I. The Purpose of the Servant Vs. 30-32

Jesus begins by teaching the disciples what His purpose was for coming into the world. He tells them, He has come to die.

 Notice Vs. 30 it says, “And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee.”  The word “thence” In this passage, is speaking of a house Jesus and His disciples were at in Vs. 28, in Caesarea Philippi.

It was In this house, the disciples began to question Jesus, as to why they could not help the father of a boy, who had come to them with a dumb spirit. The boy was demon possessed, and Jesus told them in Vs. 29, it was because, “this kind only comes out through prayer and fasting!!

In other words, the disciples were powerless to help the boy, because they had not prayed. They had broken their communion with God. They were trying to serve God, but in their own power.

You see, that is what makes this passage so ironic. Now, the disciples wanted to be great in the kingdom of God, and yet, they didn’t feel it was necessary to even pray. They didn’t think fellowship with God was important.

 I can’t help but think, we do the same thing today. We think we deserve God’s blessings in our life, without any effort on our part. We think we deserve the kingdom of God, without any communion with the King!!

We need to understand, In the same way any relationship is based on communication with one another, our relationship with God begins with prayer, and fellowship.

(Pause)

  At this point in the gospel of Mark there is about six months left before the cross. Jesus and His disciples leave Caesarea Philippi and travel toward Galilee.

However, notice Vs. 30 tells us, they “passed through Galilee.” Mark makes it clear that Jesus is not staying there. He and His disciples are just passing through.

If you remember, Jesus was raised in Nazareth, of Galilee, and He was never able to reach these people. The Bible tells us “a prophet is without honor in his hometown.” In other words, they were to familiar with Jesus, to believe in Him. What a shame that is!!  

The scriptures tell us, even His own brother did not believe in Him, at least not until after the resurrection. Then, when they saw Him, with their own eyes, risen from the dead, they became believers.

Some would go on to become leaders of the church. Two of them, James and Jude would write books in the New Testament.

However, the people of Galilee were always a problem. Everywhere Jesus went there were crowds of people around Him. They wanted to see the miracles, and receive the blessings, but they were never committed followers.

Therefore, Jesus passes through Galilee, because He doesn’t want the people to know He is there, and Vs 31 tells us why. It says, “For He taught His disciples.”

So, the reason Jesus didn’t want anyone to know He was in Galilee, was because He wanted to teach His disciples.

That is going to become His primary concern throughout the rest of Mark’s gospel. There will be very little healing and only a few miracles that take place.

From now on, His primary focus will be on preparing the disciples for what is coming when they arrive in Jerusalem, and what we see Him doing here, is teaching them about the cross and about the resurrection.

Notice Vs. 31 “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.”

Notice the verbs in Vs. 31. “He taught them, and said unto them.” That tells us, this was taking place on more than a one occasion, this was an ongoing teaching from Jesus to His disciples.

This is the third, of four times in the gospel of Mark, Jesus predicts His death. And each time, He does it with a little more detail and a little more intensity.  

Remember back In Mark 8:31 He said, “the Son of Man must suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and the scribes. By the phrase, “He must suffer.”  It means, this is a divine necessity, it has to happen. This is an appointment by God.

In Mark 9:12, as Jesus, Peter, James, and John descend the mount of transfiguration. He tells them, “search the scriptures and you will see, the Son of Man will suffer many things and be treated with contempt.”

  Now, in our passage this morning, we are given new information as well. Mark 9:31 tells us, He will be “delivered into the hands of men.” To be delivered, means to be betrayed. However, while Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, He was delivered by God.

The final time Jesus will predict His own death, will come in Mark 10:33. Where we are told “He will be condemned and handed over to the Gentiles.” Now, we know today, that is exactly what happened. It was the Romans who hung Him on a cross.

The point is: each time Jesus predicts His death, He gives the disciples a little more detail, because He is preparing them for what lies ahead. He is teaching them.

Notice, not only does He predict His death, but He predicted the resurrection. Look at the end of Vs. 31 says, “And after that He is killed, He shall rise the third day”

What is interesting is, I don’t think the disciples even heard this. If they did, they did not understand it, or they were too afraid to ask.

(Pause)

     It is important that we understand that Jesus was not a victim at the cross. He was the suffering servant in His life that is for sure, but this scene is not out of control. This scene is being orchestrated by God.

Jesus was betrayed by man, but He was delivered by God the Father. The cross was the sovereign plan for the redemption of the world. Jesus was hand delivered by the Father to satisfy His wrath and to save us from our sin.

 Peter would say, in Acts 2:23 “This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of Godless men and put Him to death.”

In Revelation 13:8 John calls Him the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. So, the cross was no accident, and the resurrection was no coincidence.

 The cross was for our forgiveness and the resurrection was the vindication of Christ. It proved He was the Son of God. It was the exclamation point on the victory. It was Christ spiking the ball in the end zone.

It was God the Father saying amen and the full and final atonement for the sin of the world. And Jesus is teaching the disciples all this before it ever happens.

What is unbelievable is they were completely ignorant of the whole thing. After everything they had seen, after everything He had done, they still didn’t get it.

Notice Vs. 32, “But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.”

That’s amazing! How could they not understand?  Well, Matthew 17:23 tells us, they were grieved by what they heard.

So, the disciples understood something, but they could not grasp the full reality of what Jesus was saying.  Why? because they had their own preconceived idea of who the Messiah was going to be, and what He would do, and this wasn’t it.

  We do the same thing today. We want God to be, who we want Him to be, rather than who He is. We want a God who will overlook our sin, overlook our lust, overlook our lies.

We want a God who will allow us to do whatever we want to do, and still accept us. The problem is that God doesn’t exist, and the God of the Bible does.

So, what we see here, in this passage is the Purpose of the Servant. Christ is teaching the disciples, He came into the world to die!!

He is the servant of God for the world, and He calls us to serve one another. The next thing I want you to see in this passage is:

II. The Problem of the Servant Vs. 33-34

The disciples didn’t understand what He was teaching them and what was going to take place at Jerusalem, and that becomes a problem for Jesus.

Notice Vs 33 says, “And He came to Capernaum, and being in the house.” Notice here it says, “the house” and not a house.

This is the house of Peter, where the ministry of Jesus began. They are back in Capernaum, and Capernaum was the launching point for the beginning of Jesus Ministry.

 It was here, in this very house Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. It was here in this very house, where the paralytic was lowered through the roof by his four friends, and it was here that Jesus family came and tried to get Him to leave with them.

It was here, in this house where the ministry began. So, it is only fitting that He would return to Capernaum and to this house, before making the journey toward Jerusalem.

 Jesus gathers the disciples together here, and He begins to question them about what they were talking about on the road.

Notice the end of Vs. 33-34, “What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.”

You see along the road, from Galilee to Capernaum, the disciples were arguing about who was going to be the greatest in the Kingdom of God, and In His omniscience, Jesus already knows what they were talking about.

So, He begins to question them, and interrogate them. He wants to see if they will come clean and tell Him the truth.

 The word disputing in Vs. 33, means they were arguing about it. They were proud, and arrogant, they were self -promoting. and Jesus knew it.

The fact that they remain silent when He asks, tells us that they knew they were wrong. I am amazed that not even Peter speaks up here. Peter always had something to say. He was always inserting his foot in his mouth, but not this time. They all remain silent because they are all guilty.

Guilt can be a driving force that causes people to do strange things. For example, I heard a story this week about a woman who stole books from her library in High School.

Camelback High School in Phoenix, Arizona reported they received a $1,000 money order along with two books, from a former student. The student was paying a fine for the late return of two books she checked out of the high school library in 1959.

You see, some of the thing’s guilt drives us to are not bad. Sometimes Guilt can be a good thing, especially if it drives us to the cross, and creates repentance and confession in our life.

Jesus came to pay for our sin and leave us guiltless. However, His disciples were silent because they were guilty. Let me ask you this: what are the things in your life, that cause your silence? What is it you need to confess before the Lord?

The final thing I want you to see is

III. The Pattern of the Servant Vs. 35-37

This is a golden moment of teaching for Christ. This is a strategic opportunity for the Lord to instruct His disciples on what they are to become, if they want to be great!!

  Notice Vs 35 Jesus says, “If any man desire to be first.”

To be first here is, referring to being first in recognition in the kingdom God. To be First, in reward in the Kingdom of God. And It is important we understand this is not an improper thing to want.

Notice Jesus doesn’t rebuke them for asking. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be first in the Kingdom of God. There is no glory in desiring to be the worst Christian you can be. I think we should all desire to be as Christ like as possible.

 My desire for you, is that we would all excel in our walk with God, and I hope that is your desire for me.

The Apostle Paul would say in Phil. 3:13, “This one thing I do forgetting what is behind I press forth toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

So, I pray that you are pressing toward the mark. I pray that you want to be First in the Kingdom of God.

There is nothing wrong with the disciples desire to be first in this passage, what was wrong is: what they thought it would lead too. They believed it would lead to them being celebrated. They believed it would lead to them having authority.

 However, notice Jesus gives them the condition. Vs. 35 says, “The one who wants to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.”

Jesus is talking to them about humility. He is talking to them about someone who comes along the side of others and serves them. Someone who helps others grow and excel in their faith.

  This is a radical reversal of fortunes for the disciples. The disciples thought that by being first in the Kingdom the other disciples would be beneath them. They thought that being first meant they would be in charge and have power and prestige.

They thought it meant that they would be served and what they learn is: that is not the way it works in the Kingdom of God.

 A servant is one who attends to the needs of others. A servant is one who gives himself for the good of others. A servant is one who sacrifices himself for others. A servant is one who assumes a humble position for the benefit of others.

The servant of all, means there is no one beneath you that you will not serve. A servant is not a talker, they are a doer. A servant is a laborer, not a spectator. A servant is a worker, and not a watcher.

     It is important to understand that this is not saying it is unspiritual for someone to be successful in life. It is not saying that at all. There is nothing unspiritual about a person wanting to better themselves in business or athletics or anything else that they attempt to do.

 What Jesus is saying is: we are to clothe ourselves in humility, in everything we do, and be willing to serve the needs of those around us.

What Jesus is saying is: greatness in the Kingdom of God is not determined by status, but by servanthood. We are saved to serve.

Finally, in vs 36-37 Jesus gives us a perfect illustration of what He is talking about. He uses a child as an object lesson.

Now, It is important we understand, that children were insignificant in their culture. And the fact that Jesus is speaking of a child here means, He is talking about the most helpless, weakest, most insignificant people in the world.

What He is saying, we must be willing to humble ourselves and serve them. In other words, we must be willing to serve someone who has absolutely nothing to offer us in return.

 Notice, He uses the word “receive” four times in Vs. 37.  To receive someone is to welcome them into your life. To receive someone is to accept them into your family.

So, what Jesus is saying is: when you treat someone like this well, someone who is in need, you are not only welcoming them into your life but, you are welcoming Me and My Father as well.

One of the greatest examples of service I can remember, is the story of Pat Tillman. In 2002, after the attack on the world trade centers in New York. Pat Tillman walked away from a 3.9 million dollar contract to play in the NFL, because he felt he had an obligation to serve our country. That choice cost him his life.

In the same way, our service to God is one that will cost us much. It may even cost us our lives. But Christ calls us to be willing to fulfill our obligation to serve Him, and we do that by serving others.

 I will close the way we began: with a question.

What does it mean to be great? Well, by the standards of the world, it means power, control, and prestige. However, by the standards of heaven, none of those things matter at all.

The world and all of its greatness, is passing away before our eyes. It is all temporary. One day, each and everyone of us will stand before the throne of God in heaven, and we want to hear Him say, “Job well done good and faithful servant.”

 We all want our lives to count for something. We all want our lives to be full of meaning and purpose.

However, there is nothing less meaningful, than a life devoted to ones self. On the other hand, there is no greater purpose in life than being devoted to God, and serving Him, and His purpose in this world!!

Lets pray together,

Heavenly Father we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the sacrifice and service of Your Son, who gave His life for ours, that we might be saved and spend eternity with You in heaven.

Lord, help us to recognize the calling to serve others. Help us to look for opportunities to give back, because we have been given so much. Bring to our attention the little things we can do to make a difference in the world around us.

Thank You for Your grace! Thank You for Your mercy!!

In Jesus name we pray, Amen!