Gene Liechty (Mark 10)
SUMMARY
In today’s sermon on Mark chapter 10, the preacher highlights key themes of spiritual blindness and the nature of true discipleship through various encounters of Jesus. Jesus teaches about divorce, emphasizing God’s original intent for marriage based on Genesis, countering the Pharisees’ legalistic interpretations. He welcomes children, illustrating humility as essential for receiving the kingdom, and addresses a rich young ruler who struggles to abandon his possessions for eternal life, symbolizing the difficulty of wealth in faith. The sermon culminates with Jesus’ call to servanthood, contrasting worldly notions of greatness with true greatness in God’s eyes, emphasizing that service and humility define true leadership in the kingdom. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, he prepares his disciples for his impending death and resurrection, reinforcing the theme of following Him through suffering before glory.
TRANSCRIPTION
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Our sermon for today comes from Mark chapter 10, all of chapter 10. That’s a lot of verses. And when I preach through the gospel of Mark, I don’t know how many years ago it was now, maybe eight years ago, but I divided Mark chapter 10 into four sermons. And I asked the elders here, the leadership here, if it’d be okay if I do about a two-hour sermon.
We’re here, so anyway, buckle up. We’re going to move through this passage fairly fast. I’m going to read all 52 verses, and then we’re going to jump in, and we’re going to make some application, and God’s name be praised. Here we go. Then he arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan, and multitudes gathered to him again. And as he was accustomed, he taught them again. The Pharisees came and asked him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife, testing him?
Did Moses command you? They said, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her. And Jesus answered and said to them, because of the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.
So then they brought the little children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was greatly displeased and said to them,
Now, as he was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before him, and asked him, So Jesus said to him,
And he answered and said to Jesus, But this man was sad at the word and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, How hard it is, how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, Children, how hard it is for those who have trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
But Jesus looked at them and said, With men it’s impossible, but not with God. For with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say to him, See, we have left all and followed you. So Jesus answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brother or sister or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospels, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and
brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first. Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem and Jesus was going before them and they were amazed. And as they followed, they were afraid. Then he took the 12 aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to him. Behold, we’re going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be betrayed
to the chief priests and the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and scourge him and spit on him and kill him. And the third day he will rise again. Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him saying, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. And Jesus said to them, what do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, grant us that we may sit one on your right and the other on your left in your glory.
But Jesus said to them, you do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I’m baptized with? They said to him, we are able. So Jesus said to them, you will indeed drink the cup that I drink. And with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.
And it is for those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.
Now they came to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples in a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, stood by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Then many warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.
Then they called the blind man, saying to him, be of good cheer, rise, he is calling you. And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, what do you want me to do for you? And the blind man said to him, Rabboni, that I may receive my sight. Then Jesus said to him, go your way, your faith has made you well. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.
Let’s pray together. Father God, as we approach your holy scriptures, deliver us from coldness of heart and wandering of mind that with steadfast thought and kindled affection, we might seek you where you may be found, right here in your holy scriptures, here in Mark 10. It’s in Christ we pray. Amen.
Verse 52, really quickly this morning, but we see that Jesus and his disciples, they’re also on the move. They’ve been up near the Sea of Galilee at Peter and Andrew’s home. This is where they’ve been. This is where they were largely where we left them last in chapter 9. And Jesus now begins, he sets his eyes on Jerusalem. He sets his eyes on his death and he swings toward Jerusalem together with the disciples. Jesus is about to lead a great exodus.
Just like Moses did. He just met, Jesus just met on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah. They led exoduses, but nothing compared to this exodus that Jesus is about to lead out of the bondage of sin and death for all people, for all time. So as Jesus leaves the Sea of Galilee, as he leaves Capernaum, and he heads toward Jerusalem, scripture tells us that he swung east, the Transjordan.
The East side of the Jordan, that’s where we find him today, largely where we find him today. And it’s interesting, as we just talked about Moses, this is the very place where Moses preached his last sermons, the book of Deuteronomy. I don’t know why that’s hard to say this morning. The book of Deuteronomy is largely comprised of three sermons that Moses gave to the people before he went up on Mount Nebo and was taken up into heaven.
So the two men that Jesus just met with on the Mount of Transfiguration, it’s interesting, there are all these little details that really enrich the text, but this is where Jesus is at this point. This is also the place where John the Baptist conducted his ministry, and that becomes significant here in the next verses, especially in light of the fact that there’s a question that the Pharisees bring that will take us right back to John.
So verse 1 tells us that the crowds gathered to him, the multitudes gathered to him. This is the end of Jesus’ three-year earthly ministry. Everybody’s heard of him. If they haven’t seen him, they’ve heard of his teaching. They’ve heard of his miracles. The crowds gather, and Jesus does what he always does when the crowds gather. He takes advantage of the opportunity. He begins to preach. So the crowds gather, and the Pharisees come.
Pharisees come, probably pretty excited that they didn’t have to travel 45 miles north to ask their trick question. Jesus sort of came to them, or at least a lot closer to them, with the question that they pretended to have. They ask, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? And you need, again, to understand that the Pharisees don’t come honestly. They’re not actually seeking an answer here. They’re not seeking understanding.
As I was trying to find a common theme to tie all 52, all four of my sermons together, you know, all 52 verses together, I came up with spiritual blindness. You’ll see the title of the sermon in the bulletin. It’s amazing how all the people that Jesus encounters here in most of these verses are suffering from spiritual blindness. The Pharisees are.
They didn’t come in the way that they expected, right? So the Pharisees are blind. This rich young ruler is blinded by the lust of the earth and the things of this world. He couldn’t see or he couldn’t give up. The disciples themselves, we’re going to see, are blinded in part because they fail over and over again to understand Jesus. They can’t follow him in his teaching. And then the ironic thing in all of this is that Jesus, at the end of these verses,
he’s kind of funny how all this works. The folks with physical eyes to see can’t see a thing. And the blind man knows who Jesus is. He knows who to cry out to for mercy. So anyway, back to the Pharisees, right? They come to Jesus with this question. And you have to remember some things that we’ve already learned if you’ve been following along and if you’ve been part of this congregation for any length of time through the book of Mark.
Remember in chapter 3 that the Pharisees and the Herodians conspired together to figure out how they could kill Jesus. And you could hardly find two groups of people who hated each other more than the Pharisees and the Herodians. The Pharisees were all about the law. And the Herodians could have given a flip about the law. They were pleasure-seeking, irreligious, power-hungry people.
In the case of Jesus, in their blind hatred for them, they were able to come together. Now, why am I bringing this up? Why am I bringing this up here in chapter 10? Well, I’m bringing this up because of the question that the Pharisees ask. Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Back in chapter 6 of the Gospel of Mark, we found some detail in regard to the death of John the Baptist, right?
What had Herod done? Well, he’d put away his own wife, and he’d taken his brother’s wife, right? He took Philip’s wife, Herodias. And John the Baptist said, he called him out on it. He said, it’s not lawful for you to do this thing. This is sinful. You must stop. You must take your wife back. Give Philip his wife back. So John the Baptist did not hold his tongue. And Herodias, right, she hated him for this. So John the Baptist was thrown into prison, but that wasn’t enough for Herodias.
She gets her own daughter to dance a seductive dance. And then Herod asks her, or he grants her any wish she wants, and Herodias whispers in her ear. And before you know it, you have John the Baptist’s head on a platter, right? Well, the Pharisees wanted Jesus’ head on a platter. The Pharisees wanted Jesus’ head on a platter every bit as much as Herodias wanted John the Baptist dished up for them.
Jesus aren’t asking a question because they’re interested in learning. They haven’t come to get educated. They’ve come to trap Him, right? They’ve come to trap Him. So what does Jesus do? Well, Jesus appeals to Scripture, right? He turns to the Word of God. He asks them, what did Moses command you? And they go to Deuteronomy 24, okay? They go to Deuteronomy 24. It says, Moses permitted a man to divorce his wife, to write a certificate of divorce and dismiss her. They appealed to that chapter.
In that book, in the blindness of their hearts, they’re taking the law and they’re twisting it. They’re trying to get it to suit their selfish demands. Their approach to the law was, what does the law allow me to do? What does the law allow me to get away with? There’s a clause in Deuteronomy 24. We’re not going to turn there today. We don’t have time. But there’s a clause in there. There’s an uncleanness clause.
We don’t have time to clean this clause as a loophole to get away with putting away their wife for just about anything. And this preoccupation with loopholes had the effect of causing them to neglect the weightier matters of the law, namely loving God and loving your neighbor. In just a little while, the scribes are going to come to Jesus in Mark chapter 12. In a couple weeks, you’ll be reading this, but they’ll say, what is the greatest commandment? And Jesus says right there,
Hear, O Israel, the Lord God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and your strength, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But these men before Jesus were primarily concerned with their rights and not their responsibilities. They were more concerned with what they could do than with what they ought to be doing. So Jesus’ question reveals the sinfulness of their hearts.
It reveals their blindness. And Jesus says, yes, I’m familiar with that passage. I’m familiar with Deuteronomy 24. He says, let me take you back just a little bit further. He says, because of the hardness of your hearts, this prescript was written. But Jesus takes them back in Scripture. He says, let’s go all the way back to Genesis. Let’s go back to that first book of the Pentateuch. Let’s go back to Genesis chapter 2. And he says in verse 6,
And what Jesus is doing here is he’s giving us a pattern for all relationships, for all human relationships. This is to be the pattern for men and women. And if we’re following this, and it’s not hard to follow because this is pretty plain speak here,
this excludes a lot of what society wants to allow for today. This pattern that God gives excludes homosexuality, right? It’s not Adam and Steve. It’s not Adam and John. It’s not Adam and Paul. It’s not Susie and Sally. It’s Adam and Eve, right? This excludes polygamy. It’s not Adam and Sarah and Jane and Joan. It’s Adam and Eve. It excludes bestiality.
So we can see here that Jesus is arguing the pattern that God set forth that pleases him one man, one woman, one time. That’s it. That’s what he desires. That’s what he wants for his people.
Jesus has been talking with the Pharisees. He’s answering their trick question. But the disciples have been listening, and they have questions of their own. So when the Pharisees depart, the disciples come to Jesus, and they say, can you just hit that one more time? Can you go over that one more time? Because we’re not sure we’re following you correctly, which is an indication that the disciples and probably all of the Jews at that particular time
the Pharisees for so long that they thought there was nothing wrong with marriage and easy divorce. But again, the issue is God’s word, his pattern, his approval, his desire for men and women. Again, really the issue is the two greatest commandments, loving God and loving your neighbor, loving God and loving your nearest neighbor,
and this is one of the big things Mark is trying to show us here. I mean, look at the next section of scripture as we make our way through Mark chapter 10. Children, what about them? Loving them, loving children, receiving children. And so the question becomes, are you loving your neighbor? Verse 13, then they brought little children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. And this is amazing.
Actually, because of what just occurred in chapter nine. Do you remember back in chapter nine? I guess Tyler Hatcher would have preached this last week, but they’re sitting in the home of Peter and Andrew. And Jesus even uses a visual aid. He brings a child into the center. I don’t know if he sat him on his lap, but he brings a child into the center and he talks about how we ought to be receiving children. And he contrasted the way Satan receives or abuses and destroys children.
Versus how his followers should receive them. And here we have the disciples, once again, not having really ascertained or understood or been able to comprehend fully what Jesus was talking about just a few days ago. Because here we see them acting like bad-tempered bouncers, right? They rebuke the parents and they block access to the children. And Jesus says no. He says no.
And Jesus here makes a very direct application for them and for us. He says you should be like them. Jesus says assuredly I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. He says let them come unto me. But don’t just let them come unto me. I want you to watch them.
You too must become little. In a very real sense you too must become little. You too must humble yourselves. Which is ironic considering the engagement that Jesus is going to have in just a couple of verses with James and John. Right? And their request. It’s crazy how all these things are tied together. But next comes this rich young ruler. Another blind man. As Jesus continues his journey in verse 17.
He encounters this young man. And unlike the Pharisees, this guy really does come honestly. All right? He comes honestly with his question. And he asks, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What must I do? This man wants to know what must be done. He thinks it’s all about doing. This young man thinks, this rich young ruler thinks it’s all about striving. He thinks this is what makes a man good. Right?
And he addresses Jesus as good. And I’m certain he thinks of himself as good as well. And Jesus says, no one is good but God. And no one can make you good but God. Right? We know it’s for grace you’ve been saved. And this is not of yourselves. It’s the gift of God that no man can boast. We know that. This is the word that God tells us over and over again. And this is what Jesus is telling this rich young ruler. This is what he’s showing this young man is that it’s all God’s grace.
Rich young man asks, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus brings the word of God to bear. Do you see that there? He brings the commandments to bear. God determines what is good. He defines it. You know, we don’t like to do that because it’s painful. What we like to do is we like to compare ourselves to others as if God greeted on a curve, right?
We want to compare ourselves with our coworkers. We like to compare ourselves with the other women in the congregation or our neighbors. We want to grade on a curve. And compared to some of the folks that I’ve surrounded myself with, I am a pretty righteous man, right? I work harder. I work harder. I’m more diligent, right? I spend more time with my kids than that other guy down the street.
I pay my taxes. I don’t cheat on my taxes. I never stole a thing. I covet once in a while, but hey, who hasn’t? So I think I’m pretty good there. You know, you’re always, always, always going to be able to find someone who’s doing worse than you are before the throne of God. As long as you’re grading on the curve, you’ll always be able to find someone doing more poorly than you are.
He points him to the standard, God’s standard, his word, his opinion, his desire for nothing else matters. Anyway, Jesus listens to this young man. He presents the second table of the law to this young guy and he says, yes, yes, yes. All these things I have kept, all these things I have kept,
remember this guy comes asking Jesus what he must do. So Jesus gives him something to do, right? He gives him something to do in verse 21. Jesus says, all right, let’s just assume you have been keeping the law, right? Not grading on a curve. You’ve just been keeping the law straight up, right? I’m going to give you this one thing to do. One thing you lack, go and sell all you possess and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. So Jesus gives this young man an assignment
and asks for something to do. And the fact that he can’t keep the assignment reveals that he hasn’t been keeping the rest of the law either. I hope you can see the irony here, right? He asks for something to do. Jesus gives him something to do and he goes away sad, right? He goes away sorrowful for he had much. Now we don’t really know what happened to this guy. We don’t know whether eventually he was saved or not.
We don’t know if the law did its work, sort of driving him to his knees so he’d look to Christ as Savior and Lord and to his Father God. We don’t know about any of that. But we do know it’s possible, and a lot of commentators mention this. It’s possible that the rich young ruler, the man in this story that we’re introduced to in verse 17, is actually Mark, is actually the gospel writer Mark.
We know that Mark came to Jesus at an early age, and we know that he was a man of means. So if it was the gospel writer, then we know that he was saved. Anyway, this young man, he leaves, he goes away, and Jesus is left standing there with the disciples, and he says how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. And he even uses a little hyperbole here. He takes the biggest creature in Palestine at the time, right, a camel, a dromedary,
about the smallest thing you could find, the eye of a needle. And he impresses upon them the fact that it’d be easier for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle. And the disciples, it’s interesting, are just slack-jawed at this. Never heard anything like this before. It tells us they were astonished at his words. They couldn’t believe them. They couldn’t understand because they equated prosperity with blessing.
Didn’t everybody? I mean, wasn’t this biblical? What does it say in Deuteronomy 28? What does it say in Psalm 128? What does it say in Proverbs 10? The blessing of the Lord makes one rich. He adds no sorrow with it. So what are you saying, Jesus? This is the second time in this chapter where the disciples have to sort of pull Jesus aside after he’s with the Pharisees,
Jesus’ teaching because it’s so contrary to what they know and what they think they understand, right? And we need to be careful here because we too need to bring all of God’s word, all of Jesus’ words to bear when it comes to any given subject, right? In regard to this one, Jesus says in Matthew 6, right? No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon, right? It says that there in chapter 6.
You can’t have both God and mammon. It says you can’t serve both God and mammon. God requires us to have money, right? I’m a provider. My wife is sitting right over there, four kids through college and everything else. If I’m not a provider, then I’m worse than an unbeliever. If I’m not a good provider, I’ve denied the faith. So there’s nothing wrong with having. It’s required in Scripture. The question becomes who you’re serving.
He requires you to have money, he requires you to work hard, and he requires you to steward things well. Jesus doesn’t say you can’t have money in God. He says you cannot serve money in God. You see, both speak, right? Both have a language. God has his word and his commands, and money speaks too. Money says, well, that’s not financially prudent. Money might tell you that’s not fiscally wise.
God’s word says, what he’s voicing, and what money says, and what money’s voicing, they’re in contrast with one another. They’re in conflict with one another. So the question becomes, whose voice are you listening to? Actually, that’s the question. Now, back to the text. Peter, with some self-awareness, says, hey, we’ve left all. I and the boys, we’ve left everything. Our families are far from here. Our wives and our children are far from here.
We left our vocation. You remember James and John, they dropped their nets, they hugged their father goodbye, and they went off and followed Jesus. And this is the story for most of them. So they say, we left all. He points this out. And Jesus says, yeah. He says, yes, you have. And he goes on to praise him. And the disciples, you will receive a hundredfold what you have left for my sake, along with persecution. That’s interesting that that’s thrown in here. You see that in verse 30.
Speaking of persecution, Jesus then goes on to remind the disciples of exactly what’s going to happen to him in the coming days as they get closer to Jerusalem and eventually enter the city itself. And if you’ve been paying attention in the Gospel of Mark, you’re going to know that this is the third time that Jesus brings up this subject. And for Peter, James, and John,
it’s actually the fourth time that Jesus mentions this because he mentioned it to them when they were coming down from the Mount of Transfiguration. And Jesus’ words here are greeted with silence. Isn’t that interesting? Because Jesus talks to them after the Pharisees have this fake question about divorce. They have questions about divorce. They hear about this rich young ruler, and Jesus gives this statement, this hyperbole about camels,
going through the eye of a needle, and they have questions there. But Jesus mentions this, the plan of salvation, for the third time, and it’s greeted by silence, right? Why is it greeted by silence? Well, the disciples are afraid, because this plan of salvation doesn’t match their idea of Messiah and how he’s going to conquer. There was a blindness, again, a spiritual blindness that actually was affecting them so that they could not
see God’s plan of salvation. Ironically, Christ’s enemies understood and took more literally what Jesus was saying than what they were. And we know this because the chief priests and the scribes, his enemies, determined that it would be a very good idea to have a guard by the tomb because they anticipated that Jesus might arise from the dead. Anyway, no sooner does Jesus finish outlining the plan of salvation for the world, his path to death, resurrection,
ascension, and glory, no sooner does he do this than he’s approached by James and John with a question. They come sidling up to Jesus with a request in verse 35. They say, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. Have you ever had your kids come up to you and ask the same question? Promise you’ll say yes. Mommy, promise dad, daddy, promise you’ll say yes. And how do we respond?
What’s your question? What do you want? How does Jesus respond here? What do you want, right? And they say, grant that we may sit one on your right and the other on your left in your glory. And this question reveals just how little they’ve understood about what Jesus has been saying. How absolutely little they grasp. Not just here, but over the last several days, Jesus has been talking to them about
serving, about giving yourself away, about pouring yourself out. He’s been talking to them about humility and they haven’t been listening. As a matter of fact, it’s just, it’s crazy because back in chapter nine, remember when they’re on the road to Capernaum, right? They’re on the road up there to Peter and Andrew’s house. When they’re on the road, they’re having this argument, this discussion about who’s the greatest. Remember? I think you probably touched on this last week in the service.
And Jesus asks them what they’re complaining and grumbling about back there because there’s a bit of a ruckus in the ranks. And that’s greeted by silence because they’re embarrassed. They’re embarrassed to tell their savior, they’re embarrassed to tell their leader what it is that they’ve been arguing about because they know better. They’re embarrassed, but apparently not embarrassed enough, right? They’re still talking about this, obviously. They’re still rumbling about rank and status.
And they think, I know that they think that all of this is going to happen when they arrive in Jerusalem. And again, this is so crazy that they would think this after Jesus has been saying plainly what awaits him when they get to Jerusalem, you know? But they’ve been part of this wildly successful ministry, right? Countless exorcism. How many demons have been cast out by now?
In this three-year ministry. How many miracles? How many healings? They’d seen Jesus create ex nihilo, right? Out of midair, fish and bread. He fed 4,000. He fed 5,000. They’ve seen him walk on water. They’ve seen him calm the sea. They’ve seen all these things. And using carnal reasoning, what would a man do who could do anything when he got to Jerusalem? After a very successful three-year ministry.
What’s he going to do? Well, he’s going to assume the throne, right? He’s going to take a palace. He’s going to start wielding his power. It’s time for awards and victory speeches and whatnot. We’re going to go from strength to strength. And James and John want to be positioned just so. One on the right and one on the left of Jesus. Because surely God’s going to lift him up there, right? Surely he’ll be exalted now. And they’re right. You know, they’re right.
Jesus will be, he will be lifted up. And if those disciples had stuck with him, if they’d been true disciples, if they’d remained faithful, if they’d been there with him when he was on trial, if they’d been there with him when he was being scourged, if they would have plainly stated to the crowds that were gathered that, hey, we’re with that guy, then they might have been lifted up. James on one side and John on the other. But this honor went to,
two insurgents on that hill called Golgotha. So Jesus looks at these two and he responds with such grace. You’ve got to see that there. He looks at them and he says, you boys have no idea what you’re asking for, right? Are you able to drink from the cup I drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism? I’m about to be baptized, full submersion, right?
Incredible pain and sorrow. Well, the other disciples get wind of this request from James and John. And as you can imagine, they’re none too happy. They’re ticked, displeased, indignant. They were furious. And it’s funny, I don’t think they were furious about the sin. They weren’t disappointed for James and John that they would have faltered at this point.
And in spite of these two men, I think the other ten disciples were sorry that they hadn’t thought of this first, that they hadn’t come to Jesus just a little bit earlier. You know, here are the disciples. Everyone’s willing to bear a grudge, but no one’s willing to bear a cross. That’s what you’ve got here. And Jesus has been with these men for three years, and still, everybody willing to bear a grudge, and no one willing to bear a cross.
And this bickering provides Jesus with just one more opportunity to provide instruction on the nature of true discipleship and his role as Messiah. And this is what we have in verses 42 to 45, and this is sort of where we’re going to camp out. Jesus tries to channel their desire to be great into humble service. Jesus says, you want to be first? You want to be great?
You want to be first or great? Then serve. Jesus has already said that it’s the salt of humility that makes all the difference in the world, in everything that we do, in everything that we offer up, in everything we sacrifice, in every endeavor. It’s the salt of humility, right? He says this in chapter 9, have salt in yourselves and have peace with one another. But we struggle with this. We struggle with this so much,
because we’re proud, arrogant, absorbed, self-absorbed, grasping people. Humility is so hard to find today. Apparently, not much has changed in 2,000 years, except this, except this. We’ve managed to turn self-centeredness into a virtue. The very thing that Jesus has been preaching against here,
has been trying to beat back, we’ve turned into a virtue. And the church has quite honestly led the way in this. Evangelical churches across America have been toting cycle babble as long and as loud as everybody else. You know, before you can truly love others, before you can serve well, you’ve got to figure out how to love yourself. You need to take care of yourself. You need to be careful. You can pour yourself out, but don’t pour yourself out all the way.
There’s no way that your strength is going to be renewed in the morning. Never mind what scripture says. Just take a measured approach to all this and make sure you have a good attitude about you and yourself and things. We’ve inverted God’s law and his requirements. He says, love me and love your neighbor and use self-love as the measuring stick, right? Love others as you love yourself, right?
Self-worth first. And of course, for many people, this takes a lifetime, right? So they never get around to actually pouring themselves out. They never get around to actually loving others and giving themselves in a way. We live in a culture where the biggest book selection on Amazon is the self-help section, right? You go into a bookstore today, the biggest section in there is going to be on self-help. And Christians don’t think a thing of it.
It’s a tricky thing. We have to be careful because we trick ourselves into believing that we’re not proud. And we deceive ourselves. We take pride in the fact that we’re not proud. Humility hates pride. But you know what? Pride hates pride too. The proud don’t like those who are prideful. And you know why? They can’t stand the competition. J.C. Ryle has commented that the world is filled with Jameses and Johns.
Go-getters, status seekers, hungry for honor and prestige, measuring life by achievements and dreaming of success. But Jesus’ life and teaching turns the worldly understanding of greatness and success on its head. The greatest work ever done was accomplished by one who gave his life for others.
It means to have a servant as a Lord. How can we shamelessly seek after honor and glory when our own Lord gave himself for us in such a shameful way? It also forces us to reflect on our own definitions of greatness and think about how we pursue it, right?
Clearly, the world’s notions of rank and honor and privilege are out of step in a church that names Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus says in verses 43 and 44, he says, you want to be great? Do you truly want to be great? He says, then become a servant. You want to be first in the kingdom?
You want to be first in the kingdom? Then get to the back of the line, right? Then become a slave of all. For even I, even I didn’t come to be served, but to serve. And you know how you know if you get it? You know how you know if you get this teaching, if you get Christ’s teaching here? If you really understand how to become first in the kingdom and how to become,
great in God’s eyes. You know how you know? Well, you know it by looking at how you respond when given menial tasks to perform that the world would judge beneath you, beneath your dignity. God promises tremendous blessing to his people here, blessing and joy here on this earth. He gives the saints mountaintop experiences, but he doesn’t give his saints mountaintop experiences in this world
without having them walk through valleys. There’s always a valley. There are always both. There’s always something that God preserves us through. And then the mountaintop. This is God’s way. First the cross and then resurrection. But we want the glory first. We don’t want trial. We don’t want struggle. We don’t want to be humbled. We don’t want affliction. We don’t want any pain and suffering. We don’t want to be refined. But Jesus says no. He says no.
Let’s pray.
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