Sermon from August 19, 2001
We come today to a watershed in the Gospel of Mark. The end of chapter ten marks the end of all those events outside Jerusalem. Beginning in chapter 11:1 everything else takes place in Jerusalem. These last scenes of chapter ten prepare us to grasp the meaning of those events in Jerusalem that have forever changed the world. Please take your New Testament and join me as we prepare ourselves to understand the climax of human existence and its significance for us as a congregation. We will look together at Mark 10:42-52. It is appropriate to place these verses in Mark's larger scheme of things.

In Mark 10:32 to the end of the chapter we come for the third time to the threefold pattern on which Mark has organized His interpretation of the meaning of Jesus Christ. Last Sunday, in verses 32-34 we saw for the third time Jesus' prediction of His suffering, death and resurrection, which is always the first part of the pattern.

The second part is always some inappropriate, uncomprehending response on the part of His disciples, and for the third time we saw how they did that. As was the case in chapter nine, their interests turned not to understanding Jesus' gloomy prediction but to their own dreams of power. Only this time James and John went behind the backs of the other ten and tried to get an inside track to power and glory.

Verse 37: They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." In English sitting to the right and left of, say, the president, expresses a position of honor and trust, and has overtones of being able to get things done. In the language of the Bible it means this, but it also means to hold positions of executive authority. It is obvious that James and John had a high opinion of their abilities. It is also obvious that they were ambitious brothers, the JFK and the RFK of their time. I don't say that to be unkind. Try to hear their request against the political backdrop of their times.

Many Jews in the first century expected the Messiah to be a Messiah who would liberate Israel from its oppressors by military and political means. If you think of the Messiah that way, then it makes perfect sense to imagine what the trappings of power around him would be like. Since the twelve disciples hold a privileged place in Jesus' public life, they have reason to think that when He takes power, they will hold high places in his government. The debate among them back in chapter nine had to do with who would have greater influence in that government. We can see here in chapter ten clearly the validity of this interpretation.

When they argued among themselves about this back in chapter nine, they had an uneasy conscience about it. We know that, because when Jesus asked them what they had been talking about, they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Why keep quiet? They were embarrassed by their own ambition. They may even have had guilt about it. Here in chapter ten James and John seem no longer to have any qualms about expressing their ambitions openly to Christ. They have no qualms about going behind the backs of the other ten.

Going behind their backs like that points to one of the great temptations that faces ambitious people. If you are going to realize your ambitions, then sooner or later you will be tempted to have a disregard for other people. Few of us can do that without twinges of conscience, especially when we take our first steps toward realizing our ambitions.

Verse 41 should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Why would that be? Were they angry that James and John had the guts to ask what they all wanted but were afraid to ask? The whole scene is a classic case of power moves and counter moves – politicking at its most basic.

The third part of the pattern is always Jesus' reply to the disciples' inappropriate, uncomprehending response. His reply seeks to challenge, encourage, and teach them what it means to be followers of a suffering Messiah. Then, an episode or series of episodes follows, which reinforces what the disciples need to learn.

The key to the third part of the pattern comes in Mark 8:35. Jesus lays down there the radical principle of what it means to be followers of a suffering Messiah. "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." In that statement He completely inverts the values of ordinary life. In chapters eight, nine and ten Jesus applies that inversion of values to specific areas of human experience.

Conventional ways of thinking hit a wall when Jesus said He was a Messiah, who was doomed to die. In His replies to the disciples' inappropriate, uncomprehending responses to that prediction Jesus says in effect, "Now that I have your attention, let me remake your mind by showing you how the kingdom of God really works." Every inversion of values He makes offers a bracing alternative to conventional ways of thinking. The episode that closes chapter ten applies that bracing alternative to the exercise of power over other people. We begin with verse 42.

Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them." The language is plain vanilla, but He summarizes what all of us know from experience: the boss is in charge, and he lets you know it. The comic strip Dilbert has made a living off the absurdities of that relationship.

But the absurdities do not do away with the necessity of power in human relationships. Some leaders abuse power, others use it poorly, still others use it well and with justice and even mercy. Independently of how people use it, the exercise of power has been entrusted by God into human hands. Romans 13:2-3 says, The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

I know I don't need to say this to you, but just for the record let me say that it is quite within the will of God for Christians to hold positions of power, whether they be in politics, law, business, the military, education or the Church. Christians holding such positions will need to come to terms with the conflicts that sometimes arise between their inescapable daily duties and the unique inversion of power values that Jesus talks about next.

Jesus looked out on the world of power, acknowledged its realities and then said to His highly ambitious disciples (in verses 43-44), "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." "Whatever the exercise of power is like among the power elite out there, I don't want it to be like that among you in here." Being a servant instead of a power broker sounds like an invitation to anarchy or hypocrisy. It is not, and it is worth taking a few moments to reflect on the Lord's words.

I want to begin by acknowledging up front that His language poses difficulties. Servant is bad enough, but slave is an especially difficult word for us with our national history and with our loud insistence on "unalienable rights." Nevertheless, there they both are, setting forth the vision of a community of people, who delight in serving each other. Not many models of what He had in mind are on offer; but there is one – Himself. Verse 45 makes clear that His call to servanthood is modeled on Himself. "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." At the heart of His servanthood is His passion to pursue His goals, not by coercion but by patient persuasion.

From all we have learned from the Gospel of Mark, is not the greatest demonstration of this His relationship to His disciples? They lack faith. They miss the point. They are repeatedly blind and deaf to what mattered most to Him. In private (always in private) He confronts them, cajoles them, loses patience with them, rebukes them, instructs them, and tries to give them a greater vision of what is in store for them. But He never seems to squelch them; they keep coming back for more. You always have the feeilng that if they had wanted, they could have left His company; we know from the Gospel of John that many of the other disciples did leave.

He persuaded them by His ideas and His unmistakable achievements and by allowing them to sread those ideas and to participate in those achievements. Remember the times when they preached and healed and cast out demons just like He did. I think Jesus could be difficult at times, but those twelve intimate disciples knew in their bones that He would make good on His promise to give His life for them.

Even when James and John make perfect idiots of themselves, Jesus does not squelch their ambition: He redirects it. "You want to be the greatest? Good! But in the kingdom of God you do not get to be the greatest by stepping on people to achieve power and fame; you get to be the greatest by being a servant. Aspire to be great by aspiring to be a servant." "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all .... whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all."

Could we be a congregation of people that aspires to be such a community of servants? I want to be that kind of pastor, as do my fellow pastoral staff. We have so much to learn. I believe we are willing to learn. Also of great power is your desire to be such a congregation, if it takes a decade. Don't let our failures daunt us. When Christians are arrogant and coercive, why should we be surprised? But for us to acknowledge our failures and embody something of Jesus' servanthood would be a new thing in the earth. He has called us to embody such an inversion of power values.

This would be a great time to wrap us this exposition. Verse 45 prevents me from doing that. "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." I will now do what Mark does not do. He puts verse 45 in here and does not say one word about it, when a verse like this may be the verse the interprets the entire Gospel of Mark.

We have seen the disciples three times, quite distinctly, reject or turn away with a vacant stare from Jesus' prediction of His rejection, suffering and death. And why not? Such predictions, if true, mark an end to their bright hopes that Jesus is the Messiah, who will deliver Israel from her enemies. We have good reason to believe that the disciples saw no way of carrying on, if Jesus was no longer their leader.

Verse 45, which serves as the foundation of Jesus' call to be a community of servants, also interprets His rejection, suffering and death in a way that keeps open the door of hope into a bright future. Two words in that verse do the job. The first is the word come. "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

The word expresses purpose. The rejection, suffering and death do not come upon Him by tragic accident. Rather, He goes forward to embrace them. He sees them as generic to His calling. The implication is that the disciples then and now must also embrace them as His calling (and in another sense theirs). The second word in the verse that transforms everything is the word ransom.

"The Son of Man ... came to give his life as a ransom for many." The fundamental idea in the word ransom is liberation. In some way not at first clear to them or to us the rejection, suffering and death of Jesus works for the liberation of many. As I said, Mark offers no comment on the meaning of these momentous words. In an act of great restraint he writes them and passes on, leaving us to take them into our heart and, like the Virgin Mary, to ponder them until they come to fruition.

Mark passes on to the last miracle of physical healing in the Gospel of Mark. I will simply read verses 46-52 and offer what I believe to be Mark's intention. Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."

So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you."

Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

The Gospel of Mark reports Jesus' miracles in a way that tantalizes readers with their meaning. For example, if you remember chapters one and two, Mark reported a miracle in nearly every episode. They were as plentiful as raindrops throughout the first eight chapters. In the last eight chapters Mark reports exactly two miracles of healing that Jesus did, one in chapter nine, this one in chapter ten, and none thereafter. Why so few? Why doesn't Mark spread them out more evenly throughout the book?

Today, I need simply to remind you about one of Mark's guiding principles in reporting Jesus' miracles. Jesus' miracles always offer powerful material evidence of spiritual realities, always in relation to Jesus, occasionally in relation to His disciples. We saw in chapters seven and eight how the healing of the deaf man and the blind man illustrated in the flesh the kind of miracles needed in the spirit, if the disciples were ever to grasp the true meaning of Jesus. Could this last miracle of healing suggest that armed with the truth of verse 45 the disciples, if they have eyes to see, have in hand the key to interpret the momentous events about to unfold in Jerusalem? Might we have in hand that same key, which is also the key to our calling to be a community of servants?