Mark 10 32-45

What do you want God to do for you? What do you want out of a relationship with Him? Is it love? Is it support? Is it eternal life, the forgiveness of sins? What do you want from God? Some approach God asking for health, or money, or prestige; those are the desires of their hearts. Some people want power in eternity, some of us just want to get there.

There seems to be these huge disparities between what Jesus went through, and the rewards we expect from His sacrifice. Jesus is headed toward the cross, and we focus on the great aspects of that saving action…and to a certain extent we should. We should focus on the forgiveness of sins; we should focus on the gift of a relationship we are given in Christ with God the Father. We shouldn’t though, assume that all life will be easy and free now that we are in right relationship with God through Jesus’ sacrifice. Some people teach that if we are good Christians, then we will be wealthy, healthy and happy. You’d think if that were the case, then that would be the reward of the most faithful follower of God, Jesus Himself. But it wasn’t the case for Jesus, and that shouldn’t be our goal. If we are in church so that God will grant us requests or favors, then we are missing the point. We are here to worship, our lives are about worshipping God with everything we have, all the time. What do you want God to do for you? A couple of disciples had a request of their own…let’s read starting in Mark 10:32. Please stand…

They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him.

“We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they asked, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

“What do you want me to do for you? He asked.

They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

“We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “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 have been prepared.”

When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials 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 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.”

Let’s pray.

We’re getting down to the nitty gritty in Mark. Things have been serious before, but now in Jesus ministry, things are getting down to their essence. The disciples have seen Jesus heal numerous people, they’ve seen Him walk on water, create bread and fish for hungry folks, they’ve seen Him spar verbally with the Pharisees and scribes. Some of them have even seen Jesus transfigured, transformed momentarily into His eternal appearance. But their journey with Jesus is drawing toward a conclusion. Whether they’ve known it or not, Jesus has a larger purpose than entertaining the masses with His teachings and healings. Jesus has an appointment to keep, and He will keep it. But He knows these disciples; they are flighty, they are easily confused, they are weak kneed, rather than of a strong constitution.

The disciples have been following Jesus, having given up their lives. They have followed Jesus and have left their families, their communities and their jobs. They have followed, and want to know on some level that this following will turn out for the good; more specifically, they want to know if it will turn out for their good. Two disciples are going to take matters into their own hands; they are going to ensure that exaltation will come because of their sacrifice. They want the two seats of power, on either side of Jesus when He comes into power in His kingdom. But before we get to their request, Jesus needs to tell the disciples what is going to happen. The weak kneed followers of Christ need to have faith, they need to know that there is a plan that the events of Holy Week fit into. The disciples need to be as prepared as possible for the roller coaster ride that will be the last week of Jesus life. The disciples are going to have their reward redefined for them, and for us. Implicit in all this is the question-are you going to be able to handle all this? I think you can, Jesus says. You need to know there is a plan, all this is my gift, all this is for you. This is what the King of Eternity will do for you.

We’re going to Jerusalem, and bad things are going to happen. I want you to know this, I want you to be prepared. But out of the bad stuff will come something good that I can’t really elaborate on now, because you don’t have a box, a paradigm for this thought to go in that the dead will rise, and death will be vanquished in my name. In my mind I see all this as what Jesus wanted to say, but really couldn’t because the disciples wouldn’t have understood it. Instead, He has to prepare His disciples, let them in, little by little, into the plan of what will happen in Jerusalem. The disciples were astonished, and the others following Jesus were afraid. Appropriately. Jesus is spelling out his death; in contrast to what some of them had hoped would happen. Some of them were looking still for the Romans to be kicked out and for Jesus to take control. Some of them were looking, I suppose, for a reign of righteousness to descend on Israel, and for the Pharisees to be kicked out of the Temple, and they would move in to take their place, with Jesus as their leader. Instead, they are given the worst news. This, for Jesus, was a one way trip. This was a suicide mission, as it were. The end result would be, no question in Jesus’ mind, His own death. It had to be that way, for you and for me and for all of them.

How shocking; this good man who miraculously heals, who does so much good and teaches people how to get closer to God and how to please God with out lives, had to be sacrificed. Jesus knew that it was the best way. It wasn’t best for Jesus to stay and continue to teach and heal. Jesus walk toward Jerusalem and the cross is the evidence of a costly obedience. Jesus is calling on His disciples to lay their lives down, just like He is going to. Our obedience to God isn’t measured by what we say, but rather what we do and who we become in Christ.

But the disciples don’t always hear Jesus in the moment. Sometimes they appear to hear Him backwards in time. They remember He said these things after the events of Jerusalem have happened. In the moment, however, they are focused on different things. They are trying to figure out the seating at the great banquet they have arranged in their minds for when Jesus enters Jerusalem and takes over. This passage is such a juxtaposition; on one hand Jesus is talking about His death, and the disciples are figuring out their power positions within the company.

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they asked, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

“What do you want me to do for you? He asked.

They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

These are the power positions that James and John are asking for. Perhaps they had in mind a banquet, as one commentator said. A huge banquet, where everyone in Jerusalem can see how close they are to Jesus; all the powerful people in Jerusalem see how close these fishermen are to the new power in Israel. That would be something, wouldn’t it. That would show those city folks how great we are! Or it could have been that they were entertaining even more grandiose dreams of sitting on Jesus left and right sides as He reigned in power from the royal palace in Jerusalem. They might have wanted to be the ones Jesus depended on for advice and whatnot. The power positions are right next to the leader, and this is exactly what James and John are asking for.

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

“We can,” they answered.

Jesus cannot give James and John what they ask for. But their boast about being able to endure whatever Jesus endures will come back to them. They will also die for their belief in Christ. They will have discarded their selfishness by the time they are ready to lay down their lives for Christ. They will have been transformed from a couple of glory seekers into men willing, ready and able to stand up for Christ, knowing full well the consequences of their actions. They will have been transformed by the knowledge of Christ; His love, His sacrificial death, His glorious and life changing resurrection from the dead. They are not yet, though, who they will become in Christ. They are self- centered, they are looking for an immediate reward, they are looking out for themselves. They are great examples of the before and after baptism of the Holy Spirit.

When we become Christians we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that prompts our belief in Christ, it is the Spirit that gives us the faith we have, it is the Spirit that prompts us to live for Christ. It was the coming of the Holy Spirit that changes James and John from people asking to sit next to Jesus to people who were sold out enough to die in a dishonorable way for their Lord, in order to advance the good news to people they likely didn’t know. That kind of change takes place in our lives when the Holy Spirit confirms God’s truth of Jesus in our hearts and we begin to live for things that really matter; we begin to look for places to share our faith, we begin to look for different and better ways to spend our money and our time; we seek more opportunities to minister to the people God places in our path. They will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and they will be baptized into a death like Christ’s. All for the glory of God, and the benefit of other people, just like Christ.

Of course the others got jealous. Probably they were mad that they hadn’t thought of it first. I see very little evidence that the disciples were at this point the kind of men whose words and lives would change civilization as we know it. A change had to come over them. They wanted Jesus to ask them as well, “what do you want me to do for you?” They probably had a long list, and were mad that James and John got to Jesus first. They might have even misunderstood and been angry that James and John got the blessings of having the same baptism as Jesus. So once again Jesus has to explain the upside nature of life in Christ, the completely backwards life of the follower of Christ. Different priorities, different commitments, different goals in life. James and John prove that the lure of the adulation of the world still holds a strong appeal for them.

I think the argument could be made that the rest of the disciples weren’t doing well either. Their response of anger and insult makes me think they aren’t any better. Jesus has to put a stop to this before the issue destroys the unity He had tried to cultivate in them. Jesus again has to point out the upside down world where the disciples don’t seek to have the leader ask “what would you have me do” to the place where they want to do whatever it takes to proclaim the kingdom of God.

We see that attitude most of all in Christ Himself. It is He who came to serve many, rather than to be served. He has the most power, knows the most, and yet He does not use those powers to His advantage. Instead, He lays His life down to serve. He goes up to Golgotha, allows Himself to be nailed to the cross, and really dies all to serve them, to serve us. As Jesus’ followers, the same level of commitment is necessary. I hope that I will never experience the pain Jesus went through in order to advance the gospel. I hope you don’t either. But many followers of Christ have been beaten, have been killed, have been abused and discriminated against all within the last 5 months. In this country it is relatively safe to be a Christian. Or is it? Is it safe to be a Christian when its convenient, but when it isn’t, are we done with our commitment to Christ? How far have you come in your Christian maturity? Have you gone from “Jesus I want you to do this thing for me” to “thy will be done in my life, no matter what.” Where are you in that transition? In secular terms, Roosevelt put it like this…”ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.” Now substitute country for God, for Jesus, and we’re on the right track.

What do you want Jesus to do for you? Do you want riches, a secure life? Do you want all this world can give? Are you still ready to stand up and demand that God meet your wants? Or are we ready to lay down our lives in worship, and say to God, your will, and not mine. Your dreams, and not mine. Give me duties rather than my rights, give me Yourself Jesus, more and more, because that is what will really fill me up, more of Jesus and less of me in my life. I want Jesus to help me want more and more of Him, more of Christ in my life. I pray that for you all as well.

Let’s pray.