THE GOSPEL OF MARK
The Great Galilean Ministry
We are in the last year of Jesus' life and ministry on earth. Approximately one year before His death, Jesus leds the disciples to the confession that He is the Messiah. Immediately after they confess Him to be the Messiah, He goes on to explain what kind of Messiah He will be and how that should determine what kind of followers they should be. We saw in last week's passage that just as Jesus was going to suffer martyrdom, so He expected His disciples to accept martyrdom. If they were faced with the crisis of either professing Jesus and accepting martyrdom, or else denying Jesus so that they could escape martyrdom. In the 2 passages before us today, Jesus will go even further to discuss what kind of followers you and I are to be if we are going to be genuine followers of Jesus Christ. Once more the nature of our discipleship is based upon the kind of Messiah He is.
SECOND PREDICTION OF THE PASSION--
CALL TO BE LIKE A LITLE CHILD (9:30-37)
All 4 Gospels inform us that 3 times during the last year of Jesus' ministry, Jesus predicted to His disciples that He would suffer at the hands of the Sanhedrin, be killed, and then rise from the dead on the third day. Although Jesus may have mentioned it even more than 3 times, the Gospel writers list these 3 times to emphasize to us that this was the major focus of Jesus' teaching to His disciples during the last year of His life on earth. Although Jesus will teach on various topics during the last year of His ministry, these 3 predictions are the tent posts upon which all the other teachings hung. We shall se how later in this section.
The disciples do not verbally respond to Jesus after He predicts His sufferings the second time. Mark says that although they did not understand what Jesus meant, they did not ask Him to explain because they were afraid. Why did they not understand, and why did they not ask? They probably did not understand because what Jesus was saying totally contradicted their view of the Messiah. Whatever was going to happen to the Messiah, they were sure He was going to suffer execution. Although they didn't know what Jesus meant, they knew He did not mean that H e was literally going to die. Maybe Jesus was speaking symbolically about a time of conflict before He would be able to establish His kingdom. They probably thought that the clause "rise again in 3 days" was a metaphorical way of saying that He was going to be victorious over His enemies.
Why not ask Him though? Because they were afraid. Why were they afraid to ask Him? The last time somebody responded to a similar statement Jesus called that person "Satan." I've been called Satan by 2 people in my life time, but that really doesn't bother me because of who the people were who called me that name. On the other hand, it would have bothered me a lot if Jesus had called me "Satan." and it probably made the disciples hesitate.
Although the disciples are not sure what Jesus means by being killed, etc., they are sure of one thing: He is the Messiah who has come to set up the kingdom of God. Not only that but they were sure that as His special followers, they are going to have high places (Maybe even cabinet positions) in the new kingdom. They begin to debate among themselves who of the disciples was the greatest.
When Jesus asks them what they're debating about, they're embarrassed. It's one thing to argue about this among your peers, quite another to have to admit it to Jesus. Jesus, though, knowing what they're discussing, pulls up a child to serve as an object lesson. Matthew adds a statement Mark leaves out: "Truly, I say to you, unless you convert and become like children, you will never, no never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:3). In other words, Jesus is saying that instead of worrying about which would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, they need to worry about whether or not they were going to enter the kingdom at all. Their whole attitude is one of pride-what they ned to enter the kingdom (must less be great in it) is the attitude of humility.
What you have here is the theme which runs throughout all of Mark 8-10. Several of the teachings in these chapters seem unrelated-teachings on wealth and divorce. Jesus, however, returns several times to children as being the example of the kind of person who is going to enter the kingdom of heaven and be great in that kingdom, that is, be a leader in the kingdom. It takes the humility of a child to accept Jesus' teachings on divorce and on wealth. In fact, apart from such an attitude it is impossible to apply Jesus' teachings to our lives.
What does Jesus mean by humility? It does not mean that I look down on myself. When I do that, I am still focusing on me. Rather, humility means I focus on somebody else, in this specific instance, Jesus. To be even more specific, in the NT humility is trusting obedience or obedient faith. It focuses not upon self but positively upon Jesus. It trusts Jesus to the extent that it obeys Him. A disobedient faith is a contradiction in terms. The one who truly trusts Jesus obeys Him.
How is a child an example of this? Nathan and Molly, when they were younger, had child-like faith in me as a dad. (They still do pretty good job of it even now.) Sometimes they would obey me not understanding why I asked them to do what I asked them to. They obeyed anyway because they knew I was their dad and because they knew their obedience would make me happy. When I asked them to devote time to Scripture memory, they did so. They didn't understand the benefits of Scripture memory. They just knew that I valued it. It then became important to them. (Even today they know all the verses I had them memorize--and that was 9 years ago.) It was not a chore but an act of joy because they discovered that this really pleased me and the Lord; and they believed that in some way or other, it was really going to benefit them. That is obedient faith. God wants the same from you and me.
THIRD PREDICTION OF THE PASSION--
CALL TO BE A SERVANT (10:32-45)
For the third time Jesus predicts His coming passion. Note several observations about this third prediction. Of the 3 predictions, the third one is the most explicit. He adds that He will be delivered up to the Gentiles, and that He will be scourged and mocked. The saying that He will be delivered up to the Gentiles must have been especially hateful to their ears because all their lives they had believed that the Messiah would deliver from the GENTILES. Second, Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem when He makes this third prediction. Jesus' resolute march towards Jerusalem disturbs the disciples. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus has spent much time during the last 3 years in Jerusalem which greatly provoked the Jewish religious authorities. They knew that Jesus was marching right into the lion's den, and yet He seemed to be walking fearlessly towards His death. Third, the disciples once more fail to understand the meaning of Jesus' words. The literal meaning of His words contradicted their view of the Messiah; therefore, they must have reasoned that He was speaking symbolically.
The next episode shows how much they failed to understand Jesus. After Jesus makes this prediction the brothers James and John approach Jesus and ask Him if they could sit at His right hand and left hand after He establishes His kingdom. (They're pretty sure that is going to happen at any moment. Otherwise, why the journey to Jerusalem and why this prediction of rising on the third day?) From their perspective it probably only seemed right hat hey should ask for these positions. Were they not 2/3 of the inner circle (the other being Peter)? Moreover, they already had friends in high places (there is every indication that they were acquainted with the chief priest--se John 18:15). How utterly lonely Jesus must have felt. He's about to face the greatest pain a person had ever suffered and yet He was really going to face it alone. In His hour of greatest need, the disciples are jockeying for positions in the kingdom.
Jesus does not rebuke them though. To some degree their question is good. It is good to want to be successful in the Kingdom. The problem is that they misunderstand what it means to be great in the Kingdom and how to achieve greatness. Jesus asks them if they will be able to drink the cup He is about to drink and to be baptized with the baptism with which He's about to be baptized. Again, they fail to understand what Jesus is talking about. In the OT, drinking the cup refers to being the object of God's wrath; baptism in the OT means that a person is being plunged into great pain and suffering. With reference to Jesus, the cup and baptism refer to Jesus' suffering on the cross. All that the disciples see, though, is places of glory and honor, and they claim they are able to drink the cup and undergo this baptism.
Jesus informs them that they will indeed drink His cup and undergo His baptism. James will be the first of the 12 apostles to suffer martyrdom. Herod Agrippa 1 will put him to death with the sword. John, on the other hand, will be the last of the apostles to die. He will suffer exile and even torture before he finally dies. These 2 brothers will serve as bookends for the entire apostolic band in their sufferings for Christ. Jesus claims, though, that He cannot promise them these positions because only the Father can award these 2 places of honor. Even Jesus Himself is a Man in Submission—He too is humble as seen in the fact that there are some things that even He is not permitted to do.
Jesus develops the concept of humility, not just for James and John but also for the other 10 disciples who are aggravated at James and John for getting the jump on them. Their problem was that they equated greatness with lordship. Jesus basically identifies them with the pagan Gentile rulers whom they so greatly despised. These rulers lorded it over their subjects, the Jews. The disciples did not mind somebody being lord just as long as it was they. The sad thing is that people who are seeking power many times become as bad or even worse than the people they are seeking to replace. In The History of the English-Speaking Peoples," Winston Churchill tells the story of Charles 1 of England who ruled during the first part of the 17th century in England. He tried to exercise absolute control over England. His main opponents, the Puritans led by Oliver Cromwell, eventually overthrew this despot, and guess what? Cromwell became an even worse tyrant over England than Charles. Whereas Charles had executed a few men, the heads really rolled during Cromwell's reign. According to Jesus, the problem was not that THE GENTILES were lording over others but that ANYBODY was lording over others. LORDING IT OVER OTHERS is the problem, no matter who is doing it.
The idea of people wielding power in the church totally contradicts the very essence of the church. Jesus says that "service" is the key note of the church:
"But it is not so among you,
but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
and whoever wishes to become first among you
shall be slave of all."
The path to greatness in the Kingdom of God is servanthood; the path to preeminence in the Kingdom is slavery. The word translated "servant" is literally diakonos (pron. dee-AH-kah-nahs) from which we get the word "deacon." It has the image of a person serving so much and so fast that he is literally kicking up dust while he is serving. The word translated "slave" actually refers to a person who has no will of his own but only the will of his master.
Look at how the church has incorporated this idea into its very framework. Call the staff "ministers" which literally means "servants." The next official officer is called "deacon" which again means servant. Moreover, Paul states that the purpose of the ministers is to equip Christians for the task of service (Eph. 4:11-12). Control and power-wielding totally contradict the essential nature of the church.
How do you or I know if we have a problem with power versus service? Ask yourself how you look at the church and key people in it? Do you think in terms of control, the powers-that-be, or "the changing of the guard"? Do you get angry when you don't get your own way on committees or in church conference? Do you think yourself too important to serve on menial committees, or do you always have to serve on one of the major committees because your "special" talents fit only those committees? (Committee on Committees, Personnel, or Finance?) What is your attitude towards pastoral leadership in the church? Yours and my responses to those issues should inform you whether or not you have a problem with power/control, and whether or not you should have a position of spiritual responsibility within the church?
Regarding committees, the main purpose of these committees should not be power but ministry and discipleship. There is a trend in SBC churches to get rid of committees. I disagree with this. In fact, I got into an argument with a conference leader at the Evangelism Conference in Ft. Worth because he advocated getting rid of committees. I just feel like there needs to be accountability in the church-for the pastor and also for church members. The problem, though, is that some people want to emphasize only decision making and accountability (which are necessary) and totally exclude discipleship and ministry. Although decision making and accountability are necessary, the primary purpose of every committee should be discipleship and ministry. It's sad but true that some people will spend hours each week trying to find ways to exercise control and yet will absolutely refuse to visit a prospect for the church or visit a sick church members. In 32 years of serving on a church staff, I've seen only 4 committee members acting in an official capacity who've ever asked a staff member how they could minister to him or pray for him (to this church's credit, all 4 of them were from this church). Now some people who've really posed themselves as being spiritual giants have served on committees in churches I've served but only a total of 4 have ever actually tried to minister to the church staff.
This concept of greatness is not optional. It is rather based upon the example of Jesus Himself:
For even the Son of Man did not come to serve,
but to serve,
and to give His life
a ransom for many.
As our Master, we should follow His example. Even more than that, though, if even Jesus by His very nature is Lord of the universe—if this Jesus stoops to serve, then just who are we to refuse to serve? I've seen people in churches who get frustrated because they don't get to do something they want to do or get something done they wanted done; the truth is that I've never seen anybody frustrated because they didn't get to minister like they wanted to. This church nor any other church will keep somebody from ministering which is what we should all be about. The only conflict comes in the area of control and power which have no place in the church.