Introduction
In the movie The Princess Diaries, young princess Mia makes a speech about her decision whether or not to accept the role as princess of Genovia.
I wondered how I’d feel after abdicating my role as princess of Genovia. Would I feel relieved or would I feel sad? And then I realized how many stupid times a day I use the word I. In fact, probably all I ever do is think about myself. And how lame is that when there are 7 billion people out there on this planet? But then I thought, if I cared about the other 7 billion people out there instead of just me, that’s probably a much better use of my time. You see, if I were princess of Genovia, then my thoughts and the thoughts of people smarter than me would be much better heard, and just maybe those thoughts could be turned into action.
Elapsed time: 01:40:55 to 01:44:41 (DVD scene 25).
Why did THIS baby change the world?
Jesus came into the world and nothing has ever been the same, we even change the way that we keep track of the years. But why?
There have been other leaders born – lots of them, but none of them continue to make the kind of impact that Jesus does, not one.
Mark’s gospel starts differently than the others, in that there is very little background information, Jesus comes right after John, and is Baptized in the Jordan river and a voice reveals – This is my son, whom I love, Listen to him.
The Roman’s knew power – and this looks like power
The Jews had dreamed of power – and this looked like what they waited for.
In Mark chapter 9 Jesus is on the mountain with Moses and Elijah – and he is in the end standing alone – that is real power
Someone just forgot to tell Jesus
1. The Baby and the Kingdom of God
Mark 10:43-45 (NIV)
43 “…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.”
I want to back us up a few chapters so that you can get in on the conversations that the disciples were having after Jesus was on the mountain with His disciples, appearing with the greatest hero’s of the Jewish nation. Moses, who was the great lawgiver, and Elijah who was the prophet all others were compared against – God’s man for the nation.
The Disciples thought – we’re with the greatest leader in the whole would – we’re going to be great in the kingdom
• You know that when your team is doing well it is easy to wear the clothes with your insignia on it, because we are going to will, or we won the championship
• If you follow a great leader then you are great – that is the way that the disciples felt
They were arguing about who was the greatest among the disciples and James and John even went so far as to ask if they would be allowed to sit in the places of highest honor in the Kingdom – making all the rest of the disciples made (I think because they didn’t ask the question first)
They are not alone – we have a lot of people that treat the Kingdom of God like a club to beat the rest of the world into shape.
Jesus told the disciples that this kind of kingdom and leadership is not why he came
Mark 10:41-43 (NIV)
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,
They didn’t understand the reason that Jesus came in the first place.
Jesus made his purpose clear
Mark 10:45 (NIV)
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.”
A. Jesus coming made him a king that was different from all the others kings in all history. He came not to be served, but to be served.
Think about all the over paid athletes, entertainers, politicians who travel with entourages, maids, handlers, and all other kinds of servants that take care of all the details of life. A 1st century king could have anything he wanted at any time
Think about King Solomon, a king in Israel a thousand years before Jesus, who wrote Ecc 2: 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.
Jesus is the one of a kind son of the only God in all the universe – the one who all creation was made by and for. Surely he will be the King people expected – giving commands and taking charge…
B. Jesus said that he came to serve and give His life as a ransom.
Let me illustrate this with an example from Jesus life and I would like to ask us all to think about what we would do if faced with the same circumstances.
Mark 14: 39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. 41 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” 43 Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 45 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46 The men seized Jesus and arrested him. 47 Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 48 “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” 50 Then everyone deserted him and fled. 51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.
What do you think that the King of the Universe would do?
1. Jesus could have been the King they desired
• The garden was a great place to stage an ambush, it is clear that there were swords under some of the cloaks, they would have jumped to his command to fight for the Kingdom of God.
• Peter didn’t even wait – He drew his sword and struck the servant of the High priest – cutting off his ear
• It is clear that Jesus could have called 12 legions of angels (the host of heaven and it would have been no contest)
But what would a kingdom like that have stood for – love your enemies, pray for those that persecute you?
It would have done nothing about the primary problem mankind had – sin.
We have people today that seem to think that the church is supposed to set up a kingdom here to make sure that people behave like Christians…
2. Jesus could have started his own little community away from everyone else
• Jesus could have walked away with his disciples – over the mount of olives, through Bethany, and into the wilderness – It was what King David had done 1000 years before when his son Absolom was getting ready to take over.
• They could have recited the Lord’s prayer 3 times a day, kept themselves from sin, sat at the feet of Jesus, and been safe from world, waiting for God to do something
• One commentator wrote that they would be “Perfectly save, Apparently Pure, and probably useless”
3. Jesus took the evil on Himself and dealt with it.
• Jesus didn’t return hate to hate or death for death – He Didn’t pass on sin to others
• Jesus didn’t run from sin
• 1 Peter 1 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
Jesus took sin on Himself and disarmed it for all time.
There is an illustration that helps -
The fox is much troubled by fleas, and this is the way in which he gets rid of them. He hunts about until he finds a lock of wool, and then he takes it to the river, and holds it in his mouth, and so puts the end of his brush into the water, and down he goes slowly. The fleas run away from the water, and at last they all run over the fox’s nose into the wool, and then the fox dips his nose under and lets the wool go off with the stream.
Conclusion
1. We are invited to Join the mission of sharing the Love of God with the world
• The mission of the Kingdom of God is not to grab all the power we can, force others to live like a Christian, and vote like we do
• The mission of the Kingdom is to share the Love of God with people who have no capacity to live like Jesus and help them to find life in Him. God will do the clean up on their lives, but we need to share the Love
2. We are invited to share in the suffering of the world
• Too often the Kingdom of God retreats into it’s holy huddle, content to gather with people that think and act like they do without making an effort to be the church.
• So many of the great social changes in our world have come because the church waded into the suffering of others and made a difference
- Orphanages
- Homes for unwed mothers
- Soup Kitchens
- The abolishment of Slavery
- Work to end abortion
- Feeding the Hungry, clothing the sick
- Working with Lepers
- Calling for Justice
If it had not been for the church so many of the Good things that happen in this and other countries would never happen. We cannot skink back into our comfortable shell without engaging the world where it hurts
