#39 The True Standard of Greatness
Mark
Chuck Sligh
March 1, 2021
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TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Mark 9:30.
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – When I was a young assistant pastor on a puny salary, I supplemented my income by offering my services to sing at funerals for unchurched relatives of the deceased. I only got about $25 each time, but back in the 1980s, $25 went a lot farther than it does today. I had some unusual experiences which I have shared in sermons before.
But most funerals weren’t particularly unusual at all. Somewhere in most funerals, someone would get up and say, “Jack was a great man” or “Mary was a great person.” That’s true of just about every funeral I’ve been to, back then and since. I always wondered what was the standard of greatness by which they measured these people.
In today’s text, Jesus tells us the true standard of greatness. Let’s look today at Mark 9:30-41 which contains one of the most radical ideas in history—so radical, it upended the disciples’ understanding of the Messiah and the kingdom to come.
I. NOTE FIRST, IN VERSES 30-32, THAT JESUS GIVES A SECOND PREDICTION OF HIS DEATH AND RESURRETION.
We begin at verse 30 – “And they departed from there and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it.”
Having finished their public ministry, Jesus begins a journey that inevitably leads to Jerusalem…and to death. Jesus had already told the apostles in chapter 8 that, “the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and by the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
You’ll recall that this brought a rebuke from Peter, and a counter-rebuke from Jesus when He said, “‘Get behind me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but the concerns of men.’” Jesus’ harsh rebuke hushed Peter for the moment, but it didn’t change his mind about how things were going to go when Jesus was declared Messiah. So Jesus tried again to prepare them for what was really going to happen.
The second prophecy is in verse 31 of our text: “For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, ‘The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after he is killed, he shall rise the third day.’”
Jesus taught about His coming passion and resurrection, and no doubt He went to the Old Testament to show that these things were prophesied for the Messiah. So you’d think it all would start to sink in by now right?—Actually, no.
We read in verse 32 – “But they understand not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.”
Why did they not understand?—Mark says, “They were afraid to ask Him.” They were following whom they believed to be the Messiah, but this stuff about suffering, and dying and being raised from the dead just didn’t fit their theological and emotionally comforting boxes they had put Him into. So they were afraid to ask Him about any of it because they didn’t WANT to hear about suffering and betrayal and death and a cross or even resurrection. Despite Jesus’ earlier rebuke of Peter for opposing His suffering and death, and despite two long talks explaining that it WAS going to happen, the disciples sincerely did not believe what Jesus was telling them, and they were AFRAID to believe it, so…they just blocked it out, hoping Jesus would just stop talking about it.
II. IN VERSES 33-37, JESUS TEACHES THE TRUE STANDARD OF GREATNESS.
Let’s read verses 33-34 – “And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house, he asked them, ‘What was it that ye disputed among yourselves on the way?’ 34 But they held their peace: for on the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest.”
Jesus already knew the answer, but He asked them anyway what they had been arguing about on the way to Capernaum. All of a sudden, you could hear crickets. The Greek is interesting here: the words for “asked” and “kept silent” are in the imperfect tense, indicating Jesus kept asking and they kept being silent. So it went something like this: “What were you arguing about?” Silence. “Come on, what were you talking about?” Crickets. “Okay guys, ’Fess up. Tell me what it was all about.” Still silence. Mark doesn’t say if anybody ever did answer Jesus.
Well, Jesus knew they had been arguing over who would be greatest in the kingdom. Here’s how the argument between them might have gone: Peter probably claimed the place closest to King Jesus because of his great declaration about Him being the Christ, the Messiah. On the other hand, I can hear James and John shooting that down, for if anyone would have the Lord’s favor, it would be them because they were the cousins of Jesus and part of His inner circle. Judas would have staked his claim on the fact that he was the only one to hold an office. – He was the treasurer of the group. Matthew?—Not a chance; he ‘d been a tax collector. On and on it went.
This sounds so self-serving to us today, and it is, but it was in character with what we know of Judaism in that day. They had a strange obsession with the seating order in Paradise, and especially who would sit nearer the throne of God. On earth, the seating order at meals, in worship, in the community and in the interractions with inferiors and superiors was a constant preoccupation with them because they were thought to be preparation for the kingdom to come.
Why were the disciples silent?—I think their silence was the silence of shame. Jesus had told them a second time that He was going to be betrayed and would suffer and die and rise again. This was heavy stuff, but what are these guys arguing about when the talk is over?—Who’s going to be the greatest in the Messiah’s kingdom! They were silent because they knew in their hearts that such self-serving talk was wrong, even if it was a common fixation within Judaism. Jesus knew that if they were to continue as His disciples and succeed in their apostolic roles ahead, they would have to learn a very important principle.
Verse 35 – “And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, ‘If any man desires to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.’”
After the self-serving argument between the disciples, in a single sentence Jesus turned their whole scale of values upside down. And so it should be for us as well. The way to true greatness is to become the servant of all.
Nothing like this had ever been said before. In the whole world, in every culture and place, it was thought that the way to greatness was to fight your way to the top of the hill, even killing and slaughtering along the way if necessary, to become the most powerful, the most feared, the most exalted, the most dominant, THE GREATEST. But Jesus turned everything on its head in this one statement. He said that the true standard of greatness is not in exalting yourself and pushing everyone aside to get to the top of the ladder, but the very OPPOSITE of that—to be the LAST of all and the SERVANT of all. What Jesus taught was one of the most counterintuitive, countercultural, and radical shifts in thinking in all of history.
There are two words for servant in the Greek language: doulos, which referred to a common slave, and diákonos, a person who freely attended to the needs of others. – We get our English word deacon from this Greek word. It is this second word for servant, diákonos, that Jesus used in today’s text. It refers to a someone who has a willingness to serve others, even those from the lowest station, rather than try to be in a place of importance over them. This does not mean we shouldn’t be ambitious or accept high positions or titles, but that we should serve the least in spite of the privilege we have.
To illustrate servanthood, notice what Jesus did in verses 36-37 – “And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, 37 ‘Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him who sent me.”
In the home he was in, Jesus took a little child and set him before the disciples. Jesus could not have chosen a more apt illustration of what He was teaching for children are on the bottom of the totem pole in society: They have no influence; they cannot advance someone’s career; nor can they enhance a person’s prestige. And children cannot give us much; in fact, it’s the other way around: Children need things, and they must have things done for them. So Jesus was teaching that the person who welcomes or accepts the least of all in His name welcomes Jesus Himself. However, to do so is not only to welcome Jesus, but also the heavenly Father who sent Him to earth.
III. LAST, WE SEE A CALL FOR TOLERANCE FOR “OUTSIDERS” IN VERSES 38-41.
Verse 38 says, “And John answered him, saying, ‘Master, we saw one casting out demons in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbade him because he followeth not us.’”
Jesus had just taught one of the most revolutionary ideas in human history, and what does John do?—He butts in with a stupid question. I wonder if it was because He didn’t like where Jesus was going with this. He said he and other disciples saw a man casting out demons in Jesus’ name and they told him to stop because, John said, “he does not follow us.” Notice he said, “He does not follow US”: nothing about following Jesus here.
John again exhibits a resistance the disciples repeatedly showed when confronted with the hard parts of following Jesus, or things that challenged established conventions. No doubt expressing the views of the other disciples, he was upset because this man was not following THEM…the twelve chosen ones, the ones who were going to go with the Messiah to conquer Israel’s enemies, the ones who would be closest to His throne—the big-shots in the kingdom in their eyes. It’s ironic that Jesus’ disciples, who had UNSUCCESSFULLY tried to cast out a demon in Jesus’ name in the previous verses, took it on themselves to rebuke a man who had been SUCCESSFUL at casting out a demon!
What was the real problem with the disciples here?—They failed to do the very thing Jesus had just told them to do: to accept others in Jesus name, no matter who they are or how great or small in man’s eyes they are.
Jesus counters John by first dealing with John’s immediate question and then tying it in with what He had been teaching before. Verses 39-40 – “But Jesus said, ‘Forbid him not, for there is no one who does a miracle in my name who will soon afterward speak evil of me. 40 For he who is not against us is for us.”
Jesus told them to stop hindering this exorcist, for no one performs a miracle in His name and then immediately publicly speaks evil of Him. Though he was not part of the twelve apostles, logically this man could not be against Jesus, and therefore “he who is not against us is for us.” Like the Twelve, he truly followed Jesus and stood against Satan. But Jesus would not be deterred from His main point—that the true standard of greatness is voluntary service of others, especially “the least of these.”
So Jesus returns to that subject in verse 41 – “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.’”
Jesus was indicating that the report of the man exorcising demons in His name was part of a bigger picture. Even those who perform even the smallest act of kindness or relief towards another believer in Jesus’ name, such as giving him or her a cup of water, most certainly will not lose their reward in heaven.
CONCLUSION
• I think there are many personal applications you could take from this sermon but let me zero in on just two to keep us focused on the main thrust of Jesus’ teaching this morning.
1. Let me go the end of Jesus’ teaching and ask you: How’s your attitude towards “outsiders.”
Don’t get me wrong, there are boundaries that cannot be crossed which, if someone denies certain beliefs, they are outside of orthodox faith. For instance, if someone denies the virgin birth or the resurrection of Christ or salvation by faith—that person is not even saved according to Scripture. Even these people should be treated with respect, however.
But I’m not talking about heretics of major, essential doctrines of the faith. I’m talking of those in different denominations or those who disagree on non-essential beliefs, like modes of baptism or whether the sign gifts are for today, or those who hold opposing views on doctrinal battles that are not definitively settled in scripture, such as different views on election.
Do you have a spirit of tolerance towards such people? Maybe you wouldn’t join their church because of your differences in some of these beliefs, but can you recognize at least that they are ministering in the name of Christ, that many of their numbers are truly saved, and therefore you can love them and pray for them and not speak ill of them? Can you defend your differences with them without casting aspersions on them or questioning their salvation or their integrity?
Illus. – Charles Spurgeon, was one of the greatest preachers who ever lived. He was a strong Baptist but was influential among several denominations and was known as the “Prince of Preachers.” He was also a dyed-in-the-wool Calvinist. In one of his sermons he commented about three prominent writers on the two sides of the issue—John Wesley who was an Arminianist and Augustus Toplady and George Whitefield, who were both Calvinists. Listen to his comments about them:
I have read many controversial works, and I have admired the force of the arguments in many of them; but when I have read them, I have not gathered from the perusal that the writers on either side were very eminently followers of Christ. They may have been; it is no business of mine to judge as to that matter. They may have been showing other precious qualities while they were contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints, but the grace of Christian charity has not always been very manifest.
For instance, if you read the controversy between Mr. Wesley and Mr. Toplady,—well, I do not know which was the worst of the two; they could both say a thing very sharply when they tried, and the devil helped them to make it ever sharper; they were both of them good men, and it was not according to the nature of either of them to say anything bad of the other. It is quite a relief to notice how Mr. Whitefield conducted his controversy with Mr. Wesley; as I have read it, I have said to myself, ‘This man is a Christian, and no mistake.’
It is reported that Mr. Whitefield was one day asked by a partisan, ‘Do you think that we, when we get to heaven, shall see John Wesley there?’ ‘No,’ said George Whitefield, ‘I do not think we shall.’ The questioner was very delighted with that answer, but Mr. Whitefield added, ‘I believe that Mr. John Wesley will have a place so near the throne of God, and that such poor creatures as you and I will be so far off as to be hardly able to see him.’ As I read such remarks made by Mr. Whitefield, I have said to myself, ‘By this I know, as a Christian, that he must be a Christian,’ for I saw that he loved his brother Wesley even while he so earnestly differed from him on certain points of doctrine.
Jesus said a number of profound truths during His life and ministry that are not always practiced by those who claim to minister in the name of Christ. Here’s another one that fits into that category: Jesus said in John 13:35 – “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another.”
Illus. – From 1618 to 1648 Europe was convulsed by a bloody war of attrition in which religious tensions played a significant role. Secular leaders fought for power and territory in the name of religion. It was during this war, called the Thirty Years War, that a German theologian expressed the most truly Christian response to those we disagree with. He said, “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” That is exactly the spirit Jesus was teaching His disciples and us about how we should respond to those not in “our group,” who nevertheless minister in the name of Christ.
2. Here’s my second application: How’s your serve?
The true standard of greatness is not how high you can rise in the eyes of others, but how low you can stoop in humble service.
I told you about singing at funerals and how in many funerals, something of the greatness of person was mentioned. I wondered what their standard for greatness was. Whether at a believer’s funeral whose life was devoted to God or at the funerals of people I assumed were probably lost, people’s standard for greatness was, surprisingly, a biblical one….
• “Daddy loved us kids and would do anything for us, whether it was to give us money when we were struggling or to come over and fix something.”
• “Mom sacrificed everything for us and gave us the best years of her life.”
• “Bob was the neighborhood’s go-to repairman when something broke and they didn’t know how to fix it, and he refused to ever take a penny.”
• “Margie served in her church and ran the church pantry, and once a week served food at the Gospel Mission and did so many things for people.”
THOSE are the things that people remember when they say someone is “great.” And think how blessed it is that Christianity’s influence has been so great that even the world recognized the true standard of greatness at the end of a person’s life.
Illus. – I am an avid reader of Westerns, and my two favorite authors are Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey. In one of Zane Grey’s novels, he writes about an Indian tribe that was fleeing in the night from a stronger tribe. The chief of the weaker tribe instructed his people to wait until midnight, and then they were going to escape under the cover of darkness.
The tribe came to a creek swollen with melted snow and the knee-deep river was rushing furiously. There were many young, sick and elderly tribe members and the chief ordered the younger braves to carry them through the swift current. But some of the younger braves chose to ignore his order and waded into the creek alone. The current was so powerful that one by one the single braves were swept away. But the other braves who carried children or the elderly on their backs found that the added weight of their burdens kept their feet planted securely on the bottom and they all made it to the other shore.
There’s a profound lesson in that story. If we go through life only caring for ourselves, we face the danger of being swept away by the swift current of our culture that is saturated with the culture of ME. But if we take the time to carry others who are in need, we find that they aren’t really burdens at all; they give us a moral stability that gives our lives meaning.
Ask yourself: Do you have a heart to serve others? If not, what are you going to do about it? I challenge you to stoop to serve others—especially the “least of these”—so you can stand tall at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Be GREAT according to GOD’S true standard of greatness.
