Mark 10:35-45: Jesus, the original servant-leader

We live in a world of self-promotion.  In days gone by it was seen as poor form indeed to actively campaign for office.  John Adams and Thomas Jefferson remained remarkably aloof with respect to their candidacies for the presidency in the election of 1796.  It is true that they knew they were candidates, and they probably even gave some form of instruction to their surrogates, but it would have been unheard of for them to actively campaign, or promote themselves for high office.  As you may have noticed, times have changed.  Or have they?  I don’t think that people are more self-promoting than they used to be, I think that our society is more tolerant of self-seeking behavior than it used to be.  As proof that self-promotion isn’t a cultural phenomenon of our own era, we need simply to look at Jesus’ own disciples. 

Could the announcement that Jerusalem was the destination of Jesus’ and his disciples have insinuated to James and John that Jesus’ kingdom was about to be inaugurated?  That certainly seems to be how they interpreted it.  They ask for the places of honor in Jesus’ kingdom, to be seated on either side of him in all of his glory and might.  It’s understandable why they thought this way.  In Psalm 110:1, “the Lord says to my Lord: sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”  According to scripture, the right hand was clearly the place to be, and the left would do if the right had already been taken.  Even Jesus own words in parables like that of the Messianic banquet in Luke 14:15-24 and Matthew 22:1-10 refer to places of honor.  John would paint a picture of the heavenly throne room in Revelation 4-5 that would include a place of honor.  If there were places of honor to be had, better to get the jump on asking for them before someone else reserves them! 

Jesus’ response shows us that things clearly work differently in his kingdom.  He asks them explicitly if they are willing to drink the cup he is going to drink, and if they can be baptized with the baptism which he will endure.  Their affirmative answer betrays not only their eagerness for status and honor, but also the depth of their misunderstanding.  Later on in the gospel of Mark, we see that the cup Jesus will drink is not a pleasant one, indeed he even asks God to “remove this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36)  It’s no mere coincidence that in that crucial hour those found to the left and right of Jesus are on crosses.  To be at Jesus’ side requires us to be willing to crucify ourselves to this world, and to bear our cross in obedient discipleship.  When they ask for the places of honor, James and John are utterly unprepared to pay the cost of discipleship.  And yet, their failure and unpreparedness is not the final word.  While in the gospel of Mark “they all left him and fled” (Mark 14:50), elsewhere in scripture we see that the disciples overcome their initial setbacks, thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives.  Peter, who was among the ones who left him and fled, and who also denied him, would go on to write, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (I Peter 4:13)  James would eventually drink the cup and share the baptism of Christ’s suffering:  

 “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.  He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.” (Acts 12:1-3) 

While John is widely believed to be the only apostle to not be martyred, he too suffered in his own way:

“I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 1:9)

So what does all of this mean?  Put simply, it means that we are called to be different from the world around us.  If things are the same in the church as they are in the world, something is wrong.  That difference should start, and it does start, with the church’s leadership.  Just as Jesus was different from all the rulers this world has seen, or will see, so those who seek to lead in the church should lead from places of service and humility.  Jesus points out that the disciples are acting just like the secular rulers they despise.  In their behavior, we see what Jesus had to work with in fashioning leaders for the early church.  And yet, in an odd way that’s good news for us.  If the self-promoting James and John can go on and give their lives, both literally and figuratively in serving Jesus, surely we have no excuse ourselves for not becoming the type of servant leaders that the church, and our world desperately need.  Paul words to the Galatians are an appropriate way to sum up what it means to live for Christ as servants:

“For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”  (Galatians 5:13)

It is often said we live in the freest nation on earth.  Perhaps instead of simply celebrating that freedom once a year with fireworks and parades, we should shock the world by choosing to use it not for ourselves, but in the service of others.   

Mark 10:32-34: the cross and the resurrection, you can't have one without the other

Whether we are willing to acknowledge it or not, the person of Jesus of Nazareth demands a response from each and every one of us.  Whether we realize it or not, each of us responds to him by the way we live our life.  As we see from these three verses in Mark 10, Jesus’ very presence invokes amazements from some, and fear from others.  Both, in some combination, are probably appropriate responses for each of us.  Fear in the presence of the almighty, amazement at the idea of God becoming flesh.  The author of Hebrews would pick up on this response of fear and amazement, while also addressing Jesus’ prediction in these verses of the suffering he would endure:

“But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.  For it is fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.”          – Hebrews 2:9-10

And again, after recounting all of the heroes of faith we find in the pages of the Bible, the Hebrews’ writer seeks to spur on their own audience to similar feats of discipleship with the following words:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:1-2

The epistle of Hebrews refers to the fact that Jesus’ “endured the cross, despising the shame”, and in so doing it readily acknowledges that Jesus did all of this knowing very well what he was getting himself into.  He did it “for the joy that was set before him.”  In other words, Jesus knew the long-term, permanent victory that would result from his near-term, temporary suffering.  If you wonder exactly how much he knew about what he was to endure, consider his following statements from this passage:

·         He states that the “Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes”, and in Mark 14:53 we see that “they led Jesus to the high priest.  And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.”

·         He predicted “and they will condemn him to death”, which was proven to be correct in Mark 14:64 where the high priest says “’you have heard his blasphemy.  What is your decision?’  And they all condemned him as deserving of death.” 

·         Jesus knows that these same authorities who condemn him will “deliver him over to the Gentiles.”  It takes place in Mark 15:1, where we read that “as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council.  And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate.”  It’s a sign of the contempt they had for Jesus, that they would turn him over to the occupiers of their land, the oppressors of their people whom they also reviled. 

·         Jesus was well aware that “they will mock him and spit on him.”  The fulfillment is related in Mark 15:19 where we see that the guards “were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him.”   

·         It couldn’t have been easy for him to think about the fact that they would “flog him and kill him.”  We see it happen in Mark 15:24, “and they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take.” 

It’s not all bad news though.  As we saw in Hebrews, the promise of a happier ending is what enabled Jesus to endure, knowingly endure, all of the things just mentioned.  He did it “for the joy set before him.”  That joy is what he refers to at the very end of this passage, when he says that “after three days he will rise.”  It’s a story we are all familiar with, especially on the heels of Easter:

“And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.  And he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has risen; he is not here.  See the place where they laid him.’”
 - Mark 16:5-6

Some would say it’s bad form to write a post about Jesus’ suffering less than a week after Easter.  This is supposed to be the time when the church is joyful, when it revels in the victory that Jesus has won for us over sin and death.  And yet I wonder if the two can be separated so easily.  Can we truly embrace the resurrection without casting an eye back at the cross?  Can we truly endure the pain and suffering we find in this world without at least a hopeful glance into the future, where resurrection awaits?  If we are going to be disciples of Jesus, then we desperately need to understand what he understood, that the cross and the resurrection go together.  Our victory is not in the fact that the cross was abolished, but in the fact that Jesus has ensured for us that the cross never, ever, gets the final word.  Resurrection will always have the final say.  

Mark 10:17-31: Jesus, class warfare, and the kingdom of God

Wealth has a way of dividing us.  It separates us into the haves and have not’s.  Wealth, or the lack thereof, often dictates our politics.  Whether it is because we want to keep more of it for ourselves, or want to have greater opportunities to make more it for ourselves, money might be the biggest factor influencing the decisions we make.  Wealth, and its ability to polarize us, even makes its way into the Bible, specifically in the instance of the rich young man and his conversation with Jesus.  We learn a number of things as observers of this timeless conversation, and some of them are likely to clash with what society tells us about the importance of money, and how we evaluate success.

The first thing we learn is that riches can be an obstacle to discipleship.  The more stuff we have, the more we stand to lose, and the more we might be required to sacrifice for the kingdom of God.  Jesus begins on a very basic level by affirming the principles found in the Ten Commandments.  William Lane points out that in Jesus' response, “His affirmation of the commandments is a demand for obedient action which recognizes both the sovereignty of God and the existence of the neighbor.”  To inherit eternal life, we must maintain faithfulness to God and neighbor by refraining from destructive actions that harm others.  No lying, no stealing, no defrauding, no committing adultery, and certainly no murdering!  Even in our day, we consider ourselves good if we can avoid all the "major" sins that Jesus mentions here.  And yet, more is required.  It is not enough to abstain for the bad; we must be proactive in doing good.  Part of doing good is giving up everything in order to follow God, which is exactly what Jesus asks the rich young man to do.  In his Letter to Hilarious, Augustine states that "one who gives up both what one owns and what one desires to own, gives up the whole world."  Augustine's point I think, is that discipleship requires more than just giving a cut of our earnings to God, it's about surrendering our future, the dreams we have for ourselves, to God's agenda.  If Jesus had simply asked the man to tithe, he probably would have gladly complied.  However, Jesus' demands are of an ongoing nature, and have the potential to radically disrupt the young man's life permanently.  In the man’s failure to follow, we should find an appreciation for the disciples’ willingness to leave everything and follow Jesus.  The disciples make their fair share of mistakes, but they follow.

The next thing we learn is that being poor has its advantages.  Clearly my intention is not to trivialize the plight of those who spend each day wondering where their next meal will come from.  Jesus statement is not relieving us of our responsibility to provide for the needs of the less fortunate.  What it is doing is revealing a simple truth.  The more we have, the more we fall under the illusion that we are in some way self-sufficient.  In Jesus’ day, wealth was taken to be a sign of blessing.  If you had money, clearly God was pleased with you.  Jesus isn’t using class warfare here, what he’s doing is saying that even the people they esteemed to be the most righteous couldn’t enter into the kingdom of God of their own accord.  The realization of the impossibility shakes the disciples to the core, and opens up the opportunity for Jesus’ to reveal salvation as an act of grace on the part of God.  Jesus is not excluding the rich from the kingdom of God, he is excluding all humans who seek to arrive there through their own efforts.  You see then that Jesus is requiring the man to sell the very thing which would have been a sign to others of God’s favor.  The rich young man can’t let go of his wealth, because his wealth is where he   finds his identity.  It’s a mark of his success, and to many it’s a sign that his righteousness has been rewarded.  In inviting the man to sell all his possessions, He is inviting him to scrap the notion of self-righteous, and embrace total reliance on God.  It is easier for the homeless refugee in Africa to recognize his or her dependence on God, than for the upper-middle class American who has “earned” their blessings through education, hard-work, and responsibility.  If riches sometimes blind us to our dependence on God, then it is certainly easier for the poor to recognize that dependence, as there is less to blind them to the reality of our need for God. 

It’s a challenging thing, to let go of the things of this world in order to follow Jesus Christ.  And yet, Jesus points out that to follow Him is not without reward.  Obviously the hope of eternal life and redemption loom large in any discussion of the rewards which Christians receive.  However, one that is often overlooked is the spiritual family that we receive when we embark on our walk with Christ.  One of God’s greatest gifts to us is those who accompany us on the journey.  In his Conferences, John Cassian touches on this point by echoing the words of Jesus from this passage, ““you have each left but one father and mother and home, and as you have done so you have gained without any effort or care countless fathers and mothers and brothers, as well as houses and lands and most faithful servants, in any part of the world to which you go, who receive you as their own family, and welcome, and respect, and take care of you with the utmost attention.”  I have learned in a very real way how true Jesus’ words are.  I readily admit that I was somewhat anxious about moving 600 miles from my family, alone, to take up the work of ministry amongst a group of strangers.  I quickly learned though, that there are no strangers in the body of Christ.  I have been welcomed into countless homes and enjoyed meals at many tables, as my brothers and sisters in Christ sought to make me feel at home in my new life here.  My experience is one that is common among ministers, and even among those who relocate for careers or other reasons, and are welcomed into new church families.  More compelling is the story of the Ehimare family, who journeyed halfway across the world from Nigeria to Atlanta, Georgia to receive medical care for Ose as she prepared to give birth to quadruplets.  In a foreign land, preparing to go through a challenging and yet joyous time in the best-case scenario, the Ehimare’s were quickly adopted by my church family, the Northlake Church of Christ.  Members provided lodging, food, child-care (imagine caring for four newborns!), and even threw them a baby shower.  The story stands out to me as what it means to be a part of the body of Christ.  The love and fellowship found in Christ transcends language, nationality, or any other thing that divides us, and in itself is a gift of far greater value than anything we might sacrifice in the service of Christ.  In returning to the rich young man’s question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”, perhaps a good place to start is in realizing that it has a lot less to do with what I must do, and a lot more to do with what God has done.  A good place to start is eliminating everything in our life that clouds our ability to clearly recognize God’s grace, whether that be wealth, relationships, or our own selfish pride.

You can read more about the Ehimare family and their story in this Christian Chronicle article:

http://www.christianchronicle.org/blog/2010/08/georgia-church-adopts-nigerian-quadruplets-and-their-parents/