Colonel Gaddafi ruled Libya for 41 years.
Initially, he was a revolutionary with a vision for Libya's prosperity.
He wanted to see Libya really prosper, particularly in the Middle East and Africa.
Eventually, though, he ended up ruling as a despot
who would torture and murder anyone who threatened his rule.
Many of his countrymen he did too.
Later in his rule, he declared himself to be the king of kings of Africa.
He's the king of kings of Africa.
He ended up going mad with grandiose visions of himself
before being murdered by his own people in 2011.
At the time of his death, he had amassed a personal wealth of approximately $200 billion.
That was three times richer than the official richest person in the world at the time.
And at the same time that he amassed a $200 billion personal fortune,
his country starved under the weight of UN sanctions.
Every culture, every culture, no matter where you go to,
sees that the way to influence society is through power.
You wield power to conform society to your vision of your life together in that society.
And then along comes Jesus, the king to end all kings, as we've seen in Mark's gospel.
He is the king of kings, not just of Africa, but in fact of the universe.
And he gives us a clear vision here in this text,
especially of the character of Christian discipleship
and of Christian leadership in this passage.
And it's not about grasping for power in order to assert influence.
It's actually about giving up power in order to gain influence.
And so if we misunderstand Jesus and his mission,
we will totally misunderstand of what it means to follow him and what he requires of us.
Jesus has left us in no doubt so far in the second half of Mark's gospel
that he came to die.
He made many allusions to it at the beginning of Mark's gospel,
but in the second half, he's made it really clear.
He made sure the disciples knew it.
We've seen that he told them three times,
chapter 8, chapter 9, and again here in chapter 10, verse 32.
So if you've got your Bibles, it'd be great if you could follow along
because there's a few details I'm going to hone into in a moment.
But first of all, chapter 10, verse 32 to 34,
they were on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way.
So the first thing we're told here is that Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem
and he's the one who's taking the lead.
He's the one leading his disciples in that direction.
He set his face to Jerusalem.
And then it says,
Again, he took the 12 aside and told them what was going to happen.
Verse 33,
So this is the third prediction of his death.
But in this prediction, he gives us more details about his death.
For a start, we know now for the first time that his death will happen in Jerusalem.
And for the first time, we are told that both the Jews and the Gentiles will reject him.
In chapter 8, we are told only that the Jewish religious leaders.
Chapter 9, we have got this general reference that he will be handed over
or be delivered into the hands of men.
That's a vague reference to the Gentiles.
In chapter 8, he said that he would be rejected by the priests and the scribes.
But now he mentions that he will in fact be condemned to death.
That is, it's a legal term.
Jesus will be, his death will involve him being tried, convicted and executed
within the bounds of the criminal justice system.
And he'll be tried by the Jewish leaders,
but he'll be handed over to the Gentiles for execution.
So they're conspiring together.
The arch enemies, the people who hate each other are conspiring together
to get rid of Jesus.
We also have here more graphic detail, description of his final days.
They will condemn him to death.
They will hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him
and spit on him and flog him and kill him.
Now, I haven't got time to unpack each one of those things
as to the significance of being played out in each one of those things.
But what really stands out in chapter 10 is for the very first time,
Jesus tells us not just that he will die,
but why he will die.
Verse 45.
And this verse is the key verse in all of Mark's gospel.
Now, that statement, when Jesus says that,
it sets Jesus apart from every other religious leader in the world.
You see, their purpose, the religious leader's purpose in this world,
or philosophical leaders, is to live and to be an example.
Jesus is to die, to be an example, but to die as a substitute.
Now, verse 45.
Let's just hone in on this for a bit.
It's a key verse for Mark's gospel, and it's rich with implications.
So let's take a really close look at it.
A few words here, which are really key.
He uses the word come.
And he uses this word come to allude to the fact that he existed before he was born.
He came into his world.
And this points us back to the early part of Mark's gospel,
where Jesus established his identity as the king of kings who ruled the universe,
who created the universe and exists outside of the universe.
And this is also assumed in his statement that he did not come to be served.
That is, he had every right, every right to be served when he came,
simply because of who he is.
But he did not exercise that right.
And the final phrase, to give his life as a ransom for many,
sums up the reason why he came to die.
Jesus came to be a substitute sacrifice.
And it's there in that little word for.
The little word for.
To give his life as a ransom for many.
And that little word for in the original text means instead of, in place of, as a substitute.
And the word ransom describes the purpose of his death.
In English, it's a word that's rarely used nowadays outside of a kidnapping case.
The word, as Jesus uses it here, means to buy the freedom of a slave or a prisoner.
And the ransom in Jesus' time would be a huge sacrificial payment that matched the value
or the debt of a slave or a prisoner in order to secure their freedom.
And Jesus came to pay that kind of ransom.
The slavery to sin is a cosmic slavery, a cosmic evil.
And so it requires a cosmic payment.
And Jesus says here in verse 45,
I've come to pay that cosmic payment that we could not possibly pay.
And in doing so, he will buy our freedom.
And the price was his death on the cross.
It's a rich verse.
Verse 45.
And there are three things that flow out of that.
Many more than three things.
But at least three things here that I want to look at in this text.
That his sacrifice was a willing sacrifice.
Secondly, it was a humble sacrifice.
And thirdly, it motivates a life of grateful sacrifice on our body.
So first of all, a willing sacrifice.
This issue of Jesus' sacrifice for our sin is one of those difficult concepts
that our modern mind struggles to come to terms with.
And in fact, it's one of the reasons why people have rejected Christian faith.
The concept of a substitutionary atonement, a penal substitutionary atonement
on behalf of the Lord Jesus.
You see, on the surface of it, the cross of Jesus appears to be one of those,
another one of those ancient primitive stories of bloodthirsty gods
worshipped by ancient primitive bloodthirsty societies.
That's what it just appears to be one of those cases.
So is that what's happening here?
Is the cross of Christ another one of those,
a savage culture that's ruled by a cranky God
demanding another blood sacrifice for his appeasement?
Is that what's happening here?
That is, why is there a need for Jesus to die?
If God is loving, I don't know if you've heard this before,
if God is so loving, why doesn't he just say,
I forgive everyone?
If he's sovereign and he's loving,
why doesn't he just say, I forgive everyone?
And the answer is simple and yet profound.
The answer is simple.
Jesus didn't have to die despite God's love.
He had to die because of God's love.
He had to die because all life-changing love
is substitutionary sacrifice.
I'll say it again.
All life-changing love is substitutionary sacrifice.
Now, loving someone who has it all together,
if you ever meet such a person,
there's probably four or five of them in the world,
loving someone who has everything together is so easy.
And all the boyfriends lean across to their girlfriends,
you're so easy.
Romantic moment there.
Loving someone, on the other hand, who's messed up,
who has needs, who's in trouble,
who's emotionally damaged,
like all of you and me,
is going to cost you.
It costs you.
You can't love someone like that without it costing you.
And the more messed up someone's life is,
the more it costs you in order to love them.
That is, what happens in that moment,
for you to genuinely love that person,
a transfer has to take place.
Some of their burden has to fall on you.
That's why so many people avoid those kinds of people.
They see someone who's desperately needy,
and they look at their watch and go,
I just don't have time for that.
And we try to find a graceful exit.
It can be exhausting being a friend
to an emotionally damaged person.
And the only way that they are ever going to be emotionally filled up
is if someone loves them.
And the only way to love them
so that they're filled up
is to allow yourself to be drained.
It's the only way it'll happen.
It's the only way that you will truly love a poor person
is by becoming somewhat poorer yourself.
It's the only way.
A transfer has to take place.
The only way to truly love
is through substitutionary sacrifice.
Another example of this is parenting.
When you have children,
they are dependent on you.
They are so needy,
and they don't grow out of their dependency
on their own.
They don't just kind of like,
well, sit back and see what happens.
It just doesn't happen.
And the only way that children will grow
beyond their dependency
into self-sufficient adults
is for parents
to essentially abandon
their own independence
for 20, 30, 40, 50 years.
That's the only way it happens.
For a child to go from dependency to independency,
a parent has to go from independency to dependency.
The transfer has to take place.
You've got to lose some of your independence.
See, when children are young,
you have to read to them
and read to them
and read to them.
Otherwise, they won't develop intellectually.
And for most cases,
for most parents,
the books that you read to them
are boring,
tedious.
It's like, come on.
Get on with the plot here.
And you also have to listen to them
and listen to them
as they say all kinds of things
that make no sense whatsoever.
Then there's the dressing
and the feeding
and the bathing,
the teaching them to do things
for themselves.
And add to that,
children need at least five affirmations
to every criticism you bring to them.
Unless a parent sacrifices
much of their freedom
and a good bit of their time,
their children will not grow up healthy
and equipped to function.
Either parents have to make the sacrifice
or in the end,
the child has to make the sacrifice.
Either parents suffer in a temporary way
and in a redemptive way
or the children suffer tragically
in a wasteful
and a destructive life.
Either way,
either way,
someone has to give.
Someone has to surrender.
Someone has to sacrifice.
All genuine life-changing love
is substitutionary sacrifice.
And anybody who has ever done anything
that made a difference to us personally,
whether it be a parent,
a teacher,
a mentor,
a friend,
a spouse,
they have sacrificed in some way
to love us in that way.
They stepped in
and accept some of the hardship
so that we would not get hit with it ourselves.
And so why would God,
who is more loving
than we could ever be
or imagine to be,
why would he expect him
to be any different?
Why would we just expect God,
just,
don't worry about it.
It makes no sense
that this God,
a God who comes into this world
to deal with the ultimate evil,
the ultimate sin,
it makes no sense
that he would not make
a substitutionary sacrifice
in order to love us.
Even as flawed as we are,
we know that you cannot
just turn a blind eye to evil.
We know that.
Deep down,
we know justice is right.
We call for it all the time.
Evil cannot be dealt with,
it cannot be removed,
and it cannot be forgiven
just by simply saying,
ah, forget about it.
It must be paid for,
and dealing with it is costly.
The debt must be removed.
But the God of the Bible
is so loving
that he was willing to die
in order to do it himself.
This God is radically different
to all the ancient,
primitive,
mystical gods of old.
The ancients understood
the idea of the wrath of God,
and they understood
the idea of the justice of God.
They understood the idea
of debt and necessary punishment,
but they had no concept at all,
no idea,
that this God
would come and pay for it himself.
The cross is the self-substitution of God.
Love that really changes things
and redeems things
is always a substitutionary sacrifice.
C.S. Lewis,
in his classic book,
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,
puts it like this,
referring to ultimately
the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross.
He says,
when a willing victim
who had committed no treachery
was killed in the traitor's stead,
the table would crack
and death itself
would start working backwards.
A willing victim.
The Lord Jesus
willingly went to the cross.
Willingly sacrificed.
But we also see here
that it's a humble sacrifice.
Jesus told his disciples
three times now
the reason why he had come
and the reason was
to suffer and die.
And Jesus' heart
is on full display
in Mark's gospel,
what his passion is,
what his heart is.
And so too,
the hearts of James and John
in the very next verse,
in verses 35 and 36.
It says,
then James and John,
the sons of Zebedee,
came to him,
teacher,
they said,
we want you to do
whatever we ask.
It's a great way
to start a conversation.
Try it
after church.
I want you to do for me
whatever I ask of you.
Make that the first thing
that comes out of your mouth
and see how it goes.
Now add to this,
remember,
these guys
are speaking to the one
who they've just,
Peter's just declared
to be the son of God,
the Christ.
He's demonstrated
that he's the God
of the universe.
And so this is
in effect a prayer.
And so imagine
starting your prayers
with,
dear God,
I want you to do for me
whatever I ask.
I just don't think
it's a great way.
You know,
you start a conversation
like that with me
and I will say,
whoa,
hang on a bit.
Let's go back
and rethink.
Go away
and rephrase
that sentence.
And yet,
what does Jesus
do here?
Verse 36.
What do you want me
to do for you?
Then,
here comes the reply
in verse 37.
Let one of us
sit at your right
and the other
at your left
in your glory.
One at your right
and one at your left
in your glory.
You see,
what they're looking
forward to here
is Jesus
on the way
to Jerusalem.
He's going to beat up
the Romans,
kick everyone out.
He's going to reign supreme
enthroned in Jerusalem
and can one of us
be the prime minister
and the other one
chief of staff?
You know,
when the spotlight's
on you,
Jesus,
is it okay
if we just kind of
bask in the glory
in that moment?
Sort of like,
you know,
photo bombing
someone who's on TV
kind of thing
just so that you can
wave to mum
or something.
It's that
we get a bit of glory
in that moment too.
And the irony
of their request
is that Jesus'
moment of greatest
glory,
the moment
he most
shows forth
the glory
of God's justice,
where he most
profoundly reveals
the glory
of God's love,
is in fact
on the cross
just outside
of Jerusalem.
In that moment
when he is
crucified,
there will be
someone on his
left and there
will be someone
on his right,
but they are both
criminals.
Jesus is saying
to these two,
you don't know
what you're asking
for.
So let's keep
reading.
Verse 38,
you don't know
what you're asking,
Jesus.
Can you drink
the cup I drink
or be baptized
with the baptism
I'm baptized with?
We can,
they answered.
Jesus said to them,
oh, you will
drink the cup I drink
and be baptized
with the baptism
I am baptized with.
But to sit at my right
or left
is not for me
to grant.
These places
belong to those
for whom
they've been prepared.
And when the ten
heard about this,
they became indignant
with James and John.
Now when Jesus
refers to the cup here,
he's talking about,
he's using a metaphor
from the Old Testament
that pointed to
the just judgment
of God
against evil.
And what Jesus
is saying here
is when he talks
about drinking
this cup,
he's saying,
I am paying
the ransom.
I'm going to drink
the cup.
I'm going to bridge
that gap.
I will take
the just punishment
of all human evil
upon myself.
I will take
the overwhelming
experience
of being condemned
so that you
are free
from all condemnations.
and yet
these disciples
don't get it
at all.
They just simply
just do not
get it.
I can't tell you
the number of times
I've read this text
and I'm going,
what is wrong
with these disciples?
And yet
I've discovered
how unwise
it is
to ask that question.
how unwise
it is
to just simply
think,
what's wrong
with these guys?
What's wrong
with them?
Why can't they see?
It's better
for us
to ask,
what am I
not getting
about the cross
of Christ
right now?
What am I
not getting
about its
implications
for my life
right now?
What am I
missing
about the
magnitude
of the cross?
You see,
when we see
how James
and John
respond
and we
realize
how hard
it is
for anyone
to take
the magnitude
of the cross
and what it
really means
and to understand
it,
then I think
we are
starting to
take steps
towards the
gift of
humility.
Despite
their association
with Jesus
and despite
their piety,
these disciples
saw greatness.
They saw
greatness
according to
the world's
definition.
They saw
Jesus as the
fast track
to power
and glory.
See,
James and
John had
fallen to
the world's
idea that
seeking the
place of
authority and
personal power
was right
for them.
They got a
glimpse of
glory,
they got a
glimpse of
power,
a glimpse
of influence,
and they
wanted it.
They wanted
the glory,
they wanted
the adulation,
they wanted
the power
and their
hearts are
on full
display here.
As the
Puritans
used to
say,
what we
dream about,
what we
hope for,
is the
true picture
of what
our hearts
are like.
So where
does your
mind go
in a moment
of quietness?
What is it
that you
dream for?
Now the
other
disciples,
I'm not
picking on
James and
John,
the other
disciples
became
indignant
with them.
And it's
not because
they understood
what Jesus
was on about,
but they
were upset
with James
and John
for getting
there first.
It's like
they asked
for left and
right,
it's like
what's left
for us,
third and
fourth and
fifth.
And so
what Jesus
does here
is he takes
the opportunity
to teach
them a
lesson on
substitutionary
sacrifice,
about their
life of
substitutionary
sacrifice.
Take a look
at verse 42
with me.
Jesus called
them together
and said,
you know
that those
who are
regarded as
rulers and
of the Gentiles
lord it over
them and the
high priest
exercise authority
over them?
Not so
with you.
Instead,
whoever wants
to become
great among
you must be
your servant
and whoever
wants to be
first must
be a slave
of all.
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.
So Jesus
is talking
here about
the difference
between the
way his
disciples
influence
society and
the way that
every other
culture and
society thinks
you influence
society.
And he
says,
you're being
sucked into
your society's
view of it,
your culture's
view it,
and he
says,
I'm not
so with
you.
This is
not how
you influence
society.
He says,
the way our
world seeks
to influence
society is
not the way
his disciples
are to
influence
society.
Jesus
is,
he's set
the pattern.
He's not
just our
substitute
and our
redeemer,
he is also
our
pay
setter.
So,
the route
to gaining
influence for
the Christian
is not
the taking
of power.
Christian
political
parties are
not the
answer.
Christian
political
parties are
not the
answer in
changing
society.
influence
gained
through
power
and
control
doesn't
change
hearts
and
therefore
it
doesn't
change
people
and
therefore
it
doesn't
change
society.
Jesus
is calling
here for
a different
approach.
He's calling
his disciples
to be so
sacrificially
loving
that the
people around
you who
don't believe
what you
believe will
soon be
unable to
imagine
society
without
you.
They so
appreciate
your contribution
to society.
I actually
think that one
of the worst
indictments of
the Christian
church in
this country
is that there
are large
large parts
of our
society
that do
not see
cannot see
what contribution
the church
makes.
They can't
see any
good that we
contribute,
any value
that we
contribute.
So the
disciples of
Jesus need to
love and
serve in such
a way that
those who
disagree with
us will
trust us
because they
can see that
we're not
actually trying
to gain
power and
authority for
ourselves but
in fact doing
it for the
weak and
vulnerable and
for the
flourishing of
all of
society.
What that
means is that
when people
look up to
you because
of your
love and
because of
your service
you've
actually gained
influence.
When people
look up to
you because
of your love
and your
service you've
gained influence
over them
and it's
an influence
that they
give you
rather than
influence that
you take
from them
and frankly
well over a
thousand years
of Christendom
in the western
world should have
told us that.
Just because the
government agrees
with Christian
values doesn't
mean that hearts
get changed
at all.
See this is
what Jesus
has done.
How did
Jesus respond
to his
enemies?
He didn't
call down
legions of
angels to
fight them.
He died for
their sins.
As he was
dying he
prayed for
them.
That's what
Jesus did.
He didn't
come to
be served
but to
serve.
He didn't
come to
grasp for
power in
order to
influence.
He came
and gave
it up in
order to
influence and
what an
influence he's
had for
two thousand
years.
If at the
very heart of
your world
view is a
man who is
God,
dying for
his enemies
as it is
the world
view of
this church,
then the
way you're
going to
influence in
society is
through service
rather than
through power
and control.
That is we
need to look
beyond ourselves
and we need
to look to
Jesus.
What Jesus
has done for
us drives us
out in
grateful sacrifice
ourselves.
If Jesus
is our
substitutionary
sacrifice,
if he has
paid for
our sins,
if he has
proved
to our
insecure,
skittish little
hearts,
that we
are worth
everything to
him,
then we
have everything
we need
in him.
It's all a
gift to us
by his
grace.
We don't
do things
in order to
connect to
God or to
feel better
about ourselves.
If we really
understand the
cross, we
are blasted
out into
this world
in joyful
humility.
You see,
in Jesus,
you don't
need to
help people,
you want
to help
people to
resemble the
one who has
done all
this for us.
So this is the
logic of this
passage, it's
really simple.
If the one
who created
both the
supernova and
the superfly,
if there is
a superfly,
firefly,
and holds
everything
together,
including all
the bugs,
by the
power of
his word,
according to
Colossians
chapter 1,
if he
became our
servant,
became our
table waiter,
how dare
we do
anything less
than that
with others.
Count
Nicholas von
Zinseldorf,
a German
nobleman,
he was born
into great
power and
privilege in
1700.
He's one
of the
founders of
the Moravian
Church,
and over
the years,
he spent
his enormous
wealth down
to practically
zero,
meeting
needs,
everywhere,
people's
needs
everywhere.
He literally
poured his
life out
for the
sake of
others.
Why?
He
mentions
one
key
crucial
thing in
his life.
It would
have been
numbers,
but this
is the
one thing.
As a
19-year-old,
he was
sent by
his parents
to visit
the capital
cities of
Europe to
complete
his
education.
One day,
he was
standing in
front of
a portrait
of the
crucified
Lord Jesus
with a
crown of
thorns
on his
head in
an art
gallery in
Dusseldorf.
He stood
there transfixed
by the
image of
the crucified
Christ.
He said
that this
image of
the servant
king,
so moved
him,
and
especially
what the
artist had
written as
an inscription
at the
bottom of
the portrait.
He wrote
this,
all this
I did
for thee,
what
dost
thou
for me?
That
inscription
and that
image of
the servant
king
changed
Zinzendorf's
life at
19 years
of age
and he
spent the
rest of
his life
pouring it
out for
people.
Has it
changed you?