Understanding the King's Work

Colonel Gaddafi ruled Libya for 41 years.

Initially, he was a revolutionary with a vision for Libya's prosperity.

He wanted to see Libya really prosper, particularly in the Middle East and Africa.

Eventually, though, he ended up ruling as a despot

who would torture and murder anyone who threatened his rule.

Many of his countrymen he did too.

Later in his rule, he declared himself to be the king of kings of Africa.

He's the king of kings of Africa.

He ended up going mad with grandiose visions of himself

before being murdered by his own people in 2011.

At the time of his death, he had amassed a personal wealth of approximately $200 billion.

That was three times richer than the official richest person in the world at the time.

And at the same time that he amassed a $200 billion personal fortune,

his country starved under the weight of UN sanctions.

Every culture, every culture, no matter where you go to,

sees that the way to influence society is through power.

You wield power to conform society to your vision of your life together in that society.

And then along comes Jesus, the king to end all kings, as we've seen in Mark's gospel.

He is the king of kings, not just of Africa, but in fact of the universe.

And he gives us a clear vision here in this text,

especially of the character of Christian discipleship

and of Christian leadership in this passage.

And it's not about grasping for power in order to assert influence.

It's actually about giving up power in order to gain influence.

And so if we misunderstand Jesus and his mission,

we will totally misunderstand of what it means to follow him and what he requires of us.

Jesus has left us in no doubt so far in the second half of Mark's gospel

that he came to die.

He made many allusions to it at the beginning of Mark's gospel,

but in the second half, he's made it really clear.

He made sure the disciples knew it.

We've seen that he told them three times,

chapter 8, chapter 9, and again here in chapter 10, verse 32.

So if you've got your Bibles, it'd be great if you could follow along

because there's a few details I'm going to hone into in a moment.

But first of all, chapter 10, verse 32 to 34,

they were on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way.

So the first thing we're told here is that Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem

and he's the one who's taking the lead.

He's the one leading his disciples in that direction.

He set his face to Jerusalem.

And then it says,

Again, he took the 12 aside and told them what was going to happen.

Verse 33,

So this is the third prediction of his death.

But in this prediction, he gives us more details about his death.

For a start, we know now for the first time that his death will happen in Jerusalem.

And for the first time, we are told that both the Jews and the Gentiles will reject him.

In chapter 8, we are told only that the Jewish religious leaders.

Chapter 9, we have got this general reference that he will be handed over

or be delivered into the hands of men.

That's a vague reference to the Gentiles.

In chapter 8, he said that he would be rejected by the priests and the scribes.

But now he mentions that he will in fact be condemned to death.

That is, it's a legal term.

Jesus will be, his death will involve him being tried, convicted and executed

within the bounds of the criminal justice system.

And he'll be tried by the Jewish leaders,

but he'll be handed over to the Gentiles for execution.

So they're conspiring together.

The arch enemies, the people who hate each other are conspiring together

to get rid of Jesus.

We also have here more graphic detail, description of his final days.

They will condemn him to death.

They will hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him

and spit on him and flog him and kill him.

Now, I haven't got time to unpack each one of those things

as to the significance of being played out in each one of those things.

But what really stands out in chapter 10 is for the very first time,

Jesus tells us not just that he will die,

but why he will die.

Verse 45.

And this verse is the key verse in all of Mark's gospel.

Now, that statement, when Jesus says that,

it sets Jesus apart from every other religious leader in the world.

You see, their purpose, the religious leader's purpose in this world,

or philosophical leaders, is to live and to be an example.

Jesus is to die, to be an example, but to die as a substitute.

Now, verse 45.

Let's just hone in on this for a bit.

It's a key verse for Mark's gospel, and it's rich with implications.

So let's take a really close look at it.

A few words here, which are really key.

He uses the word come.

And he uses this word come to allude to the fact that he existed before he was born.

He came into his world.

And this points us back to the early part of Mark's gospel,

where Jesus established his identity as the king of kings who ruled the universe,

who created the universe and exists outside of the universe.

And this is also assumed in his statement that he did not come to be served.

That is, he had every right, every right to be served when he came,

simply because of who he is.

But he did not exercise that right.

And the final phrase, to give his life as a ransom for many,

sums up the reason why he came to die.

Jesus came to be a substitute sacrifice.

And it's there in that little word for.

The little word for.

To give his life as a ransom for many.

And that little word for in the original text means instead of, in place of, as a substitute.

And the word ransom describes the purpose of his death.

In English, it's a word that's rarely used nowadays outside of a kidnapping case.

The word, as Jesus uses it here, means to buy the freedom of a slave or a prisoner.

And the ransom in Jesus' time would be a huge sacrificial payment that matched the value

or the debt of a slave or a prisoner in order to secure their freedom.

And Jesus came to pay that kind of ransom.

The slavery to sin is a cosmic slavery, a cosmic evil.

And so it requires a cosmic payment.

And Jesus says here in verse 45,

I've come to pay that cosmic payment that we could not possibly pay.

And in doing so, he will buy our freedom.

And the price was his death on the cross.

It's a rich verse.

Verse 45.

And there are three things that flow out of that.

Many more than three things.

But at least three things here that I want to look at in this text.

That his sacrifice was a willing sacrifice.

Secondly, it was a humble sacrifice.

And thirdly, it motivates a life of grateful sacrifice on our body.

So first of all, a willing sacrifice.

This issue of Jesus' sacrifice for our sin is one of those difficult concepts

that our modern mind struggles to come to terms with.

And in fact, it's one of the reasons why people have rejected Christian faith.

The concept of a substitutionary atonement, a penal substitutionary atonement

on behalf of the Lord Jesus.

You see, on the surface of it, the cross of Jesus appears to be one of those,

another one of those ancient primitive stories of bloodthirsty gods

worshipped by ancient primitive bloodthirsty societies.

That's what it just appears to be one of those cases.

So is that what's happening here?

Is the cross of Christ another one of those,

a savage culture that's ruled by a cranky God

demanding another blood sacrifice for his appeasement?

Is that what's happening here?

That is, why is there a need for Jesus to die?

If God is loving, I don't know if you've heard this before,

if God is so loving, why doesn't he just say,

I forgive everyone?

If he's sovereign and he's loving,

why doesn't he just say, I forgive everyone?

And the answer is simple and yet profound.

The answer is simple.

Jesus didn't have to die despite God's love.

He had to die because of God's love.

He had to die because all life-changing love

is substitutionary sacrifice.

I'll say it again.

All life-changing love is substitutionary sacrifice.

Now, loving someone who has it all together,

if you ever meet such a person,

there's probably four or five of them in the world,

loving someone who has everything together is so easy.

And all the boyfriends lean across to their girlfriends,

you're so easy.

Romantic moment there.

Loving someone, on the other hand, who's messed up,

who has needs, who's in trouble,

who's emotionally damaged,

like all of you and me,

is going to cost you.

It costs you.

You can't love someone like that without it costing you.

And the more messed up someone's life is,

the more it costs you in order to love them.

That is, what happens in that moment,

for you to genuinely love that person,

a transfer has to take place.

Some of their burden has to fall on you.

That's why so many people avoid those kinds of people.

They see someone who's desperately needy,

and they look at their watch and go,

I just don't have time for that.

I just don't have time for that.

And we try to find a graceful exit.

It can be exhausting being a friend

to an emotionally damaged person.

And the only way that they are ever going to be emotionally filled up

is if someone loves them.

And the only way to love them

so that they're filled up

is to allow yourself to be drained.

It's the only way it'll happen.

It's the only way that you will truly love a poor person

is by becoming somewhat poorer yourself.

It's the only way.

A transfer has to take place.

The only way to truly love

is through substitutionary sacrifice.

Another example of this is parenting.

When you have children,

they are dependent on you.

They are so needy,

and they don't grow out of their dependency

on their own.

They don't just kind of like,

well, sit back and see what happens.

It just doesn't happen.

And the only way that children will grow

beyond their dependency

into self-sufficient adults

is for parents

to essentially abandon

their own independence

for 20, 30, 40, 50 years.

That's the only way it happens.

For a child to go from dependency to independency,

a parent has to go from independency to dependency.

The transfer has to take place.

You've got to lose some of your independence.

See, when children are young,

you have to read to them

and read to them

and read to them.

Otherwise, they won't develop intellectually.

And for most cases,

for most parents,

the books that you read to them

are boring,

tedious.

It's like, come on.

Get on with the plot here.

And you also have to listen to them

and listen to them

and listen to them

as they say all kinds of things

that make no sense whatsoever.

Then there's the dressing

and the feeding

and the bathing,

the teaching them to do things

for themselves.

And add to that,

children need at least five affirmations

to every criticism you bring to them.

Unless a parent sacrifices

much of their freedom

and a good bit of their time,

their children will not grow up healthy

and equipped to function.

Either parents have to make the sacrifice

or in the end,

the child has to make the sacrifice.

Either parents suffer in a temporary way

and in a redemptive way

or the children suffer tragically

in a wasteful

and a destructive life.

Either way,

either way,

someone has to give.

Someone has to surrender.

Someone has to sacrifice.

All genuine life-changing love

is substitutionary sacrifice.

And anybody who has ever done anything

that made a difference to us personally,

whether it be a parent,

a teacher,

a mentor,

a friend,

a spouse,

they have sacrificed in some way

to love us in that way.

They stepped in

and accept some of the hardship

so that we would not get hit with it ourselves.

And so why would God,

who is more loving

than we could ever be

or imagine to be,

why would he expect him

to be any different?

Why would we just expect God,

just,

don't worry about it.

It makes no sense

that this God,

a God who comes into this world

to deal with the ultimate evil,

the ultimate sin,

it makes no sense

that he would not make

a substitutionary sacrifice

in order to love us.

Even as flawed as we are,

we know that you cannot

just turn a blind eye to evil.

We know that.

Deep down,

we know justice is right.

We call for it all the time.

Evil cannot be dealt with,

it cannot be removed,

and it cannot be forgiven

just by simply saying,

ah, forget about it.

It must be paid for,

and dealing with it is costly.

The debt must be removed.

But the God of the Bible

is so loving

that he was willing to die

in order to do it himself.

This God is radically different

to all the ancient,

primitive,

mystical gods of old.

The ancients understood

the idea of the wrath of God,

and they understood

the idea of the justice of God.

They understood the idea

of debt and necessary punishment,

but they had no concept at all,

no idea,

that this God

would come and pay for it himself.

The cross is the self-substitution of God.

Love that really changes things

and redeems things

is always a substitutionary sacrifice.

C.S. Lewis,

in his classic book,

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,

puts it like this,

referring to ultimately

the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross.

He says,

when a willing victim

who had committed no treachery

was killed in the traitor's stead,

the table would crack

and death itself

would start working backwards.

A willing victim.

The Lord Jesus

willingly went to the cross.

Willingly sacrificed.

But we also see here

that it's a humble sacrifice.

Jesus told his disciples

three times now

the reason why he had come

and the reason was

to suffer and die.

And Jesus' heart

is on full display

in Mark's gospel,

what his passion is,

what his heart is.

And so too,

the hearts of James and John

in the very next verse,

in verses 35 and 36.

It says,

then James and John,

the sons of Zebedee,

came to him,

teacher,

they said,

we want you to do

whatever we ask.

It's a great way

to start a conversation.

Try it

after church.

I want you to do for me

whatever I ask of you.

Make that the first thing

that comes out of your mouth

and see how it goes.

Now add to this,

remember,

these guys

are speaking to the one

who they've just,

Peter's just declared

to be the son of God,

the Christ.

He's demonstrated

that he's the God

of the universe.

And so this is

in effect a prayer.

And so imagine

starting your prayers

with,

dear God,

I want you to do for me

whatever I ask.

I just don't think

it's a great way.

You know,

you start a conversation

like that with me

and I will say,

whoa,

hang on a bit.

Let's go back

and rethink.

Go away

and rephrase

that sentence.

And yet,

what does Jesus

do here?

Verse 36.

What do you want me

to do for you?

Then,

here comes the reply

in verse 37.

Let one of us

sit at your right

and the other

at your left

in your glory.

One at your right

and one at your left

in your glory.

You see,

what they're looking

forward to here

is Jesus

on the way

to Jerusalem.

He's going to beat up

the Romans,

kick everyone out.

He's going to reign supreme

enthroned in Jerusalem

and can one of us

be the prime minister

and the other one

chief of staff?

You know,

when the spotlight's

on you,

Jesus,

is it okay

if we just kind of

bask in the glory

in that moment?

Sort of like,

you know,

photo bombing

someone who's on TV

kind of thing

just so that you can

wave to mum

or something.

It's that

we get a bit of glory

in that moment too.

And the irony

of their request

is that Jesus'

moment of greatest

glory,

the moment

he most

shows forth

the glory

of God's justice,

where he most

profoundly reveals

the glory

of God's love,

is in fact

on the cross

just outside

of Jerusalem.

In that moment

when he is

crucified,

there will be

someone on his

left and there

will be someone

on his right,

but they are both

criminals.

Jesus is saying

to these two,

you don't know

what you're asking

for.

So let's keep

reading.

Verse 38,

you don't know

what you're asking,

Jesus.

Can you drink

the cup I drink

or be baptized

with the baptism

I'm baptized with?

We can,

they answered.

Jesus said to them,

oh, 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've been prepared.

And when the ten

heard about this,

they became indignant

with James and John.

Now when Jesus

refers to the cup here,

he's talking about,

he's using a metaphor

from the Old Testament

that pointed to

the just judgment

of God

against evil.

And what Jesus

is saying here

is when he talks

about drinking

this cup,

he's saying,

I am paying

the ransom.

I'm going to drink

the cup.

I'm going to bridge

that gap.

I will take

the just punishment

of all human evil

upon myself.

I will take

the overwhelming

experience

of being condemned

so that you

are free

from all condemnations.

and yet

these disciples

don't get it

at all.

They just simply

just do not

get it.

I can't tell you

the number of times

I've read this text

and I'm going,

what is wrong

with these disciples?

And yet

I've discovered

how unwise

it is

to ask that question.

how unwise

it is

to just simply

think,

what's wrong

with these guys?

What's wrong

with them?

Why can't they see?

It's better

for us

to ask,

what am I

not getting

about the cross

of Christ

right now?

What am I

not getting

about its

implications

for my life

right now?

What am I

missing

about the

magnitude

of the cross?

You see,

when we see

how James

and John

respond

and we

realize

how hard

it is

for anyone

to take

the magnitude

of the cross

and what it

really means

and to understand

it,

then I think

we are

starting to

take steps

towards the

gift of

humility.

Despite

their association

with Jesus

and despite

their piety,

these disciples

saw greatness.

They saw

greatness

according to

the world's

definition.

They saw

Jesus as the

fast track

to power

and glory.

See,

James and

John had

fallen to

the world's

idea that

seeking the

place of

authority and

personal power

was right

for them.

They got a

glimpse of

glory,

they got a

glimpse of

power,

a glimpse

of influence,

and they

wanted it.

They wanted

the glory,

they wanted

the adulation,

they wanted

the power

and their

hearts are

on full

display here.

As the

Puritans

used to

say,

what we

dream about,

what we

hope for,

is the

true picture

of what

our hearts

are like.

So where

does your

mind go

in a moment

of quietness?

What is it

that you

dream for?

Now the

other

disciples,

I'm not

picking on

James and

John,

the other

disciples

became

indignant

with them.

And it's

not because

they understood

what Jesus

was on about,

but they

were upset

with James

and John

for getting

there first.

It's like

they asked

for left and

right,

it's like

what's left

for us,

third and

fourth and

fifth.

And so

what Jesus

does here

is he takes

the opportunity

to teach

them a

lesson on

substitutionary

sacrifice,

about their

life of

substitutionary

sacrifice.

Take a look

at verse 42

with me.

Jesus called

them together

and said,

you know

that those

who are

regarded as

rulers and

of the Gentiles

lord it over

them and the

high priest

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 a 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.

So Jesus

is talking

here about

the difference

between the

way his

disciples

influence

society and

the way that

every other

culture and

society thinks

you influence

society.

And he

says,

you're being

sucked into

your society's

view of it,

your culture's

view it,

and he

says,

I'm not

so with

you.

This is

not how

you influence

society.

He says,

the way our

world seeks

to influence

society is

not the way

his disciples

are to

influence

society.

Jesus

is,

he's set

the pattern.

He's not

just our

substitute

and our

redeemer,

he is also

our

pay

setter.

So,

the route

to gaining

influence for

the Christian

is not

the taking

of power.

Christian

political

parties are

not the

answer.

Christian

political

parties are

not the

answer in

changing

society.

influence

gained

through

power

and

control

doesn't

change

hearts

and

therefore

it

doesn't

change

people

and

therefore

it

doesn't

change

society.

Jesus

is calling

here for

a different

approach.

He's calling

his disciples

to be so

sacrificially

loving

that the

people around

you who

don't believe

what you

believe will

soon be

unable to

imagine

society

without

you.

They so

appreciate

your contribution

to society.

I actually

think that one

of the worst

indictments of

the Christian

church in

this country

is that there

are large

large parts

of our

society

that do

not see

cannot see

what contribution

the church

makes.

They can't

see any

good that we

contribute,

any value

that we

contribute.

So the

disciples of

Jesus need to

love and

serve in such

a way that

those who

disagree with

us will

trust us

because they

can see that

we're not

actually trying

to gain

power and

authority for

ourselves but

in fact doing

it for the

weak and

vulnerable and

for the

flourishing of

all of

society.

What that

means is that

when people

look up to

you because

of your

love and

because of

your service

you've

actually gained

influence.

When people

look up to

you because

of your love

and your

service you've

gained influence

over them

and it's

an influence

that they

give you

rather than

influence that

you take

from them

and frankly

well over a

thousand years

of Christendom

in the western

world should have

told us that.

Just because the

government agrees

with Christian

values doesn't

mean that hearts

get changed

at all.

See this is

what Jesus

has done.

How did

Jesus respond

to his

enemies?

He didn't

call down

legions of

angels to

fight them.

He died for

their sins.

As he was

dying he

prayed for

them.

That's what

Jesus did.

He didn't

come to

be served

but to

serve.

He didn't

come to

grasp for

power in

order to

influence.

He came

and gave

it up in

order to

influence and

what an

influence he's

had for

two thousand

years.

If at the

very heart of

your world

view is a

man who is

God,

dying for

his enemies

as it is

the world

view of

this church,

then the

way you're

going to

influence in

society is

through service

rather than

through power

and control.

That is we

need to look

beyond ourselves

and we need

to look to

Jesus.

What Jesus

has done for

us drives us

out in

grateful sacrifice

ourselves.

If Jesus

is our

substitutionary

sacrifice,

if he has

paid for

our sins,

if he has

proved

to our

insecure,

skittish little

hearts,

that we

are worth

everything to

him,

then we

have everything

we need

in him.

It's all a

gift to us

by his

grace.

We don't

do things

in order to

connect to

God or to

feel better

about ourselves.

If we really

understand the

cross, we

are blasted

out into

this world

in joyful

humility.

You see,

in Jesus,

you don't

need to

help people,

you want

to help

people to

resemble the

one who has

done all

this for us.

So this is the

logic of this

passage, it's

really simple.

If the one

who created

both the

supernova and

the superfly,

if there is

a superfly,

firefly,

and holds

everything

together,

including all

the bugs,

by the

power of

his word,

according to

Colossians

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1,

if he

became our

servant,

became our

table waiter,

how dare

we do

anything less

than that

with others.

Count

Nicholas von

Zinseldorf,

a German

nobleman,

he was born

into great

power and

privilege in

1700.

He's one

of the

founders of

the Moravian

Church,

and over

the years,

he spent

his enormous

wealth down

to practically

zero,

meeting

needs,

everywhere,

people's

needs

everywhere.

He literally

poured his

life out

for the

sake of

others.

Why?

He

mentions

one

key

crucial

thing in

his life.

It would

have been

numbers,

but this

is the

one thing.

As a

19-year-old,

he was

sent by

his parents

to visit

the capital

cities of

Europe to

complete

his

education.

One day,

he was

standing in

front of

a portrait

of the

crucified

Lord Jesus

with a

crown of

thorns

on his

head in

an art

gallery in

Dusseldorf.

He stood

there transfixed

by the

image of

the crucified

Christ.

He said

that this

image of

the servant

king,

king,

so moved

him,

and

especially

what the

artist had

written as

an inscription

at the

bottom of

the portrait.

He wrote

this,

all this

I did

for thee,

what

dost

thou

for me?

That

inscription

and that

image of

the servant

king

changed

Zinzendorf's

life at

19 years

of age

and he

spent the

rest of

his life

pouring it

out for

people.

Has it

changed you?