Mark 10:35-45
James son of Zebedee - authority in action
Congregation in the Lord,
Jesus spent three years teaching His disciples what it meant to be disciples. Jesus particularly wanted to ingrain into the disciples a certain attitude. Perhaps the most significant visual lesson Jesus gave on this attitude was when He came to each of His disciples with a basin of water and a towel so that He could wash their feet. The visual lesson was clear … but just to be sure Jesus backed up that lesson with these words
“I have set you and example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor the messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things you will be blessed if you do them”. (John 13:15-17).
Why did Jesus give this lesson? Because He knew the human heart …
… the heart which deceives us into thinking that we have priority over others.
… the heart which hungers after a greater position.
… the heart which is not satisfied with its lot in life.
“Power corrupts … and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. That is how the saying goes. And while we know that discipleship is all about service and humility, the fact remains that we can be caught up, we can become proud, we can end up having an overestimation of our place and importance in God’s plan. Since such things can happen here is a good reason to consider the work of the disciples and since the issue of having a power struggle was a struggle which the original disciples shared. Indeed the reading in Mark 10 shows this weakness very clearly.
On the one side you have James and John asking to have the privileged positions in the final kingdom. When all sin has been dealt with. When Jesus is rightly established as the Lord of all. When the full glory of God’s grace is revealed to believers. When that happens; James and John would like to end up right next to Jesus. That’s the position of recognition, of privilege and of power.
On hearing this request the other disciples become indignant. Are they indignant because James and John would dare to ask such a question of Jesus? Far from it. The disciples are indignant because they feel they deserve the position. Who are James and John to make such a claim to fame? We ten have done just as much to deserve such privilege. We have stood side-by-side with Jesus in these battles. Basically they were saying, “We ought to be there. And I am indignant because I didn’t think to ask first”. What a hopeless bunch! Jesus is less than two weeks away from His crucifixion and His band of disciples, the disciples who would be the foundation of the New Testament church, they were almost self destructing because they had become side tracked by the issue of power.
Now I find it very interesting what Jesus does. Because, if I had been Jesus I’m sure I would have become frustrated and angry at the discovery that my band of followers who had been with me for nearly three years still didn’t understand what it meant to serve with humility. But Jesus doesn’t get frustrated and angry. Instead Jesus uses this power-struggle to give another life-lesson. Real power is not about exercising authority or claiming privilege. Real power means following in the footsteps “of the Master who did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many”. That’s what this passage is about – learning to see how real power works. The question is, “Did the disciples understand the lesson?” We will answer that question by having a closer look at James.
The first thing we need to understand is the nature of the request James is making. And you sort of get the impression the he knew he wasn’t really asking for something kosher. “Teacher … we want You to do whatever we ask”. He is acting just like a child who comes to their Mum and says, “Mum, say “yes””. Mum says, “Yes”. Then the child says, “Thanks, I was going to ask if I could go to Jason’s house tonight”. That is what James is doing isn’t he. “Say “yes” to this question”. But Jesus doesn’t fall for it. His ministry is not about fulfilling personal favours. His ministry is all about building a personal relationship between people and God. That applies to the disciples. It applies just as much to us.
Jesus knows that the heart is deceitful. He will not put Himself into a position where He will grant badly-thought-out requests. And the request of James is a badly-thought-out request. It’s a badly-thought-out request because it pictures the rule of Jesus in terms of an earthly king. Even though Jesus constantly taught them otherwise, the disciples continually got caught up in the wrong concept of the “Messiah”. They kept on coming back to the concept of power and a Messiah who would conquer the heathen nations. In their mind the disciples are still longing for the supremacy for the Jews. You see it happening at the ascension of Jesus when still the disciples ask, “Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”. They just didn’t get it, not until the coming of the Holy Spirit anyway.
Now because James is so caught up in this worldly kingdom concept he makes a poor request. James has to learn, and by this time should have learnt, that the kingdom of Jesus is not about rule and authority. On this earth recognition is important. The Jewish culture had a visual way of expressing that recognition in the way seating arrangements were organised around a table. The host would be seated at the middle of the table. Then the person to the right of the host would be the most important guest at the table. The person to the left of the host was the second most important. Then the order of importance would keep swinging from right to left as people were progressively seated further away from host. Jesus once chastised the Pharisees for picking the seats of honour. That is the seating arrangement they were fighting for. It is an issue that occurs on an earthly kingdom and James has been caught up in that poor understanding.
When it comes down to it this is a very self-centred request which comes because he wanted to elevate himself above the other disciples. This says a lot about the type of person James was. It also proves that becoming a disciple of Jesus doesn’t automatically make us into perfect people. The life we lead before we became disciples. The character we had as we serve the Lord. Even the privileges we are given when we serve. They can all have an impact on our discipleship including causing us to be misled at times. Think about James’ life before Jesus came into it.
We know that James is the older brother of John, so that immediately gives him privileges in the Zebedee family. He was the one who would take over the family business … he would also be given a larger share of the inheritance. We also know that James came from a reasonably wealthy home. Zebedee was a successful fisherman who ended up building quite a business. The extent of that business is seen when we read Mark 1:19-20.
“When (Jesus) had gone a little further, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay (Jesus) called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him”.
You don’t hire men unless you can afford it.
James was a man who was used to privilege. That was true before he was a disciple … it was also true after he became a disciple. We see this by reading through the Gospels and discovering that there seems to be an “inner circle” of disciples.
You see it in Mark 5:35-37. The context is that Jesus is on his way to heal the daughter of Jairus. On the way there He is briefly distracted by the woman with the twelve bleeding who touched Jesus and was healed. And then we read:-
“While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ they said. ‘Why bother the teacher any more?’ Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’ He did not let anyone follow Him except Peter, James and John the brother of James”.
That is the inner circle of disciples isn’t it. Peter, James and John.
You see it the same thing happening again Mark 9:2-3:-
“After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with Him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There He was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.”
It was an incredible moment – to see the transfiguration of Jesus. And only those who were pf the inner circle got to see it.
The separation of the three from the inner circle happens on a number of occasions. James was a definite member of the inner circle. He witnessed special events which were only witnessed by two other people. This ministry experience seems to have been translated by James into a greater cosiness with Jesus and higher estimation of himself. He thought that he was something special in the eyes of Jesus. But Jesus was helping him discover that such was not the case.
That is an important lesson for each one of us. For the place we have in the kingdom is not directly related to the importance Jesus places upon us. We are all important. We are an essential part of the body. Great ones are the servants. The blessed are the humble. The faithful are the ones who realise that their willingness for ministry has to be to follow Jesus who gave His life as a ransom for many. When it comes to ministry privileges Jesus sets the agenda in our lives. That is where the life of James the disciple challenges us the most. For the question becomes, “Are we allowing Jesus to set the agenda in our lives? Or are we expecting privilege because of our position?
It is so easy to come to the conclusion that we deserve to have privileges in God’s family. After all quite a number of us have given so much. There are many important and significant ministries being run by our church (mention a few from your local congregation _____________). There are times which we can remember where we have made a great sacrifice for the sake of the kingdom (if possible give an example or two ______________). As a denomination we have had a great impact in our society (give a specific example ______________). Our lives … our ministries in the local and denomination context … our character … they all have an impact on our discipleship and they can bring us to the conclusion that we deserve a favour from Jesus.
But just like James, these things can also mislead us. Our place in God’s family is dependant only upon the grace of God which has been shown to us through Jesus Christ. We would not be here if it were not for the fact that He called us and named us from before the creation of world. We would not have a place in the family of Jesus if it weren’t for the fact that He went to the cross to make it possible. We would still be lost and destined for an eternity of separation from God were it not for the victory which Jesus secured for us over death. We are not in the family of God because we deserve it. We are here because it has been given to us as a gift.
Whenever we speak about discipleship we have to come back to the basic issues. Those same basic issues which Jesus mentions as He teaches His disciples a valuable life lesson. Do you want to be great? Then act like a servant. Do you want to be first? Then take on the nature of a slave. For this is the way of the Son of Man. This is the path that we follow. By God’s grace we are the servant’s of God. But we are only categorised like because Jesus has served us in humility.
On the cross, Jesus ransomed us. He paid the price for our release and we are now free. We are free from the threat of punishment for our sins and we are free to inherit eternal life. How strange it is that our all-powerful God came to be among us as a servant. He had the power to force us to serve Him. He had the right to claim us as slaves. Yet, our God stooped down to be our servant instead. He sacrificed His life to ransom ours. He didn’t need to. He shouldn’t have had to. But our Lord did humiliate Himself just to save us. What incredible love our God has shown to us. And it’s that love which challenges, and corrects, the characteristics which do not conform to the will of God.
If we are going to be effective disciples this is a transformation which must take place in our lives. It is the transformation which stops us from looking at ourselves and relying on our own ability to do great things for Jesus. By not looking at ourselves we look to Jesus and rely on Him to bring about His will as He works through us.
We see that transformation so clearly in the life … or should I really say … the death of James. We read about it in Acts 12:1-2.
“It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword”.
James may have started out having a problem with the issue of authority and power – but in the end he understood what it meant to drink the cup that Jesus drank … and to be baptised with the baptism Jesus went through.
Jesus drank the cup of death - it was ultimate obedience to the Father. James drank the same cup, in ultimate obedience to Jesus. Jesus went through a terrible baptism – the word baptism here referring to the suffering He endured for the sake of saving God’s people. James went through a similar baptism, suffering for the name and the sake of Christ.
Instead of claiming privilege, James took responsibility. By being willing to put the will of the Master first James came to understand the bigger picture. And the big picture is not “who you are” it’s “how you serve”. We don’t serve Jesus as a means to an end. We don’t serve because we want some privilege at the end of the day. We serve Jesus because He owed us nothing, yet He was willing to give everything, including His life, to bring us into the eternal presence of God. We serve because a transformation is taking place. A transformation which sees my pre-Christian attitudes turned around. A transformation that helps change my character, and your character, so that it conforms more and more to the will of God. A transformation that continues to call us humility, even when our ministry might cause us to feel we deserve an extra privilege.
Jesus comes to us, as we are, and He transforms us into disciples who are willing to make the sacrifices so that the name of Jesus can go forward to others. Jesus comes and gives us the hearts of slaves and servants so that we can be called God’s children. Through Jesus we become kings and rulers in the eternal kingdom of God, and that will be true no matter where we are seated.
Amen.
