Mark 10:32-45 (Lent 5B)
St. John, Galveston 3/17/2024
Rev. Alan Taylor

+ In Nomine Jesu +

Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The passage before us this morning from Mark’s Gospel is the third time Jesus predicted his death and resurrection to His disciples. The first time, Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him (Mk 8:31-32). We all know how that went. “Get behind Me Satan (Jesus said to Peter), for you don’t have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” The second time Jesus predicted His death, once again, the disciples didn’t understand what He was talking about, but they were afraid to ask him about it (Mk 9:31-32). Which is to say, the disciples faith in Jesus wasn’t any more perfect than our faith is. Throughout their time with Jesus, the disciples were growing in their understanding of the Kingdom of God and of Jesus’ reign.

Which brings us to the third time that Jesus predicted His death and resurrection. “See (He said), 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.”

As you can well imagine, it was a very somber moment for Jesus and His disciples. He whom the disciples had trusted and followed, was about to be delivered over to the authorities and be condemned to die. Still, as somber as the moment was, James and John thought it was a good time to ask Jesus for the highest seats in His Kingdom. Maybe one of them said to the other, what do you think? It seems a good time to me to ask. Don’t you think?  At which time, the other brother may have said, well, it seems like as good a time as any. You ask Him! No, you ask Him! Ok, I’ll do it. And so, one or both of the brothers asked Jesus their question! “Teacher (they said), 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.”

A little bit later in the reading, we are told what the reaction of the other disciples was to James’ and John’s question. To put it mildly, they weren’t happy with the two brothers. In fact, they were indignant. It’s not altogether clear though why they were indignant with James and John. Perhaps it was because the two of them had the audacity to ask Jesus such a question. Or, maybe they were indignant because they didn’t think to ask Jesus the question first. Either way, the other disciples were upset with James and John.

Right away, Jesus addressed the brothers question further. He told them that they didn’t know what they were asking. Jesus’ response was more profound than it might first appear. He asked James and John, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” Given that the brothers didn’t really understand what Jesus was asking them, they said, “we are able.” At that point, Jesus explained what it was that they didn’t understand about greatness in the Kingdom of God. He said, “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 would 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.”

I realize that’s a bit of a lengthy summary of the passage and introduction to this morning’s message, but it’s all to bring us to these last few words of Jesus about what it was that James and John failed to understand in regard to seats of honor in the Kingdom of God.

The point is, everything about God’s Kingdom challenges the prevailing social order. In other words, the values of God’s kingdom stand in an inverse relationship to the values of the world. That is, what is highly valued at the top of one order ranks at the bottom of the other. And so, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy...and so forth. Those blessed in the Kingdom of God are considered lacking, perhaps even severely deficient in the social order of the world.

In a similar way, greatness in God’s Kingdom is not attained by achievement, or by merit, or by power, or status, or any other such measure. Rather, it is established by servanthood. Why, even Jesus Himself, the very One that James and John wanted to sit near when He came in His glory, “did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.”

It is, of course, the servant heart of Jesus that brought us all into His Kingdom, a servant heart that lead Him to fulfill all that He had spoken to His disciples. He was arrested. He was tried. And, in the mystery of the Gospel, He was found guilty in the eyes of God, guilty of your sin and mine. Indeed, Lord…

“I caused Your grief and sighing
By evils multiplying
As countless as the sands,
I caused the woes unnumbered 
With which Your soul is cumbered,
Your sorrows raised by wicked hands.”

And, just as it was the servant heart of Jesus that brought you into His Kingdom, so it is His servant heart that keeps you in His kingdom today. You came here this morning with various thoughts on your mind, even difficulties and trials haunting you. Whatever your thoughts or intentions were when you came here, God has set before you a new reality, a life in which everything is, as it were, turned upside down. As such, you have been brought into the presence of angels and archangels, and all of the company of heaven.

And God has again assumed the role of a servant, for He serves you today with His Word. He declares to you what your mind could never fathom and your heart could never dream. You are holy and righteous in the site of Almighty God! Indeed, you are well pleasing to Him! Your sins have been washed away in Holy Baptism. They have been removed from you as far as the East is from the West.

And, as if God’s blessing of absolution and forgiveness were not enough, He gives you yet more. “This is My body, (He says). This is My blood. They have been given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” God sets you in the presence of angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. A new reality has ensued. Greatness is not achieved. Rather, it is given, being  manifest fully in the One who is the servant of all, He who became what He was not, that you might be who you were not.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +