Cody Harlow- Mark 10:32-45 10/27/24

himself he it can't be done and so the charges were false but the Jews they couldn't exercise capital punishment they had to go and they had to get permission from the Romans to execute anyone which is why Jesus says that he was going to be delivered over to the Gentiles the third commitment is is that they will mock him they will spit on him they will fog him they will kill him listen to Matthew's account from what Christ suffered on that Good Friday then he released them for them barabus and having scourged Jesus delivered him to be crucified then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters and they gathered the whole Battalion before him it's about 600 men and they stripped him and put a Scarlet robe on him and twisting together a crown of thorns they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand and kneeling before him they mocked him saying hail King of the Jews and they spit on him they took the Reed and struck him on the head when they had mocked him they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to be crucified that is what our Lord came to accomplish just a little bit of it because it goes on to describe his crucifixion the last commitment that Christ makes after that third day is that he will rise and in all this he's emphasizing his entire purpose in his first Advent he came to fulfill the father's will Jesus he is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world Jesus's plan a to the sin problem and he still is he still is Jesus was not unwilling to lay down his life for us he is love incarnate staring down the barrel of sin and marching toward it yes he did pray in the garden Lord if there is any way to let this cup pass from me your will be done and he is still willing to go to

the Cross to redeem us us he died to redeem us in Jesus he knew what his purpose was to come and to die as a sacrifice for sin and if you're taking notes about how to apply this passage okay if we are to walk in Christ likeness we must be like Jesus and embrace Christ's mission for s suffering we must walk in it when the cross is Central to our lives that means that we die daily to ourselves and our desires and our wants and we follow him because his path is the cross before Christians were known as Christians you know we were described as following the way over and over again in the book of Acts it refers to Believers as those of the way way and what is that way it's the way of Christ it's the way of Christ so embrace the way of Christ walk in the way of Christ and the Walk of Christ is embracing suffering embracing the trials and the tribulations that we will go through it's a daily journey and it reminds us of what our cost is in surrendering what our plans and our desires and our wants might be your plan might be awesome for your life you might have everything mapped out from point A to point B and you're just going along with your plan and it might be a really good plan it might involve a lot of happiness and a lot of joy and a lot of Peace but that may not be God's plan for you God's plan may be hardship and trials and struggles and tribulations and persecutions in fact I I would say more often times than not it is now as we're talking about this it is within this context that this of this third prediction of his death that James and John they approach Jesus about this in uh the synoptic gospels Matthew Mark and Luke that's how it goes and so Jesus is talking about his

his his suffering and his crucifix ition and you know gives them that promise of resurrection and James and John these are the two of the that really Inner Circle they're the sons of thunder and so they they walk up to Jesus and they say teacher we want you to do for us whatever we ask and that's pretty interesting right it's not recorded in Mark but it is in Matthew chapter 18 in the context of talking about church discipline he talks about this says again I say to you if two of you on Earth or agree on Earth about anything they asked it will be done for them by my Father in heaven for where two or three are gathered in my name there I am among them or there am I them so these two men or their mom depending on which gospel that you're reading they take Jesus at his word they they come together they agree let us sit at your right and your left hand as you enter that that that place of Glory why why are they kind of thinking about that place of Glory well they're assuming that the Messiah is going to Jerusalem to establish his kingdom and they're saying Jesus as you come up here in just I don't know maybe another day or two can we sit at your right and your left hand when you go and you take the throne can we do that of course the others were indignant I'm getting ahead of myself but these two men they take Jesus at his word and they give that request and it's a big one to sit down in his right and the left hand of the Son of God the highest positions of honor the absolute highest I don't think that any one of if Jesus were like you know to look at at at any one of us and he were to say come and sit at my right or my left hand I think that we might be bashful about that like no I I can't sit there that's for someone better than me you know

that's Abraham's seat that's David's seat that's Moses's seat that's someone someone way more reputable than Cody these guys they they they don't view themselves in that light they're the disciples they're part of that inner group and this just shows just how much the disciples didn't understand the mission of Christ they completely missed it in fact Luke 18 He restates how much they missed it in three different ways this is just the verse but they understood none of these things the saying was hidden from them and they did not grasp what he said just three times over and over they didn't get it they didn't get it they didn't it and I thank the Lord for that because sometimes I don't get it and this is why Jesus he said you don't know what you're asking you don't understand your request they didn't comprehend the plain teaching of the suffering servant what would it mean to sit at the suffering servant's left hand and his right hand and this is why he asked them are you able to drink the cup which I drink are you able to be baptized with baptism with which I baptize in out of ignorance they say yeah we can do that of course we can Jesus they have no clue in a in a little over a week they're going to completely abandon their po are going to run away but he agrees that they will suffer in various ways the first Apostle to be martyred was James the first Apostle John he was the last one to suffer James he was killed in Jerusalem you can read about that in Acts chapter 12 it says this about that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church he killed James the brother of John with the sword and when he saw that pleased the Jews he proceeded to

arrest Peter also this was during the days of unleavened bread in uh Yus Yus he was a church historian he was up uh uh almost as famous as Herodotus uh uh guys like Josephus famous historians Yus he uh uh lived in the late first century and he records uh Clement of Rome's testimony which he got from an eyewitness testimony of what happened there in Acts chap 12 this is not authoritative but it is church history and it's important to know it says that James he was led to the Judgment seat and he was accused by a man name named Josiah in Josiah he uh uh saw James bearing testimony of Christ and Josiah was so moved that he himself the accuser confessed okay I believe this now I also am a Christian and both James and Josiah they were being led away together to be beheaded and he begged James to forgive him and James reached over gave him an Embrace kissed him on the cheek and said my brother be peace on you and they were both beheaded on that same Time same same day John after many many years of teaching and suffering he was exiled onto the island of Patmos by Emperor dichan and there he was a political prisoner for many years he was vilified you see James and John they drank the cup of death just like Jesus they drank the cup of suffering they were baptized with the same baptism but Jesus makes it clear that to give those seats of honor at his left and his right hand are not his to give in fact this is a good point for us to maybe camp out on for a little bit which is to reject self- glory and to accept humility as we grow in our rejection of things like vanity the Puritans used to talk about vanity all the time as we grow in our rejection of of self Glory we grow in our love for the Lord and worship him in our service God he is

pleased when we get rid of those sinful attitudes when we deny them uh when we deny our sinful actions and we conform to Christ likeness through the power of the holy spirit it's a mysterious work for sure it's not something that we just do in our own strength and that uh many Sinners they can look pretty good they can behave pretty well but without Christ it's totally insufficient we need Jesus and it's in this situation that James and John the the request it highlights the state of their hearts it was full of desire for position just like the Pharisees who were so concerned about position and influence and power instead what Christians are called to do is we're called to examine our hearts prioritize meekness over Hess and pride so do you desire recognition and honor I don't mean you know that you're going out of your way to um or that you're humbly uh working and that you would just like to have a pat on the back and have some appreciation or something I'm not talking about that talking about what is your motivation for serving the lord there's many young men that they want to fill pulpits because they want influence they want their names on the radio and have their own websites and write their own books and things like that there's plenty of them out there but what do you desire do you desire knowing Jesus more and more do you want him to be famous you want people to talk about how how wonderful you are and how good of a speaker you are how good of a singer how faithful of a servant you are what's your motivation or do you just simply desire to praise the Lord and bless him what's your desire True Discipleship is not about

taking a better position it's about walking the path of Christ that way of suffering now don't misunderstand me Christians are called to influence we are called to be salt to our communities we are called to be light to our world we are we are called to be influencers but we're not called to influence people for ourselves we're called to influence people for the sake of the kingdom of God Mark 10:42 Jesus he once again puts the goal of discipleship straight at the Forefront and Jesus he called them to him and said to them you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them and their great ones exercise authority over them but it shall not be so among you but whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be the slave of all must be slave of all three applications here for the Christian first thing is leading by serving you see when you work when you volunteer when you raise your children whatever you are called to focus on and and care for their needs uh Christian parents Christian employees Christian bosses Christian leaders we aren't called to just make decisions and give orders or anything like that we're called to lead in humility and as an example the Gentile leaders the unclean according to these disciples they lorded it over the people that they LED you know shortly after America defeated the British people were calling for General George Washington uh to become the leader of our nation in fact there were many that wanted to establish a brand new monarchy here in America could you imagine us having a king that'd be crazy be awful as what it would be but they were figuring it out if someone is nominated and elected to be the

president of the United States how does that work how long do they serve well four years sounded reasonable but how many terms I mean Washington could have just kept on going but he didn't he did he viewed himself as a leader and a servant of the people and so he neglected being that that that first man of the United States and returned after two terms and that was an example for every president up until FDR but you know we ought to be leading by serving secondly we should be intentional with our acts of service we don't accidentally become servants we have to look for ways be proactive in in ways to serve the saying is see a need meet a need right and we see this in the example of God it wasn't Adam that asked for a savior it was God who said I will send you a savior God is the one that initiated it God is the one that brought it to completion it wasn't the disciples that asked Jesus to wash their feet it was the Lord that got down and wash their feet and many people they won't serve unless they're asked to but but the example that Christ gives is better and we should follow it so teens don't do extra chorge just to try to get some additional privileges blow your parents mind and do something a little extra for him this week amen amen listen if you work and your coworker is struggling and you've got a little bit of time pitch in and help your coworker instead of knocking off 30 minutes early be a blessing husbands knock out a chore for your wife do what you can to help her to be a blessing yes you work hard most of the men that I know work really hard to provide for their families but just because we're off the clock at work doesn't mean that we're

off the clock at home also minister in meekness the attitude of our hearts is not supposed to be like James and John but like Jesus the principle that Jesus teaches is that if we are to be great in the kingdom of God then we must be a servant that word in the Greek is diaconos it's where we get our word for Deacon and and this is talking about the ACT we have an office of Deacon in our church um the the office of Deacon is for people that are humble servants a deacon that doesn't serve is not a deacon at all they're sorry is what they are when you serve in a local congregation or with other Christians or out in the community or wherever it is you are doing that just like a deacon does it doesn't make you a deacon but it is called beaconing but also excuse me but in fact Jesus he uses a different word here he uses that word slave and that's a different word in the Greek that's the word doulos which is how Paul most often describes himself when he says a a servant or a bonder servant of Christ Jesus he uses that word not as a a a willing servant but as one that is in bondage you see we have been bought at the price of Christ's life we are not our own anymore yes we have been set free from sin but we have been set free in order to be enslaved to Christ and I know that makes a lot of people uncomfortable but it's true you have been bought therefore honor God with your life with your body this teaches us another big Point here yeah which is to practice servant leadership in every sphere of Our Lives Many people may not see your your service okay and and that's okay not everyone needs to know what your business is don't let the left hand know what the right hand is doing but someone

should someone should be on that receiving end of your service because we don't just simply serve the Lord we also serve to be a blessing to others as well now verse 45 is often times called uh the key verse in the Book of Mark U remember that The Book of Mark it was written to Christians in Rome close to close to 55 60% of the population here very soon in history would be uh slaves in that City all sorts of cultures all sorts of languages were there in that Melting Pot of a metropolis of the ancient world and there is this message of God sending his son to the Earth for the reason to be a servant for even the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many Jesus Christ the second member of the godhead the word that became flesh didn't leave the courtroom of Heaven the throne room of Heaven to receive positions of wealth and honor honor and Prestige and glory on Earth but came to serve and it wasn't just by healing the blind the deaf the mute the lame it wasn't primarily by casting out demons those things definitely validated his message and his ministry they fulfilled prophecy but the primary reason he came was to lay down his life into purchase actual Redemption for those of us that would believe believe Christ's atonement didn't just make salvation possible it actually had an effect Jesus didn't do 99% of the work and left the 1% for us one% of the work is we can't do it we are dead in our trespasses and sins Jesus's atonement is sufficient for you and I on the basis of Faith because the just shall live by faith Christ he lived a life of sacrifice and he offered himself up as the perfect sacrifice to make us a pleasing Living Sacrifice that serves others to share

the story of his sacrifice I'll say that again Christ lived a life of sacrifice and offered himself up as a perfect sacrifice to make us a pleasing Living Sacrifice that serves others to share the story of his sacrifice we are a sacrificial people our whole lives as Christians are oriented around the atonement of God he made ransom for us who was Christ sacrificial Ransom made to well it helps to go back to Isaiah 53 3 it helps us to understand who the S suffering servant was and why he suffered in the first place and Isaiah 53 10 it says yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him he has put him to grief when his soul makes an offering for Guilt who receives guilt offerings it's not Satan Satan doesn't receive guilt offerings it's the father it is the sacrifice of Christ that pleased the father and as we enter into Christ by faith believing that he paid the sin debt for you and for me that that blood is applied to our hearts and we are made new and so God doesn't see us as anyone that has uh any remaining sin debt your debt is paid when you come to Christ praise the Lord that he doesn't see you as still owing something but he sees you as guilt free as pure as holy as he sees his own son Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of servant leadership and you think about the many that are included who get to benefit from Christ's active sacrificial service what kind of people are the many people like me people like you I know myself pretty well the many I was once a liar a cheat full of lust and hate love Darkness I hated people but God saved me by his grace by his good pleasure he redeemed me he put his holy spirit

inside of me and I'm one of the many and if you're a part of the family of God then you're part of the many too praise the Lord and if you're a follower of Christ then you're called to also be a servant this means to embrace Christ Christ's mission of suffering to reject self- glory and accept humility and practice servant leadership in every sphere of Our Lives this whole passage is Christ's master class on service and it's full of giving ourselves over to the Lord for his purpose and walking in it now what if we're not doing that okay because none of us serve perfectly okay I think of uh uh Schindler's List love that movie it's an excellent movie and I love that ending scene where he's looking at the ring this ring this ring four people could save four people this car 20 people you know he's thinking more and more and more we're not going to do it perfectly we're not perfect yet so what should we do if we're not doing it perfectly well one we should remind ourselves that Christ is the best example of humility and service he's the example that we should all look at he's our Sovereign King he is good he rules He reigns right now and yet even though he rules and Reigns right now you know what he's still doing is he's still serving by interceding for you and I before the father because of his tremendous love for us so look to his example and secondly rest in the finished work of Christ we have been ransomed by his blood our debt is paid we are free by Christ now he deserves our Allegiance and sometimes we are going to crush it other times we may fall short but thank the Lord that he is still working on us and in us for his honor and for his glory amen head heart hand head God wants you

to know followers of Christ are called to embrace self-denial and servant leadership this Echoes Jesus's teaching here and it provides an example of his willingness to suffer and serve you and I we are called to walk the way of Christ which is the way of death to ourselves and life in Christ heart God he wants you to believe that as his ambassadors we are called to meet those needs as best as we can and to share the gospel nope that's not it that's an old thing sorry that's uh that's last week I think yeah sorry about that God he wants you to believe that Jesus Christ willingly suffered and sacrificed himself to redeem Humanity so X that sorry this demonstrates God's ultimate love and grace to you and I Christ willingly suffered and served us by going to the cross and it is by this path that he glorified the father and hand yeah this one's right okay God he wants you to commit daily to serve the Lord and others with humility as an act of worship uh to reflect on Christ sacrificial love and to remember God's purpose in sending his son God sent his son to save the world and redeem it and as we reflect Christ naturally this means that we will serve others as well we're going to uh sing a song Acappella you guys know the song Make me a servant amen you guys know that one we're all going to stand and we're going to sing together after I pray make me a servant and I want you to sing it just because the lyrics are on the screen I want you to sing that as a song of response and prayer that Lord I don't know what this means but I am going to be a servant for you because I love you and I I just desire to be yours so if you would bow your heads and close your eyes with me and then we will respond in Prayer by singing this song Father we love you so so much and we do thank you for the

perfect example of Christ uh his suffering his sacrifice God help us and help me Lord I I fall short of that goal all the time I I just pray that you would help all of us to consider where we're at Lord And um ways that we can serve ways that we have served things that we are doing God lord I just pray that we would uh do everything that we can within our power uh to be pleasing but more than that to rely on your power god um when we fall short to uh uh look to you the author and perfector of our faith we just ask that today that you would bless us keep us God and help us to conform ourselves into to the suffering servant more and more by the power of the spirit may this be done in Jesus precious name amen make me a [Music] servant humble and me Lord let me lift up those who are weak and may the pray of my heart be make me a [Music] servant make me a [Music] Ser make me a servant today Father we do pray that that would be the Cry of our hearts that many might be one to the kingdom we love you help us God in Jesus name amen