We often ask for things without any real understanding of what we're actually asking for.
Children do this all the time.
If parents or grandparents gave in to every request, we'd be eating waffles for every meal, watching the same cartoon all day, staying up too late, and avoiding every task a child doesn't feel like doing.
And from the child's point of view, that all sounds great.
Why not eat waffles every meal?
What's so bad about staying up late?
Why should I have to brush my teeth, pick up my toys, or do anything that I don't feel like doing?
It's all about what they want.
And that's really what it boils down to.
Children ask as if the whole world revolves around them.
I want.
I, I, I.
But the truth is, we never really grow out of that, do we?
As adults, we just get better at disguising it.
Our wants become more sophisticated, our language more polished.
But the heart is often the same.
What's best for me?
What do I want?
Or what don't I want to deal with right now?
We may not throw tantrums, but self-centeredness still drives much of what we ask for, especially in our prayers.
We ask for things in life, even in prayer, based on what we think is best for ourselves.
We bring our desires before God, our Heavenly Father, assuming He should grant them.
But some of the most dangerous prayers are the ones we pray without understanding.
We ask for things, even good things, without knowing the cost.
Half the time, we don't even understand what we're asking for.
And if we did understand, we might not actually want it.
We want the result, but not the process.
We want the destination, but not the road that leads there.
We see this everywhere.
In sports, everyone wants a championship, but not the daily grind.
In health, we want to be fit, but not disciplined.
In finances, we want stability, but not the restraint and sacrifice it takes to get there.
We want glory without the cost.
But in God's economy, the path to glory is not what we might expect.
It is paved with obedience, suffering, humility, even death.
It's a path few would choose unless their eyes have been opened by God's grace.
Today we come to a passage where Jesus is on the way to glory, but not the kind of glory the world recognizes or seeks.
And the question that hangs in the air is this Do we really know what we're asking for on the path of discipleship?
And more than that, do we know what it means to follow Jesus on the way?
Let's turn to Mark chapter 10, beginning with verse 32.
We'll be closing out the chapter today, along with what could be considered Act 2 of Mark's Gospel.
And as we prepare to take a closer look at this passage, let's first go to God in prayer.
Let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, we know that apart from your grace to open our eyes, to see your word, we would be helpless.
In our sin, we would be so lost.
And so, God, as we turn to your word this morning, give us eyes to see.
We pray for your help in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Mark chapter ten, beginning with verse thirty-two.
And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them, and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful.
And again he took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him.
Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will deliver him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him, and spit on him, and flog him, and kill him, and three days later he will rise again.
Jesus and the disciples continue on the way to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to suffer, die, and rise again on the third day.
Mark notes going up to Jerusalem because the elevation of Jerusalem, which is about 2,550 feet above sea level, to go to Jerusalem was always to go up, no matter where you were coming from.
This is the third and most detailed prediction of Jesus' suffering and death in Mark's gospel.
It also stands as the final foretelling before those events begin to unfold.
The path to the cross unfolds in two stages.
First, Jesus will be condemned by the Jewish leaders, then he will be handed over to the Gentile Roman authorities to be put to death.
It's one thing to speak about future events.
It's another when every detail comes to pass just as described.
That's exactly what we see with Jesus.
He doesn't just hint at what's coming, he describes it clearly: betrayal, suffering, death, and resurrection.
And as we'll see later in Mark, it all unfolds just as Jesus said it would.
But what's even more astounding is this.
These events weren't just known to Jesus, they were written down in the scriptures hundreds of years before Jesus was even born.
Isaiah 53, written nearly 700 years earlier, reads like an eyewitness account of the cross.
Long before Rome ever used crucifixion, and long before Jesus walked the earth, God had already told the world what would happen.
Listen closely to how Isaiah describes the suffering servant in Isaiah 53.
Who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground.
He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised, and we did not esteem him.
Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.
But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the chastening for our peace fell upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him.
He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth, like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shears, so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and as for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, that for the transgression of my people striking was due to him, so his grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth.
But Yahweh was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief.
If you would place his soul as a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in his hand.
As a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied.
By his knowledge the righteous one, my servant, will justify the many, as he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide for him a portion with the many, and he will divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.
Anyone who is familiar with the details of Jesus' crucifixion should read this passage of Isaiah and be amazed.
It foretells what happens to Jesus with precision.
When Jesus says in Mark ten thirty-three that he will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes and condemned to death, he is fulfilling Isaiah's words that the suffering servant would be oppressed and afflicted, cut off from the land of the living.
This shows that Jesus isn't merely a victim of political circumstances.
His death is a deliberate, sovereign plan of God.
Jesus foretells in Mark ten thirty four that he will be mocked, spit upon, flogged, and killed.
Isaiah describes the same suffering in vivid detail.
The suffering servant is despised and rejected, pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities.
Jesus, the suffering servant, endured shame and punishment, not for his own sins, but for the sin of many.
That's us.
More specifically, that's for all who are united to him in faith.
Jesus even speaks of his resurrection, where he says in Mark 1034, that three days later he will rise again.
Isaiah points forward to this as well, declaring that it was the Lord's will to crush him and put him to grief.
But through this suffering, the suffering servant will see the light of life and be satisfied.
The suffering is not the end.
It's actually the way to glory.
This is the mission.
This is exactly what Jesus came to do.
He wasn't caught off guard by what was waiting for him in Jerusalem.
He wasn't intimidated, he knew, because every detail was ordained by God from the beginning.
Jesus took on flesh and entered into this world for one primary purpose: to suffer, to die, and to rise again so that he would redeem his people.
His death on the cross was not an accident, it was a divine appointment.
He came to shed his blood as the perfect sacrifice, as our substitute.
He stood in the place of sinners, bearing the punishment that we deserve, so that we could be forgiven.
And as we saw in Isaiah 53, this isn't a new idea.
Jesus is that suffering servant.
He's the one Isaiah saw from afar, the one who would be rejected, wounded, and killed, and yet would rise and see his mission completed.
This is why Jesus came.
This is how we are saved.
By his wounds we are healed.
When Jesus continues on the way to Jerusalem, he walks the path laid out long ago by God's own word through Isaiah.
The path of suffering and death for the sake of his own people.
This is the true road to glory.
Do we want to follow Jesus on his terms or ours?
He calls us to a path that goes through suffering before glory, service, before honor, death, before resurrection.
Are we up for that?
Will we follow him on that road?
As we'll see in the next passage, there's no shortcut to glory.
Look with me now at verse thirty-five.
Then James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.
And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you?
And they said to him, Grant that we may sit, one on your right and one on your left, in your glory.
But Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?
And they said to him, We are able.
And Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink you shall drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.
But to sit on my right or on my left, this is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.
And hearing this the ten began to feel indignant with James and John.
And calling them to himself, Jesus said to them, You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.
But it is not this way among you.
But whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.
As I mentioned from the start, we often ask for things without any real understanding of what we're actually asking for.
That was certainly the case for Jesus' disciples, James and John.
They still didn't understand what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah.
They couldn't grasp that he came not to conquer by force, but to suffer and die.
They were thinking about thrones.
Jesus was talking about a cross.
And so they began jockeying for position, thinking Jesus was on his way to political power, perhaps even to overthrow Caesar and restore Israel's kingdom.
Ironically, they weren't entirely wrong.
Jesus is the true king of the Jews, the Roman Empire did eventually fall, and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom in which his people will share in glory and authority, but not yet, and not in the way they expected.
Sometimes we can have the right answer and still completely misunderstand what it means.
It's interesting that Jesus still entertains their request, despite how ridiculous and self-centered it was.
Jesus is so patient and forbearing.
And for those of us who are parents, we can learn a thing or two from him.
When kids persist in disobedience or act in ways that are annoying or frustrating, it's tempting for us to be harsh towards them.
And the same is true even as we relate to other adults.
But here in this passage, as Jesus begins to march towards his own execution, where tension is rising and time is short, Jesus still displays all the qualities of a good shepherd who loves his sheep.
James and John had no clue that what they were asking for involved suffering and death.
Jesus even tells them in verse 38, You do not know what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?
What is this cup that Jesus will drink?
What is this baptism that Jesus will be baptized?
I don't normally like to give away surprises, but it's helpful to look ahead to later on in Mark, where Jesus is confronted with this very topic.
Later on in Mark 14, 36, Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, right before he is about to be arrested and delivered up to be crucified.
In that verse he says, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.
Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will.
Throughout Scripture, the word cup has been referred to both literally and figuratively.
It frequently refers to the contents of the cup, not just the cup itself, being used figuratively for something that cannot be refused.
This is especially the case for something that is unpleasant, like God's judgments, wrath, and afflictions.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knows what's about to happen.
He will soon be arrested, condemned by the Jewish leaders, and handed over to the Roman authorities to be put to death by way of crucifixion.
This is going to be equally as shameful as it is excruciating.
It is no doubt one of the worst ways to die.
Jesus knew this was coming.
Just as he predicted three times.
Over the course of Mark's gospel, and yet in a moment that reveals his human nature, he is reluctant to go through with it.
Nevertheless, his divine nature empowers him to persist in faithful obedience as he declares to his Father in heaven, not what I will, but what you will.
The cup Jesus speaks of is a symbol of God's wrath, his righteous judgment poured out against sin.
James and John didn't understand that what they were asking for involved this cup.
If they had, they wouldn't have wanted it.
Jesus also speaks of a baptism, not referring to water baptism as we know it, but to his own baptism of suffering.
It's a picture of being completely submerged in pain, judgment, and death.
Elsewhere in the New Testament, we learn that water baptism points back to this very reality, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
When a believer is immersed in the water, it is a vivid symbol of being buried with Christ.
And when they rise from the water, it represents being raised with him to new life.
It's a beautiful display of salvation, what God has done to make sinners new.
But for Jesus, this baptism meant the full weight of the cross, suffering, rejection, and death in the place of his people.
That's what we're speaking of here.
And James and John had no idea what they were asking.
Even as James and John asked Jesus, grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory, they have no idea what they're actually asking for.
They think that glory means position, power, and honor.
But the kind of glory Jesus is heading toward is a cross.
And later in Mark 15, 27, during the crucifixion, we read this.
Let that sink in.
There was someone on his right and someone on his left.
But it wasn't what the disciples had imagined.
It wasn't a throne room, it was a hill called Golgotha.
It wasn't royal robes, but torn flesh.
And Jesus had already warned them.
In verse 40 of our passage today, he says, But to sit on my right or on my left, this is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.
The path to glory runs straight through the cross, and all of it, every part of it, was according to the sovereign will of God.
Not one detail was accidental.
But still, the disciples didn't understand.
They were imagining a victorious Messiah who would build a political kingdom, overthrow Rome, and restore Israel's power on earth.
Even after Jesus explicitly explained what would happen to him, that he would suffer, be mocked, beaten, killed, and rise again.
They were still clinging to their own expectations.
And all James and John could come up with was a request that, in light of what was really coming, sounds almost absurd.
The disciples still don't see it.
As they follow Jesus toward Jerusalem, their ambition blinds them to the path of suffering he's been describing.
Even still, Jesus teaches them.
He offers a glimpse of what true greatness looks like in his kingdom.
He explains that God's people are not to rule in the same way as the Gentiles do, excessive and cruel in order to dominate completely.
Instead, what Jesus proposes is something pretty radical.
Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.
This echoes the first shall be last, and the last shall be first from our previous passage.
It flips the values of ruling in this world completely on its head.
Jesus teaches that leadership requires service, sacrificial service.
It's also worth noting the way Jesus escalates servant to slave of all.
This is best understood in light of verse 45, perhaps one of the most profound statements found in all of Mark.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.
This is exactly what Jesus came to accomplish.
Being God and first in everything, Jesus became as last of all by taking on flesh and entering into this world.
Though he is worthy, he did not come to be served in such a way.
Rather, he came to serve in the greatest way possible, to give his life as a ransom for many through his shed blood and death on the cross.
The word used for ransom here has to do with monetary compensation given to a wronged party in lieu of capital punishment for the perpetrator.
In other words, there is a ransom on the heads of each and every one of us as sinners who have come under God's wrath and judgment.
But in God's grace towards sinners, Paul writes about Jesus.
Sin had left a crimson stain.
How's it end?
He washed it white as snow.
That's right.
Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many, to all who are united to him in faith.
And as we see in this passage, Jesus doesn't just tell his disciples how to lead and be great, he demonstrates it himself.
Jesus is the perfect example of sacrificial servant leadership.
Forget about attending leadership seminars.
Be like Christ, and you'll be on your way as a leader, no matter what you do in this life.
True disciples follow in the footsteps of Jesus, not seeking to be served, but ready to serve, willing, if necessary, to lay down their lives for the sake of the gospel.
Let me ask you today, does this describe you?
Whose glory are you really seeking?
We often attach God's name to things that are really about ourselves.
We chase goals and desires with sinful, selfish motives, and then try to slap God's name on them, calling it God's will.
But Scripture warns us the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.
Who can know it?
So here's another question.
Are you mostly focused on your own needs and how others can meet them?
Or are you looking at the needs around you, asking, How can I serve?
This isn't a one-time act.
It's a way of life, a daily dying to self.
This is the path of true discipleship.
It's the road Jesus walked, and it's the road he calls us to walk with him.
There's a famous quote from President John F.
Kennedy where he said, Ask not what your country can do for you.
Ask what you can do for your country.
Today I tell you, through the words of Jesus in this passage, ask not what God's kingdom can do for you.
Ask what you can do for God's kingdom.
There are no shortages of needs or ways to meet them as we look around in a broken world.
Look no further than right here in our own church.
And let me just say, I'm so thankful.
I'm so thankful that we have a church that God is using to meet the needs and care for others in this church.
And so my prayer is that we would be a church that is marked with 100% participation in meeting each other's needs as we seek to further the kingdom of God here in Pembroke and beyond.
Let's close out with verses 46 through 52.
Then they came to Jericho, and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road, and when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
And many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me.
And Jesus stopped and said, Call him here.
So they called the blind man, saying to him, Take courage, get up, he is calling for you.
And throwing off his outer garment, he jumped up and came to Jesus.
And Jesus answered him and said, What do you want me to do for you?
And the blind man said to him, Rabboni, I want to regain my sight.
And Jesus said to him, Go, your faith has saved you.
Immediately he regained his sight and began following him on the road.
As we come to the end of this section in Mark, we find a remarkable story, one that serves as both a literary bookend and a living picture of true discipleship.
Mark closes Act 2 of his gospel with one final healing miracle.
It's the last one recorded and the only healing in which the person is named that's significant.
Bartimaeus is sitting by the roadside.
He's been overlooked by the world, ignored, silenced, and cast aside.
But when he hears Jesus is passing by, he cries out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
Now in Mark's gospel, when someone cries out, it's often bad news, as we've seen with the demonic manifestations that Jesus encountered.
But this time, the cry is filled with faith and recognition.
Though physically blind, Bartimaeus sees more clearly than most.
He identifies Jesus as the son of David, a royal messianic title, and the crowd tries to shut him up.
To them, he's just a nuisance.
But unlike earlier moments, where Jesus told people to remain silent about his identity, he doesn't silence Bartimaeus.
Instead, he calls for him.
And Bartimaeus springs up, throws off his outer garment, which is likely his only possession, and he comes to Jesus in hope.
And then comes a striking moment.
Jesus asks him the very same question he asked James and John earlier in verse 36.
What do you want me to do for you?
The contrast couldn't be more clear.
James and John asked for thrones.
Bartimaeus asks for sight.
They were grasping for power.
He was reaching in faith.
And Jesus honors that request.
Go, your faith has saved you.
The language here echoes what Jesus said to the bleeding woman earlier in Mark chapter five.
But what sets this moment apart is what happens next.
Bartimaeus doesn't just take his healing and head home like most people did throughout Mark.
He follows Jesus.
He goes from by the way to on the way.
That's the mark of a true disciple.
One who sees Jesus rightly, accepts his mission, and follows him wherever the road may lead.
And remember, that road leads to Jerusalem, to suffering, to the cross.
But Bartimaeus follows.
He leaves behind what little he had in order to walk the road with Jesus.
As Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem, we're reminded again the path to glory doesn't come through power, position, or personal ambition.
It comes through suffering, obedience, sacrifice, and service.
Knowing to ask the right questions makes all the difference.
What we ask of God and how we ask reveals what we see.
But even more important is the wisdom that only God can give, the grace to open our eyes, to see his kingdom rightly, and to walk obediently in faith.
James and John asked for a crown, but were blind to the cross.
Bartimaeus, though blind in the flesh, saw Jesus clearly, and he followed Jesus on the way.
This is the call for every true disciple to see Jesus for who he is, to believe what he says, and to follow him wherever he leads.
May God give us eyes to see Jesus clearly, hearts to trust him fully, and lives that follow him faithfully all the way to glory.
Let's pray.
Oh Heavenly Father, we praise your name.
We thank you for your grace.
And as we sang earlier this morning, we were once blind, but now we see.
I pray that would be true of every person in this room.
I thank you for your grace to save us.
Jesus, we thank you that while we were still sinners, you died for us.
You gave your life on the cross.
You are the suffering servant, the fulfillment of Isaiah 53.
This is all according to your plan.
We thank you, Lord Jesus, that in your love you save sinners like us.
I pray that you would be glorified, that we would live lives as your church, that glorify you, that walk humbly in obedience, that look to serve rather than to be served.
We know this only comes through the power of your Holy Spirit.
It's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.