The Road Up Is the Way Down

 Doc took a patient into his office. "I have some good news & some bad news." The patient said, "Give me the good news." Doc said, "They're going to name a disease after you." How is that good news? Likewise, to be great in the KoG, you have to be a servant to everyone. What kind of good news is that? Our barrier? Pride. Our age-old question: 'Who's greater?' For Jesus' Kingdom, that's the wrong question. After Jesus' baptism were major turning points in His ministry. In Mk 8:29, Peter recognized & confessed Jesus as the Christ. Immediately, in Mk 8:31 Jesus predicted His Passion. Then came Mk 9:2, and Jesus was transfigured on the mountain. Each turn brings Him closer to Jerusalem & the Cross. It's nearly time. Let's look at Mk 9:30-37. 30aThey leave Caesarea & head south through Galilee along the Sea of Galilee's western shore. He's headed back to Capernaum. But 30bJesus doesn't want anyone to know where they are. Why the secrecy? He has little time left to prepare them for their mission & for what's coming. 31aHe's teaching his disciples. Pouring into them all He can before His crucifixion. "The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. Betrayed? This is new. 31bThey'll kill him. That, they've heard. 31aAnd after 3 days He'll rise." This too, they've heard. Why does Jesus keep telling them? He's showing them the KoG road to glory. The road up is the way down. What if Jesus showed all His glory, & then told them. Would they understand? No! To be human means we need small, repeated bites to learn something. Jesus is repeatedly giving them what they need. Speaking at their level, giving a little more each time. Yes, they've heard Him. But 32athey still don't understand what He means. This time, they're even 32bafraid to ask him about it. (Or anything else.) Why? As they walked, they argued again. Did Jesus hear them? If they ask Him anything, they might get an answer they don't want. Even worse, the last time they'd tried, Peter rebuked Jesus. And Jesus said, "Satan, get behind me." None of them want to risk another rebuke like that. They may not understand Jesus, but they know enough to fear asking questions. What if they ask what He means by betrayal? Might they find Judas in their hearts? What if they ask about His being killed? Would He shatter their dreams of the Messiah's Kingdom on earth? Shatter their dreams about their exalted position in that Kingdom? What if they ask about resurrection? Will He take them beyond anything they can understand? And if they ask about the cross, will He require them, too, to make a radical commitment of self-denial? Pick up their own cross? Follow Jesus to their own deaths? No, it's better not to ask questions like that. There may even be a deeper reason not to ask. 33aThey arrive in Capernaum & enter 33bthe house. Jesus asks, "What were you arguing about on the road?" Whoops! He heard them! 34aThey keep quiet. Why? Shame. 34bOn the way they'd argued, "Who's greater?" Not greatest. They know Jesus is the greatest. But who's next? In His KoG, who's His right-hand man? We can almost hear Peter, James, & John boasting to the rest. "He took us up the mount & showed us His glory. Surely, it's one of us." The rest don't like it. And none of them like it when Peter chimes in. "I was 1st to figure out who He really is. And I'm the leader of this group. Surely, it's me." And John retorts, "But I'm the one He loves. It's me." Their rivalry shows us who we are. God can't trust most of us with earthly greatness. God's Kingdom on earth won't honor earthly power & greatness. He won't set it up that way. Power & greatness aren't how God shows love. What does God's love look like? Look at 1 Cor 13:4-8. God's 4Love is patient, kind, doesn't envy, & isn't proud. God's love 5Isn't rude, self-seeking, or easily angered. God's love always forgives & keeps no record of wrongs. God's 6love doesn't delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God's love 7always protects, trusts, hopes, & perseveres. God's 8love never fails. Only humility can show the self-sacrificing love that always puts others first. Earthly power or greatness can't do that. Arguing over who's greater than the others next to Jesus? That's pride. Not humility. Not God's love. 35aSitting down, Jesus called the 12. Is he angry? No. Rabbis sit to teach. Jesus will teach them how glory & privilege work in the KoG. 35b"If anyone wants to be 1st, he must be the very last. The servant of all." The servant. The diakonos, a deacon. A table-waiter. One who serves others. Not service as a doulos, a slave. The point? Want to be 1st? Become a willing servant. Sacrificial service. What does a willing servant look like? 36aHe took a little child & had him stand among them. Why a child? In Aramaic, child & servant are the same word. Children know they're lowest & least in a household. They know they're completely dependent on their parents. That doesn't bother children. No pride. Completely humble. (Children show us true humility. It isn't thinking less of ourselves. It's thinking of ourselves less.) So, they ask for everything they need. Everything they want. They don't think about it. They just boldly ask for everything. In Mk 10:15, Jesus will say we can only enter the KoG like a little child. Children want to help. Ask a child to do something, and they do it. Willingly. No pride. No grasping at glory. (That comes as they learn worldly values.) They're assigned household chores. Younger children are happy to do help at all. They cheerfully do their tasks. (That should teach us. Does the Lord like grudging obedience?) There's one more aspect of being a child that should teach us. Dad was worried. His 6-yo son was taking too long to walk home from school. Dad decided to walk the route himself. Just how long should it take to get home? Dad settled on 20 minutes. His son kept taking an hour. Dad decided to make the trip with his son. Later, Dad said, "In theory, 20 minutes was right. But I failed to account for the side trip to track down a trail of ants. An educational stop to watch a man fix a flat tire. The time it took to swing around a half dozen telephone poles And, how long it took for a boy to get acquainted with 2 stray dogs and brown cat. "In short," said Dad, "I forgot what it's really like to be 6-yo." We too forget what it's like to be children. To others. And especially to our Heavenly Father. Let's reflect for a minute. Let's ask our heavenly Father. How am I not like a child to You? What if I choose now to be the child You said can enter Your Kingdom? The child who will be 1st? What will that mean for me, Father? Willing service? Eager learning? Humbly thinking of myself less so I can think about others' needs more? What ever it is, let's let Him guide us into the changes we need to make. 36bTaking that little child in his arms, Jesus continued to teach. 37a"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me. Remember: child & servant are the same word. Jesus is saying we need to receive His children (other servants & disciples) the same way we receive Him. The same way Jesus was receiving the child in front of them. No thought of precedence. No thought of who's better than whom. Just simple, open-armed, love. 37bWhoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Why? God's Spirit is in His children. If we don't love them, we aren't loving God! Literally! We are to receive all God's people as we do children. No thought of their accomplishments, influence, fame, or gifts. Love them just because they're His children. This rules out seeking the powerful or influential for what they can do for us. He warns us about neglecting the simple, the humble, the ordinary. Want to set out on the road to glory in God's Kingdom? If so, choose the way down. The way of humility. Become the servant of all. Especially God's children. Jesus did. At the Last Supper, Jesus' disciples were still arguing about who's greater. No one lowered themselves to wash the others' feet. To do so was common courtesy. They didn't. Jesus humbled Himself. He took the role of a servant-child. Jn 13:2-5, our Creator washed His disciples' feet. Like child would. Even the feet of Judas Iscariot. Just minutes before Judas would betray Him. Jesus shows us what God's love truly looks like. And in Jn 13:15, He says 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Go & do likewise. How can we take the path down? Humbly & patiently care for each other in whatever way is needed. The Road Up is the Way Down - Mark 9:30-37 Page 1 of 1