WEBVTT 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:10.000 We often ask for things without any real understanding of what we're actually asking for. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:13.359 Children do this all the time. 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:34.560 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. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:39.759 And from the child's point of view, that all sounds great. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:43.359 Why not eat waffles every meal? 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:46.560 What's so bad about staying up late? 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:55.359 Why should I have to brush my teeth, pick up my toys, or do anything that I don't feel like doing? 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:58.320 It's all about what they want. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:03.679 And that's really what it boils down to. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:08.879 Children ask as if the whole world revolves around them. 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:10.560 I want. 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:14.640 I, I, I. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:20.719 But the truth is, we never really grow out of that, do we? 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:26.000 As adults, we just get better at disguising it. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:33.040 Our wants become more sophisticated, our language more polished. 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:36.640 But the heart is often the same. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:39.439 What's best for me? 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:41.599 What do I want? 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:46.480 Or what don't I want to deal with right now? 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:58.719 We may not throw tantrums, but self-centeredness still drives much of what we ask for, especially in our prayers. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:07.120 We ask for things in life, even in prayer, based on what we think is best for ourselves. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:14.159 We bring our desires before God, our Heavenly Father, assuming He should grant them. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:21.360 But some of the most dangerous prayers are the ones we pray without understanding. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:27.520 We ask for things, even good things, without knowing the cost. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:33.120 Half the time, we don't even understand what we're asking for. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:37.199 And if we did understand, we might not actually want it. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:41.919 We want the result, but not the process. 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:46.800 We want the destination, but not the road that leads there. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:49.599 We see this everywhere. 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:55.439 In sports, everyone wants a championship, but not the daily grind. 00:02:55.759 --> 00:03:00.400 In health, we want to be fit, but not disciplined. 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:08.879 In finances, we want stability, but not the restraint and sacrifice it takes to get there. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:13.120 We want glory without the cost. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:20.159 But in God's economy, the path to glory is not what we might expect. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:28.479 It is paved with obedience, suffering, humility, even death. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:36.080 It's a path few would choose unless their eyes have been opened by God's grace. 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:46.960 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. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:56.240 And the question that hangs in the air is this Do we really know what we're asking for on the path of discipleship? 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:02.319 And more than that, do we know what it means to follow Jesus on the way? 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:08.639 Let's turn to Mark chapter 10, beginning with verse 32. 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:16.480 We'll be closing out the chapter today, along with what could be considered Act 2 of Mark's Gospel. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:24.000 And as we prepare to take a closer look at this passage, let's first go to God in prayer. 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:26.079 Let's pray. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:37.759 Dear Heavenly Father, we know that apart from your grace to open our eyes, to see your word, we would be helpless. 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:41.759 In our sin, we would be so lost. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.240 And so, God, as we turn to your word this morning, give us eyes to see. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:48.879 We pray for your help in Jesus' name. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:49.759 Amen. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:54.560 Mark chapter ten, beginning with verse thirty-two. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:07.199 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. 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:13.199 And again he took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:37.759 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. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:54.560 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. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:13.120 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. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:20.879 This is the third and most detailed prediction of Jesus' suffering and death in Mark's gospel. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:27.279 It also stands as the final foretelling before those events begin to unfold. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:31.680 The path to the cross unfolds in two stages. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:42.480 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. 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:46.240 It's one thing to speak about future events. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:52.399 It's another when every detail comes to pass just as described. 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:55.839 That's exactly what we see with Jesus. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:07:06.399 He doesn't just hint at what's coming, he describes it clearly: betrayal, suffering, death, and resurrection. 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:12.720 And as we'll see later in Mark, it all unfolds just as Jesus said it would. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.879 But what's even more astounding is this. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:27.360 These events weren't just known to Jesus, they were written down in the scriptures hundreds of years before Jesus was even born. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:37.279 Isaiah 53, written nearly 700 years earlier, reads like an eyewitness account of the cross. 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:49.360 Long before Rome ever used crucifixion, and long before Jesus walked the earth, God had already told the world what would happen. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:56.959 Listen closely to how Isaiah describes the suffering servant in Isaiah 53. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:04.560 Who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:11.839 For he grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:21.680 He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should desire him. 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:40.399 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. 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:55.759 Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:12.960 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. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:26.320 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. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:43.200 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. 00:09:44.080 --> 00:10:12.639 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. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:17.919 But Yahweh was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:29.519 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. 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:36.559 As a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:46.080 By his knowledge the righteous one, my servant, will justify the many, as he will bear their iniquities. 00:10:46.639 --> 00:11:07.840 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. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:20.480 Anyone who is familiar with the details of Jesus' crucifixion should read this passage of Isaiah and be amazed. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:25.039 It foretells what happens to Jesus with precision. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:43.519 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. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:50.159 This shows that Jesus isn't merely a victim of political circumstances. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:56.720 His death is a deliberate, sovereign plan of God. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:06.320 Jesus foretells in Mark ten thirty four that he will be mocked, spit upon, flogged, and killed. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:10.799 Isaiah describes the same suffering in vivid detail. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:22.080 The suffering servant is despised and rejected, pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities. 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:32.960 Jesus, the suffering servant, endured shame and punishment, not for his own sins, but for the sin of many. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:35.279 That's us. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:41.600 More specifically, that's for all who are united to him in faith. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:51.120 Jesus even speaks of his resurrection, where he says in Mark 1034, that three days later he will rise again. 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:59.919 Isaiah points forward to this as well, declaring that it was the Lord's will to crush him and put him to grief. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:07.360 But through this suffering, the suffering servant will see the light of life and be satisfied. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:11.440 The suffering is not the end. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:15.039 It's actually the way to glory. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:17.840 This is the mission. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:21.200 This is exactly what Jesus came to do. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:26.000 He wasn't caught off guard by what was waiting for him in Jerusalem. 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:34.720 He wasn't intimidated, he knew, because every detail was ordained by God from the beginning. 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:48.720 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. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:55.600 His death on the cross was not an accident, it was a divine appointment. 00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:02.879 He came to shed his blood as the perfect sacrifice, as our substitute. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:12.000 He stood in the place of sinners, bearing the punishment that we deserve, so that we could be forgiven. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:17.440 And as we saw in Isaiah 53, this isn't a new idea. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:20.879 Jesus is that suffering servant. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:32.799 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. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:35.440 This is why Jesus came. 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:37.759 This is how we are saved. 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:41.120 By his wounds we are healed. 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:54.000 When Jesus continues on the way to Jerusalem, he walks the path laid out long ago by God's own word through Isaiah. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:59.919 The path of suffering and death for the sake of his own people. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:04.559 This is the true road to glory. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:12.080 Do we want to follow Jesus on his terms or ours? 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:25.519 He calls us to a path that goes through suffering before glory, service, before honor, death, before resurrection. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:28.399 Are we up for that? 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:32.639 Will we follow him on that road? 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:39.120 As we'll see in the next passage, there's no shortcut to glory. 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:42.240 Look with me now at verse thirty-five. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:54.879 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. 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:58.879 And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you? 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:06.080 And they said to him, Grant that we may sit, one on your right and one on your left, in your glory. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:10.480 But Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking. 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:18.240 Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:21.279 And they said to him, We are able. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:30.480 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. 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:39.840 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. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:45.200 And hearing this the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:57.679 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. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:01.120 But it is not this way among you. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:10.559 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. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:19.599 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:32.400 As I mentioned from the start, we often ask for things without any real understanding of what we're actually asking for. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:36.400 That was certainly the case for Jesus' disciples, James and John. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:42.880 They still didn't understand what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah. 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:50.000 They couldn't grasp that he came not to conquer by force, but to suffer and die. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:53.119 They were thinking about thrones. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.799 Jesus was talking about a cross. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:08.799 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. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:12.720 Ironically, they weren't entirely wrong. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:29.200 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. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:36.559 Sometimes we can have the right answer and still completely misunderstand what it means. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:44.559 It's interesting that Jesus still entertains their request, despite how ridiculous and self-centered it was. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:50.240 Jesus is so patient and forbearing. 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:55.279 And for those of us who are parents, we can learn a thing or two from him. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:19:05.839 When kids persist in disobedience or act in ways that are annoying or frustrating, it's tempting for us to be harsh towards them. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:10.079 And the same is true even as we relate to other adults. 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:28.880 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. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:37.039 James and John had no clue that what they were asking for involved suffering and death. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:43.279 Jesus even tells them in verse 38, You do not know what you are asking. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:50.400 Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:03.599 What is this cup that Jesus will drink? 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:07.279 What is this baptism that Jesus will be baptized? 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:17.759 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. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:31.440 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. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:37.440 In that verse he says, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:43.680 Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:21:00.960 Throughout Scripture, the word cup has been referred to both literally and figuratively. 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:13.279 It frequently refers to the contents of the cup, not just the cup itself, being used figuratively for something that cannot be refused. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:23.279 This is especially the case for something that is unpleasant, like God's judgments, wrath, and afflictions. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:29.440 In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knows what's about to happen. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:43.119 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. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:49.359 This is going to be equally as shameful as it is excruciating. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.240 It is no doubt one of the worst ways to die. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:57.599 Jesus knew this was coming. 00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:59.759 Just as he predicted three times. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:10.799 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. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:24.480 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. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:36.400 The cup Jesus speaks of is a symbol of God's wrath, his righteous judgment poured out against sin. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:44.240 James and John didn't understand that what they were asking for involved this cup. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:48.079 If they had, they wouldn't have wanted it. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:58.160 Jesus also speaks of a baptism, not referring to water baptism as we know it, but to his own baptism of suffering. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:05.279 It's a picture of being completely submerged in pain, judgment, and death. 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:15.599 Elsewhere in the New Testament, we learn that water baptism points back to this very reality, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:23.119 When a believer is immersed in the water, it is a vivid symbol of being buried with Christ. 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:30.720 And when they rise from the water, it represents being raised with him to new life. 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:38.720 It's a beautiful display of salvation, what God has done to make sinners new. 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:51.200 But for Jesus, this baptism meant the full weight of the cross, suffering, rejection, and death in the place of his people. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:54.880 That's what we're speaking of here. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:59.519 And James and John had no idea what they were asking. 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:12.160 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. 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:17.200 They think that glory means position, power, and honor. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:22.640 But the kind of glory Jesus is heading toward is a cross. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:28.880 And later in Mark 15, 27, during the crucifixion, we read this. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:38.960 Let that sink in. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:45.200 There was someone on his right and someone on his left. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:48.880 But it wasn't what the disciples had imagined. 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:54.720 It wasn't a throne room, it was a hill called Golgotha. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:25:00.079 It wasn't royal robes, but torn flesh. 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:04.000 And Jesus had already warned them. 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:16.480 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. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:28.559 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. 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:32.880 Not one detail was accidental. 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:36.960 But still, the disciples didn't understand. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:48.160 They were imagining a victorious Messiah who would build a political kingdom, overthrow Rome, and restore Israel's power on earth. 00:25:48.559 --> 00:26:00.480 Even after Jesus explicitly explained what would happen to him, that he would suffer, be mocked, beaten, killed, and rise again. 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:04.720 They were still clinging to their own expectations. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:13.920 And all James and John could come up with was a request that, in light of what was really coming, sounds almost absurd. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:17.920 The disciples still don't see it. 00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:26.640 As they follow Jesus toward Jerusalem, their ambition blinds them to the path of suffering he's been describing. 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:30.400 Even still, Jesus teaches them. 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:36.319 He offers a glimpse of what true greatness looks like in his kingdom. 00:26:37.119 --> 00:26:48.799 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. 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:54.480 Instead, what Jesus proposes is something pretty radical. 00:26:55.359 --> 00:27:04.640 Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:12.400 This echoes the first shall be last, and the last shall be first from our previous passage. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:18.559 It flips the values of ruling in this world completely on its head. 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:35.519 Jesus teaches that leadership requires service, sacrificial service. 00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:42.319 It's also worth noting the way Jesus escalates servant to slave of all. 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:52.079 This is best understood in light of verse 45, perhaps one of the most profound statements found in all of Mark. 00:27:53.599 --> 00:28:01.920 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:06.640 This is exactly what Jesus came to accomplish. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:18.400 Being God and first in everything, Jesus became as last of all by taking on flesh and entering into this world. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:23.680 Though he is worthy, he did not come to be served in such a way. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:36.480 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. 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:50.160 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. 00:28:50.400 --> 00:29:00.559 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. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:05.759 But in God's grace towards sinners, Paul writes about Jesus. 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:32.160 Sin had left a crimson stain. 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:34.160 How's it end? 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:37.279 He washed it white as snow. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:38.640 That's right. 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:47.119 Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many, to all who are united to him in faith. 00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:56.880 And as we see in this passage, Jesus doesn't just tell his disciples how to lead and be great, he demonstrates it himself. 00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:04.480 Jesus is the perfect example of sacrificial servant leadership. 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:07.599 Forget about attending leadership seminars. 00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:15.440 Be like Christ, and you'll be on your way as a leader, no matter what you do in this life. 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:30.319 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. 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:35.599 Let me ask you today, does this describe you? 00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:40.240 Whose glory are you really seeking? 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:47.279 We often attach God's name to things that are really about ourselves. 00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:59.279 We chase goals and desires with sinful, selfish motives, and then try to slap God's name on them, calling it God's will. 00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:07.920 But Scripture warns us the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:09.519 Who can know it? 00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:12.400 So here's another question. 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:19.519 Are you mostly focused on your own needs and how others can meet them? 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:25.680 Or are you looking at the needs around you, asking, How can I serve? 00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:29.279 This isn't a one-time act. 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:33.920 It's a way of life, a daily dying to self. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:37.759 This is the path of true discipleship. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:42.960 It's the road Jesus walked, and it's the road he calls us to walk with him. 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:46.640 There's a famous quote from President John F. 00:31:46.799 --> 00:31:51.279 Kennedy where he said, Ask not what your country can do for you. 00:31:51.599 --> 00:31:54.160 Ask what you can do for your country. 00:31:54.559 --> 00:32:02.559 Today I tell you, through the words of Jesus in this passage, ask not what God's kingdom can do for you. 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:06.480 Ask what you can do for God's kingdom. 00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:14.960 There are no shortages of needs or ways to meet them as we look around in a broken world. 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:19.279 Look no further than right here in our own church. 00:32:19.599 --> 00:32:23.119 And let me just say, I'm so thankful. 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:33.519 I'm so thankful that we have a church that God is using to meet the needs and care for others in this church. 00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:47.839 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. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:53.119 Let's close out with verses 46 through 52. 00:32:56.880 --> 00:33:18.880 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. 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:28.079 And many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me. 00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:32.240 And Jesus stopped and said, Call him here. 00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:38.799 So they called the blind man, saying to him, Take courage, get up, he is calling for you. 00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:44.240 And throwing off his outer garment, he jumped up and came to Jesus. 00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:49.039 And Jesus answered him and said, What do you want me to do for you? 00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:54.880 And the blind man said to him, Rabboni, I want to regain my sight. 00:33:55.279 --> 00:34:00.000 And Jesus said to him, Go, your faith has saved you. 00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:05.759 Immediately he regained his sight and began following him on the road. 00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:20.239 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. 00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:25.840 Mark closes Act 2 of his gospel with one final healing miracle. 00:34:26.079 --> 00:34:32.719 It's the last one recorded and the only healing in which the person is named that's significant. 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:37.280 Bartimaeus is sitting by the roadside. 00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:44.400 He's been overlooked by the world, ignored, silenced, and cast aside. 00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:53.280 But when he hears Jesus is passing by, he cries out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. 00:34:54.239 --> 00:35:04.400 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. 00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:10.000 But this time, the cry is filled with faith and recognition. 00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:15.280 Though physically blind, Bartimaeus sees more clearly than most. 00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:26.079 He identifies Jesus as the son of David, a royal messianic title, and the crowd tries to shut him up. 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:28.719 To them, he's just a nuisance. 00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:38.719 But unlike earlier moments, where Jesus told people to remain silent about his identity, he doesn't silence Bartimaeus. 00:35:39.039 --> 00:35:41.599 Instead, he calls for him. 00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:51.519 And Bartimaeus springs up, throws off his outer garment, which is likely his only possession, and he comes to Jesus in hope. 00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:54.000 And then comes a striking moment. 00:35:54.480 --> 00:36:02.159 Jesus asks him the very same question he asked James and John earlier in verse 36. 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:05.519 What do you want me to do for you? 00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:09.440 The contrast couldn't be more clear. 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:12.800 James and John asked for thrones. 00:36:13.199 --> 00:36:16.000 Bartimaeus asks for sight. 00:36:17.280 --> 00:36:19.760 They were grasping for power. 00:36:20.079 --> 00:36:22.960 He was reaching in faith. 00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:26.079 And Jesus honors that request. 00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:29.440 Go, your faith has saved you. 00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:36.480 The language here echoes what Jesus said to the bleeding woman earlier in Mark chapter five. 00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:41.360 But what sets this moment apart is what happens next. 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:48.639 Bartimaeus doesn't just take his healing and head home like most people did throughout Mark. 00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:51.039 He follows Jesus. 00:36:52.639 --> 00:36:57.599 He goes from by the way to on the way. 00:36:59.039 --> 00:37:01.599 That's the mark of a true disciple. 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:10.719 One who sees Jesus rightly, accepts his mission, and follows him wherever the road may lead. 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:18.159 And remember, that road leads to Jerusalem, to suffering, to the cross. 00:37:18.639 --> 00:37:20.719 But Bartimaeus follows. 00:37:21.039 --> 00:37:26.719 He leaves behind what little he had in order to walk the road with Jesus. 00:37:28.800 --> 00:37:40.960 As Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem, we're reminded again the path to glory doesn't come through power, position, or personal ambition. 00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:49.920 It comes through suffering, obedience, sacrifice, and service. 00:37:50.559 --> 00:37:54.719 Knowing to ask the right questions makes all the difference. 00:37:55.440 --> 00:38:01.039 What we ask of God and how we ask reveals what we see. 00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:15.440 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. 00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:22.079 James and John asked for a crown, but were blind to the cross. 00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:30.719 Bartimaeus, though blind in the flesh, saw Jesus clearly, and he followed Jesus on the way. 00:38:31.599 --> 00:38:42.239 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. 00:38:42.559 --> 00:38:54.639 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. 00:38:55.360 --> 00:38:56.639 Let's pray. 00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:01.760 Oh Heavenly Father, we praise your name. 00:39:01.920 --> 00:39:03.679 We thank you for your grace. 00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:09.280 And as we sang earlier this morning, we were once blind, but now we see. 00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:12.719 I pray that would be true of every person in this room. 00:39:13.119 --> 00:39:15.760 I thank you for your grace to save us. 00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:19.519 Jesus, we thank you that while we were still sinners, you died for us. 00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:21.519 You gave your life on the cross. 00:39:21.679 --> 00:39:25.840 You are the suffering servant, the fulfillment of Isaiah 53. 00:39:26.239 --> 00:39:27.840 This is all according to your plan. 00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:32.079 We thank you, Lord Jesus, that in your love you save sinners like us. 00:39:32.800 --> 00:39:45.840 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. 00:39:47.039 --> 00:39:50.559 We know this only comes through the power of your Holy Spirit. 00:39:50.719 --> 00:39:52.320 It's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:39:52.559 --> 00:39:53.199 Amen.