Mark 10:41-45 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 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. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 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.”
 
YOU’VE likely seen examples of prideful leadership hurting, even destroying organizations. Many churches have gone to dust because too many people wanted to rule, and too few were willing to serve. The 12 disciples encountered such a crisis when James and John requested kingdom “power seats” next to Jesus (Mark 10:36-40). Ten men were angry at two. As Jesus had taught elsewhere: Luke 11:17 “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.” The Lord needed to unite the 12 under his mission to become effective, Jesus-like leaders. After all, they are not to follow their own purpose, they are to follow the Servant King.
   Jesus then pointedly tells them that a kingdom leader must be as a slave to his followers. How disturbed the disciples would be. They viewed their future alongside Jesus’ rule. How is it possible a slave-like heart marks a leader’s heart? Whoever heard of such a thing?
   To know Jesus meant what he said, the disciples needed only to look at their Lord’s example. Jesus didn’t teach with only good words. He taught them with his life: “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.”
   Think of this! Their beloved rabbi effectively said, “I came to seek the lost. I came to save the lost. I came to die for you. Stop fighting among yourselves and start serving those who need my salvation!” Jesus’ life is the model of a life-sacrificing, servant leader. Surely Satan smiles when we fight over who is first, unwilling to be truly Jesus-like in our relationships.
   We thank God the disciples learned their lesson. Here’s an example of the kind of churches they founded: Acts 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.   
   How good the church is when its people serve one another under Jesus’ sacrificial love and salvation. He disciples us to use our energy and gifts to help and teach one another, so each person can experience God’s very personal presence. Our Lord has shown us how to be a servant King. The Christian life is to serve as Jesus served. 

​May 30
The Way to Glory
 
Mark 10:36-40 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 38 “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?” 39 “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, 40 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.”
 
THE cross is drawing near, and the disciples are anxious. Let’s stop and look back about three years before this conversation. One day in Capernaum Jesus walked up to James and John, who were fishing with their dad. He commanded, “Follow me.” Life has dramatically changed! These two young fishermen who had envisioned life fishing Galilee’s waters want to confirm their future at the right and left hand of the Messiah’s throne! Jesus, indeed, will dramatically reframe our lives when we follow him.
   But wait. This is the disciples’ idea. Is this what God wants for them? Always the Good Shepherd, Jesus seeks to protect his confused sheep. He knows his baptism of the cross is near. You read here an intense, powerful dialogue as Jesus warns the men about the cost of glory. When James and John see the cup and baptism Jesus endures, he wants them to remember this conversation and consider their desire. They must be girded for their own cup and baptism as Satan wages war against them.
   What do you hope for in your relationship with Jesus? As Jesus’ followers, we should seek to “sit” with him in his glory. We can joyfully anticipate our eternal presence with the Holy God. In the meantime, we must understand that following Jesus requires we drink the cup and experience the baptism God directs to us. This always requires moving from our past lives as James and John did, so we can live as God wants us to experience.
   James’ and John’s lives were very different. James was martyred about 15 years into his ministry, and we know very little about him. John became an elderly apostle who wrote the many remarkable New Testament words of Jesus’ ministry, deity and prophecies.
   Jesus prepares us for our cup and our baptism with his eternal Word. We must know what God says, so we will be ready to do what God wants us to do. We have the foundation of the apostles’ teaching and the testimonies of many saints (people of the church) throughout the church’s history. Relying on the strength of these things revealed to us through the Holy Spirit, we can faithfully wear the armor of God (Ephesians 6) to encounter the life God has anointed for us.
 
Think of This: What joy to know the Good Shepherd lovingly warns you, completely sustains you and thoroughly empowers you to sit with him forever.   

Mark 10:35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
 
THE brothers James and John have heard Jesus’ promise of an abundant  kingdom future. They are also feeling the effects of Jesus’ foreboding prophecy of his death. Perhaps they are thinking, “Let’s get some things settled about our future.” We can understand this. How often – perhaps several times a day – do we tell Jesus, “Lord, I want you to do whatever I ask.” Is this an appropriate demand? A right prayer? A submissive plea? What causes the brothers, and what motivates us to think God will do whatever we ask?
   Could it be we actually believed what Jesus has said? Look in John 14:13 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” And what about Jeremiah 32:27 “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” So then, shouldn’t Jesus do what we ask him to do? He said he would. Or did he?
   To take a verse of the Bible out of context will often cause us to misinterpret God’s entire message. In John, Jesus first pointed to his response to prayer is to bring glory to the Father. Requests that turn people from God will, of course, be rejected. Jesus also spoke this to encourage the apostles’ work in the church. He wanted these brand-new missionaries to know they could ask Jesus for whatever they wanted to advance the church. He would give as it would bless the church’s growth.
   In the Jeremiah verse, God is warning Judah he is about to send Babylon to destroy them. They might have considered Jerusalem too strong to be conquered. But God’s hand would fulfill his purpose.
   John and James wanted their own will to be done in the kingdom of God. Their request is as if you go to God to say, “These are my plans for my life. Now make them happen.” Wha a mess the world would be if God gave each of us what we want. What would be the point of praying, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” if the Father’s will was under your demands?
   Jesus could not have been pleased at his presumptuous disciples. Their only desire should have been to glorify their Lord through a life of obedience to his will and not a life of “give us what we want.” We must be careful, too, because we do not always know the outcome of the things we desire. We’ll learn the disciples didn’t really know the weight of their request.
   Following Jesus requires his continual teaching to help us submit to his leading.  

Mark 10:32-34 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
 
LOOK carefully at this picture. Jesus is the rabbi, leading his disciples to Jerusalem. The chosen 12 disciples closely follow him. They are astonished. There is a crowd of other determined followers eager to experience the Good Shepherd’s touch. And they are afraid.
   Astonishment and fear are the responses of each person who knows Jesus is walking into great danger as he approaches Jerusalem. The disciples have been resistant to Jesus’ prophecies of his suffering and death. Now they seem to understand this could happen. They are incredulous Jesus would go to Jerusalem to suffer, to die. The other followers knew the Sanhedrin’s and the Roman’s fearful power to destroy any voice that opposed them. They have appropriate fear for the Master Teacher.
   Jesus, of course, was confident in his purpose. He is the astonishing Son of Man, who has the power, authority, love and might to encounter all opposition. His victory can only come when he confronts the enemy. With a holy decree from eternity past, the Son of Man announces the immediate future will happen under his will: “We are going up to Jerusalem…the Son of Man will be betrayed…They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
   Jesus does not gloss over the terror that awaits him. After all, he, the Living Word, has written it. Isaiah 53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
   Isaiah spoke the prophecies as if it had happened. In God’s mind it was done. Jesus walks to his affliction. He walks faithfully to his victory. Jesus was fearless of death because he knows he is Life.
   Fear comes to us easily, doesn’t it? Too much uncertainty from too many directions disturb our confidence. Take heart to know the one certainty that comes from one direction. Jesus is risen. He leads the way to the truth. In the Spirit’s joy, you can closely follow him with astonished exaltation. Walk in the truth. Live in the truth. Put aside your fears because you know God has written the future for his faithful: Revelation 21:5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.”  

Mark 10:29-31 And Jesus replied, “Let me assure you that no one has ever given up anything-home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or property-for love of me and to tell others the Good News, 30 who won’t be given back, a hundred times over, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land-with persecutions! All these will be his here on earth, and in the world to come he shall have eternal life. 31 But many people who seem to be important now will be the least important then; and many who are considered least here shall be greatest there.”
 
JESUS’ assurance in his final response the rich young ruler who asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Then he left dejected because Jesus said, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  He viewed his earthly treasure of more value than eternal life with God.
   Still, this prompted the disciples to wonder what would become of their devotion to Jesus. They want to know what is ahead. It’s a natural thing, isn’t it? God has made us to know things. How do we know Jesus’ magnificent promise awaits us?
   To know what’s ahead, we can look back to see the ways God physically enriched the lives of his faithful. For example, what would have happened to Joseph if he had abandoned his faith in God? When Joseph remained faithful even in severe persecution, God rewarded him in the way Jesus illustrates the spiritual joy in our kingdom future.
     There are many examples of the faithful men and women of the church who have denied everything – even their lives – because they trusted Jesus’ kingdom promises. When will God reward them?
   Jesus tells us when in the Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Jesus turns our eyes forward to see what we want to know. Here are some excerpts of the Christians’ future from Revelation 21, 22. You can read these and the other abundant verses of God’s majestic promises often to know your reward is far more than any earthly value: Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”…Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
   Many live as the rich young ruler to reject eternal reward for immediate pleasure. Why would they do that and miss the inheritance of eternal life?
 

Mark 10:28 Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”
 
PETER’S words seem to shout from the page. Jesus had told the rich young ruler, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” That’s precisely what the disciples had done. Matthew had been a wealthy tax collector. Others had a comfortable financial life and regular routines. But now they lived among the poor, receiving support from people along the way. And Peter was often separated from his wife. You can imagine why he seems upset and frustrated when Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  How do you respond to such dramatic words of sacrifice and impossibility?
   Let’s step back to the rich young ruler’s question of Jesus: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” We learned this was a works question. He approached eternal life as a task to accomplish. Then Jesus told the man he needed to know Jesus is God. Submit to his authority. Receive eternal life.
   Peter and the disciples heard this, too. But in that moment of Jesus’ dramatic “impossible” statement, how do the disciples respond to faithfully trust God cause the impossibles to become God’s possibles?
   Yes, the disciples must consider that they gave up much. And they must also remember there wasn’t one thing of value when contrasted to the Kingdom promise. Eventually the disciples would learn this. But in the meantime, they needed to remain faithful to Jesus’ impossible call on their lives, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
   When you wonder if a life given up for Jesus is worthwhile, listen to the apostle Paul. You could say he was a rich young ruler among the Pharisees and his culture when Jesus called him. Here’s how he settled any question of value in his life: Philippians 3:7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
 
 
 
 

Mark 10:24-27 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” 
 
JESUS had just told a rich young man, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” This is an extraordinary call to faith. The disciples were shocked. What disturbed them so much?  
   To the Jewish mindset, wealth was a sign of God’s blessings. Job was a righteous man, and he was very wealthy (Job 1). Abraham amassed great wealth (Genesis 13:2). God also assures his people in Isaiah 3:10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. And we find in the law God’s promise of plenty for his people who obey him. Deuteronomy 11:14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. But the disciples watched Jesus require the rich man lose his wealth.
   Then Jesus illustrates even greater obstacles to the wealthy’s relationship with God: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Once again, Jesus seemed to turn the law upside down.
   Many have said that Jesus is referring to a camel going through a small gate in the city wall called the “eye of the needle”. Truth is, Jesus is referring to the eye of a real needle. Yes, the amazed disciples were disturbed. “Who then can be saved?” For three years they had assumed they were following the Messiah into God’s new kingdom on earth. Were there suddenly new barriers too large for them to overcome? But then came Jesus’ assurance: “All things are possible with God.”
   Jesus wanted his disciples to know the same truth he taught the rich young ruler. To be in the kingdom requires they know God. They must know he alone is their lasting wealth. When they know God, they will know that only in God’s goodness, their kingdom future does not depend on their material wealth or poverty, earthy skills or wisdom. Kingdom life depends on their faith to know Jesus is God.
   This is an impossible thing for the world. The sin nature tells people to deny the righteous Savior. We are deceived to believe it is easier to live in self-desires than it is to live in God’s desires.
   Jesus is teaching that the only reason we come to know God is that he takes our “impossible” sin nature and transforms it into a sanctified holiness. It is, indeed, impossible to achieve heaven on your own.
   Are you Jesus’ disciple? Then daily thank God he has done an impossible “God-thing” to choose you to faithfully confess Jesus as Lord. Recognize that your salvation is the result of the impossible becoming possible. Be amazed at God’s goodness! Then trust his goodness to safely dwell in your eternal soul.
 

Mark 10:17-18 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good – except God alone.”
 
LUKE refers to this man as a ruler, and Matthew noted he is young. He is a rich young ruler with authority and position among the Jews. He knows how to profit from his work. He’s a man who knows what to do to get results.
   What does he want to do? He wants to inherit eternal life. Since inherit means to receive as a gift, he is asking what he must do for the gift of eternal life. And he comes with passion. This young ruler, familiar with giving orders, goes to Jesus on his knees, seemingly humble and contrite. When he then addresses Jesus as “Good teacher.” we can assume he is completely open to hear and do as Jesus says. Surely Jesus would quickly answer the man’s eternal question.
   But eternal life requires that one knows God. That’s why Jesus responds, “No one is good – except God alone.” We could easily understand Jesus is separating himself from God – “God is good. I’m not!” Instead Jesus is telling the man and all those around him that he is, indeed, God. He is not a good man or rabbi. He is the good God incarnate. Knowing that makes all the difference for one’s eternal life.
   “Good” is Scripture’s first revelation of God. The creation account is marked with each day’s benediction, it was good, representing the essence of God’s image in his world. From God’s goodness comes the world’s perfection and beauty. We see in creation his grace, kindness, gentleness, joy, love, happiness and holiness as he blesses all living things. Good defines the perfect creation because it is of God.
   Yes, as we are made in God’s image, we often do good things. We bear his image with love, kindness and help toward one another. But only God is good in the sense it is the essence of his existence.
    Jesus wants the man to see him as much more than a rabbi who taught and did good things. He wants the young ruler to focus on God as ultimate Ruler, to know he is encountering an authority far above a well-known rabbi. If the man does understand that, he will know it is impossible to approach God on his own merit. The young, rich man who knew how to accomplish tasks and make profit needed to understand he must reject his own assumptions. He must submit to God’s goodness.
          As we’ve often noted, changing one’s mindset is a difficult thing. Once again, a man whose mind is set on things of the world will find it impossible to adjust his mind to the things of heaven. The story continues in the next lesson. 

Mark 10:19-21 “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
 
THE rich young ruler had come to Jesus on his knees to ask, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus’ response pointed him to set his mind on God as pure good. Jesus then listed six of the commandments that relate to interaction between people. He hoped the young man would recognize he had not been good before God. Jesus wants the man to know he is not ready to inherit eternal life.
   But the rich, successful young man pridefully claims, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” He called Jesus, “Teacher,” but he isn’t ready to listen to the lesson. He displays a fundamental ignorance inherent in the human mind. We do not know we are sinners. Ask almost anyone around the world if he will live in his understanding of eternal life, and he will likely tell you, “I’m not perfect but I’m good enough.” The young man seemed to believe he was more than “good enough”. He seemed to say, “Thank you, Jesus, for affirming my good life.” The young man bowed down on his knees, but his heart remained upright, prepared to defend his life. Then Jesus, God incarnate, responded:
 
Mark 10:21-23 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 
 
Jesus loved the prideful man. He didn’t love him to say, “It’s okay. You’re not as good as you think,  but you’re good enough for me.” No, he loved him enough to tell him he lacked one thing. That thing is a full love for God.
   The man’s wealth is his earthly treasure, not his eternal inheritance. His question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life.” was really a question, “Will you allow me to have eternal life just as I am?” Jesus called this man to a particular sacrifice, but he said, “I want to keep my money.”
   This does not mean all rich people are to sell everything. For some this has been true. For others the way they use their wealth is a mark of their faith as they use it for kingdom good. Jesus’ point is that when our knees are bent and we ask, “What must I do?” we need to be ready to say, “Yes, Lord.” The young man did business on his terms. As a consequence, he broke the law, disobeying the first two commands: Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”
   A true heart for eternal life requires sure obedience to the Good Lord. 

Mark 10:13-16 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
 
NOTICE that people brought their children to Jesus to have him touch them. A loving touch is powerful. Psychological, spiritual, medical and relational studies reveal that a loving touch from one person to another is an honoring, life-giving gesture.
   The disciples, however, didn’t see it that way. It’s a matter of conjecture to know why the disciples rebuked the parents. But we do understand why Jesus was indignant – a very strong emotion – against his disciples’ rebuke.
   As Jesus took the children in his arms he embraced his creation. He is the Omnipotent God, who formed a nation to know him, so they could live in a sacred harmony with him on earth and in heaven. When the LORD birthed a nation that grew in Egypt, when he set them in the Promised Land, when he gave them his law, and when he brought them back from exile, the LORD God wanted Israel to have a child-like mind. Just as the children went to Jesus, the Holy God wanted Israel to come to him for his blessing. He desired they would easily accept his teachings and live in unity with him.
   To live with God in those ways requires a child-like mind. Such a mind can be directed toward God because there are few things to intervene. Witness how easily many children can memorize Bible verses. And we all remember songs of Jesus and our faith when we learned when we were children. Most of us knew Jesus when we were young because our minds were willing to receive him without objection. Our minds were less influenced with the mind’s natural doubt in God’s Word. We were more eager and willing to believe.
   “Jesus said that people should believe in him with this kind of childlike faith. We should not have to understand all the mysteries of the universe; it should be enough to know that God loves us and has provided forgiveness for our sin.
   “This doesn’t mean that we should be childish, immature, selfish, or spoiled, but that we should receive the kingdom with a child's simplicity and trust. Unless we can completely trust in God, we will never enter the kingdom.” (From Life Application Bible Commentary)
   We should note, too, Jesus’ blessing was more than a simple pat on the child’s body and a word or two. The Greek for he blessed them is an intensive word indicating Jesus took time with each child. Jesus was on a mission to change the world’s mind set on creating a gap between God and our faith. Here was a moment he could physically convey his love for his creation.
   When you need to know the power of Jesus’ blessed touch, remember the cross. Consider the Romans pierced his tender hands with the vicious spikes, so you could eternally know the Lord’s gracious invitation, “Let the children come unto me.”