Mark 10:35-45, NIV - Then James and John, the sons
of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us
whatever we ask.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the
other at your left in your glory.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can
you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
“We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and
be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left
is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been
prepared.”
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with
James and John. Jesus called them
together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over
them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever
wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be
first must be slave of all. For even the
Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many.”
After being told several times, the
disciples are finally beginning to believe that bad things are going to happen
to Jesus when they get to Jerusalem. It
even seems that they begun to embrace the counterintuitive idea that somehow,
Jesus’s death is part of the plan. But
our passage for today shows us that these same disciples still are fairly
clueless about the true nature of the kingdom.
Two of the inner circle, James and John, ask to be named Jesus’s #1 and
#2. The other disciples get upset with
James and John, but most likely, this is because James and John sought openly
what they desired privately – a prominent place in the kingdom Jesus will usher
in.
Jesus takes
this moment to teach about the true nature of God’s kingdom. Greatness is this kingdom is not achieved by
gaining position, power, or influence.
There is nothing inherently wrong with those things, but the real
currency in Jesus’s kingdom is service to others. The greatest is the servant of all.
This is
not a foreign idea to modern followers of Jesus. Most Christians have heard this concept most
of their lives; we are people who put other people first. But James’s and John’s ambition are not foreign
to us either. We are still drawn to position,
power, and influence. At the very least,
most of us want to be respected and enjoy a favorable reputation in the
community. Though Jesus was humiliated,
shamed, and rejected by all established authorities, His followers still find
it hard to accept when the same happens to them. Jesus is saying there that there is greatness
in this embracing of the life of a servant.
It’s
important to remember that all but one of the twelve original disciples were martyred
for their faith. John, the only one who died
of natural causes, was exiled and suffered greatly. They all followed Jesus’s lead and led others
by becoming a slave to all. But in this
passage for today, we see that it took them a while to get there.
Questions: Where are
we in relation to embracing our role as servants of all? To what extent do our ambitions still get in
the way?
Prayer: God of us
all, give us clarity about the nature of Your kingdom and our role in it. Help us embrace our identity as servants.
Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for
the leaders of the congregation where you worship
Song: Brother – Needtobreathe
(ft. Gavin Degraw)
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