Mark 10:35-45

Mark 10:35-45  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”  “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.  They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”  “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said.  “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”  “We can,” they answered.  Jesus said to them, “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 have been prepared.”  When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.  Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials 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 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.”  

“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you.  Take this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.”  (Mark 14:36)  How readily we sometimes think we can follow Jesus with our whole heart, mind, and soul.  We see James (who was later beheaded) and John (who was in exile when he died) proclaim that they were ready and willing to drink the cup of suffering if they were placed in a prominent place besides the ruling Messiah.  Sometimes, our thought life is just as audacious as James and John's bold petition.  In our hearts we really want to be that football player who scores all the touchdowns or we want to be the princess who everyone looks at and swoons.  We want to be the center of attention.  We want to be in the photo next to the Messiah when they take a picture.  As with the Pharisees and Sadducees, we desire to sit at the head table in front of the congregation.  We want our words, our insights, to be heard by all.  "We want. . . " remain the operative words.  The rest of the disciples were aghast at James and John's impertinent request.  But I wonder how many of them had ever thought, "I hope I am loved most by Jesus.  Surely I must be his favorite disciple.  I wonder what great rewards I will reap from serving him?"  Yes the carnal Christian, perhaps even the most devoted Christian, sometimes thinks in fleshly or worldly terms: "If I put so much in, I should get so much out.  Surely, I will be blessed above and beyond everyone else if I serve God with more dedication, more energy, and definitely more passion."  Well, maybe so, that is up to God.  

But in today's scripture, Jesus comes back with a story about a slave.  A story of servanthood, of unreciprocated love.  A slave doesn't even get a thank you, let alone a place of prominence.  A slave's duties are his reasonable service.  Slaves do what slaves ought to do.  They don't do their service to get ahead or for a reward.  They are going to be slaves until they die.  Jesus said if you want to be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, if you really want to be close to me in spirit also, then you must be a servant to everyone.  You must serve everyone out of love without any hope of reciprocation.  If you have my Spirit, my will, inside you, you will serve mankind readily, not looking for rewards or a position of power or importance.  Your inheritance is not extrinsic rewards; your inheritance is eternal life with me.  God is asking us to be servants, not rulers, to be helpers not celebrities.  Yes, some Christians reach great heights in this world, but the Bible says that there are not many of those kind of servants.  Most of us will pass through this earth unknown, unappreciated, but if we are doing the will of God by being servants to everyone we meet, we will be considered great in the Kingdom of Heaven.  We will be rewarded justly, but we will as the elders in Revelation, casting our crowns at his feet, for HE ALONE IS WORTHY.  We are not looking for the Messiah's kingdom power, we are looking to be in the Messiah's presence.  He alone brings happiness to our souls.  As John says, we will be in him and He will be in us.  James and John had their carnal hats on that day.  They forgot that just being in Jesus' presence is enough reward for all eternity.  Look to Jesus, little children, look to him who loves you so; in him is fulness of joy.