By: Dale Weckbacher
Mark 10:42-43
And Jesus called them
to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of
the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority
over them. 43 But it shall not be so among
you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant
(ESV)
God created humanity with a need for intimacy with God. In the Garden of Eden, both Adam and Eve had a
face-to-face relationship with God and could regularly walk with Him in the
Garden because there was no sin in their lives (Genesis
3:8). Sin, however, caused Adam to
want to hide from God for he realized he was naked and that his sin was known
by God (Genesis
3:10). Not only did Adam and Eve try
to hide from God, something that is impossible even today, but they also sewed
fig leaves to cover their sin. However, people
cannot hide from God or cover up their sins to hide them from God for it is
only the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God that can cover sin symbolized by the garments
of the skin and the need for the death of Christ and shedding of His blood to atone
for sin (Genesis
3:21).
In Mark
10:32-24, Jesus once again foretells his death. This time, however, as they are going to Jerusalem
for Passover Jesus tells them that this time in Jerusalem, He will be delivered
to the chief priests and scribes, condemned to death, and turned over to the
Romans to carry out the execution (Mark
10:32-34). However, Jesus also tells
the disciples that he will rise after three days as a demonstration of His
conquering death.
The request of James and John gives an indication that the
Disciples missed the death part and only heard the part about the resurrection,
interpreting Jesus' victory over death as when He would establish His earthly
rule in Jerusalem. James, Jesus’ half-brother
(Matthew
13:55) and John, the disciple Jesus loved (John
13:23) may have thought this entitled them to special prominence in the new
kingdom (Mark
10:35-37). Jesus then takes the
opportunity to describe a new type of leadership that differs from the
authoritarian leadership James and John had lived under all their lives.
Jesus knew that he would not immediately march into
Jerusalem and take over but that His death and resurrection would usher in the
church age when the Gentiles would have an opportunity to become part of the
family of God. Jesus also knew these men
would suffer for their faith and why He asked James and John if they could
drink the cup of wrath he was about to drink and suffer the baptism of
suffering he was about to endure, to which they responded they could, perhaps
believing Jesus was testing them to determine if they could rule with Him (Mark
10:38-39). Once again, they failed
to understand the suffering component and the commitment to service when serving
Christ.
Jesus then outlines leadership as a servant, something He
would demonstrate by going to the cross as a sinless man for the sins of all
humanity (Romans
5:8). This leadership model of
leading as a servant was the total opposite of what the Disciples would have
seen around them from their Roman oppressors (Mark
10:42). It is this leadership model
that made it possible for the Disciples to spread the Gospel and make disciples
as people saw leadership from a heart of love and not the force of
authority. So prominent has this
leadership model become in the world that it is even beginning to receive
acceptance in the secular world as a model of leadership eliciting greater acceptance
and dedication from followers.
For believers in Christ, this means we are not to present a
Gospel of moralistic superiority but instead present a Gospel of God’s
love. The Gospel message is not one of
following a moral code to make one right with God but instead accepting that
God has done everything necessary through Christ to make us acceptable to God (Ephesians
2:8-9; John 3:16). May we not
present the Gospel from a position of moral superiority as James and John may
have envisioned, but instead present the Gospel as God coming to us, serving us
by dying for our sins, and rising from the dead in victory over death.
The world needs revival which can only occur as people come
to know Jesus as their savior. If you
have not accepted Jesus as your savior, I invite you to do so now by praying
with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
I now encourage those who prayed to become servants of
Christ by getting to know Jesus through the study of the Bible and being with
other believers in Jesus at a local church or Bible study. I also encourage you to share what has just
happened in your life and if necessary, refer them to this blog. May God bless all reading this posting.
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