Mark 10:35-45
Bottom-up Leadership
My name is John. Yes, that John, one of Jesus’ twelve, in fact, the one he loved the most. At least that’s the way I always felt. I’m in my late ’80s now. I know that’s nothing for many of you, but for my time, that’s an extremely long life. All of my battle buddies, my wingmen, my fellow disciples are now in heaven. I’m the only one left. It’s a little lonely here on the island of Patmos, but I know God has me alive for a reason.
So, do I remember the conversation you just read? Oh, yes. I remember it like it was yesterday. Jesus was determined to set foot toward Jerusalem. He had been talking about his pending suffering, death, and resurrection; yet, all we could focus on was Jerusalem. My brother James and I thought, “This is it! It’s finally happening! The Messiah is going to take his rightful place on the throne! Finally, the Romans are going to get their just due. Messiah Jesus is going to kick them out of our country and begin this Kingdom reign he’s been talking about for three years.” We knew we were part of his inner circle, his top leaders, Peter, James, and me. So it only seemed natural to ask if James and I could have the places of honor on his right and left, you know, brothers and all. Peter would take care of himself. My fellow disciple, Matthew, remembers that our mom was involved (Matthew 20:20-21). I’d like to blame it on her, but James and I were more than willing to take those top spots of leadership. Jesus would need some strong cabinet heads, so why not us?
As he so often did with people, Jesus took our question and posed a question of his own. He asked us, “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” (v. 38). We answered with a flippant, “Yes we can,” not really thinking about what he was asking. The “cup” in our Bible, the Old Testament, spoke to God’s wrath, as in “God will pour out his wrath on the nations who disobey him” [see Psalm 75:7-8 and Jeremiah 25:15-16]. We had never even conceived that God might pour out his wrath on his one and only son, on behalf of all sinful mankind. The “baptism” spoke of death and burial, as one is lowered down into the water. We remembered how Jesus had identified with all those sinners around John the Baptist by being lowered along with them into the waters of the Jordan. Later, after seeing our Lord on the cross and buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, we could better appreciate his words. But at the time, all we could get out was an enthusiastic, “Yes we can.”
And Jesus replied (vv. 39b-40), “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 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.” Looking back on those words, we can now fully appreciate the significance of them. James and I were just two young fishermen who wanted to make it big in this new kingdom Jesus kept talking about. We had no idea we might share in Jesus’ cup of suffering and death. Not too long after Jesus ascended to heaven, King Herod murdered my brother James with the sword (Acts 12:2). I would pay a different kind of price, allowed to live to a ripe old age, yet exiled to the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9).
While Jesus acknowledged our part in suffering and death, he left it to the Father’s choice who sat at his right and left. Jesus often did this: submitting completely to the Father’s will. Looking back, it took a while to sink in, but over time, each of us disciples have been able to submit ourselves to that same will, no matter what the cost.
Well, back to the story. When the other ten heard what we were up to, asking for these places of honor on either side of our Lord, they were indignant! It’s the same feeling Jesus had felt earlier, when we kept the children away from him. He was indignant with us. And now the other disciples were indignant with him! It’s pretty funny, as I think about it now, so many years later: they weren’t angry at us for craving power right after Jesus talked about his upcoming suffering. They were angry because they hadn’t thought of it first! We had pre-empted their own power grab!
As he often did with us, Jesus used the whole thing as a teachable moment. He pulled all twelve of us around him, and said (v. 42), “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.” Yes, we knew all about that, having grown up in a country under subjugation to the ruthless Romans. The Herods were the worst. Their absolute power made them absolutely danger for us to be around. Just ask my brother. It reminds me of a quote more common to your time: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton). This was the way of our world, and apparently, all too often of your own. Maybe you’ve known leaders who were just after power, and cared little about your welfare.
Jesus continued with a bizarre twist on leadership as we knew it. He said (vv. 43-44), “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” Jesus shocked us with these words. He started off with a medium shock, and then turned up the voltage. Think about it: First, he said, “If you want to be great [using hands to indicate somewhat high level], you must be a servant [indicating lower], and whoever wants to be first [reaching as high as possible] must be a slave to all [indicate the lowest level]. What a paradox! This is leadership 101 on its head! Instead of seeking to control the most people, one should seek to serve the most people? Who could ever do such a thing? How could this ever work?
It was as if Jesus read our minds. He gave us an illustration for this bottom-up leadership model: himself. He next said (v. 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.” We didn’t understand this at the time. Even though he told us on three different occasions that he was headed to a cruel death at the hands of the Gentiles, we somehow failed to take note. It made no sense. And when he hung on that cross, most of us hid in terror for our lives. But later, thinking back to that scene, we finally got it: the cross was the ultimate symbol of servanthood. When Jesus willingly allowed himself to be crucified, in that moment he became a slave to all. And somehow, he became our substitute, a “ransom for many,” as he died in our place so that our sin could be forgiven. I think your theologians call it “substitutionary atonement.” This one who never sinned became sin so that we could have eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Later we considered the words of the ancient prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 53:11-12. I’m sure now that God had given Isaiah an early picture of Jesus the Christ hundreds of years before our time. Isaiah wrote about him, “After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
Did I learn my lesson about leadership? Yes, I like to think I did. Later in my long life, I wrote a new gospel account of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, and Luke had done a fine job in penning a chronological story of many of his miracles and teachings, but they left out one lesson. In my thematic account, I alone shared one incident that was very important to me. I’ll never forget it. It was the evening of Jesus’ arrest. We were all settling into the upper room to observe Passover, our last supper with Jesus. We didn’t have a servant there that night, to wash our dusty feet. And not a one of us jumped in to take the job. That is, until Jesus did (John 13:5). One at a time, he washed each of our feet, even the feet of Judas! Jesus was and is the ultimate servant.
I know you’ve heard of my famous verse, John 3:16. It was actually Jesus who said the verse; I just wrote it down. Well, just recently, I wrote a little letter to believers found in the very back of your Bibles. In it is another great “3:16” verse; I think you label the verse 1 John 3:16. There I tell believers, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” When we do that, we are most like Jesus. Let us pray:
Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you left the glories of heaven to live among us, to die as a ransom for many, to rise again on the third day, and to ascend to the right hand of our Heavenly Father where you prepare a place for us. Thank you for your stellar example in leadership. May we follow it this week, as we choose to put others first, as we learn to serve, as we get our eyes off ourselves and on to the needs of those around us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
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Welcome time:
An executive picked up one of his employees in a new sports car. “This is an amazing automobile,” the employee remarked. “It is nice,” the executive replied. “And if you set your goals high and work hard ... I can get an even better one next year.”
