Mark's Intentional Use of The Female Disciples (Apostles?) of Jesus -ep. 39

[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to the Unison Church podcast and I have been trying to get some interviews together and just have had a hard time and so you might recognize that this episode is coming out a little bit late in the month that's about as last last minute as it can get and I did have the goal to put out an episode every single month this year and the thing is I

[SPEAKER_00]: This, if I didn't get one out this month, I would break that goal, and it's November, and it's like not worth it to not reach the goal just because I wasn't able to get an interviewed narrowed down for this month.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's, it's the holiday season.

[SPEAKER_00]: And as you can imagine, that just cuts out some time and makes me busy, I'm a pastor, as well as a business owner, and it's like both of those things just ramp up like crazy.

[SPEAKER_00]: No more making excuses.

[SPEAKER_00]: It didn't happen.

[SPEAKER_00]: But, but, I was like, let's get an episode out anyway.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, I was trying to think, what do I post?

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I was gonna maybe react to something or I was gonna just maybe ramble on about the holidays or something.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, that's boring.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, let's not do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just had a reaction one, not too long ago.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like everybody puts out stuff for the holidays.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, I'm just not gonna do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: not going to do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: What I'm going to do instead is I want to post one of my teachings.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it might seem a little out of ordinary because this teaching was from several months ago.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was for a special event.

[SPEAKER_00]: However, what I found is that like from that teaching forward.

[SPEAKER_00]: So our church has been going through the book of Mark for 2025.

[SPEAKER_00]: We spent all of the 20th of arrived from January.

[SPEAKER_00]: all the way until as recording this last week because our advent we were just like let's just do regular advent let's do the Christmas story mark doesn't actually spend it like any time in that and so let's just do it anyway um advent's pretty big at our our community and so

[SPEAKER_00]: we were like, let's do Mark from January to November and I had the honor of wrapping that up last Sunday and it was an incredible study and it was just so interconnected and I feel like what I taught about in the beginning of this series just kept coming up and over and over again and then there was this one that I gave right in the middle of this series and so we have the tradition where

[SPEAKER_00]: Oftentimes I teach on Mother's Day, and so I jumped in and I gave this sermon on Mother's Day about women in the gospel of Mark.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it just kept coming up every time I got up to speak.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't preach in my church every single week, but I have been like, especially in the fourth quarter, been preaching a lot, and

[SPEAKER_00]: I it's just it just keeps coming up like like every time I I sit down to examine another portion of mark it just it's there there's this thread through the gospel of mark and I spent the most time talking about it in this sermon that you're about to hear from me on Mother's Day and so I just felt I don't know I felt like of all the sermons to post

[SPEAKER_00]: Of all the sermons supposed it seems like that one in 2025 was kind of like the one and I don't know Maybe this is like a tradition.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe like at the end of the year I should just pick a sermon that I did and be like this is Ben the one for me that was the most impactful for myself and so I I did I preached a lot this year and so Maybe there were other ones that were more impactful for other people, but

[SPEAKER_00]: For me, this sermon specifically has impacted me a lot, it helped to solidify some theological stuff that I have working on, and I don't want to get to into it, but I know that next year in 2026, which we do a podcast talking about what's coming next, because even though everybody does that, I do think that's actually like a healthy thing for podcasts to do as to kind of like project what's coming next.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to give away too much, but we're definitely going to talk about this topic more in 2026.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't, but I don't want to get too into it because we are in the middle of a series.

[SPEAKER_00]: So before we get into the sermon, just a quick, just a quick note about our series.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have been, it was kind of accidental, but I kind of started out into this two interviews in a row with youth leaders.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I do think it's cool to hear from the youth leaders.

[SPEAKER_00]: for myself just getting into and talking shop with some people, though youth ministry isn't the the only, and maybe even not the primary thing that I do at my church, it is a big part of my ministry and it's a thing that I enjoy and so

[SPEAKER_00]: I've been excited to talk to other people that do and enjoy that as well and I also think that it's something that's needed for people that don't do youth ministry and people that do as well to really like get a glimpse into what it's like.

[SPEAKER_00]: and of course the goal is to make people realize that we're all called to love on and reach out to and encourage each other regardless of age so if you're you know even if you're not working in your youth ministry you're still called to be there for the youth in your church.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so teenagers are just a lot of times they're hard to talk to, and I think for a lot of adults it's even like scary to talk to a teenager And so part of that is like I want to disarm that and just give an insight into what kind of stuff happens and

[SPEAKER_00]: And also show that even though we're all going to different churches, we often all have the same the same going mind and so this is one of those things that's like a like a body of Christ thing not just not just like my church so I so I've been enjoying that we're going to continue that I have at least two more interviews to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: with that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I figured let's jump into this because the holidays just kind of mess and stuff up and that's fine.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's fine.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's just where it is.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we can take it step back and just have kind of this one off episode that maybe is foreshadowing something that's happening in 2026.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know there's at least going to be a book review in 2026 that has to do with some of this.

[SPEAKER_00]: So.

[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, let's jump into this thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: So this, like I said, our Mother's Day, Mother's Day sermon, we're teaching on one of my favorite, one of my favorite stories, but really picking up on a theme that exists through Mark's entire gospel.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so hopefully this is something that you can enjoy, some of you can take away from, and maybe something to get you thinking about some theology and even some practical stuff as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening, Darky soon.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, as I said before, happy Mother's Day.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you guys for being here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Our church is filled with just amazing moms, amazing moms.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is nothing like a woman who is dedicated to following Jesus and ladies, moms and otherwise you are a valuable member of this community and I hope that this mother's day my goal as I was playing the service was just to make you feel loved by your family and your church family alike.

[SPEAKER_00]: So thank you so much for being here with us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're honored that you chose and spend a part of your day here.

[SPEAKER_00]: All of us, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, as I've grown accustomed to saying today in 2025, all of us have so much to learn from women who are committed to following Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: So please, those of you guys that are ladies that are just pillars of our church, whether you have kids or not, whether you're older young, we want to honor our spiritual mothers today.

[SPEAKER_00]: So thank you for being here.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to give you guys a round of applause.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's join round of applause for all the ladies here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_00]: My own mom has been one of the greatest spiritual influences in my life, and she has modeled for me true love and self-giving service better than anyone else in my life.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there are several other women in this room who have had similar impacts on me as well, and we are blessed here upon to have some just incredible women who are willing to step up and lead, and we have women who are willing to selflessly serve,

[SPEAKER_00]: women who have done the hard things of ministry here upon him we are truly grateful for the gift that you are to our church.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much.

[SPEAKER_00]: We've been studying the gospel of Mark so far this whole year we're studying the gospel of Mark and today we'll be looking at one of my favorite stories but if you read it if you read it in Mark at first glance there are no women in the story.

[SPEAKER_00]: But we're gonna be talking about women in March gospel today, but at first glance, there's no women in the story.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, Mark has a statement to make about women in Jesus' ministry in the entire track of his gospel.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what we're gonna talk about today.

[SPEAKER_00]: Mark has a statement that he makes about women and it goes from beginning to the end of his gospel.

[SPEAKER_00]: But the story that we're gonna read if you read it in Mark, there are no women present in the story.

[SPEAKER_00]: However,

[SPEAKER_00]: Matthew tells the same story, and in Matthew's account of it, there is a very important woman present.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so you might ask the question, why isn't she there in Mark?

[SPEAKER_00]: We'll get there later in the in the in the story later, as we talk about Mark's account, but I want to begin actually by reading Matthew 20, 20.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it says this, then came to him the mother of Zevody's children with her sons,

[SPEAKER_00]: Do you guys know the story?

[SPEAKER_00]: Raise your hand if you know this story.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just by hearing that verse.

[SPEAKER_00]: Raise your hand if you know this story.

[SPEAKER_00]: I love this story.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is one of my favorite stories in Jesus' ministry.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've actually preached on it already a couple times.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm excited to do it again.

[SPEAKER_00]: I call this story James John and their mom.

[SPEAKER_00]: So let's read Marks.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you got your Bible, go ahead and open to Mark.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's gonna be helpful for you to have the story open as we're talking about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's in Mark 10.

[SPEAKER_00]: Beginning in verse 35,

[SPEAKER_00]: We're just going to walk through it together.

[SPEAKER_00]: It says this, and James and John, the sons of somebody came onto him saying, Master, we would that that should do something for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: What's so ever we shall desire?

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, let me just share some wisdom with you really quick.

[SPEAKER_00]: I get this question a lot.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure you do too.

[SPEAKER_00]: Somebody comes up to me.

[SPEAKER_00]: They say, Hey, can you do me a favor?

[SPEAKER_00]: Let me tell you wisely.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is, you should never answer that question.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, ever.

[SPEAKER_00]: Any time said, can you do me a favor?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, sure.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don't ever say that.

[SPEAKER_00]: What Jesus says here?

[SPEAKER_00]: What does he say verse 36?

[SPEAKER_00]: What do you want me to do for you?

[SPEAKER_00]: What do you what what is the favor?

[SPEAKER_00]: It depends what the favor is that some good wisdom has nothing to do We're talking about today good wisdom.

[SPEAKER_00]: Can you do me a favor?

[SPEAKER_00]: Who's a lot of depends on what the favor is right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Verse 37 pick it up.

[SPEAKER_00]: They said it to him grant unto us that we may sit one on that right hand and one on that left in your glory

[SPEAKER_00]: But Jesus said to them, you don't know what you're asking.

[SPEAKER_00]: Can you drink of the cup that I drink of?

[SPEAKER_00]: And the baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with.

[SPEAKER_00]: And they sentence him, we can't.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus said unto them, you shall indeed drink the cup that I drink of.

[SPEAKER_00]: And with the baptism that I am baptized with all shall you be baptized.

[SPEAKER_00]: But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give.

[SPEAKER_00]: But it shall be given to them for who it is prepared.

[SPEAKER_00]: I love this and there's some really cool theological work that's being done in these verses, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: But we don't have time to get into it, but Jesus is basically saying it's not for me to decide who gets to sit on my right hand and on my left.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we believe that Jesus will be exalted that in the resurrection, Jesus will rule on a physical throne and he will be in charge of the world.

[SPEAKER_00]: As he already is, but in a very physical sense in the resurrection and these guys want to be his right and left hand man.

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, he's saying, yeah, you are going to be exalted.

[SPEAKER_00]: You will drink the same cup that I'll drink from.

[SPEAKER_00]: You will be baptized with the same baptism that I've been baptized with.

[SPEAKER_00]: That will happen, but it's not for me to say who gets to sit on the right hand and on the left.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's not putting them down.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's just not granting their request, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a no, it's not like a mean no, it's just a no.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, the other disciples, there are 12 of these, there's 12 men specifically that are mentioned in the story, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: James and John being one of them.

[SPEAKER_00]: The other 10 must have been standing close by or maybe one of them was and they came back and they said, hey, guess what, James and John are they trying to leapfrog over us?

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know exactly the situation, but in verse 41 it says this, when the 10 heard, they began to be much displeased with James and John.

[SPEAKER_00]: And after hearing their bickering, Jesus decides now is the time I'm going to teach them something that is just absolutely huge.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so let's read this.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is the bulk of what we'll be talking about today in verse 42.

[SPEAKER_00]: But Jesus called them to him and sentenced them, you know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise the Lordship over them.

[SPEAKER_00]: And they're great ones exercise authority upon them, but so shall it not be among you.

[SPEAKER_00]: But who's whoever will be great

[SPEAKER_00]: And who, however, of you will be the chiefest shall be servants of all.

[SPEAKER_00]: For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life as a ransom for many.

[SPEAKER_00]: Before we jump deeply into this, it's worth noting that actually in Jesus' last teaching session, so in Mark chapter 9, right?

Mark 9 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: We're in 10 right now, in Mark chapter 9, in Jesus' last teaching session, he'd actually taught them this very concept already, apparently James and John didn't, we're not listening when he was teaching it.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: This makes for a great memory verse first today, so we'll take a look, Mark 9, 35, it says this, and he sat down and called the 12 and said unto them, if any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all and servant of all.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's sit in this for a second.

[SPEAKER_00]: So what Jesus is doing here is he's redefining what greatness even means.

[SPEAKER_00]: He says greatness isn't about what the Romans think it's about.

[SPEAKER_00]: So Jesus is living at this time.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's an empire that's ruling over Israel, the Roman Empire, they are incredibly heavy-handed, especially towards Israel and other places that they conquered.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's saying what it means to be great in Rome, like what you see from our leaders today,

[SPEAKER_00]: is not what greatness actually is.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not like an emperor trying to lord over as many people as possible.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not like a regional leader who's trying to assert his dominance or acquire as many loyal subjects as they can.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not about ascending the great, the ranks.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, greatness in Jesus' new kingdom is not about that at all.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, greatness in Jesus' kingdom is about serving others.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not about who rules over the most.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's about who serves the most.

[SPEAKER_00]: Here's the thing, Jesus is not antagonist.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's an angry with James or John or their mom for wanting to be great.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, he's not anti-ambition.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's just redefining what it even means to be great.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we should strive to be like Jesus, but Jesus' kingship is on display not primarily and leading over others, but in giving his life as a ransom for many as verse 45 states.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is when Jesus is greatest, when He's serving others, and the same is true for His followers.

[SPEAKER_00]: See Jesus is not anti-greatness, but He is anti-hierarchical, which is what I call this passage.

[SPEAKER_00]: The story about being anti-hierarchical, humans have long been obsessed with power.

[SPEAKER_00]: We struggle against one another and try to gain the upper hand, and this has been true since the beginning of time.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, it's listed as part of the curse dating all the way back to Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's certainly on display in the Canaan able story that happens right after that.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's ratified throughout history.

[SPEAKER_00]: We want to be large and in charge.

[SPEAKER_00]: We want to have control.

[SPEAKER_00]: We want to claw our way to the top.

[SPEAKER_00]: We want to have control not only over ourselves, but also over other people, even.

[SPEAKER_00]: We wage arguments with one-liners that think we'll make us look good.

[SPEAKER_00]: We do everything we can to make our mistakes, look like there are other people's mistakes.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we won't lose our status in position, we compare ourselves constantly to others, talk about how we're better than them, we point our fingers and lower others, because if we lower them, we'll be higher, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: This arrangement into hierarchy is something that God never wanted.

[SPEAKER_00]: From the beginning, humans were created on a level playing field to serve one another.

[SPEAKER_00]: And these practices of creating things like us and them, are rich and poor, and ruler and subject are dangerous inventions of humanity.

[SPEAKER_00]: And while hierarchy is dangerous, God still ratifies that there are some who are called leadership.

[SPEAKER_00]: But what Jesus does in the story is he explains, how can we lead without the toxicity of hierarchical mindset?

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's not about climbing the ranks instead, it's about self-sacrifice towards other people.

[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, in Jesus' economy, the government of the kingdom of God, if I can use that language, the leaders are not to try to climb the ranks by pressing down other people.

[SPEAKER_00]: The leaders are not those who are grasping for power and no.

[SPEAKER_00]: In Jesus' kingdom, the leaders are the ones who are willing to serve the most.

[SPEAKER_00]: They will not be first, but last, the servant of all.

[SPEAKER_00]: Mark actually uses a special word for this kind of servant when he says somebody will be the servant of all and it's a word You'll actually you're gonna recognize this word.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's in it's a Greek word, but you'll recognize it I bet he uses this word for serve and servant in mark nine thirty five ten forty three and forty five Which we've read already the word is deocanéo or deocanas is an out Deocanas can you recognize which of our words comes from that?

[SPEAKER_00]: Shout it out you guys know the word

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, Deakin.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, we have Deakin's here at Pond Hill.

[SPEAKER_00]: We see all through the new testament that people who are appointed to be Deakin's.

[SPEAKER_00]: As you keep reading the new testament, you keep seeing these people pop up, we're serving in a special way.

[SPEAKER_00]: The interesting thing is we don't so much appoint Deakin's as we recognize them.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right, we recognize that there are certain people in our church who go above and beyond in their service to other people that they have

[SPEAKER_00]: put on display the kingdom greatness that Jesus is talking about in this story that they have become the servant of many here at Pont Hill.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we say that is a deoconoss, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a servant of all.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we say we want to recognize that and add you to the leadership team because we recognize that there is kingdom greatness in you.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what we do here at Pont Hill as we as we elect our deacons.

[SPEAKER_00]: but this word deoconoss is actually not one that Mark throws around lightly.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, it's not a word that he uses very often in the gospel.

[SPEAKER_00]: He uses it so few times that we can actually read them all right now, which is what we're going to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that should really cause us to lean in.

[SPEAKER_00]: It should make our ears perk up, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: If this is what Jesus says is to be great in the kingdom, it's to be a deoconoss.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then those of us that follow Jesus should say, I want to know how to be that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to know how to be that.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so let's read the examples.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are very few examples, and interestingly enough, the first time the word is used in Mark, it's actually not even used of a human.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's used of an angel.

[SPEAKER_00]: The heavenly creatures, deocony, oh, Jesus, after his temptation in Mark 113, it says this, and he was there in the wilderness 40 days, tempted of Satan, and was with the wild beasts and the angels ministered unto him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Unsurprisingly, I guess we see the ministers of God, the one who are directly servants of God, right, these angels, Mark uses this word to describe them that they are servants, that they are true servants of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think we can describe our deacons as angelic now, according to the book of Mark.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, way to the go guys, you guys are angelic creatures here at Pond Hill.

[SPEAKER_00]: Other than Jesus teaching about the angels ministering to Jesus, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: There are only two other uses of this word.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are two different deokinos in each example.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are two different people or groups of people in the second that are referred to as people who serve like Jesus says is kingdom great.

[SPEAKER_00]: And remember I said that Mark is actually doing something really special in his gospel with regards to women.

[SPEAKER_00]: I will kind of return to this idea.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's something that Mark is doing with regards to women in his

[SPEAKER_00]: that he's doing with this word.

[SPEAKER_00]: You may have figured it out by now, but here it is, the only deoceneo in Mark's Gospel, the only people that are described with this word are women.

[SPEAKER_00]: The only people who serve like Jesus serves in Mark's Gospel are women.

[SPEAKER_00]: And as Jesus says, they have achieved kingdom greatness in their story.

[SPEAKER_00]: The two passages in which women are serving like Jesus happen on the bookends of Mark's gospel.

[SPEAKER_00]: One happens right at the beginning and chapter one.

[SPEAKER_00]: One happens right at the end at the end of Mark 15.

[SPEAKER_00]: Mark 131 says this.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's about this miraculous healing of Peter's mother-in-law.

[SPEAKER_00]: We've talked about this story already in our series.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, pretty early on in the series.

[SPEAKER_00]: We talked about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Peter's mother-in-law is sick.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus goes to the house miraculously heals her.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this is her response.

[SPEAKER_00]: Mark 131, and he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up in immediately the fever left her.

[SPEAKER_00]: And she ministered Dioceneo onto them.

[SPEAKER_00]: I believe that this particular verse is strategically placed here, both as a connection to the angel's service which happened just a few verses earlier than this, but also to foreshadow what Mark is going to do for the rest of the book.

[SPEAKER_00]: See, women are actually surprisingly present in the story of Jesus, just the mention of women who Jesus stops to heal, to teach, to deliver, and to forgive his radical.

[SPEAKER_00]: We don't understand that because today is a different time than it was back when Mark originally wrote this gospel, but in the Roman occupied first century Israel, women were not very highly valued in their culture.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is probably not a shock to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure you've heard this perhaps in history class, or perhaps at other times here at church.

[SPEAKER_00]: Their presence in the story alone is remarkable, and it's easy for us to miss it because we live in a different time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus added to towards women is overwhelmingly positive, as you'll continue to see as we read through and discuss his miracles yet.

[SPEAKER_00]: James, James and John's mom is omitted from the story.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, Mark is doing something dramatic in his story telling, and that's why I think we don't see their mother present in this story.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is doing something very dramatic in the or Mark is doing something very dramatic towards the end of his story.

[SPEAKER_00]: In Mark 15, verse 40 to 41, this is our other example of the deoconus.

Mark 15:40–41

[SPEAKER_00]: It says in verse 40,

[SPEAKER_00]: They were also women looking on a far off, now they're looking at Jesus who's being crucified when Jesus arrested all of his followers run away because they're scared, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus goes to the cross alone.

[SPEAKER_00]: But we're told at this point, right after Jesus' death, there were women looking from afar off, among whom was Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of

[SPEAKER_00]: and in verse 41 it's a literally in parentheses in your Bible it says this who also these women also

[SPEAKER_00]: When he was in Galilee, followed him and ministered on him, Dioceneo, ministered on him, and many other women which came up with him on to Jerusalem.

[SPEAKER_00]: See, verse 41 is so interestingly, it's like this little aside that Mark gives, but here's what he's saying, he's saying, guess what?

[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't just the 12, it wasn't just the 5,000 men who were fed on the country side.

[SPEAKER_00]: There were women who were following Jesus from the beginning of his ministry.

[SPEAKER_00]: There were female disciples of Jesus who were learning, women who were leading, women who were ministering in Jesus' ministry, and they followed him from Galilee from the beginning of his ministry.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when James and John and their mom approached Jesus, this is really interesting.

[SPEAKER_00]: I had to study it out this week.

[SPEAKER_00]: The setting of the story of this, like where they are on the planet, is right outside of Jerusalem.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're about to go into Jerusalem through Jericho, to celebrate Passover together.

[SPEAKER_00]: These women are from Galilee.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you look on a map, you can still see these cities today.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're still where they were at the time of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's Galilee, which is around the Sea of Galilee.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there's Jerusalem, and they are 100 miles apart from one another.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now today, we can get in a car and we can drive 100 miles in a few hours, but back then, it was a multi-day trip from the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem.

[SPEAKER_00]: In this particular journey, they were likely accompanying Jesus to Jerusalem for the celebration of Passover, interestingly enough.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you look at First Century Judaism, there's actually a law in the Torah that says that men should go to Jerusalem for the Passover.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Passover should be something

[SPEAKER_00]: And what's interesting about that is that if you're very strictly Torah observant like the Pharisees, for instance, that means that every single Passover, you gotta get to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: If you're a little bit more liberal with your interpretation of the Torah, it just means that once in your lifetime you gotta make it to Jerusalem at some point and then some people went periodically.

[SPEAKER_00]: But what's interesting is all those people agreed that the command to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem was a command that was given to men.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you're a Jewish male, you've got to go to Jerusalem for Passover at least once, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: The women were not required to go to make this journey which was dangerous, which took many days of foot travel, which you couldn't encounter all sorts of problems along the way, like running out of food, running into looters, running into military enemies.

[SPEAKER_00]: All this stuff, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: If you were a

[SPEAKER_00]: Yet here we see women, including Mrs. Zemedy, or Mrs. Thunder, if you prefer, going above and beyond and showing up.

[SPEAKER_00]: The early church was built by women showing up.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, historically, the church was comprised of more women than men.

[SPEAKER_00]: In many cultures, even today, all around the world, the church is comprised of more women than men.

[SPEAKER_00]: Many times, in the history of our church, our church has been comprised of more women than men.

[SPEAKER_00]: Women step up and follow Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: And at the cross, when all of Jesus' 12 disciples had fled the scene, who alone is left.

[SPEAKER_00]: these female disciples, Mary, Mary, and Salome, and more, and friends.

[SPEAKER_00]: In Jesus' own words, these women are great.

[SPEAKER_00]: They've achieved kingdom greatness like no other person in the gospel of Mark as.

[SPEAKER_00]: They alone are the ones who serve Jesus like Jesus serves us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Mark waits for this dramatic moment at the cross at the end of his gospel to say,

[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, we have a lot to learn from women of faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that you've got to gotten this by now.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I propose that we have many more women of faith to learn from some of whom are in our midst this morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's why I have tried to solve value women, whom I've come to respect in our congregation.

[SPEAKER_00]: These are things that I have learned over years from great women committed to Jesus and I invite all of you women in men alike to open your eyes and open your mind to the women who serve like Jesus served.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to share a couple of lessons that I have learned about serving as a way to further elevate these women in Mark and their story this morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: I just want to point out one lesson that we could learn from each woman who's called a deoconoss in this story and so I want to sort of invite you to lean into these and put them into practice in your own life.

[SPEAKER_00]: The first one here, we serve out of gratefulness for God's healing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Growing up and learning to think deeply about our language concerning God, there was a concept that I still, I still agree with, but I hold intention with this statement.

[SPEAKER_00]: Especially in college, I often heard a complaint about worship music, which is something that I, you know, saying a lot of.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I always, you know, liked engaging in these conversations.

[SPEAKER_00]: Or why does it always have to be about us?

[SPEAKER_00]: As they listen to these worship songs.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is oftentimes, there's a lot of language about what God has done for us in worship songs.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even some of the ones that we sang today, like that last one is all about what God interceded on rehab, he came, he died, and he took our place so that we could serve us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so there was this complaint, especially in college, from Bible majors.

[SPEAKER_00]: That the music was not God focused enough.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was too self-absorbed, you know, that was the thing that we heard a lot and While I sympathize and agree that a lot of Christian music is way too focused on ourselves I grew more skeptical of this complaint as I began to dive deeper into the worship songs of the Old Testament

[SPEAKER_00]: See, as you read the poetic works in the Tanak, like Miriam's song and Exodus, or the song of songs, or David's works in the Psalms, you will encounter a repeated theme of praising God, not only for who he is, but also for what he has done.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even specifically, what he's done for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: time and time again, these things are on the lips of our salters in the sinna.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we will look at Peter's mother-in-law who's miraculously healed and immediately her response is to serve Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right away, she gives thanks for this wonderful gift that she's been given.

[SPEAKER_00]: And she does not only open her mouth to praise, but we can see her gratefulness through her service.

[SPEAKER_00]: We too have been given a great gift.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think we can agree.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can go around the room.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can talk about all the gifts that God has given us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not the least of which is the gift of salvation that He has given us healing between us and our relationship with God.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, we have a lot of language to talk about these gifts.

[SPEAKER_00]: We like to talk about salvation as a gift.

[SPEAKER_00]: We even make, maybe make mention of it that it's a free gift.

[SPEAKER_00]: But let me ask you guys, those of you that are moms in the room.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some of you guys are going to get a gift today, or maybe you've already gotten a gift.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[SPEAKER_00]: You get the gift for free.

[SPEAKER_00]: But where did the gift come from?

[SPEAKER_00]: There's an understanding that what?

[SPEAKER_00]: Somebody spent something to get that gift.

[SPEAKER_00]: Most gifts are not free.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some gifts are free.

[SPEAKER_00]: I suppose on both ends.

[SPEAKER_00]: But most of them cost something, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: And the gift of salvation that Jesus has given to us came at great cost to Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Came at great cost.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was not free.

[SPEAKER_00]: While Jesus gives it away for free, there was a price to be paid.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus, as he's like we read in Mark, as he's hanging from the cross, dying, bleeding, suffering on our behalf, paid a great cost for the gift of new life that he gives to us.

[SPEAKER_00]: We in turn are called in the New Testament to offer our own lives as a gift back to him.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not a requirement.

[SPEAKER_00]: We got the gift for free.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're not paying for the gift.

[SPEAKER_00]: But we've got this new relationship with God whereas we offer ourselves as a gift to Him in return.

[SPEAKER_00]: We don't get to spend a lot of time with Peter's mother-in-law, but from what we see, I think that she offered her life as a gift to God.

[SPEAKER_00]: In return for this wonderful miracle that she had received.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think anyone that day questioned her gratefulness.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think by her service, people were touched by the goodness of Jesus who would stop and heal.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that was on display in her life, and this is the way that we should serve as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: What if by our service, if we served so fervently, right, we were showing that we've received a great gift from God, that we've received many great gifts from God.

[SPEAKER_00]: And by our service, we show the world that it is true that God has given this gift and he wants to share it with you as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: what if the way we serve was a thing that pointed others in our life towards Jesus?

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's what we can learn from this woman.

[SPEAKER_00]: The second thing that we can learn about services is this, Jesus redefines personal ambition as others focused serving.

[SPEAKER_00]: When James John and their mom approach Jesus, why needs to be the greatest in the kingdom, Jesus does not tell them to lay aside their ambition instead, he defines what ambition is.

[SPEAKER_00]: In essence, he's inviting our ambition.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's saying, you should want to be great.

[SPEAKER_00]: It just doesn't look like what you think it does.

[SPEAKER_00]: The worldly version of ambition has nothing to do with what Jesus talked about in his preaching, in his ministry, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: It looks like building our own kingdom to a mass, wealth, and power, and status.

[SPEAKER_00]: It looks like trying to make yourself as cool, comfortable, and copious as possible.

[SPEAKER_00]: Ambition in a Western culture like ours is all about individualism, ownership, and self-expression.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus turns on his head.

[SPEAKER_00]: He says, actually, greatness in the kingdom has nothing to do with you.

[SPEAKER_00]: It has everything to do with others' focused serving.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to be the greatest, then you actually become the servant of all.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a total opposite of what we think of when we think of personal ambition.

[SPEAKER_00]: Once again, Jesus himself models this through his duck on the cross.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was an innocent man who had done no harm, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: He had not broken the law.

[SPEAKER_00]: He had brought only life to those who desperately needed it.

[SPEAKER_00]: He cared for the sick.

[SPEAKER_00]: He looked out for the outcast.

[SPEAKER_00]: He valued the untouchables and he changed people's lives.

[SPEAKER_00]: He knew that the cross was the way that God was going to accomplish the gift of salvation.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he willingly goes and he dies a cruel death.

[SPEAKER_00]: He is tortured and beaten on our behalf, and he suffers for us in the cross.

[SPEAKER_00]: He dies for the world, and according to his own teaching, it is at that moment of service for every single person in existence that Jesus is exalted as the King of King as the greatest in the world, because he's serving everyone.

[SPEAKER_00]: He is hailed as the greatest in the kingdom.

[SPEAKER_00]: What did an example that Jesus calls James John and their mom to?

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I wonder if they realized that as they heard the news of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, I wonder if it clicked in their minds what Jesus was talking about?

[SPEAKER_00]: Can we today set the record straight?

[SPEAKER_00]: Can we lay down our own selfish ambition and truly embrace what it means to be great in God's kingdom, to live a life of others focused, service, and not to embrace the easy life?

[SPEAKER_00]: You would see that if you spent some time with the spiritual mothers in our church, I can attest that there are many who have laid down their own comfort, their own convenience, and they have served other people at expense of their own.

[SPEAKER_00]: They have done things that cannot possibly be described as things for their own good.

[SPEAKER_00]: But instead laid down their ambition and served others, and this is what it looks like to be great, and so once again I invite you to open your eyes and open your mind to the people that can teach us a thing or two about kingdom, greatness, here in our midst.

[SPEAKER_00]: If we could funnel all the energy that we spend on ourselves and spread that outwards to other people, we would look a lot less like the world and a lot more like Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: The third, the third, a lesson that we can learn about serving is true service means showing up when others won't, even when it's risky.

[SPEAKER_00]: when Jesus was arrested, his disciples knew that there was a real threat to their own lives as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe they wouldn't stop with Jesus, maybe they would arrest Jesus, kill him and then come for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so all of the disciples as Jesus is arrested, flee the scene, they all scatter and run away.

[SPEAKER_00]: Many of Jesus' disciples were indeed killed for their association to him as we continue to read through the story.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can see many people who gave their lives in service of God's kingdom.

[SPEAKER_00]: Many, many, many people who are killed for their association to Jesus, both men and women have given their lives for the church.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it's not surprising that Jesus disciples flee the scene when Jesus was arrested, but not the women.

[SPEAKER_00]: There was a group of women who ignored the risk and stayed by Jesus side anyway.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not even the 12, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus closest allies stayed by him during his death.

[SPEAKER_00]: There may have been one who showed up late, but that's it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yet there are several women who are on the scene.

[SPEAKER_00]: As I mentioned earlier, there are many examples, even today of Jesus' movements started by women.

[SPEAKER_00]: From the very beginning, women have been active in learning, teaching, leading, discipling and ministering in the church.

[SPEAKER_00]: They have put their gifts to use.

[SPEAKER_00]: They have put their possessions to use.

[SPEAKER_00]: They have put their lives to use for the kingdom of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are many female martyrs alongside their male compatriots, yet many have heard the call to Kingdom greatness and showed up anyway.

[SPEAKER_00]: For being alleged the most popular religion, right, Christianity, the most popular religion, there is a real dearth of people who are willing to step up and serve.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are ministry positions all over the church in every denominations that are vacant because of a lack of ministers.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are volunteer opportunities that go unfulfilled.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are mission fields that go without staff.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are people who are unreached because, as Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I asked this morning in, as we look at these women who step up when others won't, will you be the one who shows up when others won't?

[SPEAKER_00]: This is what it means to be great in the kingdom, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: We'll use serve when no one else wants to.

[SPEAKER_00]: We'll you do something costly, we'll you in currisc to serve Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can look at the ladies at the cross and follow their examples.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can choose to follow Jesus even when it's hard, even when it's unpopular, and even when it's risky.

[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that the examples of Mary and Solomon and the others that were with them spurs us towards a more robust and consistent and costly service of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: These women are truly amazing.

[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that I'm able to show you that in the book of Mark.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's easy to overlook the story because sometimes we get buried in just kind of reading the events like it's like a newspaper or something, but if you stop and really consider the beauty that Mark is written as gospel, the arc of his story and the words that he uses, you see that Mark has truly elevated these women more so than he's elevated anybody else in the story, other than Jesus of course.

[SPEAKER_00]: They truly are amazing, and I hope that this mother's day, we can value not only those women, but also the women here, because Jesus valued women in his ministry.

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't overlook or diminish the role of women.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, he goes out of his way to highlight their greatness.

[SPEAKER_00]: Marcus high praise for women who stepped up and served Jesus like no one else would.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, in Jesus' economy, these women have become truly great, and the same invitation to become the greatest by serving others exists for all of us today.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, I hope that you will hear the call of Jesus to become great, just like these incredible women of faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: Will you step up with others when others won't even when it's risky?

[SPEAKER_00]: Will you become others focused and pursuit of greatness?

[SPEAKER_00]: Will you serve out of gratefulness for what God has done for you?

[SPEAKER_00]: Follow these women's examples and pursue kingdom greatness.