WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 What we'll focus on this morning is right there in verse 43. 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:07.759 In verse 43, Jesus says, 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:10.640 whoever among you desires to be great. 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:14.720 And that means that Jesus is saying that 00:00:15.720 --> 00:00:20.400 if you want to be great in life, there's a way. 00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:25.400 And so Jesus says to us that the concept of greatness, 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:29.640 whoever among you wants to be great, 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:31.880 you wanna have a great life, you want to be great, 00:00:31.880 --> 00:00:33.439 you want to live the great life, 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:36.600 that actually greatness really is a Christian category, 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:40.760 a category that Jesus brings up here in verse 43. 00:00:40.760 --> 00:00:42.920 And so he raises this question, 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:45.320 what does it mean to be great? 00:00:46.519 --> 00:00:47.920 He says, if you wanna be great, 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:49.799 whoever desires to be great, here it is, 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:51.480 what does it mean to be great? 00:00:51.480 --> 00:00:53.679 What does it mean to live the great life? 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:56.880 He addresses that very directly here. 00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:00.000 And as you might expect, Jesus' view, 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.000 Jesus' treatment here of greatness 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:07.120 is going to totally flip upside down 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:09.760 every single culture's view of greatness 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:10.600 for all of world history. 00:01:10.600 --> 00:01:12.040 It's gonna flip it on its head, 00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:14.040 what he means here by greatness. 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:16.960 And it's basically this, that greatness to be great, 00:01:16.960 --> 00:01:21.240 to live a great life, is not a product of your achievements. 00:01:22.240 --> 00:01:25.560 To live a great life is not a product of your achievements. 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:28.200 It's less for Jesus about what you do, 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:30.640 and it's more about who you become. 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:33.760 That's the difference in the world's definition of greatness 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:36.560 and what Jesus is gonna teach us here about greatness. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:40.120 Now, this is one teaching, if you will, 00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:45.120 one look at this one sermon across two weeks, 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:48.680 just because, as you know, I never have enough time. 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:51.200 And one sermon across two weeks, 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:53.079 in other words, there are three things here 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:56.120 that Jesus teaches us we need to become great. 00:01:56.120 --> 00:01:57.560 Do you wanna live the great life? 00:01:57.560 --> 00:01:59.759 And he gives us the three things, 00:01:59.759 --> 00:02:01.719 really they're the three words here, 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:04.120 and we'll look at the first two this week, 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:06.560 and then especially the third next week. 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:08.599 And here's what he tells us they are, 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:11.560 in order to be great, in order to live a great life, 00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:14.240 you first need to cry for mercy. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:17.319 You need to cry for mercy, then you need to be ransomed. 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:20.599 And then finally, you need a life of service. 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:24.039 Okay, so let's think about just the first two of those 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:25.039 this week. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:27.840 And the first thing he tells us here is that the great life, 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:31.939 to be great, begins in a cry for mercy. 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:37.439 Verse 32 to 34 is this little section 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:39.000 where Jesus predicts his death. 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:42.159 This is the third time he's predicted his own death 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:46.319 in Mark's gospel so far, since the halfway point, chapter eight. 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:49.599 And now the text tells us, 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:53.239 Mark tells us he's actually headed towards Jerusalem. 00:02:53.239 --> 00:02:55.639 So this is the third time he predicts his death, 00:02:55.639 --> 00:02:57.319 but the first time he's done it, 00:02:57.319 --> 00:03:02.079 where he is walking towards Jerusalem to actually die, 00:03:02.079 --> 00:03:03.799 to actually experience it. 00:03:03.799 --> 00:03:07.079 And you can see that Mark in verse 32 points out 00:03:07.079 --> 00:03:08.680 that he was leading the way, 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:11.740 and everybody else was following way behind him. 00:03:11.740 --> 00:03:16.740 Now imagine that you are going toward your execution. 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:20.820 And if you're walking towards your execution, 00:03:20.820 --> 00:03:22.820 what position do you take in the parade? 00:03:23.820 --> 00:03:26.500 Your feet are dragging while the soldiers 00:03:26.500 --> 00:03:28.180 are carrying you along. 00:03:28.180 --> 00:03:31.020 Jesus Christ is headed towards his execution, 00:03:31.020 --> 00:03:33.939 and he is leading the way, and everybody else can't keep up. 00:03:33.939 --> 00:03:35.620 His face is set towards Jerusalem. 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:37.740 He knows what he came for. 00:03:37.740 --> 00:03:40.420 And he says, we're going to Jerusalem now, 00:03:40.420 --> 00:03:44.920 I'm going to be mocked, flogged, spit at, and killed. 00:03:44.919 --> 00:03:49.199 So this is what he says in verses 32 to 34, 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:53.000 while the disciples are trying to keep up with him. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.839 And then verse 35, the comedy, 00:03:55.839 --> 00:03:59.039 you're supposed to laugh at this, the comedy starts. 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:02.119 James and John, Jesus has just said, 00:04:02.119 --> 00:04:05.159 I'm going and I'm going to be mocked, spit at, 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:07.000 flogged, and murdered. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:11.839 And they say, okay, but we're going to ask you something. 00:04:11.839 --> 00:04:14.839 And we want you to say yes to whatever we ask you, 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:16.560 no matter what it is that we ask. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:18.439 That's their response. 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:21.519 And they turn to him and say, okay, that's fine, 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:25.240 but give us, we want to blank check a request. 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:26.079 We're going to make a request, 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:27.759 we want a blank check sign from you. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:31.199 And the way they respond to Jesus in verse 35 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:34.920 is sort of like when you sit down with a child, 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:38.199 you sit down with children and you say, 00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:42.319 our dear friend, our dear neighbor is very sick, 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:45.000 and we don't know what's going to happen to them. 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.279 And they nod and say, okay, but can I ask you something? 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:50.879 And you have to promise you're not going to get mad at me 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:52.719 no matter what it is I ask you for. 00:04:52.719 --> 00:04:54.439 And you say, okay. 00:04:54.439 --> 00:04:59.439 And they say, is it okay if I eat an ice lolly now, 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:03.560 even though I've already had chocolate earlier? 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:07.360 Right, and you say, what, this is the wrong time. 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:09.439 Why are you asking me this right now? 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:11.560 This is exactly the same thing. 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:13.680 Jesus says, it's time to go to Jerusalem, 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:17.079 I'm going to be spit on, flogged, murdered. 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:20.319 And they say, can we ask you anything? 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:22.180 And you have to say yes no matter what. 00:05:22.180 --> 00:05:23.759 That's the preface. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:28.000 And Jesus is so gracious with them, like little children, 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:29.879 he turns to them and he says, 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:32.360 what do you want me to do for you? 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:35.040 And the reason he's so gracious and gentle is because 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:38.519 his face is set towards Jerusalem for them. 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:40.279 He's headed to Jerusalem. 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.959 He knows why he came, he came to be spat on, 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:47.559 to be flogged, to be murdered for that dumb question. 00:05:48.799 --> 00:05:50.879 For the fools that have just asked him that. 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:53.719 He came for them and so he's gentle, 00:05:53.719 --> 00:05:56.879 because they are the object of his cross. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:59.679 And so he says, what do you want me to do? 00:05:59.679 --> 00:06:00.519 And I'll do it. 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:02.279 He gives it to him, the blank check. 00:06:03.159 --> 00:06:04.879 And here it is, the question of greatness. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:07.919 What is it specifically that they ask for? 00:06:07.919 --> 00:06:08.759 And you can see it. 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:11.599 He says, will you allow us to sit? 00:06:11.599 --> 00:06:14.079 James and John say, will you allow us to sit 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:17.120 at your right hand and your left hand in your glory? 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:19.680 And that question is exactly the same. 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:20.519 This is what they ask. 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:23.879 They say, will you make us the most prominent, 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:27.360 the greatest of your followers when your kingdom comes? 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:30.920 Now in the first century and the ancient world, 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:34.240 to stand on the right and the left of the king 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:36.759 are the two most glorious positions in the kingdom, 00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:38.060 besides being the king. 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:40.899 The left is a little inferior to the right hand. 00:06:40.899 --> 00:06:43.240 And I don't know which one James and John thought 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:45.600 they were getting left or right, but those two jobs, 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:49.120 that's the CFO and the CEO of the kingdom to come. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:51.000 And that's what they're asking for. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:53.660 And so they're saying, as he tells them, 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:57.959 my face is set towards Jerusalem to be spit upon. 00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:01.899 They say, can we be the CFO and the CEO 00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:03.800 when all that's finished? 00:07:03.800 --> 00:07:07.720 When the kingdom comes, that's the question of greatness. 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:09.000 And you know that that's what they ask 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:09.840 because he confirms it. 00:07:09.840 --> 00:07:12.440 You can see down in verse 43, 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:16.800 in verse 43 he says, whoever wants to be great, 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:18.760 if you wanna be great, you see he's saying, 00:07:18.760 --> 00:07:21.520 I know what you're asking for, you're asking for greatness. 00:07:21.520 --> 00:07:24.160 And he's gonna subvert their image of greatness, 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:25.680 but he's confirming that that's exactly 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:26.880 the question they've asked. 00:07:26.880 --> 00:07:29.520 Do you, whoever among you wants to be great? 00:07:29.520 --> 00:07:31.440 And then just before that in verse 42, 00:07:31.440 --> 00:07:34.840 he gave the illustration of the Gentile rulers. 00:07:34.839 --> 00:07:38.899 And he's telling us that James and John think greatness 00:07:38.899 --> 00:07:42.519 is the same thing as the Gentile rulers think greatness is. 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:43.759 And what does Jesus say that is, 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:48.000 it's the ability to dominate other people with power. 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:50.279 He says, you know, the Gentile rulers 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:53.879 lured the power over everyone to dominate. 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:55.319 And he says, you, James and John, 00:07:55.319 --> 00:07:57.000 think that that's what greatness is. 00:07:57.000 --> 00:07:58.559 That's what you've just asked for. 00:07:58.559 --> 00:08:02.639 The ability to rule, to have power, to dominate. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:06.680 And so in their minds, it's power and it's authority 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:08.159 that they're asking for. 00:08:08.159 --> 00:08:11.199 Now, this is the most common conception 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:12.680 of greatness in world history. 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:18.319 Power, authority, rule. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:20.439 It's the most common way people think about greatness 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:22.519 in every century in all societies 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:24.240 throughout all of world history. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:27.159 And we treat power in this frame, 00:08:27.159 --> 00:08:30.919 this heightened form of power as a zero sum game. 00:08:30.920 --> 00:08:34.080 Right, either I have it or you have it. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:35.039 It's me or them. 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:36.039 And that's exactly what they're saying. 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:37.080 James and John are saying, 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:38.879 look, somebody's gotta be at the right and the left. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:41.960 And it's either gonna be me or it's gonna be one of the 10. 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:43.399 And you can see that that's what they meant 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:47.800 because in verse 41, it says that the 10 were so mad 00:08:47.800 --> 00:08:49.560 because they know exactly what's been asked. 00:08:49.560 --> 00:08:52.639 They've been asked the question of zero sum power. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:54.000 Will you make me great? 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:58.200 It's fundamentally framed in the world of competition. 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:00.480 And that's what they think Jesus has come to do. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:04.000 Make people great, give them power. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:09.000 Now look, Jesus' grammar in verse 43, 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:09.840 did you catch it? 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:12.399 It's the conditional future tense, right? 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:15.039 He says, if you would become great, 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:17.320 if you want to in the future become great, 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:18.960 would you become great? 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:20.800 This is how you do it. 00:09:20.800 --> 00:09:24.759 And that means that the way Jesus puts that in verse 43 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:28.680 is asking every single one of us to look deep down 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:32.719 into our hearts and ask yourself, ask myself, 00:09:32.719 --> 00:09:35.199 what is my conception of the great life? 00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:38.399 What do I think greatness is? 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:41.399 What is it for me in my mind to live a great life? 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:44.279 What is it for me to find greatness in this life? 00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:48.359 Now for some of us, we are tempted by exactly 00:09:48.359 --> 00:09:50.399 the conception of greatness that James and John 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:54.120 talk about here, power, authority. 00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:57.519 And in our world that looks something like saying, 00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:00.799 you know, at the end of my days, 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:03.799 I will know that I have achieved a great life 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:07.279 if I've left the mark, if I've left my mark, 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:09.079 if I'm remembered for something. 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:13.039 It's, you know, I want at some point in my life 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:14.399 to be able to exercise authority, 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:18.960 to get the corner office, to have economic success, 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:20.879 to have some type of level of award 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:22.319 in what I've chosen to do in this life, 00:10:22.319 --> 00:10:24.559 some type of level of achievement. 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:27.879 I want others to say of me, well done. 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:33.439 And we're tempted by the same concept of power and authority 00:10:33.439 --> 00:10:36.279 in any way, shape, or form or frame, 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:40.039 even if it's much less than CFO of the kingdom of God. 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:43.319 Some of us, this is exactly the thing we struggle with. 00:10:43.319 --> 00:10:46.679 And let me say this morning, if that is your struggle, 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:50.239 achievement, if you're an achievement-driven person, 00:10:51.119 --> 00:10:54.439 like James and John, if you think in this frame, 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:57.280 then that means that the main conception you have 00:10:57.280 --> 00:11:00.040 for what to do in life, what would make your life great, 00:11:00.040 --> 00:11:02.240 is fundamentally rooted in competition. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.480 That's exactly the framework that James and John thinking, 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:07.400 is competition, it's a zero-sum game. 00:11:07.400 --> 00:11:09.360 I have it or they have it. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:11.960 And that means if your life is framed in competition, 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:15.320 then it's fundamentally framed in a position of pride 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:19.520 or self-centeredness, that I'm here to get 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:23.000 at the expense of everybody else. 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:26.559 And what happens when we drift and drift and drift 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:30.399 into achievement mindsets, self-centeredness, 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:35.200 pride takeover, and envy becomes the primary form 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:36.960 through which we experience life. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:40.039 Envy does, because you look out and you see 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:41.759 what other people have accomplished, 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:44.679 what other people have achieved, the corner office, 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:46.799 that that person has, that you've always wanted, 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:49.519 that job, that relationship, that thing, 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:52.279 and it's envy, covetousness, 00:11:52.279 --> 00:11:55.559 that actually takes root deep down in the heart. 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:59.199 And if you don't get that thing you want, 00:11:59.199 --> 00:12:04.199 envy always transfers into some form of bitterness or vengeance. 00:12:06.319 --> 00:12:09.159 You see, achievement-driven personality, 00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:12.919 achievement-driven idolatry fundamentally can, 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:17.360 it can surprise you with how far it might take you 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:19.919 down the road of saying, if I don't get that, 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:24.799 I'm willing to do this, I'm willing to do whatever it takes. 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:27.839 Envy, built on pride and competition, 00:12:27.839 --> 00:12:31.559 always can give way to vengeance. 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:35.199 And it can surprise you, the depths that you might sink to, 00:12:35.199 --> 00:12:37.919 to really get the thing that you want in life. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:41.399 Now, this hunt, this chase for greatness 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:43.199 will either do one or two things. 00:12:43.199 --> 00:12:45.639 It will destroy your soul, it will. 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:47.959 And it will do it in one or two ways. 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:50.080 One way is you'll get the thing that you want, 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:52.280 that you're seeking, or you won't. 00:12:52.280 --> 00:12:53.600 You won't get it. 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:55.040 And either way, you're doomed. 00:12:56.160 --> 00:12:57.960 Right, because on the one hand, 00:12:57.960 --> 00:12:59.400 if you get the thing that you want, 00:12:59.400 --> 00:13:01.680 this is, has this happened to you? 00:13:01.680 --> 00:13:04.000 You want something so bad in life. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:06.680 And you get that thing, 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:10.400 and it actually doesn't do it for you. 00:13:10.400 --> 00:13:11.400 It doesn't fulfill you. 00:13:11.400 --> 00:13:12.720 It doesn't bring you to the contentment 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:14.720 that you thought you were gonna have. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:16.360 And so you're left empty 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:18.800 in questioning the meaning of life. 00:13:18.800 --> 00:13:21.600 Or you don't get the thing you want, 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:25.759 and you feel, you perceive your entire life as failure. 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:28.000 And so then your personality becomes one of failure. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:30.680 You feel that you are fundamentally failure. 00:13:30.680 --> 00:13:32.519 It becomes your identity. 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:33.360 It becomes your identity. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:35.200 And either way, this chase, this pursuit, 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:38.919 this achievement-based mentality towards greatness, 00:13:38.919 --> 00:13:41.399 that every single culture teaches 00:13:41.399 --> 00:13:42.680 throughout all the centuries, 00:13:42.680 --> 00:13:45.440 it's proven right here in this passage, 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:47.640 it will ultimately fail you, 00:13:47.640 --> 00:13:49.200 and it will curse your life. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:51.240 Now, that's why any time you watch 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:53.640 a celebrity documentary, 00:13:53.640 --> 00:13:55.520 maybe you don't watch this, I don't really watch this, 00:13:55.520 --> 00:13:57.920 but if you watch a celebrity, 00:13:57.920 --> 00:13:59.080 if you read about celebrity, 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:01.920 if you watch a great person, a great achiever documentary, 00:14:03.920 --> 00:14:05.000 there will come a moment in it 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:06.560 where that will always be the same. 00:14:06.560 --> 00:14:08.600 It'll be this moment where they're interviewing the person 00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:09.920 and the person says, 00:14:09.920 --> 00:14:13.280 I decided I realized at some point in my life 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:15.759 that no one was going to give me 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:17.439 the things I wanted from life. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:19.079 Everyone says that. 00:14:19.079 --> 00:14:20.679 No one was going to just give me 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:21.879 the things I wanted in life. 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:23.120 I realized at some point, 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:24.879 if I'm going to have the life I want to have, 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:27.159 I have to go out there and I have to take it. 00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:29.159 I have to work hard for it. 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:31.079 I have to go and chase my dreams. 00:14:31.079 --> 00:14:32.600 I have to go after what I want. 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:35.959 And it's been written in many, many essays 00:14:35.959 --> 00:14:38.079 that the worst thing that can happen to us 00:14:38.079 --> 00:14:40.240 is for us to actually get the thing 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:41.879 that we think we desire the most. 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:44.840 And what happens when we do is the same thing 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:47.439 that Percy Shelley captured in his great poem, 00:14:47.439 --> 00:14:49.080 Ozzy Mandius. 00:14:49.080 --> 00:14:51.919 Percy Shelley, the husband of Mary Shelley, 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:54.679 who wrote Frankenstein, he got married here in Edinburgh. 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:57.439 He writes a poem called Ozzy Mandius. 00:14:57.439 --> 00:15:00.159 And it's about a traveler in ancient Egypt 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:03.439 who comes upon a plaque in the middle of the desert. 00:15:03.439 --> 00:15:04.759 And this is what it says. 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:07.799 The plaque reads, my name is Ozzy Mandius, 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:11.080 King of Kings, look on my works, 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:13.920 ye mighty and despair. 00:15:15.160 --> 00:15:18.879 And it says, nothing beside the plaque remained. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:20.960 Round the decay of that colossal wreck, 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:25.960 boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away. 00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:28.800 You see, the greatest things anybody has ever done 00:15:28.800 --> 00:15:30.200 in human history, the greatest achievements, 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:31.960 they're not remembered. 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:33.879 They're just replaced. 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:35.400 It's an empty life. 00:15:35.400 --> 00:15:37.360 One of our elders told me this past week 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.200 of the story of John D. Rockefeller when he died. 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:44.960 1937, Rockefeller, he owned most of New York City. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:47.400 He still thought to be the wealthiest man 00:15:47.400 --> 00:15:50.800 in human history per capita, per capita. 00:15:50.800 --> 00:15:54.200 And the story is that at his, 00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:56.960 the reckoning, his estate lawyer came up to the front 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:00.560 and somebody shouted out, tell us, just tell us, oh lawyer, 00:16:00.560 --> 00:16:03.000 how much did John leave behind? 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:08.000 And the lawyer said, all of it, all of it, every single bit. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:08.920 There's nothing. 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:10.519 He took nothing. 00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:11.879 And that's it. 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:14.879 All of it, every achievement will ultimately come to naught. 00:16:16.319 --> 00:16:20.120 In the old world, achievement culture says 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:24.279 that greatness is defined by having a role model, a hero, 00:16:24.279 --> 00:16:25.559 and you chase after that thing. 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:27.479 You see what somebody else has done before you 00:16:27.479 --> 00:16:29.079 and you go after it. 00:16:29.079 --> 00:16:29.919 That's the old world. 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:31.719 In the new world, the world that we live in, 00:16:31.719 --> 00:16:33.319 the modern world, it's slightly different. 00:16:33.319 --> 00:16:36.319 You may be coming today and saying, look, I hear you, 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:39.520 but I'm not really driven by that conception of greatness. 00:16:39.520 --> 00:16:43.200 I don't really care about achievement and award 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:44.320 in that same type of way. 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:46.080 But you know what greatness actually means 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:48.080 in the present, in the modern culture? 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:53.080 It means that you have to look deep down inside of you 00:16:53.680 --> 00:16:56.320 and decide what you want to be. 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:58.160 You don't listen to how people in the past 00:16:58.160 --> 00:16:59.000 have defined greatness. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.360 You don't look at the hero's stories. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:02.360 You don't look at the role models. 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:04.360 Instead, you say, deep down in my heart, 00:17:04.360 --> 00:17:06.019 this is what I want for my life. 00:17:06.019 --> 00:17:08.319 You decide what to be and you go be it. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:10.160 See, the new conception of greatness is actually 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:13.799 that everybody's greatness is just their greatness. 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:15.639 You look deep down within and you decide 00:17:15.639 --> 00:17:16.920 what greatness is gonna be for you 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:17.759 and you go after it. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:19.319 You chase it. 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:21.000 You say, I'm not tempted by achievement, 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:22.960 but what is it that you want? 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:24.359 What is it that you want most in life? 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:26.200 What is your conception of greatness? 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:28.639 Whatever it is, that's the great life to you. 00:17:28.639 --> 00:17:31.220 And for many of us, it may just simply be, 00:17:31.220 --> 00:17:34.160 I want that relationship that I've never had. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:36.200 That would be achievement, that would be the great life. 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:37.400 I want the job. 00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:38.480 It doesn't have to be the CEO. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:40.340 I just want that job. 00:17:40.340 --> 00:17:42.240 I just want that thing. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:44.720 And David Goggins, David Goggins, 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:48.400 he's probably the most famous public persona right now 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:50.440 of hyper-achievement culture. 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:52.800 He says that every single morning, 00:17:52.800 --> 00:17:54.360 you have to stand in the mirror 00:17:54.360 --> 00:17:56.920 and really face who you really are 00:17:56.920 --> 00:17:59.040 and you have to say, these are all the ways 00:17:59.040 --> 00:18:00.640 I know I'm not great. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.120 These are all the ways I know I have yet 00:18:02.120 --> 00:18:04.040 to achieve my dreams, my goals. 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:05.519 He says, no matter how small they are, 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:07.680 and then what you do is you take sticky notes 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:09.440 and you put them around the mirror 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:11.759 and you say, this is my goal, this is my dream, 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.519 this is who I want to become, this is what I want to achieve. 00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:16.079 And then you say, now you got to get out there 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:19.119 and you got to work till you drop to get there. 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:21.879 No matter how tiny that little dream may be, 00:18:21.879 --> 00:18:23.960 that he says, that's greatness. 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:25.599 The person who can stand in the mirror 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:28.279 and really own where they're not great 00:18:28.279 --> 00:18:30.839 and go after it, go get it, go chase it. 00:18:31.879 --> 00:18:34.000 In other words, even the smallest thing, 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.640 the smallest desire, the smallest thing, 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:38.400 like a relationship, like a job, 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:43.200 no matter what it is, can become greatness culture for you. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:47.680 And you can be driven and driven and driven 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:50.519 to Whitson chasing it and the Bible calls 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:52.599 that functional idolatry. 00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:59.359 And Jesus comes and says, I'm gonna turn 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:02.880 your entire conception of the good life upside down. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.400 And then here's how he does it. 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.400 He says this, the Bible says this, 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:10.080 the great life achieving greatness, seeking greatness, 00:19:10.080 --> 00:19:14.200 is not fundamentally a fulfillment 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:15.920 of our personal desires. 00:19:17.560 --> 00:19:18.920 That's how he turns it upside down. 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:21.960 He said, the great life is not that. 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:25.520 It's not deciding who you're going to be and go get it, 00:19:25.520 --> 00:19:27.240 go chase after it, work hard for it. 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:28.080 That's not it. 00:19:28.080 --> 00:19:28.920 Now, this is how he shows us. 00:19:28.920 --> 00:19:32.680 Down in verse 46, there is a blind beggar 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:34.360 named Bartimaeus. 00:19:34.360 --> 00:19:37.320 And Bartimaeus is on the side of the road 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:41.279 and Jesus passes by him and he shouts, 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:44.120 have mercy on me, have mercy on me. 00:19:44.120 --> 00:19:47.400 And the disciples and the others in the crowd 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:49.920 rebuke him and scoff at him. 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:52.960 And fundamentally, they tell him to be quiet. 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:55.920 If there's anybody in this story that's not great, 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:57.320 it is the blind beggar. 00:19:57.320 --> 00:20:01.200 See, James and John had said, make us great in your kingdom. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:04.640 And then Jesus passes by this beggar and he says, 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:05.920 have mercy on me, oh Lord. 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:07.680 And everybody says, he's not great. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:08.920 Don't listen to him. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:12.759 Even in that culture, he's not thought to be great. 00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:13.640 They want to be great. 00:20:13.640 --> 00:20:15.799 This is the exact opposite of greatness. 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:19.319 And you can see exactly Mark's point 00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:21.680 if you look down at verse 51. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:26.680 In verse 51, Jesus says, the blind beggar says, 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:28.640 have mercy on me. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:30.360 Jesus stands still. 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:32.639 Jesus is floored by this request. 00:20:32.639 --> 00:20:34.000 He stops for him. 00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:39.839 And then he says, what do you want me to do for you? 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:42.000 Now, have you heard that before? 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:44.839 If you go back up, James and John said, 00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:45.839 we're gonna ask you something. 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:46.839 And no matter what we ask you, 00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:48.879 you can't get mad and you have to say yes. 00:20:49.919 --> 00:20:54.919 And Jesus says, okay, what do you want me to do for you? 00:20:55.639 --> 00:20:58.519 The beggar comes and says, have mercy on me. 00:20:58.519 --> 00:20:59.759 They said, make us great. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:01.879 He said, give me mercy. 00:21:01.879 --> 00:21:04.759 And Jesus gives the same question. 00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:08.400 What do you want me to do for you? 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:10.119 You see what Mark's doing? 00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:12.519 He's saying, these two fools at the beginning 00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:14.079 thought they were seeking greatness, 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:16.160 but only one person in the story really is. 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:18.759 You know, it's the same question. 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:20.079 If you want to seek greatness, 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.440 when the Lord says to you, what do you want from me? 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:24.400 You don't say, make me the CEO. 00:21:25.879 --> 00:21:28.539 Instead, you say, have mercy on me. 00:21:28.539 --> 00:21:30.240 Let me follow you. 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:34.039 And you can see the pinnacle of this passage is in verse 52. 00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:35.799 When he says, what do you want me to do for you? 00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:38.079 He said, let me recover my sight. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:38.920 Why? 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:42.279 Not just so he can see, not physical, not merely. 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:44.680 And you know that because in verse 52, here it is. 00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:46.000 Here's the climax. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:49.119 Jesus says, I've given you the ability to see. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:51.000 Now go your way. 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:54.839 Now go your way. 00:21:54.839 --> 00:21:57.720 James and John said, make us great. 00:21:57.720 --> 00:21:59.720 You know, will you help us, 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:02.360 will you help us get on the path to greatness 00:22:02.360 --> 00:22:04.279 so that we can go our way? 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:07.400 You know, we follow you Jesus only so that you can lead us 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:09.140 to that CFO title one day. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:12.440 But Jesus gives this man his sight and he says, 00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:13.600 now you're free. 00:22:13.600 --> 00:22:15.720 You can go make your life. 00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:17.180 You can go take your path. 00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:19.279 You can stand in front of the mirror every day 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:20.759 and put the sticky notes all around it 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:22.200 and say, this is my greatness. 00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:23.120 This is what it's gonna be. 00:22:23.120 --> 00:22:23.960 I'm gonna achieve it. 00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:26.839 He says, I've given you the possibility of your sight. 00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:28.959 Now you can go make a life for yourself. 00:22:28.959 --> 00:22:31.559 And Mark goes out of his way to say one thing. 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:32.879 He didn't go his way. 00:22:33.879 --> 00:22:36.799 See, Jesus says, go your way. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:41.720 And Bartimaeus went and followed Jesus. 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:43.119 He says, I will give you the freedom 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:45.039 to choose your own path to greatness. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:48.319 And Bartimaeus says, I only want my sight 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:49.959 so I can follow in your train. 00:22:51.659 --> 00:22:52.959 And that means that we're being told here 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:57.960 that the path to greatness is Psalm 115 verse one. 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:00.319 When you come to a point in your life 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:04.240 where you can say, not my glory, not my glory, 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:06.960 but your glory, oh Lord Jesus. 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:09.400 Where you can get to a point where you cry for mercy 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:10.240 and you follow him. 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:11.860 Now this is a very simple passage really. 00:23:11.860 --> 00:23:14.220 It's just simply saying, what's the great life? 00:23:14.220 --> 00:23:16.720 The great life is not to follow your dreams. 00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:21.720 The great life is to follow Jesus and be conformed to him. 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:26.480 He says, if you would want to be great, 00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:28.400 become a servant like me. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:29.240 That's it. 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:32.000 Now let me apply this in one way 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:35.319 and we have to move to the very last thing very briefly. 00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:37.319 This is so important. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:39.640 This is so important for every one of us 00:23:39.640 --> 00:23:42.920 because most of us, most people in this life, 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:45.440 in our life, do not achieve greatness 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:48.000 in the way that James and John were seeking it. 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:52.400 99.9% of us are never gonna be the CEO 00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:56.559 and we're never going to be J.D. Rockefeller 00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:59.400 or Ozzy Mandius or Queen Elizabeth I or II 00:23:59.400 --> 00:24:00.799 or anybody like that. 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:02.200 We're never gonna be that. 00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:07.120 And you know that but even more than that, 00:24:07.120 --> 00:24:12.120 what if you never even reach your ordinary goals? 00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:14.679 You say, you know, I know I'm never gonna be J.D. Rockefeller 00:24:14.679 --> 00:24:16.879 and own a building in New York City, even one. 00:24:19.439 --> 00:24:22.399 But what if you so far in life have not even reached 00:24:22.399 --> 00:24:23.799 the things you set out to do 00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:25.959 in the most ordinary mundane ways? 00:24:27.879 --> 00:24:30.479 And what if even more than that, 00:24:30.479 --> 00:24:33.359 far from reaching those ordinary goals, that job, 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:35.519 that relationship, that house, that income, 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:38.479 whatever it may be, what if even more than that, 00:24:38.479 --> 00:24:39.759 you've actually gone through 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:42.240 and more than that, you've actually gone 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:45.599 the opposite direction and made a total mess of your life. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:49.240 You know, your sins are so many and so palpable 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:51.279 and you've struggled so much that you feel like 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:52.920 you've gone the opposite way. 00:24:55.400 --> 00:24:58.200 Jesus Christ comes to offer you the greatest freedom 00:24:59.319 --> 00:25:01.599 to say that everything the world says to you 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:03.079 about greatness is wrong. 00:25:04.879 --> 00:25:07.240 That even if you've made the biggest mess, 00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:08.680 the biggest mess of your life, 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:11.840 you cannot get past your sins. 00:25:11.840 --> 00:25:14.519 They've taken you all the way to the side of the road even, 00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:16.279 like Bartimaeus. 00:25:16.279 --> 00:25:21.279 Jesus comes today to say that is not what life is for. 00:25:21.360 --> 00:25:23.960 You know, in other words, he's saying it's never too late. 00:25:23.960 --> 00:25:26.519 No matter what you've done, never too late. 00:25:26.519 --> 00:25:31.440 That greatness is nothing but saying, Lord, show me mercy. 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:34.000 I don't want my way, I'm gonna follow you 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:35.200 all the way to Jerusalem. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:39.240 But that's the great life, it's as simple as that. 00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:40.360 It's never too late. 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:43.680 There's no better place to illustrate this 00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:47.240 than in C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce. 00:25:47.240 --> 00:25:48.799 In Lewis's book, The Great Divorce, 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:50.960 he has a vision of heaven. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:55.960 And in this vision, he's being guided by a guide 00:25:56.080 --> 00:25:58.000 and the guide is showing them around 00:25:58.000 --> 00:25:59.400 and what heaven looks like. 00:25:59.400 --> 00:26:01.039 You know, you don't build your theology 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:01.880 off the great divorce, 00:26:01.880 --> 00:26:04.880 but it's just a helpful illustration, okay? 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:08.920 Lewis, he's in heaven and he says that he hears music 00:26:08.920 --> 00:26:11.840 and he sees a parade and this is what it says. 00:26:11.840 --> 00:26:15.000 If I could remember the singing and write down the notes, 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:17.320 no man would read that score, 00:26:17.320 --> 00:26:21.340 no man who read that score would ever grow sick or old. 00:26:21.340 --> 00:26:24.400 There were musicians and after the musicians came a lady 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:26.660 in whose honor all this was being done. 00:26:27.600 --> 00:26:31.880 Only partly do I remember the unbearable beauty of her face. 00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:34.840 Is it, is it, he said to his guide, 00:26:34.840 --> 00:26:37.040 he thought for a moment that this is Mary, 00:26:37.040 --> 00:26:39.680 the mother of God in this parade. 00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:42.400 No, no, no, not at all, said the guide. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:44.000 It's someone you'll never have heard of. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:45.720 Her name on earth was Sarah Smith 00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:47.440 and she lived at Golders Green. 00:26:48.800 --> 00:26:50.840 He says she seems to be a person 00:26:50.840 --> 00:26:53.200 of very particular importance here. 00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:55.160 I, she is one of the great ones. 00:26:56.320 --> 00:26:58.320 You've heard, you've heard, you will have heard 00:26:58.320 --> 00:27:00.800 that fame in this country and fame on earth 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:03.240 are two very different things. 00:27:03.240 --> 00:27:04.079 What is her fame? 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:05.039 What's her greatness? 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:06.399 That's what he asks. 00:27:06.399 --> 00:27:08.279 And this is what the angel says. 00:27:08.279 --> 00:27:12.960 The abundance of life that she found in Christ 00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:16.079 flowed over into everyone around her. 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:20.720 There was enough joy in that redeemed saint 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:21.960 to awaken the dead. 00:27:24.119 --> 00:27:27.200 The secret to greatness is when you find a place 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:28.759 in your life where you cry for mercy 00:27:28.759 --> 00:27:32.599 and say, not my glory, not my personal desires, 00:27:32.599 --> 00:27:34.720 I just exist to follow Jesus. 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:38.119 Now, we have to close and we'll close with this secondly 00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:39.839 and we'll pick back up on this next week. 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:40.680 Ransom. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:44.039 What is life for? 00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:46.879 Cry for mercy, follow King Jesus 00:27:46.879 --> 00:27:50.680 and then he says and serve like he did, become like him. 00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:52.400 That's what we'll focus on next week. 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:54.559 But as we end today, the question becomes, 00:27:54.559 --> 00:27:56.759 where do you get the power? 00:27:56.759 --> 00:27:59.920 Where do you get the power to even cry for mercy? 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:03.440 Where do you get the ability to even see your life 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:07.640 in this way, to turn and follow him like Bartimaeus did, 00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:11.640 to put away the corruption of James and John's culture? 00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:13.359 What's deep down in the bottom of our hearts, 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:14.200 where do you get the power? 00:28:14.200 --> 00:28:16.400 This passage is all about the cross. 00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:18.440 Now, you'll have noticed that already. 00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:22.000 Verse 32, verse 35, he predicts his cross. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.119 I'm going to be flogged and beaten and murdered. 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:28.759 Verse 38, he says to James and John, 00:28:28.759 --> 00:28:31.079 he says, you asked to stand on my right hand 00:28:31.079 --> 00:28:34.359 and on my left hand, you have no idea what you're asking for. 00:28:35.399 --> 00:28:36.799 Because he was thinking of his cross 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:39.959 and he's saying, you want to be on my right and my left, 00:28:39.959 --> 00:28:41.559 that means that you're going to have to hang on a cross 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:44.239 next to me, thinking of the two criminals that would. 00:28:44.239 --> 00:28:45.799 That's where you want to be? 00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:47.319 It's all about the cross. 00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:50.279 And then down in verse 42, he says this, 00:28:50.279 --> 00:28:53.519 you want the great life, you must become a servant, 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:56.440 even a slave of all, he says. 00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:58.200 And then he concludes it and he says this, 00:28:58.200 --> 00:29:01.440 and here's our focus, verse 43, 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:05.160 even the son of man, even the son of man. 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:08.519 See, when he says that, 00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:10.200 he's identifying with all of humanity, 00:29:10.200 --> 00:29:15.200 even the son of man came not to be served, 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:17.960 but to serve all the way to the point 00:29:17.960 --> 00:29:22.079 of giving his life as a ransom for so many. 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:24.599 Now what he's saying here is that the cross, 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:28.279 that he would give his life, even the son of man, Jesus, 00:29:28.279 --> 00:29:30.279 who came to represent all of humanity, 00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:32.919 would give his cross as the ultimate example 00:29:32.919 --> 00:29:35.439 of service and all of human history. 00:29:35.439 --> 00:29:38.679 The ultimate example of what the great life is, 00:29:38.679 --> 00:29:39.799 he's saying, look at the cross. 00:29:39.799 --> 00:29:44.799 Now look, in the normal conception of power, of greatness, 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:47.799 there is a sacrifice. 00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:51.279 And that sacrifices, if I'm going to go up 00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:53.799 in power, you've got to go down. 00:29:54.680 --> 00:29:57.799 If I'm going to be great, you've got to be less than me. 00:29:57.799 --> 00:30:00.480 It's the 13 year old frame of mind in every room 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:02.799 that the 13 year old walks into. 00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:04.000 You know, what does the 13 year old say, 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:06.879 deep down in their heart, in every room they walked into? 00:30:06.879 --> 00:30:08.359 Either I'm great or they're great. 00:30:08.359 --> 00:30:10.920 Either they like me or they like that person. 00:30:10.920 --> 00:30:12.000 It's me or them. 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:15.480 I want so bad for everybody in this room to like me 00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:18.079 and to like me more than the person next to me. 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:20.839 That's power, that's greatness 00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:21.679 in the eyes of the world. 00:30:21.679 --> 00:30:24.199 It's to say, at every point, there has to be a sacrifice. 00:30:24.199 --> 00:30:26.959 It's either me or you, one of us. 00:30:26.959 --> 00:30:29.759 And I'm willing to give you for my sake. 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:31.639 Jesus Christ comes and says that the center 00:30:31.639 --> 00:30:34.039 of the great life is the exact opposite. 00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:35.959 It's the cross. 00:30:35.959 --> 00:30:38.720 And the cross says there is a sacrifice 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:40.079 at the heart of the great life. 00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:43.919 But it's not you for my sake, but me for your sake. 00:30:45.199 --> 00:30:47.639 It's that I have come to give my life for you, 00:30:47.639 --> 00:30:49.480 not demand your life for me. 00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:51.360 You see, the greatest, the most glorious, 00:30:51.360 --> 00:30:54.640 the only human being who is truly great 00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:56.720 from top to bottom is Jesus Christ. 00:30:56.720 --> 00:30:59.559 And yet he came to say, I will give my life for yours. 00:30:59.559 --> 00:31:00.720 That's the concept of ransom. 00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:01.880 You see what ransom is? 00:31:01.880 --> 00:31:03.599 Ransom in the first century. 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:08.480 Ransom in the first century is a marketplace exchange 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:13.480 where you can purchase the freedom of a prisoner or a slave. 00:31:14.839 --> 00:31:16.200 You can pay off their debts. 00:31:16.200 --> 00:31:18.480 You can buy them back from slavery. 00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:21.559 You can pay back from slavery or being imprisoned. 00:31:21.559 --> 00:31:24.440 And sometimes the way that worked in the first century 00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:27.599 was that you go and say, I will become the slave 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:29.519 so that they can be set free. 00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:33.200 And Jesus is saying that the heart of all greatness 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:34.360 is the cross. 00:31:35.640 --> 00:31:40.480 In other words, that Jesus Christ came to purchase us 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:43.640 from the imprisonment of our desires for greatness. 00:31:45.240 --> 00:31:48.120 He redeemed us from the curse of the pursuit 00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:50.679 of unholy power by losing all power. 00:31:50.679 --> 00:31:53.879 He freed us from the slavery to self-defined images 00:31:53.879 --> 00:31:56.379 of greatness by becoming the slave himself. 00:31:57.399 --> 00:31:58.679 He became the beggar. 00:31:58.679 --> 00:32:01.599 He became the ultimately ungreat one 00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:03.239 so that we might become great. 00:32:05.239 --> 00:32:07.519 You see, you look at the cross and you say, 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:09.959 Lord, have mercy on me. 00:32:09.959 --> 00:32:11.879 I'm a beggar before you. 00:32:11.879 --> 00:32:13.519 I will follow you. 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:15.559 And he says, that will make you great. 00:32:15.559 --> 00:32:17.959 The cross will make you great. 00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:22.680 Greatness is saying, not my way but yours, oh Lord, 00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:25.360 not my glory but yours, oh Jesus. 00:32:25.360 --> 00:32:26.840 And it's the cross that gives you that power. 00:32:26.840 --> 00:32:28.079 It's the cross that teaches you that. 00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:30.039 Now the last word, the last sentence, 00:32:30.039 --> 00:32:32.039 and we'll pick back up here next week, 00:32:33.079 --> 00:32:35.559 is that this is actually the path to real freedom. 00:32:35.559 --> 00:32:37.400 You can, if you look at the cross 00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:40.240 and you see what Jesus has done for you, 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:42.079 that he has ransomed you and freed you 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:44.120 from the imprisonment of false conceptions 00:32:44.120 --> 00:32:46.120 of the good life and the great life, 00:32:46.119 --> 00:32:48.679 you can actually go to work tomorrow 00:32:50.719 --> 00:32:53.799 and do your best and do great work 00:32:54.719 --> 00:32:56.199 and even achieve things. 00:32:57.439 --> 00:33:01.719 But you do it not from the position of enslavement, 00:33:01.719 --> 00:33:03.839 not from the position that I want the corner office, 00:33:03.839 --> 00:33:06.639 no matter what, not the position where you say, 00:33:06.639 --> 00:33:08.879 it's either me or them, 00:33:08.879 --> 00:33:13.879 but actually the cross frees you to just do good work. 00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:18.480 Because Jesus Christ is your boss and your king. 00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:20.520 He's freed you from that imprisonment. 00:33:21.480 --> 00:33:22.600 And now if you go and achieve, 00:33:22.600 --> 00:33:24.240 you go and achieve for his glory. 00:33:25.360 --> 00:33:29.320 And you say, not my will, not my glory, but yours, 00:33:29.320 --> 00:33:32.800 King Jesus, be done in the way I work, 00:33:32.800 --> 00:33:37.160 in the way I live my life, in the way I work hard. 00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:38.800 He frees you. 00:33:38.800 --> 00:33:39.640 Let's pray. 00:33:39.640 --> 00:33:43.680 We ask that you would teach us the real path of greatness. 00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:47.360 And so we lift up our hearts today 00:33:47.360 --> 00:33:48.640 and ask that you would heal us 00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:51.240 from the false conceptions of the good life 00:33:51.240 --> 00:33:53.880 and the great life and that you would tell every single one 00:33:53.880 --> 00:33:57.520 of us no matter how much we've achieved or underachieved, 00:33:59.160 --> 00:34:02.480 that crying out for mercy and looking at King Jesus 00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:06.759 on the cross for us is the real path to being truly great. 00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:09.240 And we pray that you would teach us this week, 00:34:09.239 --> 00:34:11.839 especially Monday, as we go back into the world. 00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:40.840 We pray this in Christ's name, amen.