Mark 10:35-45 In Search of Greatness

In our last section, we saw how Jesus was focusing specifically on the cross. The disciples couldn’t fathom it; they refused to hear it. And this section proves it.

I have never thought of James and John, brothers who were formerly fishermen, to be notably ambitious. But they show some ambition here. “Jesus, grant that we may sit, one on Your right hand and one on your left, in Your glory.” 

They desire to bypass the cross, and go straight to the glory. And that’s what we all want, isn’t it. We want Jesus to bless our life now, as it stands, and then even better later. But the disciples at this point, as followers of Jesus, were tasked with following Jesus. That is, they were supposed to follow Him to Jerusalem, and they were to follow Him to the trial, and they were follow Him to the cross. They did not. They abandoned Him. 

It is difficult for us to catch what this means today. As followers of Jesus, we are not to seek greatness, but to be servants (the word “slaves” is probably more accurate). We are not to seek our own, because we are not our own. We are bound by another, and our calling is to serve. We are not to make a name for ourselves, but we are to make the name of Christ known. We are not to seek to be first in line, but rather to continually give our place to others.

The other disciples were disgusted with James and John because they asked first. It was not because they were committed to the cruciform life, and were disappointed that James and John were not. No, they were all dreaming of being in the King’s court, and were frustrated that they did not have Jesus’ ear at this moment in place of James and John.

Jesus is not commending one group of disciples over the other. He is seeking to teach them all, that the Christian life is not to be lived in search of greatness. And so He does not use any particular disciple as the good example. He can only use Himself.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45 NAS95)

Here is the King, granted, a very different kind of King. He will not be served, because He is here to serve. His service will take on a particular character. It is not merely doing nice things for people and making them feel better about themselves. Rather, this service has more to do with getting to the heart of the matter; with dealing with their deepest problem and need. And so He says that He came “to give His life a ransom for many.” “To give His life” means just that, to give up His life. He is willing to die for people like us, and in fact He did.