Mark 10:32-45 "The Road To Jerusalem"
The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 9 viewsJesus and the disciples embark on the final journey up to Jerusalem just prior to Jesus' passion week. And, like during many spiritual ascents, fleshly distractions are often a reality which Jesus will address in the disciples.
Notes
Transcript
Good morning Calvary Chapel Lake City!
Please turn in your Bibles to Mark 10. Mark 10:32-45 today.
Last time, we wrapped up Jesus’ Perean ministry… which is practically just a footnote in Mark’s Gospel… compared to the several chapters Luke dedicated to the Perean ministry…
This was a final area where Jesus did ministry… just prior to His final week of ministry and the cross…
After the Perean ministry, Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead in John 11…
Which was perhaps a final straw for the Jewish High Council, for from that time on they plotted to put Jesus to death…
Leading Jesus to not walk openly among the Jews, but to go to Ephraim… a city and country north of Jerusalem, but south of Samaria… and a few other places before finding Himself going up to Jerusalem.
Which is where we pick up today… the final Journey up to Jerusalem just prior to the Triumphal Entry…
… which Mark records beginning in the very next chapter… Mark Chapter 11…
Crazy that… Chapter 11 marks the beginning of Jesus’ Final Week of ministry…
The cross looms just ahead…
But, today we take a look at that final ascent… that final journey on the “The Road to Jerusalem”… our message title today.
Let’s Pray!
In reverence for God’s word, please stand as I read our passage today.
Mark 10:32-45 “Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: 33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; 34 and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37 They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They said to Him, “We are able.” So Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; 40 but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. 42 But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Praise God for His word. Please be seated.
Let’s get grounded in our geography, and pull up a map of the region…
From Perea, Jesus and the Disciples would descend to the area of the Dead Sea… which is over 1300 ft. below sea level.
The Dead Sea is actually the lowest place on earth.
And, somewhere in this area is where Jesus will tell the disciples they were going up to Jerusalem… we see that in V32 and V33…
And, you always went Up to Jerusalem…
Not up as in North/South, but UP in elevation…
Jerusalem is a city on a hill… over 2500 feet high.
Add another 1300’ when coming from the Dead Sea.
Many consider it a spiritual ascent… even the idea for Jews of “making Aliyah”… moving to the land of Israel… is traditionally described as "the act of going up" towards the Jewish holy city of Jerusalem…
And, at this time of year… Passover season… there were millions of Jews going up to Jerusalem.
Josephus in the War of the Jews… Book 9 Chapter 6 stated there were over 2 million 700 thousand Jews present in Jerusalem during the feast.
Spiritually ascending up to Jerusalem was a time of joy and celebration…
As they ascended… Jews sang Psalms 120-134 which are called, “A Song of Ascents.”
So, the roads were packed at this time with many Jews… singing Psalms… great anticipation…
What should have been a beautiful time going up to Jerusalem… was clouded by the disciples own struggles…
Let’s re-read the first part of V32 again, to get a pulse on what the disciples were feeling at this time…
“Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid.”
This account is recorded in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), but… Mark includes some unique details…
One is the phrase “Jesus was going before them...”
He was out in front… leading them… both in suffering… and in triumph.
And two is the emotion captured here… what the disciples were feeling…
They were amazed… they were afraid…
We don’t read that Jesus was afraid… I don’t think scripture ever records that…, but the disciples certainly were.
Jesus was going before them… and they were amazed… for weeks now they had been laying low because there were plots on Jesus’ life… and YET… He was going up to Jerusalem…
… His obedience to follow the Father even into death… truly it was amazing.
The disciples may have also been amazed and afraid… perhaps now recalling the several predictions Jesus made about His suffering, death and resurrection…
Maybe they were afraid for Him… maybe afraid for themselves and what would befall them for their association with Jesus.
Often in the scripture we read about people experiencing the human emotion of fear…
Also, often in scripture we see Jesus… or angels… or the Psalms… instructing, “Do not be afraid…” or “Do not fear...”
The phrase “Do not fear” appears 51x in the Bible.
The phrase “Do not be afraid” appears 50x in the Bible.
Now… whatever could that mean?
Now… I’m not that bright, but I think… possibly… God doesn’t want us to fear…
You’ve probably heard it said, “Faith and fear cannot exist together.”
And, if these disciples were going to triumph in their faith… fear could not rule them… because fear is a sign of unbelief or weak faith… and this is not of God.
When Paul was facing martyrdom… he wrote this in his final epistle… 2 Tim 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
God did not give us a spirit of fear… but God has given us His Holy Spirit…
Who endues us with dunamis power… miraculous power…
And, agapē love…
1 Jn 4:18 declares “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear...”
And, a sound mind… meaning discipline or self-control…
Not anxious or fearful.
His spirit gives us strength to walk through the most fearful of circumstances…
The disciples were still in the process of learning these things…
In this moment they were be leading by Jesus… they were following Him… and still they were afraid…
And, maybe that’s you today… you’re walking with Jesus… you’re being led by Jesus… and you’re still afraid.
If you’re fearful or anxious… NO that’s not of God, but if there is also a voice of condemnation in your head… telling you you’re a Christian failure… or you’re not worthy… the voice of condemnation is NOT of God either.
The disciples had ups and downs in their walk, but they were being transformed… and after Pentecost in Acts 2… we increasingly read about their victories… and the miraculous… and open doors for ministry…
Don’t beat yourself up if you have good and bad days with fear… we have recorded here… one very human moment where the disciples were wrestling with human emotion.
And, so what does Jesus do here? Well… in V32 it says Jesus “took the twelve aside again” and said to them, “Get it together guys!… You bunch of losers!”
Oh no… wait… that’s not what it says… Jesus doesn’t drop the hammer on them and destroy them for being fearful…
He takes them aside and He will remind them what’s to come… to prepare them… and remind them who they are following… the Son of Man… Messiah God…
Look again at VSS 32-34… Jesus “began to tell them the things that would happen to Him...”
And, not for the first time… once again Jesus predicts his betrayal… his death… torture… and resurrection.
True… persecution was ahead… death was ahead, but that would not be His end.
The resurrection was also ahead… death would not be His end… Victory over sin and death would be His.
And, in your walk… victory can be your as well… certainly through faith in Jesus Christ you have victory over death… and gain eternal life.
But, also in this lifetime… you can be free of that which binds you.
I, and many of you, are living testimonies of people who are victorious… delivered of many things through grace…
People who have had our hearts change… we now walk with Him… and are no longer a slave to the flesh and the world.
And, much of that victory comes by abiding in Christ… daily in His word and prayer… making Him your number 1 pursuit…
For these disciples… as they hear His words… His reassurance… His honesty of what’s to come… and of WHO HE IS… they don’t scatter… they follow Him up to Jerusalem.
Jesus says in V33… “Behold...” meaning ‘Look’… this is a powerful word…
Eye on me guys… “Behold… look, we are going up to Jerusalem...”
This is the moment.... the time is now. Prophecy is unfolding… We’re doing this…
“Going” is a deliberate word… it points to no delay… it points to intentionality… it points to mission…
They were on a mission to accomplish the whole point of Jesus coming in the incarnation… to die and rise again… the moment of mankind’s redemption was at hand.
Luke 18:31 records Jesus saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished."
The Son of Man was a favorite Messianic title Jesus had for Himself. It looked back to Dan 7:13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven!”
In Rev 1:13 and Rev 14:14 we see the Son of Man applied to Jesus. …
And, the Son of Man… who was prophesied about is scriptures of old… by the prophets… He was in their midst… He was leading the disciples… how reassuring that must have been.
And, as Luke wrote, “… all things concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished...” The Messianic prophecies that foretold the Christ’s suffering had to be fulfilled…
Isa 50:6 prophesied “I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.”
In V34Jesus said He would be mocked and scourged and spit on…
Isa 52:14 “His visage [or appearance] was marred more than any man...”
The beating with rods… the scourging which removed flesh… the blindfold beatings He endured…
He was unrecognizable when they were done torturing Him…
Ps 22:16 “They pierced My hands and My feet...”
The first crucifixion didn’t occur until around 500 B.C.... and the Psalmist wrote about pierced hands and feet around 1000 B.C.... 500 years before crucifixion was even invented.
We could go on… so many OT prophecies of the death of the Messiah…
Thus, “Behold, we ARE going up to Jerusalem...” Scripture must be fulfilled.
And, in V33… Jesus reminds them… the the betrayal that leads to His death comes by the hands of the chief priests and scribes...
This was not new information… for in Matt 16:21 Jesus said, “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”
But, the disciples needed to hear it again… they needed their hearts to be prepared.
They were amazed… and they were afraid…
And, so the good Shepherd prepares them for what lies ahead.
If he would have lied that everything was going to be alright… when that didn’t happen… they would have stumbled.
I appreciate that the Bible prepares us… not just for blessings of what’s to come… not just for prosperity of a hundredfold now in this lifetime… like we read last week…
But also… in the same passage last week… “with persecutions...”
God tells it to us straight.
And, for the disciples… and for us… the story never ends with death… for Jesus said in V34, “And, the third day He will rise again.”
Ps 16:10 declares “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”
Which was linked to the resurrection in Acts 2:31 when Peter stated, “… he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.”
Paul spoke clearly about the importance of the resurrection in 1 Cor 15… “… if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.”
But because He is risen… it proves all He said was true… and that God accepted His sacrifice… and that when we die, we will rise again…
If Jesus did not rise again…then how could we believe He could save us…or His deity statements…or promises of everlasting life?
But, He did… so we can.
The foretelling of Jesus’ death and resurrection is repeated multiple times in the Scriptures… and when something is repeated, we should take notice…
And, we must guard our heart attitude…and never approach scripture with the attitude, “I’ve heard it before.”
Instead we should submit to the significance of that which is being repeated.
The disciples needed to hear it again… especially in this moment of fear… and we do too.
After Jesus reminded the disciples of the hard things to come… and of His victory over the grave…
Luke records this note in Luke 18:34 “But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.”
And sometimes in the midst of our circumstance… or our fear… it’s difficult to receive a good word from a friend… or to hear what the scriptures are saying…
Often I preach a message and later that very week, someone will have a circumstance totally related, but they don’t seem to remember the sermon.
And, that happens here with the disciples as well… the disciples hear, but they don’t perceive.
The words are audible, but not understandable in their hearts.
And, still… though spiritually dull… their feet still work… they still follow Jesus up to Jerusalem.
And, I think this is commendable because how many times do we not understand God, but are we willing to follow regardless?
It takes faith to follow Him when you honestly don’t understand Him.
And, that’s what the disciples do here…
And, so… as their mission on the road to Jerusalem continues…
James and John have a moment in the spotlight… they have a question for Jesus… look again at V35…
These two brother come to Jesus and say, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.”
Now what it the world kind of statement is that? That’s like a child saying, “I have a question for you… please say yes!”
Jesus is wiser than just to say yes without hearing about the details, so He says in V36, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
That’s a very gracious response… in my opinion…
And, in V37, James and John reply… “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.”
“Well ok… now that’s a little more than a cheeseburger and a coke.”
‘Go big or go home’ I guess.
In Mark 9… the disciples were arguing on the road about who would be the greatest… now James and John are trying to seal the deal.
They were already part of Jesus’ inner circle.. the inner three… Peter, James, and John… and yet they want more.
What an ask… of all the things to ask… they are essentially saying… when you set up your kingdom… we want to be #2 and #3 in importance and authority.
Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews Book 6... 11.9 wrote about Saul’s Royal Court and how Jonathan sat at his right hand and Abner on his left.
His heir was on the right… and the commander of his army was on his left.
And, notice that Jesus does not dispute… He does not disagree that there would be such positions in His kingdom.
Seems like a couple people are going to have these places of honor… Perhaps Moses and Elijah… the Law and the Prophets. We can only wonder.
I’m happy sitting wherever in God’s kingdom… I’ll take a spot on the floor.
I’m with the Sons of Korah who wrote in Ps 84:10 “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
One day in God’s courts is better than a thousand in the world.
Being the doorkeeper in God’s house is better than honored places in the wicked world.
Matthew tells us that they also brought their mommy to make the ask… this was probably Salome…
In Mark 15:40 and 16:1 Salome is named and paired with two women named ‘Mary.’
And, in Matt 27:56, the two Marys are identified, and the third woman is listed as “the mother of Zebedee’s sons.”
So, one can deduce that Salome is the mother of Zebedee’s sons… who are James and John.
At the Cross, John identifies four women present, John 19:25 states, “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”
It’s presumed by this verse, and church tradition holds… that “His mother’s sister” was Salome…and if true…this would make Salome Jesus’ Aunt.
Which would make James and John, Jesus’ cousins…
And, maybe her influence would win them some favor with Jesus?
And, I can just imagine her asserting her influence as Jesus’ Aunt… in a very Jewish way… “Yeshua…let them sit by your side! They’re Your cousins… they’re good boys. Ya’ know them! They’ll work hard!”
We think of James and John as pretty tough guys… the ‘Sons of Thunder’… but they loose some points in my book by sending mommy…
Young man… gird up your loins… if you have a request for Jesus… don’t send your mom.
I also have a problem with the timing of this request… there’s a great discrepancy with what Jesus just finished saying… and what James and John say.
Jesus speaks about his passion, death, and resurrection…
And, James and John want to know if they can have places of honor in His kingdom.
That seems like really bad timing. “I’m going to be tortured and die.”
“Man that stinks, well can I be #2 and my brother #3 in your kingdom?”
Jesus also just got done saying… as recorded in Matt 19:28 that the Apostles would sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel…
Was that not enough? Did they really need the #2 and #3 place in the kingdom?
So often the desire for more corrupts. A lack of contentment with what we have… or a lack of contentment even with the eternal promises of God… it causes error in our walk.
I like how Paul put it in 1 Tim 6:6-9 when he wrote, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.”
Great gain is being godly… setting your mind on things above… and being content with what you have in this lifetime.
Because if you’re not… the desire to be rich is a snare… it leads to covetousness… and many foolish and harmful fleshly choices that neither honor God, those around us or ourselves result.
It’s destructive. People lose so much in their venture to gain the whole world. They lose their very soul.
So be careful being discontent… be careful with the lust of the flesh… the lust of the eyes… the pride of life…
It’s a dangerous trap…
But, notice how Jesus again handles the brothers… Jesus does not condemn James and John for pride or arrogance in putting forth such a request.
He doesn’t act snarky… “I can’t believe you had your mom ask for you.”
Jesus models great leadership in that He demonstrates patience with them… these disciples with lofty goals… ambitious requests with terribly insensitive timing.
And, they don’t even understand the gravity of their request… look how Jesus responds in V38… He says, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
If they persecuted Jesus… what do you think they would do to #2 and #3 in His kingdom?
Jesus references the cup that He will drink… and the baptism He will be baptized with… and asks James and John if they are able to partake in these as well.
To which they respond in V39 We are able.”
But, what is Jesus talking about? What is the cup? And, the baptism? In short, Jesus speaks about His cup of suffering and His baptism of death.
The Psalms, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, Revelation…they all speak about the cup being associated with God’s judgment on sin and wicked people… who love and are committed to dark deeds.
Rom 2:2 reads, “But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.”
The cup symbolizes trouble and suffering… thus God’s wrath on sin.
In Isa 51 it is called the “cup of His fury” and the “cup of trembling.”
In Ezk 23 it is called the “cup of horror and desolation.”
And, God… being a just God… does not turn a blind eye to evil, but He righteously judges sin.
And, there seems to be degrees of judgment in God’s cup of wrath...
Psalm 75:8 reads… “For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, And the wine is red; It is fully mixed [notice that], and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth Drain and drink down.”
Notice the wine in the cup is mixed… mixed with water… therefore diluted.
Some equate this mixture of wine and water to symbolize judgment diluted with mercy…
Now contrast this with Rev 14:10 when an angel pronounces judgment upon those in the tribulation who take the mark of the beast to worship him…
Rev 14:10 reads, “… he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength [undiluted] into the cup of His indignation [or wrath]. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”
No more mercy in the end times… God’s wrath will be poured out full strength on those in allegiance to the Anti-Christ.
And in 1 Cor 11:25, Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.”
The new covenant was activated through suffering and death… the shedding of Christ’s blood.
And, so you get a clear picture with just a few verses how Scripture uses this analogy of a cup to symbolize God’s poured out wrath on sin.
And, Jesus asks James and John, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink…?”
Suffering awaited Jesus ahead… and He knowingly walked toward it.
And, the greatest suffering was not at the hands of man, but it was when He hung on the cross taking on the full weight of sin…
Jesus took the sin of the world… He was the only perfect and sinless sacrifice… the sacrificial Lamb of God… and He came to take the punishment for sin.
He took God’s wrath… the cup of indignation… a cup He drank so you and I don’t have to.
Rom 6:23 declares, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Isaiah 53:4–5 reads, “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. [He was struck down by God and afflicted] 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities...”
The cup that we should have drank since in our sin we violated God’s law… by faith in Jesus Christ… the great exchange occurs…
He takes our judgment… and we take on His righteousness.
2 Cor 5:21 declares “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Jesus became the sin offering to die in our place and bring us back into relationship with God.
I think about that moment on the cross when Jesus cried out… “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46)…
No doubt drawing the listeners attention to the Messianic Psalm 22 being fulfilled in their midst…
But, also quite literally… could there be any clearer moment of the cup that Jesus drank?
Terrible men were allowed to beat… mock… spit upon… to scourge the very flesh from His body… to hang Him on a cross…
“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him...” (Isa 53:10)
Suffering unimaginable… and then God placed the sins of the world on His Son…
And, for the first time… Jesus did not call Him ‘Father’, but ‘My God, My God...’
As He drank the cup of God’s wrath on sin… there was a moment of separation…
Because that’s what sin does…
Isa 59:2 states, “… your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.”
And, for you and I… the remedy to restore that broken relationship… is confession…
If you have never taken the step of faith to confess that you believe that Jesus died for your sins… and you now submit to Him as your Lord… that’s step one to restore your relationship with God…
Rom 10:9 instructs, “… if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
After becoming a Christian through your belief and faith profession… there will be times that sin creeps back into your life… and what’s the remedy there? Confession.
1 Jn 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
James 5:16 further emphasizes… “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”
Because Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath… we partake in so many blessings… we forego wrath… we inherit eternal life… we have the privilege of not having to carry the burden of sin, nor having to sacrifice animals because of our sin, but just to simply and honestly confess our wrongdoings to Him. And, we are cleansed.
And, with any sin offering made to God… it was not the suffering, but the death of the animal… the death by the shedding of blood that made atonement for sin…
And, Jesus portrayed this death symbolically through baptism.
To James and John He said, “ Are you able to… be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
In the OT, being submerged in water gave the picture of being over taken by calamity…
In Job, Eliphaz spoke about snares, and fear, and troubles, and darkness that overwhelmed Job, and Job 22:11 reads, “And an abundance of water covers you.”
David wrote in Ps 69:1 “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.”
And, what is the result is water overtakes you… and you sink into the depths? It’s death.
In the NT, in Luke 12:50 Jesus said to Peter, “But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!”
Jesus was immersed in suffering until He would be fully submerged in death…
And, as believers when we are baptized… symbolically we are identifying with the death and the resurrection of Christ…
Col 2:12 states believers are “...buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God...”
As we put to death the old man of the flesh, and arise anew in the Spirit as spoken of in Col 3.
James and John desire to sit at the positions of privilege in Jesus’ Kingdom… and Jesus let’s them know that the positions in the kingdom are earned through suffering and death… through drinking the cup and partaking in the baptism.
And, the brothers feel confident… they reply… “We are able.”
How zealous of them.
And, in V39 Jesus responds to them… “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized...”
And, they did… James… was the first of the Twelve Apostles to be martyred…
Acts 12:2 records that Herod Agrippa I… killed James with the sword.
John… would go on to live a long life, but he would know suffering.
2nd century tradition from Tertullian holds John was arrested in Ephesus and was immersed into a huge pot of boiling oil (talk about a baptism of suffering)… though he survived unscathed.
John would be transferred to the Island of Patmos to serve hard labor in the mines. John testified of this in Rev 1:9.
After release, he returned to Asia Minor and died around the age of 98.
John penned several books in the NT… and his martydom was that of a long life.
He saw visions of heaven… that he penned in Revelation… and would still need to wait before being absent from the body and being present with the Lord.
How difficult life must have been to have seen glory… and yet to remain in this present world.
That was John’s cup of suffering.
But God had purpose for John. He became known as the “Apostle of Love”…
117x the word “love” appears in Johannine literature…
Tradition holds that, toward the end of his life, he would be brought before believers of the early church… and he would summarize the entire message of Christ in one sentence “Little children, love one another.”
And, while the present world is difficult… like John… we still have purpose.
The Lord was not done with John yet… some of those early believers needed to hear that message “Little children, love one another.”
And, there may be people in your life that also need to hear the message of the love of Christ.
God’s not done with you yet.
Jesus continues in V40, “My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.”
After that wonderful teaching moment about what the #2 & #3 seats in the kingdom look like…
Jesus ultimately says, “No.” He cannot give them the seats because He does not have the authority to grant this request.
It was the Father’s place to grant the right hand and left hand seats in the Kingdom.
In Matt 20:23 Jesus declares, “...to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.”
Which is fascinating… because Jesus was divine… and yet… in the hierarchy of the God-head… Jesus voluntarily submitted to the will of the Father.
His essence as God was never diminished in His humanity, but His role… was that of a sacrificial Lamb to redeem mankind… and to submit to the will of the Father…
God has laid out a hierarchy for Himself…
For the home… for the church… and for our submission to government authorities and when not to…
And, in this moment Jesus knows and submits to His place.
A good reminder for any of us who struggle with submitting to our God assigned roles.
Continuing in V24 “And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.”
Ya think? So often, we read about the Twelve Disciples, but here it’s the ten… the ten and the two…
And, when someone tries to make a power grab, this is what happens. It divides the body.
In this moment they are not the twelve. Ten on one side angry and grieving over the request of the two.
When someone tries to ascend above others by their own doing… especially in a church setting…
… it’s a poor witness to those both inside and outside the church. It’s harmful. It’s hypocritical.
Our own Calvary Chapel movement was victim to this when Chuck Smith went home to be with the Lord…
There was a controversial power grab for his seat…
And, there has been a ripple effect that divided our network.
If anything… a move like this… what it does is it disqualifies the person making the power grab because it reveals their character…
They are not a servant leader. They have an agenda. They are power hungry.
Don’t expect them to wash people’s feet, unless it’s a political move… with the wrong heart motivation.
It’s not surprising to me that on the Road to Jerusalem… on this spiritual ascent to the Passover Feast… the disciples too were divided…
It’s like getting into an argument with your spouse on your way to church…
Acting in the flesh on a mission trip…
Or, arguing with other believers at a church function…
The enemy loves to sew division when the spiritual journey is upon us.
Wrapping up… to bring them back together, in VSS 42-45…
First, in V42 Jesus says, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them...”
Jesus contrasts Gentile or Roman rule to governance in the Kingdom of God…
Rule in the world was that of flaunting power. They were tyrants.
In contrast, VSS 43-45 “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Enough was enough… the disciples needed to move past arguing who would be the greatest and seeking the right hand and left hand seats.
They were on the road to Jerusalem, and they needed to be united… they needed to be humble servant leaders just as Jesus demonstrated… in His life and in His death.
And, this applies to our relationships as well… in the home and in the church.
Worship team… you can come…
Phil 2:5-8 exhorts, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
With whatever road that is before us… whatever spiritual ascent we may climb…
We will not climb in a way that pleases and honors God… unless we do so with the mind of Christ…
Not worrying about personal gain… humbling ourselves… becoming as a slave… and being willing to give all… our very lives… in love for God and in love for others.
Be encouraged… even at this tail end of three years of walking with Jesus in ministry… the disciples were still learning these lessons…
Give yourself and others grace… as we too walk our respective roads in life.
Let’s pray!
In this passage today, we clearly see that the disciples did not have it all together…
And, yet these were the men Jesus called…
Be encouraged by that as you have moments in your life that may be counter to who He is…
But remember, today we also talked about confession…
And, maybe there’s something you need prayer for today…
Come and pray… with me or another believer… Lay that at Jesus’ feet… and be cleansed as you set out on your road ahead this week…
God bless you as you go!