Consider these questions as we dwell in Mark 10:32-45:

1. How does Jesus respond to James and John's request to sit at His right and left hand in glory, and what deeper message is He conveying about the nature of true greatness in the kingdom of God?

2. What does Jesus mean when He asks James and John if they are able to "drink the cup" that He drinks? How does this imagery relate to the concept of suffering and glorification in the Christian faith?

3. In what way does Jesus emphasize the importance of servanthood in the Christian life, and how does He exemplify this principle through His own sacrificial death on the cross? How can we apply this teaching in our own lives and interactions with others?

Transcript:

Where we land today is one of my favorite passages from the Gospel of Mark. It's an interesting story. We have seen the disciples asking questions that are getting them in trouble with Jesus because they are seeking to elevate themselves. They're not seeking to be servants. And this one has two of the best-known disciples doing just that: James and John go up to Jesus and ask to sit at his right-hand and his left hand in his glory. Well, Jesus says to them, You don't know what you're asking. And the language that Jesus is using here, he says, Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Well, the Old Testament language that would have been how Jesus understood and even how the disciples would have understood the idea of wrath, would have include this idea of drinking a cup. And so, Jesus is saying here, more than just are you able to drink out of the same cup that I am? He's saying, Are you able to bear this? Now, we don't know for sure that James and John understood that imagery, but the point that Jesus is making is that, Do you really want what's coming for me?

Do you not understand what I have been telling you? That I am going to suffer? And ultimately, we know that Jesus is glorified in that suffering. As I've heard it said before, Jesus is glorified in the cross. Jesus is at his coronation when he is being crucified. Remember, it says, the King of the Jews on his cross. And so, that is the place where Christ is most glorified in his death for his people to purchase them. And Jesus is saying to James and John, You don't know what you're asking. I'm going to be glorified at the cross. Is that what you really want? But beyond that level of questioning, beyond that level of Jesus telling them about what is happening, the other disciples heard about this, and Jesus brings them together, and we get a teaching that we're somewhat familiar with. As we look at the second half of verse 43 and through verse 45, we read, But whoever would be great among you must be your servant. Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus is trying to get the disciples to understand. You're all looking to be glorified. This has been a theme, as I said, all throughout the Gospel of Mark, and they're just not getting it. But Jesus is letting them know plain and clear here. If you want to be great, you need to be a servant. If you want to be first, you have to be a slave to others. This is how it is in the Christian economy. You need to serve others. That is where God is glorified. And most importantly, that is where God himself is glorified in the death of his Son. And so, as Jesus says, For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. Well, Jesus is saying, Hey, I'm the Son of Man, and I am to be glorified. But even I didn't come to have your earthly standards of glory. I didn't come to sit on an earthly throne. I didn't come to be accepted by the political people who see these things as being valuable. I came to serve. I came to love you, and to give life, my life, as a ransom for many.

And so, Jesus is saying here that he is truly modeling servanthood. And if John and James want this, they would be rare among people. We don't naturally desire this. We desire to be glorified within ourselves. But God is most glorified in what Jesus has done for us. And so, if we are going to be the people of God that we're called to be, what do we need to do? We need to make sure that we're not desiring the glory that James and John were, earthly glory. But instead, we need a desire to be a servant, to be glorified in how we love and serve others, how we share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others. That is where God is glorified. And so, as we go out into the world today, we look to that cross, we look to that true servanthood of Jesus, where he was made the ransom for many. And we say, if we are going to be God's servants in this world, we need to do our best to look like Jesus. And where we best understand looking like Jesus is in serving others even when it hurts. And so, may we look to that Gospel of Jesus Christ, and may we look to those around us and see how we can serve, how we can be last, because God is glorified when we do that.

And so, let us step out into God's world today looking for opportunities to serve, because we have first been served by Jesus in his life, in his death, in his resurrection. And he is still serving us today in his ascension.