Mark 10:32 And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him,
33 Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles:
34 And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.
This is the third time He told them He would die and it went over their head. It was not want they wanted in a Messiah.
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.
36 And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?
37 They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.
Right hand the symbol of power. I wonder if Jesus would have said yes, would they have fought each other for the right hand. There may be no left hand position because the Queen usually set on the left hand of the King and the Church is His Bride so we cannot all be in the same chair. Some suggest that a left hand person would be a divide between the Father and the Son so that spot will be empty. I am not a big fan of that concept, but there is not a great deal to be found about the left hand position. On the Father’s left hand would be the Holy Spirit. Again, these are all anthropomorphisms to try and allow our puny brains to comprehend deity.
They may have felt this was an appropriate question because John was the disciple Jesus loved and James was one of the inner circle of three.
38 But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
39 And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:
40 But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not
mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.
We want the blessings of God, but we do not want the sacrifices that might come with the blessings. We can make great professions of faith, like Peter, and yet when the prospect of persecution or even a slight discomfort comes we become sunshine soldiers and retreat and deny.
Mar 10:41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John.
I cannot imagine why the 10 were upset. Some of them were probably hoping for that slot and I suspect Peter might have thought he deserved the slot since he was commissioned to build the church.
42 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.
43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:
44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.
45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Western life makes seeking to be the servant of all very tough. After all, we love the chant, We’re number 1.” No one is satisfied with number two. I remember when the Bills went to the Super Bowl for the third time and lost what vilification they endured from some of their fans. Very few teams make it to the Super Bowl at all, let alone three times, but that was not a thing of pride to many because they did not win.
We are always looking for the promotion and it is hard to help others on the way to our desired goal lest they get picked over us. We are looking for the fastest way up the ladder in whatever career we are in.
Some people get excited about having the title minister, but really the Greek means a waiter or one who does the menial tasks, not someone to be exalted. To be chief, you must become the servant of all and that word is slave. Few slaves were in a position of power and if they were it was only over other slaves. A great many “ministers” and other titled people have forgotten that.
I joked in college that a ThB meant thoroughly humble brother and a BRE meant you were brilliant, reliable and efficient. We are a people obsessed with papers. Twenty years into my ministry some lad interviewed for a church that had gone through a new preacher every year and was concerned that I had not been to seminary.
My suspicion, based upon our conversation is that he had not gone to college, but was probably respected in his field. What they really needed was a young lad that could hit the streets and win souls instead of a ThD/PhD. Because of our obsession with papers many Christians feel inadequate to serve because they did not go to bible college, let alone seminary. They also do not search the scriptures like the Bereans to be sure the PhD doesn’t stand for Thoroughly Heretical Dude.
Indeed, the only BA a Christian needs is to be born again. The only Masters he needs to be concerned about are the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If the Dr. they have does not mean divinely redeemed it doesn’t mean a thing.
May God continue to use the weak, the base and the foolish to bring about a riffraff revival and many “ministers” truly fulfill the meaning of the word and not lord it over the flock. Maranatha!!
