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Suggested Texts for Sunday, October 20th - Proper 24

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The Request of James and John

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."

36 "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."

41 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."


Overview and Insights

Overview: Jesus leads the way to Jerusalem. The crowds are astonished, while the disciples are afraid. Something big is about to happen. For the third time Jesus announces his approaching passion. He will be betrayed, condemned by the Jewish leaders, and tortured and killed by the gentiles, but three days later he will rise (10:33–34). What happens next makes us drop our jaws in disbelief. Not only do the disciples not get it, James and John have the gall to ask for the seats of honor when Jesus sets up his kingdom (10:35–37). Jesus flatly tells them that they don’t know what they are asking, since they have omitted suffering (symbolized by “the cup” and “the baptism”) from their glorious request (10:38–40). Their boasting in verse 39 reminds us of Peter’s later boast that he would never fail Jesus. The other ten disciples are furious at the two brothers, and Jesus follows up with a clear teaching about discipleship and leadership (10:41–45). Whereas pagan leaders “lord it over” people, kingdom leaders are to be servant leaders who pattern their lives after Jesus who “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:45; cf. Isaiah 53; Phil. 2:5–11). For good reason, many consider verse 45 to be the key verse in Mark’s Gospel.

Insight: Jesus the Servant · Jesus never called himself a servant or a slave. He did, however, imply he was a servant when he taught his disciples about his mission, giving them an example of service they should follow (Mark 10:43–45; John 13:12–17). In both cases, Jesus emphasized the humility that comes with being a servant (not the obedience of the servant, his relationship with the Master, or the tasks to be performed). And, in both cases, Jesus illustrated the lesson on humility by his self-sacrifice, offered for the good of others. After James and John asked for honorable positions in his kingdom, Jesus contrasted the way “rulers of the Gentiles” use their positions of power with the way the disciples will serve one another. The great men of the gentiles gain power to “lord it over” their subjects; Jesus’s disciples will become great by giving power away. The moral is anchored by the example of Jesus: even the Son of Man (who should be served by lesser men) came to serve by giving “his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43–45). Of course, the timing of this conversation is significant: it happened just before Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem, where he was crucified and the “blood of the covenant [was] poured out for many” (14:24).

There is no “Lord’s Supper” memorial in John’s Gospel. Instead, a story is told how Jesus performed the menial task of a household servant by washing the disciples’ feet, despite the objection of Peter (John 13:1–11). Jesus even looked the part. He “took off his outer clothing” and wrapped a towel between his legs and around his waist, looking like a slave. After he finished, Jesus returned to the table fully clothed and asked the disciples whether they understood the lesson modeled for them. They rightfully called him “Teacher,” yet he humbled himself and washed their feet like a slave. Therefore, they should do the same for one another, because “no servant is greater than his master” (v. 16). The way of Christ is humble service.

In light of these stories, it is somewhat surprising that the early church did not emphasize how Jesus fulfilled the role of the “humble” servant of the Lord prophesied in Isaiah (42:1–9; 49:1–7; 52:13–53:12). Matthew claims Jesus fulfilled the prophecy, but it had more to do with the withdrawal of Jesus from the crowds than with his humiliating death on a cross (Matt. 12:15–21). Luke comes closer to making the association when he records the sermon of Peter and the prayers of the first Christians: they referred to Jesus as God’s servant who suffered at the hands of Pilate and Herod (Acts 3:13; 4:27). The clearest example comes from an early Christian hymn quoted by Paul: Jesus humbled himself when he became a man—like a slave he was “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:7–8). Despite the reticence of the New Testament to speak of Christ as a servant, Christians over the ages have featured the servant role of Jesus in many poems, liturgies, songs, sermons, and devotional materials. This Insight by Dr. Rodney
 Reeves

The Baker Bible Handbook by , Baker Publishing Group, 2016

Baker Commentary

The failure of the disciples to understand the way of Jesus is exposed with acid clarity in 10:35–45, where, immediately following Jesus’s announcement of his impending humiliation, James and John ask for fame. James and John think of God’s kingdom in terms of benefits. Jesus, however, speaks of the costs of participating in it in terms of a “cup” and “baptism” (10:38), both metaphors of suffering. The brothers assure Jesus of their willingness to bear the costs of discipleship. Despite their assurance, Jesus declares that the rewards of glory are hidden in the eternal purpose of God (10:40). Disciples are not to follow Jesus because of future rewards but because they wish to be with Jesus—wherever he leads.

The other disciples are “indignant” with James and John for their request of special honor, perhaps because they secretly have hoped for it themselves (10:41). The dissension among the Twelve becomes the pretext for one of Jesus’s most important lessons and self-revelations. Earthly rulers and officials, says Jesus, “exercise authority” (10:42)—and usually with severity. The beginning of verse 43 reads in Greek: “It is not this way among you”; that is, this is not the way the kingdom of God works. Repeating the lesson of 9:35, Jesus solemnly declares that the preeminent value of God’s kingdom is not power, prestige, or authority, but service (10:43). The idea of a “slave”—a position of absolute inferiority in the ancient world—being “first” was as paradoxical as the idea of a camel going through the eye of a needle (10:25). Disciples must practice service rather than authority because it is Jesus’s posture: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:45). Jesus calls disciples not to an ethical system but to “the way of the Lord” (Mark 1:3), the very pattern of the incarnation. A servant is preeminent because a servant gives, and giving is the essence of God, who gave his Son for the sins of the world. In describing the Son of Man as giving “his life as a ransom for many” (10:45), Jesus appropriates the unique description of the servant of the Lord in Isaiah 53:10–11. The servant is the only figure in the Old Testament whose suffering is vicariously effective for others. Verse 45 attests to Jesus’s supreme consciousness of his impending suffering and death in Jerusalem as a “ransom for many,” a self-substitution on behalf of all humanity.

The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary by Gary M. Burge, Baker Publishing Group, 2016

Dictionary Terms

Direct Matches

Cup
John the Apostle
Minister
Ransom
Servant
Slave

Secondary Matches

The following suggestions occured because Mark 10:35-45 is mentioned in the definition.
Agape
Atonement
Bankruptcy
Bartimaeus
Deacon
Gospel of Mark
Harmony of the Gospels
Iniquity
Jesus Christ
Kingdom of God
Love
Ministry
Nativity of Christ
Ownership
Redeem
Redeemed
Redeemer
Redemption
Sin
Volunteers