Sermon Text: Mark 10:32–45
Date: October 20, 2024
Event: Proper 24, Year B
Mark 10:32–45 (EHV)
They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading them. The disciples were amazed, and the others who followed were afraid. He took the Twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. 33“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the experts in the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles. 34They will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
35James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we wish that you would do for us whatever we ask.”
36He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37They said to him, “Promise that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your glory.”
38But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with?”
39“We can,” they replied.
Jesus told them, “You will drink the cup that I am going to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with. 40But to sit at my right or at my left is not for me to give; rather, these places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41When the ten heard this, they were angry with James and John.
42Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43But that is not the way it is to be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus Served Us; Let Us Serve Each Other
There are a lot of ways to measure greatness in the world that we live in. It could be greatness in the sense of earthly power. It could be greatness in the sense of wealth. It could be greatness in the sense of our family's size or success. And even the word success might have a variety of definitions for people. What does it mean to be successful in this life? Well, you could probably ask ten people and get ten pretty different answers.
But there is a commonality among people: We want to succeed rather than fail. We want to accomplish our goals rather than ignore them or throw them away. Perhaps, in a more selfish mindset, we want to gain favor. We want to be better, or at least better than someone else. In our gospel for this morning, we see the disciples wrestling with that temptation while, at the same time, Jesus is trying to show them how he will be great for them by serving.
Perhaps we struggle with the same things the disciples struggled with. And I know for certain that we all need the same encouragement and reminder of what Jesus has done to save us. So this morning, let's gather around Jesus and learn from him what service and greatness look like. And then let us seek to follow in our Savior’s service path, motivated by his service for us, serving the people that God has placed in our lives.
In our gospel this morning, we meet up with Jesus and his disciples almost at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. We are just a few verses away from Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday in the beginning of Mark chapter 11. This is the end of Jesus' time with his disciples to teach them and help them understand what is coming.
And so that's where he begins. Now, Mark's writing style is very abrupt. He jumps from subject to subject very quickly, moving from main point to main point. But it doesn’t seem to be a stylistic choice that puts the disciples’ bickering at odds with what Jesus is teaching. Jesus tells them how he is going to be killed and give his life as a ransom for many. And then James and John approach him with that perhaps selfish request, “Promise that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your glory.”
Now, on the one hand, they did get it; they did understand that Jesus was going to be in glory. They knew that he would not be defeated by whatever was coming that he had just explained. But you want to say to James and John, “Guys, read the room a little bit here. This is not the time to be talking about things like this.” And Jesus really does that. He says, “Things are going to go really badly for me. And guess what? They're also going to go really badly for you. You will drink the cup that I am going to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with.”
The other ten were indignant with James and John. And it's unclear whether they're resentful because they realize the inappropriateness of this request or because James and John were requesting what the rest of them wanted for themselves. Regardless, this was a source of conflict among the Twelve. And if I were Jesus, and I were on the brink of this catastrophe of being betrayed and murdered by my government, I think I would be pretty short with them. Thankfully, Jesus is not me; Jesus is perfect; Jesus does not sin. He uses this as a teaching moment.
“You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But that is not the way it is to be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave of all.” We've heard Jesus over the last several Sundays emphasize similar points. Just four week ago in our Gospel, all of the disciples were arguing among themlseves about who of them was the greatest. Jesus continues to patienly correct and them. What is the goal of the believer’s life? It's not glory. It's not being the best. It's not finding recognition in the world or even among other believers. The goal of the Christian life is service.
We heard it two weeks ago when Paul addressed Christians, especially Christian families, and encouraged them to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21). Put each other ahead of yourself. Consider others' needs more important than your own. Submit. Sacrifice. Serve. Jesus underscores this point in the last verse of our gospel: 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.
If there was ever anyone who walked the face of this earth who deserved to be honored and acknowledged as the greatest of all, to have glory ascribed to him, it was Jesus. Not only was he perfect and sent by God, but he is God. And so it would have been justified (and perhaps to our way of thinking, maybe more appropriate) for him to come to this earth and demand honor and tribute and glory and praise from anyone and everyone that saw him. You might think of the wise men when he was a little child coming and bringing their gifts only on a much grander scale. If we're talking about who deserved earthly glory, well, no one deserved it more than Jesus.
But that's not why he came. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. His time on this earth was not about himself. It was not about his glory, praise, or ego, if you want to put it that way. Everything about what he did while he was on this earth was about laying aside what was rightfully his to serve you and to serve me.
The apostle Paul, in Philippians chapter 2, says that Jesus did not consider equality with God as something that had to be retained, gripped with all his might. Instead, he willingly put that aside. He put aside the full use of his glory as God to become a servant, serve you, and serve me. And this was always the plan; this is not a departure from what God promised. We heard those familiar words in Isaiah 53 in our first reading as a reminder that the Messiah’s task was always to serve you: Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and to allow him to suffer. Because you made his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring. He will prolong his days, and the Lord’s gracious plan will succeed in his hand. It was the Lord's will to crush him and allow him to suffer. Because you made his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring. He will prolong his days. And the Lord's will be the Lord's will to serve you. And the Lord's will to serve you. And the Lord's will to serve you. And the Lord's will to serve you.
From the beginning, the Messiah was coming to be crushed. To offer his life as a guilt offering. To empty himself to serve us. And we should be really clear about why he did this. He's not just giving us a model to follow. He's not just saying, “Here’s how you should treat each other or prioritize others ahead of yourself,” though surely we can learn that from him. But Jesus did not come to be primarily a model for us; he came to save us.
Jesus’ service is not just about him being humble; it’s about him being and doing what we needed. Our sin had trapped us in an impossible place; we were headed for eternal punishment in hell with absolutely no way to change course. So Jesus took our place. He humbled himself and served us by enduring the hell we deserved on the cross. He served us in our greatest need so that we would be spared from hell and instead be with him forever in heaven.
He did this because he loves you, and he loves me. There is no guilt trip here. And you can see that in how he patiently explains to the Twelve what will happen. He doesn’t lash out at their selfish goals and conversations. No, he tells them what he will do to save them from even this sin.
James and John would drink the cup of Jesus’ suffering in some ways. James would be the first of the twelve to be martyred, and while John might be the only of the twelve to die a natural death, he would endure persecution and exile and face challenges to the sound teaching of comfort and sins forgiven in Jesus during his long life. The Twelve would learn to serve for Jesus and about Jesus.
We, too, can serve in this way. We can serve by sharing the good news of what we’ve come to know and believe with those who don’t know it. We can serve by encouraging our fellow Christians with the message that brings true, lasting, eternal comfort—Jesus was crucified for our sins and raised from the dead. We can serve by not seeking personal glory but by striving to support those around us. We can serve by bringing people to Jesus’ feet so they, too, can hear and, by God’s grace, believe what Jesus has done for them.
Dear Christian, rejoice, for Jesus has served you. Let us serve others by sharing what he has done for all people so that many may join us in eternal celebration, away from this world of sin and with our Savior forever in heaven! Amen.
