Kingdom Greatness

and if you want to open up your pew Bible

to page 1006 and 1007,

I'm going to read Mark 10, 35-45.

Jesus has now purposefully made His way.

He's on His way to Jerusalem.

So hear God's Word.

And James and John,

the sons of Zebedee,

came up to Jesus and said to Him,

Teacher, we want You to do for us

whatever we ask of You.

And Jesus said to them,

What do You want Me to do for You?

And they said to Him,

Grant us to sit,

one at Your right hand

and one at Your left,

in Your glory.

Jesus said to them,

You do not know what you are asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I drink

or to be baptized with the baptism

with which I am baptized?

And they said to Him,

We are able.

And Jesus said to them,

The cup that I drink,

you will drink.

And with the baptism with which I am baptized,

you will be baptized.

But to sit at My right hand

or at My left

is not Mine to grant,

but it is for those for whom

it has been prepared.

And when the ten heard it,

they began to be indignant

at James and John.

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.

But it shall not be so among you.

But whoever will be great among you

must be your servant.

And 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.

Amen.

May God bless

the hearing of His Word.

Now, there are two types of people

who populate.

There are Packers fans

and then there's everybody else.

I thought that was going to...

I thought that was going to be

a little more powerful than that.

Okay, let's go a little high class now.

There are Grey Poupon fans

and everyone else.

It's a kind of mustard.

Today, what you're going to see

is Jesus makes a similar kind of statement.

There are two kinds of people

populating the globe.

There are the self-serving takers

and the self-sacrificial givers.

Two ways to live.

There are two ways to relate to others.

There are two ways

that are in sharp contrast

to one another.

There's the way of the world

and then there's the way of the kingdom.

Two ways spouses

can relate to each other.

Two ways parents can relate

to their children.

Two ways friends can relate

with each other.

Two ways in which leaders

relate with those that they lead.

Two ways in which employees

relate to fellow employees

in the workplace.

Two ways in which brothers and sisters

in the church relate to one another.

Self-serving takers

follow the way of the world.

Self-sacrificial givers.

They're the ransomed of Jesus.

And they follow the way

of the Son of Man.

The difference between the two,

of course, is Jesus.

So, this morning we're going to look at

two sections of this passage.

In verses 35-40,

we see two self-serving takers.

They happen to be disciples.

In verses 41-45,

we see one self-sacrificing giver.

Behold your king,

the Son of Man.

What kind of spouse are you?

What kind of friend are you?

What kind of employee are you?

What kind of elder are you?

What kind of deacon are you?

Are you a typical taker

or a Christ-like giver?

Let's look at verses 35-40.

In these verses,

we see a very interesting dialogue

between Jesus

and two of His disciples,

James and John.

Now, just to remind you

of who James and John are,

they are part of the inner three

of Jesus' disciples.

It was James and John and Peter

that Jesus said,

come with me,

we're going to Jairus' house.

And they watched Jesus

raise Jairus' daughter

from the dead.

Not all twelve,

just those three,

Jairus' wife in the room.

These two were also with Peter

in Jesus on the mountaintop

in Mark 9

when they watched Jesus

transfigured in their midst.

These two disciples

were part of Jesus' inner circle.

And so this dialogue,

what we're about to see

is all the more audacious.

But let me give you

a little bit more background too

in terms of the context

of chapter 10

of what precedes the dialogue.

Starting in verse 17,

Jesus has this interaction

with a rich young man.

He eventually tells

this rich young man,

hey, if you want to follow me,

you've got to give up

everything you've got.

This rich young man

goes away sad

and doesn't follow Jesus.

That's where Jesus says,

hey, it's more difficult

for a rich man

to enter the kingdom of God.

It's like,

it's more difficult

than a camel

going through the eye

of a needle.

Do you remember that statement?

His disciples are like,

well, then who can be saved?

And to the good news

to our ears,

Jesus says,

well, what is impossible

for man is possible

for God.

And then Peter says,

we've left everything

to follow you.

And then check out

what he says

in verses 29 through 31

in chapter 10.

Truly, I say to you,

there is no one

who has left house

or brothers or sisters

or mother or father

or children or lands

for my sake

and for the gospel

who will 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 last first.

So Jesus,

Jesus has been clear.

If you're going to follow him,

it's going to be hard

to follow him.

But there's another piece

that is before the dialogue

that I want you to see.

They're on their way

to Jerusalem,

verse 32.

Some of the disciples

are amazed.

Others are afraid.

And Jesus says

this is his third prophecy

of his coming suffering,

death, and resurrection.

And he says this.

He says,

See, we are going up

to Jerusalem

and the Son of Man

will be delivered over

to the chief priests

and the scribes.

And they will condemn him

to death

and deliver him over

to the Gentiles

and they will mock him

and spit on him

and flog him

and kill him

and after three days

he will rise.

And so,

this is the tone

that Jesus has been speaking

to his disciples

immediately before this dialogue

before Jesus,

James, and John.

And it helps you

to understand

how absolutely audacious it is.

Suffering awaits.

But apparently,

that is far from the minds

of James and John.

So let's look at this dialogue.

In verse 35,

James and John,

Teacher,

we want you to do for us

whatever we ask of you.

It's incredibly presumptuous.

It's not even a request.

We want you to do

whatever we want you to do,

Jesus.

It's kind of like this.

Let's say I find out

that you have

an outstanding credit score

and you've got

a credit card limit

that is through the roof.

I come up to you

and I said,

hey, would you

give me your card

so I can use it

for whatever I want?

You'd be like,

that's ridiculous.

It's incredibly presumptuous.

It's so arrogant

that you would presume

upon me

to make that kind of request.

They haven't asked Jesus

what they want.

What they're doing here

is they're asking Jesus

for a blank check

before they do

the actual kind of request,

if you want to call it that.

What we have here

are two self-serving takers.

Two disciples

who don't have

the things of God

on their mind.

They have the things of man.

Jesus says in verse 36,

what do you want me

to do for you?

I would love to know

what's going on

in Jesus' mind

at that moment.

Is he thinking like,

oh, this is going to be interesting.

Let's just play this handout.

We know where Jesus is going.

Jesus is going to teach them something.

As a matter of fact,

Jesus asks this same

identical question

in verse 51 of chapter 10.

What do you want me to do for you?

But that time,

it's with a blind man,

Bartimaeus.

And then Jesus grants him

what he requests.

They're in contrast.

In verse 37,

we get to the actual

kind of nature,

the heart of the request.

Grant us to sit

one at your right hand

and one at your left

in your glory.

Again,

do you see a question mark?

There's no question mark.

This is a demand.

Give us the places of honor

when you ascend your throne.

They have a very particular thing in mind.

They're still thinking

that Jesus is going to

kind of push out the Romans,

set up his rule in Jerusalem,

and reign over the Jewish people.

That's what they're thinking.

They're thinking very worldly.

They're thinking

as every other person

who doesn't follow Jesus would think.

They're tone deaf

to what Jesus has been

repeatedly saying

all along here.

That there's going to be suffering,

rejection,

death,

resurrection,

with persecutions.

It appears as though

James and John

are seeing Jesus

as a means of

political fame

and fortune.

Do you remember

last week

I was preaching

out of Mark 8?

Jesus rebukes Peter,

get behind me, Satan,

for you

are not setting your mind

on the things of God

but on the things of man.

That's what's going on here.

James and John

are not setting their minds

on the things of God

in a suffering Messiah.

Messiah.

They are setting

their mind

on the things of man.

They want

to be highly thought of.

And don't miss this.

They think they deserve

these two places of honors.

They've assessed

themselves

as worthy.

They are

putting themselves

first.

And did you notice

the ten aren't there?

The other ten disciples?

James and John

are being sneaky.

They're jockeying.

Sober, isn't it?

When you see

two of Jesus'

own disciples

disciples who are

kind of in

the inner room,

the inner group,

well, they're

seeking to use Jesus

for their own fame

and fortune.

They've got

ulterior motives here.

And what God's Word

is doing us

for this morning

is God's Word

is like this

spotlight

of kingdom holiness

that is shining

upon the hearts

of not just

James and John

but into our hearts

as well.

God's Word

because

it's not just

James and John

who have a tendency

of being selfish.

Of seeing opportunity

and taking

what we can get.

We all

can use Jesus

for our own

fame and fortune.

You know,

the greatest,

most grotesque

distortion of that

going on

right now

are those preachers

of the health

and wealth gospel

that are proclaiming

Jesus in order

to line their own

pockets

and to build

their own empires.

It is wrong.

But let's be honest,

we all can make

Christianity

less about Jesus

and more about us.

We can see

church service

as serving

in different capacities

as a way

of being recognized

and being honored.

And we forget

the way of Jesus

which is marked

by suffering

and service.

we have this

tendency

of setting

our minds

on the things

of man

and not

on the things

of God.

And in verse 38

Jesus won't have it.

He says

you do not know

what you're asking.

they're being

presumptuous

very arrogant.

And he goes

on to say

you know

do you not

realize

are you able

to drink

the cup

I'm going to drink

are you

are you able

to be baptized

with the baptism

I will be baptized

with.

What he's talking

about is coming

suffering.

And in verse

39

they're like

sure

we're able

yeah

sign us up.

Having no idea

of what Jesus

is talking about.

But Jesus does.

In verse 39

he says to them

the cup that I drink

you will drink

and with the baptism

with which I am

baptized

you will be

baptized.

Do you notice

the wills?

It's future tense

it's going to happen.

James will be

beheaded.

John will be

exiled to Patmos.

Both will suffer

deeply for Jesus.

It's going to

happen.

They don't realize

what they're asking.

Jesus knows

what lies ahead.

But in verse 40

Jesus returns

back to their

quote unquote

request.

request.

And he says

but to sit at

my right hand

or my left

is not mine

to grant.

They don't

get to determine

where they sit

let alone him.

That's the

father's prerogative.

It is the

father

God

who is in

control.

It is

he who

will reward

kingdom

greatness

of which

James and

John

do not

understand.

So here we

have this

dialogue

between Jesus

and his

kind of two

disciples from

his inner

network of

guys

and what we're

seeing is

they're self

serving takers

not setting

their mind

on the things

of God

but on the

things of

man.

And the

question that

we need to

be asking

ourselves

is

does that

kind of

presumption

reside in

us?

Is it in

me?

Am I

putting myself

first

before others

in my

marriage

in my

parenting

in my

friendships

in the

workplace

here at the

church?

But Jesus

isn't done

yet.

He's got

more to

say.

And so we

move from

these two

self serving

takers

this dialogue

now to

the one

self

sacrificing

giver

and what

Jesus is

going to

do in

verses 41

through 45

is he's

going to

bring this

clear contrast

between the

way of the

world and

the way of

his kingdom.

Look at

verse 41.

Oh no!

And when

the ten

heard it

the other

ten find

out.

We don't

know how

but they

found out

that James

and John

have approached

Jesus in

order to

say hey

can we

have the

two seats

of honor

in your

glory?

They're

indignant

with James

and John.

We've got

a conflict

on Jesus

ministry

team.

What is

he going

to do?

But before

we see

what he

does let

me let

just ask

the ten

some

questions.

Hey

ten

disciples

why are

you so

mad?

I'm

guessing

Peter

representing

the ten

would say

it's totally

uncool

for James

and John

to sneak

around our

backs

and make

their

so-called

request

totally

uncool.

But then

we'd ask

another

question.

Guys

are you

so upset

because James

and John

obviously

don't have

the things

of God

in mind

but the

things of

man?

Or are

you upset

because they

beat you

to it?

They made

the claim

that you

were wanting

to make.

They

approached

Jesus

and talked

about the

thing

that you

actually

want.

Do you

know how

we know

the answer

to that

question?

Because

Jesus

rebukes

them all.

You see

the anger

of the ten

was not

a godly

anger

but an

anger

from setting

their minds

on the

things of

man.

So in

verse 42

what we

see is

Jesus

calls them

to him

and when

he calls

them

he's calling

James and

John and

the ten.

He's like

a good

coach.

He's like

okay time

out.

Okay team

let's huddle

up and

let's work

out this

fight that

we have

among

ourselves

and let

me help

you process

it through.

Let's

all get

on the

same page.

And what

Jesus does

is starting

in verse

42

is he

sets up

this

contrast.

He says

to them

you know

and what

he's about

to do

is point

to something

that everybody

is aware

of.

It's an

observation.

It's something

that they

would all

say yeah

that's

true.

He says

you know

that those

who are

considered

rulers

of the

Gentiles

lord it

over them

and their

great ones

exercise

authority

over them.

When he's

talking about

the rulers

of the

Gentiles

he's talking

about the

political

leaders of

the time

that don't

fear God

they're

outside of

Israel

and they

lord it

over the

people

which means

it's heavy

handed

leadership

it is

manipulative

it is

leadership

by threat

it is

very much

self-serving

you

go after

you take

power

you keep

power

in order

to

advantage

yourself

lord it

over

and then

when Jesus

talks about

the great

ones

he's like

hey

it's

we all

know how

the world

talks about

great

telling people

what to do

how many

people

do your

bidding

how many

people

follow you

both of

those

the rulers

of the

gentiles

and those

great ones

who exercise

authority

it has that

closes with

that phrase

over them

top down

what Jesus

is doing

is pointing

to the

current leaders

of his

day

and saying

that there

are models

of self

serving

take what

you can

get

way of

life

now

we could

do the

same

thing

today

we could

point to

the

political

system

of the

United

States

and say

both

Republican

and

Democrat

we've

got

some

poster

children

for this

way of

being

take

take what

you can

get

you

get

power

you keep

power

and then

you

domineer

to keep

it

one of the

things I'm

grateful for

being a

citizen of

the United

States

in our

system of

government

is that we

have a

system of

checks and

balances

that are

intentionally

designed

to hedge

against

tyranny

so Jesus

is pointing

to something

in their

day

that they

could all

see and

experience and

say yeah

we know that

lorded over

stuff we see

it we

experience it

for us

it's in the

news

we know

it

but it's

verse 43

in which

comes the

rebuke

but it

shall not

be among

you

this

take what

you can

get

this

self

serving

taking

but this

shall not

be

among

you

the it

is that

lord it

over

domineering

kind of

kind of

influence

by force

might is

right kind

of approach

and Jesus

saying

that's the

way of the

world

it's not

the way

of my

kingdom

it's

setting

your mind

not on

the things

of god

but on

the things

of man

it's

adopting

godless

ways of

being

to try

to

get what

you want

and Jesus

is not

simply speaking

to James

and John

here

he's speaking

to all

twelve

because all

twelve

had set

their minds

on the

things of

this world

as a way

of trying

to get

what they

want

adopting

worldly

practices

to get

the things

that they

desire

and they're

fighting over

it

on the way

to Jerusalem

where Jesus

is just

days out

from being

crucified

I'd like

to try to

bring this

home a little

bit right

now

there's a

little repeated

phrase in

verses 43

and 44

it's the

phrase

among you

but it

shall not

be so

among you

but whoever

would be

great among

you must

be your

servant

and whoever

would be

first among

you must

be slave

of all

Jesus is

not talking

about those

outside of

his kingdom

Jesus is

referring to

those inside

of his

kingdom

specifically

to the

twelve

disciples

but he's

addressing

us this

morning

we're the

among you

those who

have been

delivered from

the domain

of darkness

and transferred

into his

kingdom

the kingdom

of the

beloved son

all by his

grace

all by his

mercy

and so what

Jesus is saying

to us is

this shall

not be

so among

you

Christ the

King

church

it shall

not be

among your

marriages

it shall

not be

among your

parenting

it shall

not be

among your

friendships

among your

work

relationships

it should

not be

among your

church

if this

isn't

to be

among us

what

is

to be

among us

if

self-serving

take what

you can

get

mindset

of the

world

isn't to

be governing

our

relationships

what

mindset

must

be

governing

our

relationships

Jesus

doesn't

leave his

disciples

hanging

and he

doesn't

leave us

hanging

he says

so in

verses 43

and 44

instead of

this

over the

top

domineering

approach

whoever

would be

great

among you

he's

riffing

off that

word

great

whoever

would be

great

among you

must be

your

servant

whoever

would be

first

among you

must be

slave

of all

Jesus

turns the

world's

idea of

greatness

completely

upside down

his

kingdom

is an

upside

down

kingdom

the

kingdom

mindset

that

governs

our

relationships

is not

what can

you get

it's what

can you

give

it's not

how many

people are

serving

you

it's who

are you

serving

those

words

servant

and slave

those two

words are

referring to

the uttered

nobodies

of that

culture

at that

time

servants

and slaves

they did

the most

menial

work

they

they

had to

orient

their

lives

around

serving

others

was

anybody

like

shocked

by

by

James

and

John

and

their

request

like

that

is

ridiculous

totally

audacious

what

Jesus

is

saying

here

is

flabbergasting

kingdom

kingdom

greatness

is not

measured

in what

you can

get

it's

measured

in what

you can

give

it's

not

measured

in

how many

people

are

following

you

it's

in

service

to

others

when

you set

your

mind

on the

things

of

man

you

end

up

serving

yourself

but

when

you

set

your

mind

on

the

things

of

God

you

die

to

yourself

to

serve

others

for

their

greatest

good

and

in

verse

45

behold

your

king

he

puts

himself

forward

as

the

ultimate

example

of

a

slave

of

all

he

himself

became

a

servant

he

himself

was

humiliated

in

verse

45

he

says

for

even

the

son

of

man

came

all

along

we've

been

talking

about

when

you

hear

that

title

son

of

man

think

of

Daniel

Daniel 7:13

chapter

7

verses

13

and

14

the

ancient

of

days

God

the

father

gives

to

the

son

of

man

a

dominion

a

kingdom

that

will

be

everlasting

and

indestructible

and

this

dominion

and

kingdom

is

made

up

of

people

from

all

the

different

nations

and

one

might

think

reading

Daniel

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

chapter

7

that

this

is

going

to

be

a

political

figure

who

sets

up

shop

in

the

middle

of

Jerusalem

and

starts

claiming

rights

and

flexing

his

muscles

but

what

Jesus

is

saying

here

is

no

the

son

of

man

did

not

come

to

serve

to

be

served

but

to

serve

and

to

give

his

life

as

a

ransom

for

many

let

me

read

to

you

Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

do

nothing

from

selfish

ambition

or

conceit

but

in

humility

count

others

more

significant

than

yourselves

there's

the

kingdom

ethic

let

each

of

you

look

not

only

to

his

own

interest

but

also

to

the

interest

of

others

have

this

mind

among

yourselves

which

is

yours

in

Christ

Jesus

who

though

he

was

in

the

form

of

God

did

not

count

equality

with

God

a

thing

to

be

grasped

but

emptied

himself

by

taking

the

form

of

a

servant

being

born

in

the

likeness

of

man

and

being

found

in

human

form

he

humbled

himself

by

becoming

obedient

to

the

point

of

death

even

to

death

on

a

cross

of

all

the

human

beings

that

have

ever

walked

the

face

of

the

earth

Jesus

Christ

could

have

lorded

it

over

everyone

but

he

chose

not

to

what

he

chose

to

do

is

willingly

give

his

life

as

the

ultimate

self

sacrificial

gift

to

a

sinful

humanity

he

became

a

ransom

for

many

that

word

ransom

just

means

it

means

a

payment

for

someone

who

is

in

captivity

a

prisoner

or a

slave

to

set

them

free

ransom

for

that

word

that

preposition

for

it

actually

means

in the

place

of

as

a

substitute

he

ransomed

himself

for

many

and

the

many

are

all

those

sinners

who

would

one

day

recognize

him

as

their

one

true

king

God's

grace

incarnate

and

respond

by

denying

themselves

taking

up their

crosses

and

follow

him

ransom

for

many

revelation

chapter

seven

we have

this

multitude

of

people

from

every

tribe

tongue

and

nation

gathered

around

the

throne

and

they

are

saying

salvation

belongs

to

our

God

who

sits

on

the

throne

and

to

the

lamb

the

many

Jesus

makes it

very

clear

here

that

his

kingdom

operates

according

to

a

different

set

of

rules

than

the

world

and

he

is

no

exception

in

fact

he

is

the

greatest

example

he

rebukes

his

disciples

for

their

worldly

thinking

and

he

corrects

their

thinking

with

kingdom

thinking

putting

himself

forward

as the

ultimate

example

behold

your

king

brothers

and

sisters

that's

our

king

that's

the

tone

so

what

would

you

say

is

the

point

of

this