The Gospel of Mark: A Lenten Exploration of the Call to Serve (2)
Mark: a Lenten exploration of the call to serve • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38 “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?”
39 “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, 40 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.”
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 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. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must 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 as a ransom for many.”
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”
Mark 10:50–52 (NIV)
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”
50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
On the way - 3 scenes… Jesus predicts his death & resurrection, disciples who can’t see and a blind man who can.
On the way - 3 scenes… Jesus predicts his death & resurrection, disciples who can’t see and a blind man who can.
On the way… headed for Jerusalem and passing through Jericho.
Headed for Jerusalem
Headed for Jerusalem
32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him.
Those with Jesus were astonished and afraid.
Those with Jesus were astonished and afraid.
Which one makes the most sense to you?
Jesus tells them (for the third time in Mark) what is going to happen.
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
Now Jesus gets more explicit…
33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
So, we hear Jesus’ prediction - this time he spells it out pretty clearly.
Zebedee brothers - disciples who can’t see
Zebedee brothers - disciples who can’t see
Ched Myers reminds us that “The phrase “as a ransom for many” …referred to the price required to redeem captives or purchase freedom for indentured servants. Jesus promises then that the way of “servanthood” has been transformed by the Human One into the way of liberation.”
Passing through Jericho
Passing through Jericho
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging.
Bartimaus sees what the disciples cannot
Bartimaus sees what the disciples cannot
same question… “What do you want me to do for you?”
Ched Myers writes: “Mark draws a devastating contrast between the beggar’s initiative and the aspirations of the disciples. Upon their apporach, Jesus had asked James and John, “What do you want me to do for you?” To the beggar’s petition, Jesus responds with exactly the same words. But how different the requests!”
He continues on a bit later… the narrative discourse of hope is now clear in this last discipleship/healing episode. Only if the disciples/reader struggles against the internal demons that render us deaf and mute, only if we renounce our thirst for power - in a word, only if we recognize our blindness and seek true vision - then can the discipleship adventure carry on.
Have mercy on me.
Son of David.
I want to see.
Response
Response
Who do you most identify with in the reading? James & John? Bartimaeus?
What do you want Jesus to do for you?
What can you see/not see?
Merciful Jesus, would You _____ ?
Kate Bowler: “Help me to see things as they really are.”
[time for writing prayers]
Communion:
Table
Table
Instructions - come forward, take and eat/drink right here. Put cups into the bowls as you pass by.
INVITATION
INVITATION
This is the table,
not of the Church,
but of the Lord.
It is to be made ready
for those who love him and who want to love him more.
So, come,
If you have much faith
and if you have little,
if you have been here often
and if you have not been for a long time,
if you have tried to follow
and if you have failed.
Come,
not because it is I who invite you:
it is our Lord.
It is his will
that those who want him should meet him here.
THE STORY
THE STORY
On the night on which Jesus was betrayed, he sat at supper with his disciples. While they were eating, he took a piece of bread, said a blessing, broke it, and gave it to them with the words, ‘This is my body. It is for you. Do this to remember me.’ Later, he took a cup of wine, saying, ‘This cup is God’s new covenant, sealed with my blood. Drink from it, all of you, to remember me’.
So now, following Jesus’ example and command, we take this bread and this wine, the ordinary things of the world which Christ will make special. And as he said a prayer before sharing, let us do so too.
THE PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
THE PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Loving God,
we praise and thank you
for your love shown to us in Jesus Christ.
We thank you for his life and ministry,
announcing the good news of your kingdom
and demonstrating its power
in the lifting of the downtrodden,
and the healing of the sick,
and the loving of the loveless.
We thank you for his sacrificial death upon the cross for the redemption of the world,
and for your raising him to life again,
as a foretaste of the glory we shall share.
We give you thanks for this bread and wine, symbols of our world
and signs of your transforming love.
Send your Holy Spirit, we pray,
that we may be renewed
into the likeness of Jesus Christ
and formed into his Body.
This we pray in his name and for his sake. Amen.
THE SHARING
THE SHARING
Taking and breaking the bread
Among friends, gathered round a table,
Jesus took bread, broke it and said, ‘This is my body, it is for you’.
Taking the cup of wine
And later he took the cup of wine and said,
‘This is the new relationship with God,
made possible because of my death.
Take this – all of you – to remember me’.
Look,
here is your Lord coming to you in bread and wine.
These are the gifts of God for the people of God.
(After the serving, invite people to stand, remind them that they still have time to add a prayer to our gathered prayers)