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Scripture Reading: Mark 10:32-52
In this message we shall begin to consider 10:32-52. This is the last section in the Gospel of Mark concerned with the move of the Slave-Savior’s gospel service.
Chapter ten describes a number of matters that took place on the way to Jerusalem. We have pointed out that in 10:1 the Lord Jesus rose up from Galilee and came into the district of Judea. The Lord made this move deliberately so that He might die in Jerusalem for the accomplishment of God’s eternal plan. Therefore, to be on the way to Jerusalem is to be on the way to enter into the death of Christ. Then through death, we enter into His resurrection. Hence, the way to Jerusalem is the way into Christ’s death and resurrection.
After the end of chapter ten, no further miracles of healing are recorded in this Gospel. At the end of Mark 10, the move of the Slave-Savior’s gospel service is concluded with the healing of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar. After that healing, the Lord and His followers came into Jerusalem. Their purpose in entering into Jerusalem was to enter into death, resurrection, and even ascension. The last six chapters of the Gospel of Mark, chapters eleven through sixteen, unveil how Christ with His followers entered into an all-inclusive death, a wonderful resurrection, and a marvelous ascension.
As we have pointed out in foregoing messages, as the Lord and His disciples were on the way to Jerusalem, He taught His followers how to handle the matters of marriage, oldness, and money. Each of these matters is closely related to our entering into the kingdom of God. The incidents in 10:32-52 also take place on the way to Jerusalem.
Mark 10:32A says, “Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.” Here we see that the Lord Jesus was strong, bold, and eager. Walking in front of the disciples, He took the lead to go up to Jerusalem with eagerness. The Lord’s followers were greatly surprised, perhaps even shocked, by His boldness. This verse says that those who followed were afraid.
Why was the Lord Jesus so bold in going up to Jerusalem? Concerning this, Luke 9:51 says, “And it came about, when the days were being fulfilled for His being taken up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” The Lord’s face was set like a flint, for He knew that the time of His death was very near. At this point, there was approximately one week remaining before He would be put to death. The Lord was not willing to be stopped, frustrated, or hindered in any way from going up to Jerusalem. If He were hindered, He would miss the day of the Passover, the day for Him to die as the Lamb of God. This was the reason the Lord was so bold to walk in front of all the disciples on the way to Jerusalem.
According to Mark 10:32b-34, as the Lord was going up to Jerusalem, He unveiled His death and resurrection the third time: “And taking the twelve aside again, He began to tell them the things about to happen to Him: Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they shall mock Him and spit at Him, and shall scourge Him, and kill Him; and after three days He will rise.” The first time the Lord revealed His death to the disciples was in Caesarea Philippi, before His transfiguration (8:31). The second time was in Galilee, after His transfiguration (9:31). Now we need to see that the third unveiling took place on the way to Jerusalem. This revelation was a prophecy, altogether strange to the natural concept of the disciples, yet literally fulfilled in every detail.
Because the time for the Slave-Savior’s death had come, He was willing to go to Jerusalem. He went before His followers with a speed and boldness that amazed them. This was His obedience to God unto death (Phil. 2:8), according to the counsel of God (Acts 2:23), for the fulfillment of His redemptive plan (Isa. 53:10).
The Lord Jesus knew that through His death He would be glorified in resurrection (Luke 24:25-26) and that His divine life would be released to produce many brothers for His expression (John 12:23-24; Rom. 8:29). For the joy set before Him, He despised the shame (Heb. 12:2) and volunteered to be delivered to the Satan-usurped leaders of the Jews and condemned by them to death. Therefore, God exalted Him to the heavens, seated Him at His right hand (Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33-35), gave Him the name which is above every name (Phil. 2:9-10), made Him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36), and crowned Him with glory and honor (Heb. 2:9).
The death of the Lord Jesus in Jerusalem included not only the Lord Himself, but also His followers. In fact, we also were included in His death. When the Lord entered into His all-inclusive death. He brought His followers into that death with Him. It is important for us to have this view as we consider the remainder of chapter ten and then the last six chapters of the Gospel of Mark.
When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, all His believers died with Him. According to the record of Mark, we can see that Peter, John, and James in particular were put to death with the Lord Jesus. He brought them and the other disciples purposely with Him into death. As a result, they could share in His resurrection and even be witnesses of His ascension.
On the day of Pentecost, ten days after the Lord’s ascension, the Spirit, who is actually the Lord Himself, was poured out upon all those who entered into Christ’s death, participated in His resurrection, and saw His ascension. With Christ as the life-giving Spirit poured upon them, they could realize in their experience that truly they were in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Furthermore, they could apply the Lord’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to their living. Therefore, on the day of Pentecost Peter and the one hundred twenty were people in Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension. They were one with Christ, and they were actually His embodiment. On that day they were living Christ. We all need to see such a marvelous picture.
It was not an accident that on the day of Pentecost the one hundred twenty were witnesses of the crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ. They all had followed Him and had passed with Him through death and into resurrection. They also saw His ascension. On the day of Pentecost they were in the reality of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ.
As the Lord Jesus and His disciples were on the way to Jerusalem, He wanted to impress them with the matters of His all-inclusive death and His wonderful resurrection. Hence, for the third time, He spoke to them about His death and resurrection. However, the disciples did not have eyes to see. Even after the Lord had repeated this word the third time, His followers still were not able to see it.
The incidents recorded in 10:35-45 prove that the Slave-Savior’s disciples were blind with respect to the vision of His death and resurrection. Immediately after the Lord’s unveiling of His death and resurrection for the third time, James and John came to Him and said, “Teacher, we desire that whatever we ask You, You will do for us” (v. 35). The Lord replied, “What do you want Me to do for you? And they said to Him, Grant to us that we may sit, one on Your right, and one on Your left, in Your glory” (vv. 36-37). This request exposes the fact that John and James were still natural sons of thunder. They certainly had not been replaced by Christ, and they had not been crucified and brought into the Lord’s resurrection.
According to the account in the Gospel of Matthew, it was the mother of the sons of Zebedee who made this request (Matt. 20:20-21). She was a sister of Mary, the Lord’s mother, and was therefore His aunt. From this we see that James and John were the Lord’s cousins. It may have been based upon the fact that they thought they had a close natural relationship with Him that they asked for a favor — sitting at the Lord’s right and left in His glory.
The Lord had told His disciples that He was about to die. But they were ambitious to sit at the Lord’s right and left. Their request was altogether natural.
In Mark 10:38 the Lord said to James and John, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup which I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” Both the cup and the baptism refer to the Slave-Savior’s death (John 18:11; Luke 12:50). The cup signifies that His death was the God-given portion for Him to take for the sinners whom He would redeem for God. Baptism denotes that His death was the God-ordained way for Him to pass through for the accomplishment of God’s redemption for sinners.
From the Lord’s answer we see that those who would sit at the Lord’s right and left in His glory must be prepared to “drink the cup” of suffering. To suffer the cross is the way to enter into the kingdom (Acts 14:22). The selfish entreaty of John and James afforded the Lord an opportunity to reveal the way to enter into the kingdom.
When James and John told the Lord that they were able to drink His cup and be baptized with His baptism, He said to them, “The cup which I drink you shall drink; and the baptism with which I am baptized, you shall be baptized. But to sit on My right or on My left is not Mine to give, but for those for whom it has been prepared” (vv. 39-40). Here we see that the Lord stood in the position of a man. Standing in such a position, the Lord was fully subject to the Father. He did not assume the right to do anything outside the Father.
The ten were indignant about James and John (v. 41). Then, calling them all to Him, the Lord said to them, “You know that those who presume to rule the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it is not so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever wants to be first among you shall be slave of all” (vv. 42-44). The Lord’s word here is absolutely contrary to the natural self-seeking mind. The indignation of the ten also afforded the Lord an opportunity to reveal the way into the kingdom. The way is to be willing to serve others as a servant, even as a slave, instead of ruling over them.
In verse 45 the Lord goes on to say, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” This is the strongest expression, stating that the Slave-Savior, as the Son of Man in His humanity, is a Slave of God to serve sinners even with His life, His soul. Furthermore, the word “ransom” here indicates that even the Slave-Savior’s redemption was His service rendered to sinners for God’s plan.
As we shall see more fully in the next message, in making their request James and John were actually blind sons of Timaeus, blind beggars (v. 46). Their word about sitting at the Lord’s right and left in His glory was a word spoken by those who were blind.
We may even say that James and John were actually blind beggars. In chapter ten we see them begging for a position at the Lord’s right and left. It is significant, therefore, that this chapter closes with the healing of blind Bartimaeus. James and John certainly needed such a healing themselves. As blind men begging for position, they needed the Lord to open their eyes so that they could see Him and see His death and resurrection. We need to learn from Mark 10 that if we are still ambitious for a position in the church life, we also are sons of Timaeus, poor, blind beggars needing the Lord’s healing.
