message recorded at HopeWhangarei August 25th 2024 https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hope-whangarei/episodes/Sermon-Howard-Carter-25th-Aug-Mark10-32-45-Not-to-Be-Served-But-to-Serve-e2nirbs/a-abgc4iu
A rider on horseback, many years ago, in colonial America,
came upon a squad of soldiers who were trying to move a heavy piece of timber.
A corporal stood by, giving lordly orders to "heave." But the piece
of timber was too heavy for the squad.
"Why don’t you help them?" asked the quiet man on
the horse, addressing the important corporal. "Me?” he replied, “Why, I’m
a corporal sir! I’m in charge"
Dismounting, the stranger carefully took his place with the
soldiers. "Now, all together boys - heave!" he said. And the big
piece of timber slid into place.
The stranger mounted his horse and addressed the corporal.
"The next time you have a piece of timber for your men to handle,
corporal, send for the commander-in-chief." The horseman rode off and it
was only then did they realise it was George Washington, the first American
president.
Jesus said to his disciples ‘don’t lord it over each other
as the rulers of the gentile do… rather whoever wants to be great amongst you must
be your servant. The son of man did not come to be served but to serve, and
give his life as a ransom for many.”
We are working our way S L O W L Y through Mark’s fast paced account of the beginning of the Good news of Jesus the messiah, the son of God.” The series is called ‘the way of the cross’ because against the cultural expectations around what the messiah would be like, Mark portrays Jesus primarily as the suffering servant who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many, and we are invited to see that to follow Jesus calls us down the same path of service and self-sacrificial love. The way for us to be a flourishing Christian community is to walk the way of the cross.
The reading this morning starts with a brief travel log. For the first time we are told the destination of the journey we’ve been on. We are told that they are heading up to Jerusalem. We are literally on the way to the cross. It is a journey, in Mark, bookmarked by narratives of Jesus healing two blind men, one at the start in Bethsaida and the other Bartimeus in Jericho. Along the journey Mark shows us how Jesus is trying to deal with and heal the spiritual blindness of his disciples. Jesus predicts his suffering death and resurrection, three times, this is God’s salvation plan being worked out in Jesus, this is what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah. Each prediction is followed by the disciples not getting it: Peter rebuking Jesus, there is heated discussions about who is the greatest and now jockeying to get the prized positions when Jesus establishes his kingdom, comes in his glory. Each time Jesus then teaches his disciples about what it means to truly follow him: pick up your cross and follow me, welcome even a child in my name, to be great you must be the servant of all. Even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.
What is says about Jesus?
Here it acts as a rounding off of all Jesus teaching and ministry up to this point and it points us forward to what is to come. It makes sense of the crucifixion and the resurrection.
We are told in verse 32 that Jesus was out in front, he was leading the way, as Timothy Gombis puts it he is resolutely heading to Jerusalem to carry out the divine agenda. His disciples are following with a mix of astonishment, they are hoping Jesus will establish his kingdom, but their understanding of that is that is based around the cultural expectations of a military and political messiah, and fear, that Jesus and they are heading into trouble and conflict with the religious leaders and power structures in the city… and its not going to end well. So Jesus turns and again give them a prediction of what will happen when they get to the city.
He talks of his suffering death and resurrection. Of the three predictions in Mark this is the fullest and most detailed. It could almost act as a table of contents for Mark’s account of the passion of Jesus. One of the most shocking things in this list is that the son of man will be handed over to the gentiles. Jesus would have understood that for him to be executed it would have had to be done with Roman approval, but also this was a total rejection by Israel of their messiah. The use of the title ‘the son of Man’ from the Old Testament show that Jesus understanding of what is to come is very much based on his understanding of the scriptures of what the messiah will face. Scriptures like psalm 22, that Jesus quotes on the cross and Isaiah 53…
But not only in this passage do we have Jesus understanding of what will happen, and that this is God’s divine plan, but in the son of man came to give his life as a ransom for many we have Jesus understanding of the why as well. The word ransom in the Old Testament has the idea of deliverance by purchase, buying one free. A ransom was paid for a prisoner of war or a salve or someone who had forfeited their lives under the law, and so they were then set free. It came to represent in the Old Testament the idea of God’s redemption, liberation from an imprisonment from which humanity could not free themselves. Jesus as God’s messiah as the exalted son of man freely offers himself in our place. He pays the price that should have been ours. This is the ultimate service that Jesus offers. Underlying this is very much the words of Isaiah 53 the servant song, which speaks of the servant of God, suffering and dying and presenting himself as an offering for the sins of many. Taking on himself our punishment, our guilt, the price of all we have done wrong. That we would be reconciled with God and know freedom and new life. This is the profound truth of the Gospel, Jesus God’s anointed one, his son would give his life for you and I, to win our freedom, in his death the price is paid… and in response to this gift we are called to live our lives follow Jesus.
Ok Jesus saying the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many also rounds off Jesus teaching his disciples about what following him means after they again don’t get it.
Right after Jesus prediction James and John come to Jesus with a request. They ask Jesus to grant them whatever they desire. In one sense this is an act of faith, it is the sort of request you’d bring to a monarch as they are about to ascend their throne, So James and john are aware that Jesus is about to establish his kingdom. As a negative example you may remember Herod Antipas offering to do anything up to half his kingdom to Herodias’ daughter. Jesus isn’t an unwise monarch, so he asks them what they are wanting, he is not prepared to issue a blank cheque. James and john ask that Jesus allow them to have the places of privilege at his right and left when he comes into his glory. At a victory feast the privileged positions to the triumphant king were at his right and left. After all they were part of Jesus inner three, just like David had had his three mighty warriors, they had been on the mount of transfiguration. But James and John are not thinking in terms of Jesus suffering or death or what it means to be a disciple rather only their own status and position.
Jesus response is not to scold them, he responds in terms of looking at what is in front of him. In Mark, Jesus crucifixion is portrayed yes as suffering but also as a coronation, of him coming in his glory, so he asks James and John if they can drink the same cup or be baptised in the same baptism. These were terms that Jesus used to speak of his coming passion as messiah. Of course James and John, still not understanding but with some sense of courage say they can.
Jesus does admit that they will indeed share in his suffering for the gospel. We know from Acts 12;2 that Herod has James executed by the sword, and John suffered imprisonment on Patmos where he wrote revelation. But to give the right to sit as his right and left is not for Jesus to assign, he acts as God’s servant it is in God’s hands. There is double irony here as when Jesus was crucified, came into his glory he was crucified between two thieves.
Then of course we have the other ten being indignant with John and James, you could imagine them all thinking… why didn’t I think of that… I wanted that place… that indignation has very much to do with their thoughts on prestige and status and importance. That word indignation is used t speak of Jesus reaction to the children being sent away, he was indignant for those with no status, here the disciples are indignant about their own status. So Jesus again has to teach them about the idea of being a true follower. So he contrasts the rulers of the gentile who laud it over each other, who seek power and prestige with what it is supposed to be like in the kingdom of God. That whoever wants to be great must be the servant of all, and who ever wants to be first must be the salve. And for emphasis gives himself as the example. The son of man came not to be served but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many. In the kingdom of God service and sacrifice comes before glory, and it is God who lifts us up, not ourselves. As William L Lane explains it there is a difference between the rulers of this world who serve their own interests and those of servants and salve, all their activities are directed to the interests of other people. “the order of life for the common dealing of the disciples is to be love expressed in the form of service.” For this Jesus is their and our example.
Let’s move to look at what ‘the son of man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many has to say to us today.
Over the past few years one of things that has really saddened me has been the public scandals around leaders and pastors in the church who seem to have focused on their own interests and wellbeing, wealth and prestige. We’ve seen it in places like the United States, Australia and in our own country. In one pod cast I listened to they talked of the creep of expecting more and more amongst in particular mega church leaders. There was the expectation of lavish life style, expensive gifts, big love offerings as a sign of appreciation, being put in positions of authority where they couldn’t be challenged, people being used and abused for the leaders vision and dreams. Much of it undergirded by what is called the prosperity gospel, that this lavishness is a sign of God’s blessing, a kind of baptism of greed. It saddens me because it shows that we like Jesus first disciples are still in danger of being blind to the cultural expectations of prestige and status and position and power that are so much part of our world, as opposed to Jesus teaching on service and sacrificial love. Maybe that is that tendency writ so big that it makes the headlines of our papers, but it underlines how easy it is in our everyday life to find ourselves influenced by that… maybe to find ourselves amongst the indignant, or wanting an open cheque kind of relationship with God.
Perhaps the best way of looking at what ‘the son of man has come not to be served but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many has to say to us is to look at one of the two disciples in the passage. It gives me hope that I and we can learn and grow, as followers of Jesus. As I said before James was martyred very early on, but we have John’s writings, and you can see how this incident and Jesus words and example and love had a profound effect on him… In 1 John 3:16, easy to remember the reference… it’s the other John 3:16… John says this “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.’
We could
finish this off right there or with examples of great sacrifice from Christians
for other people. Two came to mind Bonhoeffer in prison in nazi Germany comforting
his captors during bombing raids. Richard Wurmbrand a Romanian pastor
imprisoned under both the right wing and communist regimes in that country, caring
for men wiping their brow and cleaning them up, as they lay in the room put
side for the dying in prison… leading them to Christ, men who had imprisoned
him, and had him tortured, who later fell out of favour with the regime. we
could remember the small acts of service we receive like someone taking the
time out of a busy day to talk with us and share in a moment of need. But I
thought it best to leave it open for you… and to simply finish by going back to
that opening illustration. If I may if your life is under a burden too hard for
you to bear, the burden of sin, like you are under a heavy piece of wood… know our
commander and chief, Jesus son of man came not to be served but to serve and
give his life as a ransom for many. That he was nailed to a piece of wood and
can lift it off you and set you free. As you see others around you who are
struggling under burdens don’t stand back and holler heave… rather join your
commander and chief and get alongside to serve and give your life. The son of
man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many…