Well, we can turn back to our reading in Mark's Gospel, chapter 10, and we'll look at these verses that we've read together from verse 32 down to verse 45.
! A few weeks ago, just before the October holidays on the Lord's Day morning, we were looking at the previous section to this from verse 13 down to verse 31.
And we saw there how in verse 13 there was the children that were being brought to Jesus, and the disciples were rebuking them and telling them not to bother the Master with them.
But Jesus says, let the children come to me, for to them belongs the kingdom of God.
And then we went on from there into verse 17 down to verse 31, where we see Jesus meeting with the rich young ruler, as he's known, the one who had great wealth, but yet lacked one thing.
One thing missing in his life.
He wasn't willing to give it all up and to come and follow Jesus.
And the people who heard this and saw this, the disciples and those who were with Jesus, they were astonished.
In verse 26, it says, they were exceedingly astonished and said to him, then who can be saved?
If this young man, who's seemingly kept all of the law in his own eyes, a good man in many ways, how, if he can't be saved, how can anyone be saved?
Well, Jesus reminded them that with man it's impossible, but with God, all things are possible, it says in verse 27.
And so that's where we're continuing from as we come into verse 32.
And who is Jesus speaking to in this passage?
As you read from verse 32 down to verse 45, when you see everything that's taking place,
when you see the kind of words that are used, you think of that word, verse 26, that people were exceedingly astonished.
There was this astonishment in their midst.
There was amazement.
There was fear.
There was demands being made.
There was dismay.
There was all kinds of thoughts going on among the people.
So you might think that Jesus here is speaking to people who are opposed to him or know nothing about him.
And he's teaching them his ways.
But who is he actually speaking to?
Well, he's speaking to the disciples and to his closest followers.
And we see in their experience so much of what our experience can be like as well.
We have all these times that we go through different experiences in life, different emotions,
that sense of astonishment, amazement, fear.
All can be our experience too in life when it comes to following Jesus.
And so what we see here as we look at this passage is all of these mixed up feelings,
mixed up questions that they have, mixed up reactions to the situation that they find themselves.
And it shows us the reality of the world in which we live, that we have so many challenges that we have to face up to.
Here are those who are closest to Jesus.
This is coming towards the end of his ministry.
He's been three years with them.
And still you could say they don't fully understand who they have before them.
And it's a great reminder to us as Christians or as those who are maybe seeking to know more about the Christian faith,
to know more about the Lord, that in our own understanding, our own emotions,
we can, as they would say, we can go through the ringer.
We can go through all of these different challenges.
And we feel one moment that we're close to the Lord, just like the disciples were,
and the followers on many occasions.
And at other times we can feel like we're so far away from the Lord
and almost going in the opposite direction to him.
But our faith is not dependent on our feelings.
Our faith is not dependent on what's going on around us.
And when we look at this situation and the way the people respond and the way the people act,
it's almost an encouragement to us.
It's an encouragement to us that, well, we're not alone.
When we feel like we're going through these experiences of astonishment, amazement, doubt, and fear,
and all of these things, we're not alone.
We're not the first.
We won't be the last.
And there are many others going through these experiences as well.
Even those who were the closest to Jesus, his own disciples,
found themselves almost again and again asking that question that they asked in Mark chapter 4
with the storm that they were with Jesus in.
Who is this?
They were astonished again and again.
They react in different ways again and again throughout the Gospels as we see.
But where does it always come back to?
It needs to come back to the reality of the truth that Jesus speaks,
the word that Jesus speaks to them and to us as well.
They're brought back to see the teaching of Jesus.
And that's what Jesus is giving to them in the verses that we are looking at this evening.
And there is a wealth of teaching again.
Chapter 10 just seems to be full of teaching after teaching after teaching of who Jesus is
and how they need to trust him.
And you see it's in the situation, the setting again of Jesus foretelling his death,
reminding them this is the purpose that he has come,
that he has a mission to fulfill,
and that his mission is for the salvation of souls.
And so he's telling them for the third time that he is going to die for them,
and yet they don't understand.
And don't we too have so much to learn?
You don't know everything.
I don't know everything.
We don't have all the answers.
Being a minister doesn't mean all the answers are contained in my mind.
It's impossible.
Being a church member doesn't mean you've made it.
You've arrived and that's it.
Coming to church doesn't make you better than others around us.
And so it's important for us that we see that we are all a work in progress.
That's what this passage reminds us about.
We are all a work in progress.
And in the midst of all the mixed up emotions that we can have in life,
that we can depend on the word of God.
And so the first thing we see with the people here is their mixed up feelings.
Jesus here is continuing, as it says in verse 32,
they were on the road going up to Jerusalem.
So he's been on this journey.
You see it in verse 17 as well.
Just before he met the rich young man,
he says he was setting out on his journey.
What was his journey?
Well, it was his journey that he was on going up to Jerusalem.
And he outlines for them in verse 32 to verse 34
the purpose for which he was going up to Jerusalem.
And perhaps this is what leaves the disciples and the followers
with so many mixed up feelings of amazement and fear
all mixed up together.
Because when you look at what this journey entails,
he says to them in verse 33,
See, we are going up to Jerusalem.
And he outlines the purpose.
The Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes
and they will condemn him to death
and deliver him over to the Gentiles.
And so it goes on.
This is the purpose for which Jesus has come.
And since Jesus began his earthly ministry,
he has been teaching the disciples who he called to follow
and all who are in his hearing,
he was teaching them of the purpose of his coming.
He was revealing it to them again and again.
He has called them to follow him.
And he has been telling them who he is.
And they believed so much about Jesus.
They believed he was a great teacher.
They believed he was a great prophet.
But yet they were still missing out on so much.
Again, you go back to that event in chapter 4
when he was with them in the boat
and they were astonished and they said,
Who is this?
When they had seen Jesus by his word,
calm the wind and the waves to be a peaceful, calm sea.
They were amazed.
Who is this?
And it's almost like they still have this question
in the back of their mind,
even at this point as they're just about arriving in Jerusalem.
Who is this?
They believed that the rabbi,
their teacher as he was, Jesus,
that he was going to deliver his people
from the domination of Rome.
They believed that Jesus was going to restore God's people.
They believed that he would be the king of Israel.
And all of these things they were right with.
But where they were going wrong
was just how this was going to happen
and when this was going to happen.
They expected it to be done in a way
that they could understand.
And because it wasn't going the way they expected,
their feelings were all over the place.
And so as Jesus tells them
for the third time here
that they are going up to Jerusalem
for this very purpose,
they're still not understanding.
The disciples believed that everything
was going to be right in their own lifetime.
They believed that Jesus was on the verge
of his kingdom coming in power
and that he was going to rule.
But they didn't see that what God was doing
was beyond anything that they could imagine.
that it went beyond their situation,
that it went beyond their setting
and their time.
It went down to generation after generation
that God was building his kingdom
and his kingdom was going to come
in an even greater way
than they could ever imagine.
That God was restoring his people
through Jesus giving himself,
as we see in this passage,
as a ransom for many.
When Jesus predicted his death
three times in the Gospel of Mark,
you find that each time
that he tells his people
what is to take place,
there is a sense of confusion.
There is a sense of misunderstanding.
If he has really come to put the world in order,
how is his death going to accomplish this?
It just seemed absurd.
But Jesus has his purpose.
He is going to Jerusalem
and they are afraid and astonished.
But Jesus is here reminding them
of the question that he had
in chapter 8, verse 29,
where he says,
Who do you say that I am?
It keeps coming back to this.
It's not about your feelings.
It's not about what you think should happen
or how it should happen,
but who do you say that I am?
And that's the same for ourselves today as well.
When life isn't going maybe the way that we expected
or the church isn't going the way that we would want it,
all of these things,
we come back to see,
well, what is the foundation of our church?
What is the foundation of our faith?
It is the one who asks of us,
Who do you say that I am?
Do we see that it is the Christ
and that his word is our security?
Not our feelings,
but our faith in him.
Martin Luther once famously said,
Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceiving.
My warrant is the word of God.
Not else is worth believing.
I'll trust in God's unchanging word
till soul and body sever.
For though all things shall pass away,
his word shall stand forever.
Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceiving.
But we can say the same.
My warrant is the word of God.
Not else is worth believing.
And that's what Jesus is teaching them here.
In their mixed up feelings,
it is to see that the word that he is speaking,
it will stand forever.
And that is our hope today as well.
Faith is not on feelings.
Faith is on the word of God
and the promises given through Jesus in that word.
And the question comes to us,
do we believe?
Who do we say that this man is?
Is he the Christ who has come into the world?
Well, we have these mixed up feelings,
but we also see, secondly here,
mixed up questions.
You can almost ask yourself,
have the disciples learned anything
in all their experience with Jesus,
given that this is the third time
that he's told them that his death
is going to come
as they make their way up to Jerusalem?
Have they learned anything
from their experience with him?
And when you look at chapter 8, 9, and 10,
in each of these chapters,
Jesus tells them his purpose
in coming into the world
is that he is going to give his life.
In chapter 8, verse 31,
he began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders
and the chief priests and the scribes
and be killed, and after three days,
rise again.
In chapter 9, verse 31,
for he was teaching his disciples,
saying to them,
the Son of Man is going to be delivered
into the hands of men,
and they will kill him,
and when he is killed,
after three days, he will rise.
And then we have it again
in chapter 10 here,
in verse 33, as we've read,
to verse 34.
See, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and so on.
Three times he has told them.
And you would think by now
they're going to understand,
they're going to get it,
that this is why Jesus has come.
Surely, at least by this third time.
The first time you see Jesus telling them,
well, he has to tell Peter
to get behind me, Satan.
If we do not know what you are talking about,
the things of God,
your mind is not on the things of God,
but on the things of man,
in verse 33 of chapter 8.
So there was a misunderstanding.
They didn't get it.
The same is true in chapter 9,
after he's told them.
What do they start speaking about?
They start speaking about,
in verse 33,
who is the greatest?
Who is the greatest?
Their minds go to something
completely different.
So surely this time
they're going to get it.
But no.
What do they have?
After they've been told this,
you'd think they'd have questions.
But even their questions are mixed up.
They almost don't know what to ask.
So as in verse 35 it says,
James and John,
the sons of Sebedee,
came to him and said to him,
Teacher,
you would maybe expect,
help us understand.
Teach us what this actually means.
Teach us what it will mean for us.
But what do they say in verse 35?
Teacher,
we want you to do for us
whatever we ask of you.
And you might think,
well okay,
what do they want?
And that's exactly what Jesus says to them.
What do you want me to do for you?
And look at the reply.
Grant us to sit one at your right hand
and one at your left
in your glory.
Grant us to sit one at your right,
one at your left
in your glory.
There's almost no thought
of what Jesus is going to do for them.
How glory is going to come to them.
They think it's going to be easy.
They want all this glory.
They want the crown.
But they don't want the cross.
They don't want that suffering.
They don't want any of that.
And there's the problem.
And perhaps in the back of their mind
is the account of the rich young ruler
and the cost of following Jesus.
That's at the end of that section
in verse 29 of this chapter
to verse 31.
You know, there's the cost.
Truly I say to you,
there is no one who has left house
or brothers or sisters or mother,
so on.
There's a cost.
And it's almost like
as we come into verse 35,
that's maybe in the back of their minds.
They're wanting something out of this.
They're wanting glory.
But they don't grasp
what the cost is
that Jesus is going to pay.
If only they truly knew
who was before them.
If only they could truly understand
what he was about to do.
What his death actually meant.
The price that was being paid.
Why did he have to tell them so often
what had to happen?
Why did he leave a remembrance
before the crucifixion,
that he gave this remembrance,
the Lord's Supper,
to do this in remembrance of me?
Because we forget.
Because we are a forgetful people
where we want all the glory,
glory,
but none of the dirty work.
Jesus came
to give his life.
But the problem with the disciples
is just like us,
pride so often takes over.
We want glory.
When you think about
what they're asking for here,
grant us to sit
one at your right hand
and one at your left
in your glory.
You wonder what they thought
as Jesus was crucified
with a thief,
one on the right
and one on the left.
And one of these thieves
actually crying out,
remember me
when you're in paradise.
The humility that was seen
there on the cross
of Jesus giving himself.
They would understand
eventually.
And that's what Jesus
makes clear here.
You don't understand
at this point,
are you able to drink
the cup that I drink
or be baptized
with a baptism
which I am baptized?
He's saying at this point,
you don't understand.
But then he says
in the end of verse 39,
the cup that I drink,
you will drink.
And the baptism
with which I am baptized,
you will be baptized.
So they will receive this.
And as you see
with the disciples
as they go on,
after the crucifixion,
many of them suffered
greatly.
But at this point,
they just don't understand.
And that's the danger
for us
to allow pride
to come in.
The Bible teaches us
again and again
about pride.
Proverbs 16,
verse 18,
pride goes before destruction
and a haughty spirit
before a fall.
1 Corinthians 10,
verse 12,
therefore let anyone
who thinks he stands
take heed lest he fall.
Pride is so dangerous.
And so as Jesus
is teaching them here
in their mixed up questions,
again he is pointing them back
towards himself
and taking their minds
off their pride
and their glory
and all of these things
and to come and see
as we see thirdly
a need for a servant's heart.
The disciples here
asked that question.
We want you to do
whatever we ask.
And Jesus says,
what do you want me
to do for you?
They wanted glory.
But if you read on
to the end of the chapter,
you see another man,
Bartimaeus,
with the same opportunity
where Jesus says,
what do you want me
to do for you?
In verse 51.
And look at the difference
in the response.
The blind man,
Bartimaeus,
came to him and said,
little rabbi,
let me recover my sight.
What would you ask
of Jesus tonight?
For glory
or for gain
in the sense
of seeing Jesus?
We can have mixed up questions,
but what we need to do
is humble ourselves
before God.
It's so easy for us
to forget
what the Lord has done
and why.
And so again,
we don't go on feelings.
We come
to the word of God
and stand
on what the word
of God says.
That he has come
to give his life.
That we might be called
the children
of God.
So we see
mixed up questions.
Thirdly,
we see here
mixed up reactions.
There's a mixture
of reactions here.
The reaction
of the James
and John
to hearing
for a third time
that Jesus will die.
The reaction
is to say
this question,
we want one
to sit
on the right
and one
to sit on the left
in your glory.
And Jesus
rebukes
James and John.
But the ten
are also there
as well.
And you notice
that
excuse me,
you notice that
when he begins
to help them
to understand.
When he talks
about the cup
and all of these
things,
you know that
all of these
things are to come.
But then he goes
on to teach them
about what it is
to serve,
to be a servant.
The other ten
were indignant,
it says.
When they heard
in verse 41,
when the ten
heard it,
they began
to be indignant
at James
and John.
You wonder
if that was
their first reaction.
You wonder
if when they heard
James and John
ask this question,
that would come
into our heart
as well
and say,
wish I'd
asked that first.
Wouldn't it be great
if I could sit
on the right
or on the left
of Jesus
in glory?
You can almost
imagine the other ten
thinking these thoughts
because it's most
naturally what we
might think ourselves
if we heard somebody
asking Jesus that.
But the reply
after Jesus
has rebuked them,
when he says to them,
you don't know
what you are asking,
the response
of the ten
is then this
indignant response
towards James
and John.
They're almost
tut-tutting
James and John
now,
forever daring
to think of
asking that question.
But the thing is
that as you see
Jesus teaching
here,
you see that
Jesus sees
into the hearts
of all.
Not just
James and John
who had asked
the question,
but the other ten
as well.
But when you see
in verse 42,
it says,
Jesus called
them to him
and said
to them,
this is them
all together,
you know
that those
who are considered
rulers of the
Gentiles
lorded over
them,
and their
great ones
exercise
authority over
them,
but it shall
not be so
among you.
He is saying
this is not
to be you.
Instead,
you are to
have a
servant's
heart,
but whoever
would be
great among
you must
be your
servant,
and whoever
would be
first among
you must
be slave,
which is the
same word,
servant of
all.
So they are
told this is
what our
hearts are
to be like,
not looking
for glory,
but for giving
service to
the Lord.
Why?
Well,
Jesus gives
them the
reason why.
In verse
45,
for even
the Son of
Man came
not to be
served,
but to
serve and
to give
his life
as a
ransom for
many.
There is
the reason.
Not just
why the
disciples should
have that
servant heart,
but every
one of
Jesus'
followers
should have
the servant
heart.
Servant,
as the
word has
here.
When you
look at
its meaning
in the
Greek,
it has
that
servant,
slave
mindset.
It also
has and
is used
for
deacon
or minister.
It's used
in the
same way.
And behind
it all
is the
same thing,
that we
are not
our own.
As one
person put
it,
both words
denote a
man who
is not
at his
own
disposal,
but is
his
master's
purchased
property,
bought to
serve his
master's
needs,
to be at
his
beg and
call every
moment the
slave's
sole business
is to do
as he
is told.
That goes
for all
who are
servants
of Christ.
We are
not our
own.
We are
purchased
with a
price to
serve
our
master.
And so
we are
to live
for our
saviour
because we
see what
he has
done for
us.
For even
the son
of man
came not
to be
served,
but to
serve.
And so
if Jesus
himself came
with his
mindset
not to
be served,
the one
who if
anyone
deserved it
was him,
but no,
he came
to serve
and to
give his
life as
a ransom
for many.
And so
that's what
he asks
of his
people today.
Not to
seek glory,
but to
seek service.
To see
that he
has bought
us with
a price.
To see
what he
has done
for us
and that
we are
fellow
servants
together.
Willing
to do
whatever
he
commands.
That's
what the
love of
Christ
has done
for us.
And when
you see
the example
of Jesus
that even
as he
sat around
the table
with his
disciples,
he washed
his
disciples'
feet.
All that
he did
for his
people,
all that
he gave,
we are
to be
servants,
not
seekers
of glory
for
ourselves.
David
Livingston,
famous
missionary to
Africa in
the 1800s,
many people
praised him
for the
sacrifice that
he made in
leaving his
home and
going to
serve the
Lord in
a foreign
land.
But I
want to
read how
David
Livingston
himself put
it.
He said
this,
people talk
of the
sacrifice I
have made
in spending
so much
of my
life in
Africa.
Can that
be called
a sacrifice
which is
simply
acknowledging
a great
debt we
owe to
our God
which we
can never
repay?
Is that
a sacrifice
which brings
its own
reward in
healthful
activity,
the
consciousness
of doing
good,
peace of
mind,
and a
bright hope
of our
glorious
destiny?
It is
emphatically
no sacrifice,
rather it
is a
privilege.
Anxiety,
sickness,
suffering,
danger,
foregoing
the common
convenience of
this life,
these may
make us
pause and
cause the
spirit to
waver and
the soul
to sink,
but let
this only
be for a
moment.
All these
are nothing
compared with
the glory
which shall
later be
revealed in
and through
us.
I never
made a
sacrifice.
Of this
we ought
not to
talk when
we remember
the great
sacrifice
which he
made who
left his
father's
throne on
high to
give himself
for us.
Isn't
that a
great
response?
Where he
didn't see
his life
as a
sacrifice
but as
a privilege
to serve
the one
who left
the father's
throne
to give
himself
for us.
The
disciples as
we see
them here,
they had
their mixed
up feelings.
They had
all these
mixed up
emotions,
the mixed
up questions,
the mixed
up reactions,
but all
the time
they were
learning.
And so
are we.
We are
learning what
Jesus Christ
has done
for us.
And the
more that
we see
and the
more that
we believe
in him,
the more
we understand
that it's
not about
our glory
but our
humbling
ourselves
before him,
the one
who came
not to be
served but
to serve
and to
give his
life as
a ransom
for many.
In a
day of
remembrance,
may we
remember the
one who
gave his
life as
a ransom
for many
and remember
him by
humbly
serving him
and following
him,
leaning on
his word.
Let us
pray.
Lord,
our
gracious
God,
we do
thank you
for the
humble
service
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ,
the one
who did
not consider
equality
with God
a thing
to be
grasped
but made
himself
nothing.
We thank
you that
in Jesus
we see
the one
who came
and could
and perhaps
we would
say should
have been
served
and yet
we see
him
despised
and rejected.
We see
him even
here reminding
of the
very purpose
that he
came as
he made
his way
to Jerusalem
to give
his life
but that
the hope
was as
the hope
still is
of the
resurrection
and we
thank you
for all
the promises
that we
find to
that end
in your
word of
the one
who came
not to
be
served
but to
serve
and to
give his
life as
a ransom
for many.
May it
encourage
us
may it
humble
us
and may
it
make
ourselves
cast
ourselves
upon
him
who
came
from
the
father's
throne
to
give
himself
for us
that we
might see
the privilege
that there
is in
following
him
and believing
in him
and praising
him
with all
our hearts
so hear
our prayers
and pardon
our sin
in Jesus
name
Amen
we're going
to conclude
by singing
to God's
praise
in Psalm
138
in the
Sing
Psalms
version
page
179
Psalm
138
page
179
we'll sing
from
verse
1
to
3
we'll
sing
from
verse
1
to
3
to
God's
praise
we
stand
to
sing
!
I'll
praise
you
Lord
with
all
my
heart
before
the
God's
and
Savior
praise
I'll
learn
to
worship
holy
praise
and
bless
your
holy
name
always
I'll
praise
you
for
your
faithfulness
and
for
your
calm
and
love
O
Lord
God
over
all
things
you
have
raised
your
holy
name
and
faithful
words
the
very
day
I
called
to
you
gave
an
answer
to
my
plea
you
made
me
hold
within
myself
with
pure
soul
!
strengthened
me
after the
benediction
I'll go to
the door
to my
left
we'll
close
with
the
benediction
now may
grace
mercy
and
peace
from
God
Father
Son
and
Holy
Spirit
rest
upon
and
abide
with
you
all
now
and
forever
more
Amen