Mark 10:35-45 (22nd Sunday after Pentecost) – October 20th, 2024

Introduction

First, I strongly urge you to start back at verse 32 in your reading of this text on Sunday. It’s the third passion pronouncement in Mark and there is a key turn here as well.

Jesus has been telling the disciples for quite some time what going to happen to him. We hear it again in this additional section, Jesus predicting his death. But verse 32 tells us that they are now finally headed to Jerusalem. “³²They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them.” Again, after all we’ve talked about this summer, notice the place of Jesus (ahead of them) and the proper place of discipleship, “following.” But now they are going up to Jerusalem. There’s no turning back now.

For a several (lectionary) weeks now, the disciples have been struggling to grasp what Jesus is teaching. They are concerned about who’s the greatest and power and authority (9:30-37). They are concerned about other people (not affiliated with them/the disciples) casting out demons in Jesus’ name (9:38-41). They guard and prevent people (parents with children) from coming up to Jesus (10:13-14). They are concerned about what they have given up to be here and when they might see something come out of it (10:23-28). And it all starts with Peter rejecting the idea that Jesus will have to suffer and die (8:31-33).

We are supposed to immediately feel this tension that the disciples are not grasping what is happening. And now they have made the turn to Jerusalem. Whether they are ready or not, Jesus must start heading that way.

This Week

Immediately after Jesus gives the third pronouncement, James and John ask, these series of questions, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” ³⁶And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” ³⁷And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Strikingly out of touch. John has already misread a moment when he interrupted Jesus’ teaching and asked an unrelated question about the man who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Now again, he – and now his brother too – are launching into their own desires right after Jesus is teaching about his death and resurrection.

Now one element that we could lean into here is the imagery of this request and the imagery that will be present in Jerusalem.

First, James and John come up to Jesus. Their posture/position is no longer behind (read “following”) but they are now up even with Jesus. And they express that they want those seats next to Jesus… in his glory. They want to sit next to him on the throne. James and John want those positions of authority, those powerful positions where they can tell the other followers and disciples what to do. Like calling “shotgun” and being able to control the radio, a/c, and the windows. They want the positions of power that give them the feeling of authority while also relying on Jesus to do all the hard work.

“You do not know what you are asking.” Jesus says.

James, John, and most of the other disciples are confused about what is going to happen next. They are hoping that Jesus will somehow take back Jerusalem, become the King, and all of them, his followers, will be granted seats of honor and power in Jesus’ new kingdom. In the time of Jesus’ glory.

“You do not know what you are asking.”

Jesus knows what’s coming next though. He will be glorified but not in the way the disciples expect. He will indeed be crowned – not with jewels but with thorns. He will be draped in rich purple cloth – not as a sign of honor but mockingly. He will be called King – but as a joke. He will be raised for all to see – not on a throne, but on a cross.

³⁷And James and John said to Jesus, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 

“You do not know what you are asking.”

For two criminals will be crucified next to him. One on his right and one on his left.

Jesus tells them, that they do not want this position. They are not able to take those seats.

Preaching Possibilities

“Glory and Victory” or “Service and Sacrifice”

There is so much more to this text that we could talk about. What is the baptism that Jesus is talking about? Probably martyrdom. What is the cup that Jesus drinks? Probably something about the last supper but could also be the cup of wrath from Isaiah 51:17 (destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE).

But the point of this text is not to get lost in the prophecy of it all but the misreading of what the Messiah’s purpose is AND how the church is called to live afterwards. “⁴¹When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. ⁴²So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. ⁴³But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.””

Even though there has been so much theological study for 2000 years, even though Jesus has yet to be put on a throne to Lord over all people, even though there has not been a heavenly army conquering, the language and hope of “victory, glory, power, and might” are still ones that dominate the Christian landscape. And before we turn this away from ourselves and point fingers at the evangelical, nondenominational, or prosperity gospel churches, I hear this regularly in mainline protestant denominations. I hear this regularly in the ELCA.

Just for fun. Did you know that the word “victory” (νῖκος) is only used 5 times in the entirety of the Greek Testament (New Testament)?

Matt. 12:20 He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory.

1 Cor. 15:54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

1 Cor. 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:4 for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.

Victory is justice. Victory is life. Victory is faith.

Victory is never defined as power, riches, glory, and might. Even though we may sing those things in our liturgy, it is never what the “Lamb who was slain” asks for. It is never what the Messiah offers to those who follow him. It is never the point of any of this.

And yet… the most dominant question from our nation and often our churches is, “What’s in it for us?”

It’s the same question that Jesus has been trying to answer for the last 6 weeks of Gospel texts. And until we start to change that perspective, flip that question, turning away from ourselves, we as the Church will never matter in this world that needs the Jesus who actually was. The one who came for us. Not the one that we put in stained glass windows.

Of course, everyone knows this Bonhoeffer quote of Letters and Papers from Prison but it’s still one that I think can’t be shared enough: “The church is church only when it is there for others.” But just citing this one line wildly misreads the urgency of Bonhoeffer. The full quote:

The church is the church only when it exists for others. To make a start, it should give away all its property to those in need. The clergy must live solely on the free-will offerings of their congregations, or possibly engage in some secular calling. The church must share in the secular problems of ordinary human life, not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live in Christ, to exist for others. In particular, our own church will have to take the field against the vices of hubris, power-worship, envy, and humbug, as the roots of all evil. It will have to speak of moderation, purity, trust, loyalty, constancy, patience, discipline, humility, contentment, and modesty. It must not under-estimate the importance of human example (which has its origin in the humanity of Jesus and is so important in Paul’s teaching); it is not abstract argument, but example, that gives its word emphasis and power. (I hope to take up later this subject of ‘example’ and its place in the New Testament; it is something that we have almost entirely forgotten.) Further: the question of revising the creeds (the Apostles’ Creed); revision of Christian apologetics; reform of the training for the ministry

and the pattern of clerical life.

What happens when hubris, power-worship, envy, and humbug take over? We start moving beyond Jesus. We start getting out ahead. We start coveting. We start becoming defensive. We start blaming.

The Son of Humanity came not to be served but to serve

Today, we are called to a drastic reorientation of what it means to follow Jesus. Our inclination is to want to hold positions of power, to find some comfort in a world that constantly prioritizes status and control. But Jesus offers a different path, one marked by humility, service, and love.

When we follow Jesus on the road to Jerusalem, we aren’t signing up for glory, at least not in the way the world understands it. Instead, we follow the one who is glorified on a cross. We follow the one who empties himself of power and invites us to do the same. Not for our own gain, but for the sake of others.