The following transcript has been electronically transcribed. Any errors in spelling, syntax, or grammar should be attributed to the electronic method of transcription and its inherent limitations. We begin looking at a story today that really is going to parallel the story from last week. It's going to parallel the story from last week in two ways. First, it parallels the story last week because in the story last week, as well as the story today, we have two instances in which foolish disciples whose words get ahead of their brains speak things that appear to be worthy of rebuke from Christ. Yet, in both stories, they receive no rebuke from Christ, and because they receive no rebuke from Christ, we need to look at their foolish words differently than we might look at them more superficially. Like, last time, Peter's foolish words, what's in it for us? We've left everything. And we looked at that, and we saw, well, yeah, I mean, those were sort of foolish words, Peter. But, nevertheless, that speaks of a bigger spiritual reality, that God does desire you to To know him as a God that rewards those who leave everything to follow him. So today we'll look at some similar words from James and John. So that's the first parallel the second parallel Well, we'll see we'll see the second parallel is we'll walk through this morning So let's just begin by reading the passage from verse 32 I'm going to read the whole passage in its entirety down to verse 45 So beginning from verse 32 and they were on the road Going up to Jerusalem and Jesus was walking ahead of them and they were amazed And those who followed were afraid and taking the 12 again, he began to tell them what he was, what was about to happen, saying, see, we are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles and they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise and James and John, the sons of Zebedee came up to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, grant to us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory. Jesus said to them, you do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, we are able. And Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink you will drink. And with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Amen. 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 slave of all, for even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Gracious Father, we thank you that the life of your son was given as ransom for your people. Indeed, an eternity is not long enough to thank you that your son is given as ransom for your people. But we also thank you, Lord, that your son came to teach us of true greatness. True greatness is not lording authority over others, it is serving. And it is lowering oneself to serve and to serve out of love for Christ, Lord. And so we help, we ask that you would help us to see. That reality and much more in your word. We ask Lord that you would grant to us spiritual sight. We can understand the words on the page. We can understand the sentences and the paragraphs, but we require the work of the Holy spirit to truly understand the mind of Christ. And that's what we ask now. Glorify yourself by opening the reality of your perfection, your greatness, your mercy, your grace, open that reality to our minds. And so we begin our passage from verse 32 and we read these words and they were on the road going up to Jerusalem. So the reader is now for the first time told where they are going. Remember they've been on this journey since early in chapter eight. And Mark hasn't told his reader where the journey is going to. We know where it's going to because we've read the book. The story, we know what the story, how it unfolds, we've all read the Gospel of Mark. So we know that, but nevertheless, Mark is writing to his reader, and his reader has not yet been informed of where the journey is going to until just now, just this moment upon the third declaration of his suffering that will take place in Jerusalem. And so as we're told that they're going up to Jerusalem, we're reminded that we know in Scripture that any time one goes to Jerusalem, it's always phrased like that, going up to Jerusalem. Because it's not only going up to Jerusalem in elevation because Jerusalem is higher in elevation than all the surrounding areas. But more so than that, metaphorically, spiritually speaking, one always went up to Jerusalem because you were ascending to the Holy City, so to speak. So people always spoke in those terms. The Jews always spoke in the terms of going up to Jerusalem. So they are now traveling up to Jerusalem, and we know what's going to happen in Jerusalem. Jesus will tell us for the third time in the passage what's going to happen in Jerusalem. It will be the week of His, what we know as the Passion Week, the Good Friday, the execution of Christ on the cross, the resurrection of Christ on Resurrection Lord's Day. So all that will happen this week. And we also know when that happened. So that happened, we know, on Passover week. So, as Jesus and his disciples are journeying to Jerusalem, they are also journeying to Jerusalem for Passover week. Now, the Scriptures tell us that Passover week was one of three festivals that the ancient Jewish people were required, that the male head of the household was required to be in Jerusalem for Passover every year, one of three festivals like that. So we know that through the, through time and whatnot, it didn't always mean that every single day. in Israel had the head of the household there at the Passover. It didn't mean that, but it does mean that, we know very well that, that during Passover week, the population of Jerusalem would swell too many times. It's normal population. The, the, the streets of Jerusalem during Passover week were a S or streets of chaos, just mobs of people, lots and lots of people in Jerusalem. And so all the people are traveling to Jerusalem for this Passover week. So as Jesus and his disciples are traveling to Jerusalem, they're not traveling alone. They'll be traveling with other groups. As they're traveling along, certainly they would have encountered other groups of people who are also headed to Jerusalem for Passover week. The disciples, they knew where Jesus was going. The reader is just now told Jerusalem, but the disciples knew they were going to Jerusalem. Not only were they on the road to Jerusalem, They were also meeting other groups, and it would have been a normal thing for them to be traveling to Jerusalem at this time. So they're meeting other groups of people, they're talking with other Jews who are on their way to Jerusalem. Now, the fact that they're on their way to the Jerusalem for the Passover means that they are on their way to offer sacrifice. That's what the Passover was all about. There was the Passover meal, but also there was the offering of the Passover lamb. And so, ironically, all these groups of people are traveling to Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice, while the sacrifice is also on his way to Jerusalem to be offered as the sacrifice. The irony is thick. You can almost touch it in the story. That all these hundreds of people are traveling for the purpose of offering a sacrifice while the sacrifice. This is among them also on his way to be offered up once and for all as the, as we're told, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So this is the context. This is sort of the, emotional attitude, so to speak of the travelers on the way to pass over. Passover was a, was a very joyful time for the Jew. And so those Jews who are on their way to Passover week would have been on their way to Jerusalem with happiness, with joy. They wouldn't have been sad o, discouraged that they had to stop work for a week. It was a joyful time and on the road to Jerusalem, all those that Jesus encountered would have been mostly joyful. So that's sort of the context that we have in the back of our mind. They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. Now that's a phrase that is so easy to pass over. No pun intended. It's so easy to look over the Jesus walked ahead of them. And we might just, in our mind, just picture, well, that's kind of how they were traveling. Jesus was leading the way. He knows where they're going. They're following behind him. But instead, if we think about that just a little more carefully, we see something that quite honestly, in the past few years, I have started personally to notice the theme of shepherd in the New Testament, much more than I'd ever noticed it before. The theme of shepherd in the Gospels is so prominent and so strong. And so here we see the shepherd, the good shepherd, the true shepherd going ahead of his people. Now, we know something about how sheep and how shepherds work, and we know that in the rest of the world, shepherds will move their sheep by driving them or pushing them with sheep dogs or other means. But we also know that Bedouin or, Middle Eastern shepherds do not drive their sheep. We've, most of us have heard that those Bedouin shepherds lead their sheep by going in front of them. This is still true to this very day, and it was true in Jesus’ day. So here we see a picture of Jesus leading his sheep, leading out front, and his sheep are following him. The, the mantra, the theme of the shepherd is so strong in the gospel. So here's the shepherd. Leading his people. Now, this theme of Jesus leading his people, going before his people is a theme that actually will be continued throughout much of the Gospels. Look in your notes at John 10 in verse 4. When he has brought out all of his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And this leading of his sheep will continue even after his death. Death and his resurrection. We will see in Mark chapter 14 in verse 28. We are told these words. Jesus says after I am raised, I will go before you to Galilee, even then he will lead his sheep or Mark, Mark 16 in verse seven, go tell his disciples. This is the angel and go tell the disciples and Peter that he is doing just what he said, going before you to lead you just like Peter The shepherd has led his sheep all along. So he was walking ahead of them. He was going before them and they were amazed and those who followed were afraid. Now, that is one of the most enigmatic sentences in Mark's gospel. So they were amazed and those who followed were afraid. So I asked the question, Are you talking about one group of people or two? Did Mark divide up the twelve apostles? And then the rest of those following Jesus, like maybe the 12 apostles were the ones that were amazed and the other followers were the ones that were afraid. I don't know. Or maybe he's just talking about all of those who are with Jesus as being both amazed and afraid. We don't know because Mark just doesn't explain it. And just, I don't know, I guess, can I say a little bit of a frustrating way? I just, I want to know. What do you mean, Mark? They're amazed and they're afraid. What are you getting at? And so we're left to speculate what he might mean by those who were following him were amazed and afraid. And so to answer this, the only way I know to come at this is to look at some of the other places that tell us about Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. And one of the best sources for that is Luke. Luke will tell us on multiple occasions that when Jesus then came to Jerusalem, set his face or turned to then make this trip to Jerusalem for the purpose of suffering and dying. Luke will tell us in multiple places of Jesus's resoluteness, of his fixation, so to speak, on this journey, on going to Jerusalem. For example, Luke chapter 51, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he, Set his face to go to Jerusalem. Set his face speaks there of a resolve of a determination of a journey that he is not making against his will, but a journey that he's enthusiastic about and determined to make. We remember elsewhere when Jesus and the disciples passed through the Samaritan villages on this same journey. We remember there that we're told that the Samaritans would not. Listen to Jesus or would not believe upon Jesus because he had set his face to go to Jerusalem. And so we know that contention between the Samaritans and the Jews and because he was so resolute and so fixated upon Jerusalem, the Samaritans wouldn't listen in those opportunities. So his resoluteness, his determination makes this a journey that for us, well, the picture that was shown is the picture of a Jesus who's making a journey in which he is eager, enthusiastic, dedicated, resolute, and determined. All of those things balled up into one. You know, you can, you can make a trip, you can make a journey in two different ways. You know, there's two different, well, there's many different ways, I guess, but there's at least two different ways to make a journey. And you know, this is a completely different thing to get in the car and pack up the car. in order to leave for the beach for a week. That's a completely different thing than it is to get in the car and leave your house to go to work on Monday morning. Aren't those two different trips? Done with two different attitudes, for two different purposes, and the whole trip will be markedly different from one another. Because one is a trip that you desire to go to, one is a trip that you're not going to be diverted from. You know, a flat tire on the way to work on Monday morning can divert you a whole lot easier than a flat tire on the way to the beach. You're going to find a way to change that tire on the way to the beach. Not so much on the way to the work. Maybe you just, maybe it's just not working. Maybe you just need to go back home. You see what I'm saying? That's the difference. That's what was in Jesus’ heart. As He was bound for Jerusalem, the disciples saw in Him an eagerness, an excitement, a desire for more. to go to Jerusalem, and they're coupling that together with what Jesus has told them of what will happen there. So we know that by this point, Jesus is under threat. We know that, in your notes, here's some verses that remind us of how the Pharisees have declared that anyone who, who declares that Jesus is the Christ will be put out of the synagogue, so we know that that threat is over the people. We know that Jesus is also under threat of arrest, because in your notes it tells us that the Pharisees declared Whoever knows where he is, let us know and we'll arrest him. We also know that the Pharisees are seeking to kill him. We've known that since chapter one, when they began conspiring to put him to death. Now the disciples know this. In addition to that, Jesus has told them three times of what's to happen to him in Jerusalem. We often talk, rightly so, about the fact that the disciples didn't really get that. They, they just didn't really register the fact that they were going to Jerusalem, not to be coronated as king, but to be executed as traitor. Nevertheless, the fact that they didn't really grasp that, at least not on the spiritual level, we shouldn't understand that to mean that the disciples just had no clue what Jesus was talking about. As though the times, the three times now in Mark's gospel that Jesus told the disciples, I'm going to Jerusalem to die. As if the disciples just supernaturally didn't hear that. Oh, what was that you said, Jesus? Oh, we need to fix some dinner? No. They heard what he said. And on some level, it did register what it said. It has not set in in their hearts. And I think, here's the key, they've not accepted it. But nevertheless, it's not like foreign information to them. And we know that because what we read in Scriptures elsewhere, that, for example, you remember the story about Thomas, who says, you know, Jesus is going to go raise up Lazarus. And Thomas says, why don't we all just go and die with you? Or, for example, from, John chapter nine, or that's what the past is the way the way the Jews had, wanted to put out of the synagogue. Anyone who confessed him, or you remember the story of, of, Peter who said, you know, even if I got to die with you, I'm not going to deny you. So the, the, the possibility. of Jesus's death is not something that the disciples’ ears have never heard. So they've heard that. And regardless of the fact that they haven't really accepted it. Nevertheless, it is still somewhere in their brain in addition to the threats from the Pharisees. And so they know this to be reality and they see Jesus so eager, so anxious, so determined and so resolute to go there. I think that's what Mark is talking about. That they're amazed that this man who is under threat of arrest and now he's going to go to Jerusalem? To the hotbed of the Pharisees? Under threat of arrest, under threat of death? In addition to that, hasn't he also said some things about dying? I think they see in Jesus a certain resoluteness, a certain determination. And that not only amazes them, it creates a fear for them. There's possibly a fear because we are his disciples too. I don't know. And the threat is that if anyone declares him to be Christ, they'll at least be put out of the synagogue. So there's that threat as well. But then there's also a certain fear. There's a trepidation. There's a certain uneasiness about this whole journey that Jesus and the disciples are taking. So now back to the text. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen. So he's going to tell them this will be the third time. Notice all three times. It is the 12 only who Jesus tells about his coming suffering. The crowds are never told of Jesus's suffering in advance, only the 12. So imagine just for a moment just what sort of a discouraging, upsetting, distressing thing it would have been for all those followers of Christ on the day of his execution. It was bad enough for the apostles who were told repeatedly this will happen and I'll rise again. Nevertheless, they didn't grasp that. They didn't believe that yet. But they'd at least been told. They'd at least been warned. The majority of his followers, the rest of the crowds, had never been told anything. So imagine the darkness of that day. Imagine the darkness of those three days when you hadn't gotten any warning whatsoever and there is your king. Humiliated and shamed and executed so he took the twelve again aside and began to tell them What would happen to him verse 33 saying see we are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man So there's that title son of man. I'm not gonna pause to go through that again We've gone through that title a couple of times once in Daniel 7 Also, we went through that on the Good Friday message two years ago if you want to reference those But just as a quick reminder That title son of man is a ton is a title that is heavily freighted with messianic meaning Often we think that son of man is sort of the opposite of son of God So Jesus is fully God fully man, like we just confessed and the Apostles Creed. He's fully God fully man and The title son of God emphasizes his godness the title son of man emphasizes his manness of God That's sort of the standard way to think of it, but that's not what the title means. The title is not emphasizing his humanity. Instead, the title is emphasizing his messianic role. That's the context of Daniel 7 when the title is used. And when Jesus uses that title, what he's emphasizing is his messianic role and the fact that he has become human so that he could, what, die. So that he could die. So, son of man, he's speaking of his mission to die for his people, his messianic role. So he says, see, we're going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be delivered over to the chief priest. Now, some of your translations, if you're in the King James or possibly some others, maybe NIV, I don't know. But I know the King James, I think, has betrayed. And unfortunately, that's not a real great translation. And you might say, well, what's the difference between delivered over and betrayed? It's the same thing. Well, it's the same result in the end, but it's two different words. Mark didn't use the word for betrayed, he used the word for delivered up or given over. And the difference, I think, is worth noting. Because the difference is this. Jesus was delivered over to the Gentiles by way of Judas betrayal. That's how he was delivered up. But that's not what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus is using the word delivered over because what he's, what we are to connect here is a delivering of Jesus over to the, to the Sanhedrin, to the Jewish authorities. They will then deliver Jesus over to Pilate. Pilate will then deliver Jesus over to the soldiers and the soldiers will then deliver Jesus over to death. But all of that was the father delivering the son over to death, you see? And so the father does not betray the son, the father delivers over the son. Now, Paul will pick up on that very same word, and this is why I'm pointing this out. Paul will pick up on that very same word in the gospel. I'm not sorry, not the, the, not the gospel, the, the letter to the Romans. And he will pick up on that same word to explain the dynamic between the father and the son and the father's mission to give his life for his people. For example, in Romans chapter four, verse 25, he was, here's the same word, he was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Or Romans eight and verse 32, he who did not spare his own son, but there's the same verb again, delivered him up for us all. You see? And so there's a connection to be made and it's worth making this connection. That the, Jesus was delivered up to the Sanhedrin, who delivered him to Pilate, who delivered him to the soldiers, who delivered him to the cross, who delivered him to death. But all of that was the Father's delivering the Son over unto death, as Acts tells us in Acts chapter 2 and verse 23. This Jesus, Delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. So God was the one delivering, nevertheless, you were the one crucifying. Okay, so that connection is helpful there to see. So he's going up to be delivered over to the chief priests and to the scribes. So here as Jesus will explain, he will give for the third time, this prophecy of his impending suffering and death, he will give us more information and more detail than he's given in the previous two. Thank you. So the first piece of detail that he gives us here is he gives us the detail about the chief priest and the scribe. So here Jesus is saying, I'm telling you ahead of time, there's going to be a trial. There's going to be a trial. I'm going to be put on trial. So Jesus is not only saying he's going to be delivered over to the Gentiles and killed, which is what he said previously, but now he's saying, and also there's going to be a trial involved. I'm going to be put on trial, and I'm going to be convicted. I'm And the chief priest and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. So there's going to be a death sentence. This will not be an illegal execution. Well, it will be illegal, but technically it will be a legal execution. Okay. So this is another piece of information he's giving that they will condemn him to death and they will then deliver him over to the Gentiles. He said that before they will deliver him then over to the Gentiles. Why will they, why will they deliver him to the Gentiles? Because the Jews could not. Execute by crucifixion the Jews, if they were to execute, it would be execution by stoning. And that's not how Jesus was prophesied to be executed. Psalm 22 written about a thousand years before the cross, Psalm 22 is an explicit description of execution by crucifixion. In the Psalm 22 there, there's, you remember that phrase, how he was put to death by the piercing of his hands and feet. What other form of death comes by the piercing of the hands and the feet? Hundreds and hundreds of years before the Romans invented crucifixion, this is how Jesus was prophesied to be killed. In addition to that, of course, there's the whole motif of the curse that's hung on a tree. The one who's hung on a tree is a curse. So Jesus couldn't be stoned. He had to be put to death on a cross, and the Jews couldn't do that, so he had to be handed over to the Gentiles. And then, verse 34, And they will mock him, and spit on him, and flog him. So that's new information there, too. So Jesus now prophesies, Listen, this is not just going to be a quick execution. There's going to be a trial. There's going to be a conviction. I'll be handed over to a Gentile authority. There's going to be another conviction. And then there's going to be mocking, spitting, and flogging. And then they will, we read, kill him. And after three days, he will rise. So that we read that in chapter 9, the previous time Jesus prophesied this, he ends that also with after three days he will rise. So here is the third prophecy on the part of Jesus of his impending execution. We could talk much more about that, but we'll keep going to verse 35. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, Teacher, We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. Any normal reader is going to read that and say, Huh? Wait, wait, wait, we were just, Jesus was just talking about being executed and now you're asking Jesus to do for you whatever you want? How does the one follow the other? So Mark does this for emphasis. The question perhaps was put to Jesus the next day or maybe two days later. But Mark puts these together for emphasis. He puts these together so that any normal reader will read that and say, Wow, have you really missed it? Have you really missed it that far that Jesus is speaking of his suffering and death for you? And you're speaking about the best seat in heaven. So, that's the intended result that we were to say, Huh? Wait a minute, James and John, where are you coming from? So, James and John, sons of Zebedee, they ask this question, Teacher, what will you, what will you, we want you to do for us whatever we ask, okay? So, the first thing that I'm reminded of is the fact that this dispute, so to speak, that we read about previously, has not been put to rest. You remember when Jesus asked them, what were you talking about on the way? And they didn't want to answer him because they had been talking on the way about who would be the greatest in the kingdom? Well, that dispute apparently has not yet been settled. And so now James and John, they come and they ask this question. And basically what they're asking Jesus to do for them is to sign over a blank check, to take a check out of his father's checkbook, sign his name and say, here, you fill in the rest and to say, whatever you want, I'm going to give you a yes ahead of whatever it is that you ask for, which is, I guess, not at all that unusual of a thing. We do the same thing, don't we? Don't we do it all the time? You say this, I say this. Somebody, someone says, Hey, will you do me a favor? Meaning that they're looking for a yes no answer. Will you do me a favor? Will you? You will? Okay. Let me tell you what the favor is. That's how it works. I mean, you're supposed to say yes or no before you hear what it is that they want. Now, sometimes people are, I guess, astute enough to say, well, what is it? Or, if I can, something like that. But this is the same sort of thing. Jesus is asked this question. You We want you to do for us whatever we want you to do. We want you to write this, this big grand spiritual supernatural check and agree that whatever we ask you to do, you'll do for us. Okay? And so that's the question that is then asked for. But before we go further, I do want to just pause real quick and just ask the question of who made this request. We're told here James and John made the request, two brothers, sons of Zebedee. But if we were to look at Matthew's parallel account in Matthew chapter 20, we're told there that Salome, the mother of James and John, was the one who came to Jesus and knelt before him and asked the same question. So the question is, well, who made the request? And is this one of those places in which we say, you know, the Bible just can't get it right. It can't even get the smallest details right. And here's a contradiction, here's a conflict between what Matthew says and what Mark says. So we just, we can't believe anything that this book says. Is this one of those places? Certainly not. This is quite easy to reconcile. We understand here that in coming to Jesus and making this request, Mark chooses to not include the mother. Matthew chooses to include the mother in the whole scenario. Mark makes the account just a little bit more succinct and just includes James and John. But we can easily understand how this thing played out. We can easily understand that here's James and here's John and here's their mother. And they're maybe talking about this and they say, Mom, you ask him. And so she goes up and she asks him the question. And they're sort of all three there together. But then Mark is making his point by not even mentioning the mother. We see that plainly, that's clearly what's happening because, for one thing, if we were to look at Matthew's account, even though in Matthew's account the mother asked the question, right after the initial dialogue when Jesus says, what is it that you want? Right after that, Jesus answer clearly in Matthew is directed to James and John, not to the mother. So plainly they're saying the same thing here. Plainly what they're saying is, it was James and John. who were behind this. And maybe they got mom to be their spokesman for it, which I'm sure she was a willing spokesman. How noble, how admirable. I mean, isn't it? Should we, we just should just pause for just a minute and say, what a good mother desiring such a supernatural spiritual blessing for her sons. What, what a good blessed mother to want that for her sons and to go before the master to ask that we'll talk a little bit more about that in just a minute. But, nevertheless, Jesus makes it clear that it's James and John who are behind this because even in Matthew's account, Jesus’ answer is only directed to James and John. He knew their hearts, he knew who was behind it, and he knew the motives of everyone who was asking. So, the question then, will you do for us whatever we want you to do? Now, verse 37, and they said to him, well, here's the request, grant to us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory. So there's their request, quite a small little, eh, just a little, just a little minor thing. For eternity we want to be at the right and on the left. Is that okay? I mean, we're not asking too much, are we? So there was their request, and it sounds to us, it lands on our ears, at least initially, as quite a grand thing, doesn't it? Wow, to sit at Jesus right and at Jesus left. What a, what an incredible request. Excuse me. But if we think for just a moment, I think that we might realize it really wasn't that grand of a request, or at least that out, out of the ordinary or that extravagant of a request, because we're reminded that Jesus in Matthew 19 had promised the apostles, when I come into my glory, you will sit on 12 tribes judging or on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes. So in Matthew's account that comes in chapter 19. Chapter 20 is this parallel account. So previous to this, Jesus has said to the apostles, you will sit on 12 thrones. So he's already told them that. So James and John are asking in essence for two, a specific two of the 12 thrones. Now furthermore, we might think, well, the James and John have any real reason to ask to be the two special ones, or are they just out of the blue saying, Hey Jesus, we want to be the most special of the special. Actually, James and John had a lot of reason to think that this was perhaps a somewhat reasonable request. Let's think about this. So first of all, James and John were among the very first ones whom Jesus called to follow him. Among the very first. Secondly, James and John had a biological relationship to Jesus. We don't know this conclusively, but it's almost certain that James and John and Jesus were cousins. Salome, the mother of James and John, we're told in the passage that their father Zebedee, who was Zebedee's wife, was Salome. Their mother was this lady named Salome. We have good reason to believe that Salome was Mary's sister, which, by the way, means that in Matthew 20, when Salome is at Jesus feet, that's his aunt. At his feet, doesn't that put a little bit of a different spin on it to you? Had you ever thought of, of Jesus's aunt kneeling before him and making that request? So there was the biological connection. They were cousins. They were among the first disciples to be called. Also James and John from the beginning had been part of an elite group of three. And that elite group of three has repeatedly been given additional Revelation and insight and time with Jesus. Remember when they went to the home of Jairus, Peter, James and John were the three who were allowed to come in and witness the resurrection of Jairus daughter. Or, of course, the transfiguration. Peter, James and John are taken up the mount and they witness not only Christ in his full glory, but they also witness Moses and Elijah there who are there to witness for Christ. So they were part of this special group, this special inside revelation. There's the biological connection. There's the fact that they've been followers since near the beginning. And so really, it's not all that extravagant of a request that they're making. They've been told that they will occupy one of 12 thrones and they're asking, well, can it be one of these two? So that's, that's the request, perhaps not a request that's too far. So he says, Grant to us to sit to one at your right hand and one at your left. But before that, notice how Jesus says, what is it that you desire? He says, grant to us whatever we wish. Jesus says, what is it that you wish? In other words, he wants to know what their desire is. He wants to know what it is that they want. That might sound like just a piece of throwaway information, like Jesus is just getting to the chase. He wants to know, okay, what are you here for now? But I don't take it that way. I take it that the heart of the Messiah, the heart of the master, it's important to him what his people desire. He wants to hear that. He wants to know that. That will give an insight into their heart. That will tell him something of their heart. He knows their heart because he sees their heart, but nevertheless, their desires speak powerfully of where they are spiritually. In addition to that, Maybe, and this is just speculation, but maybe Jesus wants them to hear themselves say it. Maybe there's some benefit in hearing themselves say, can we sit at your right and on your left? You ever done that? You ever, after you said something, you thought that once I said it, it sounded, that sounded pretty bold. So maybe he wants them to just hear themselves say it. So he's interested in their desire. He's interested in what they want. But then. We read, Grant to, Grant to us to sit once your right hand, once your left. Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? So here Jesus is reminding them of the kingdom principle of glory follows suffering. That's always what we see in Scripture, that glory follows suffering, not the other way around. So Jesus asked him, Are you able? To drink this cup and to be baptized with this baptism. That's Old Testament metaphor. That's Old Testament symbolism that speaks to us. First of all, the, the cup speaks to us of, of, of suffering, particularly suffering as the result of the wrath of God. That's what the Old Testament will often use a cup for drinking the cup as drinking the wrath of God. Particularly the wrath of God upon sinful, deserving men. Alright, so think about a cup, and just think about what happens in a cup. The contents of a cup, you put in you. They go into you. And they become you. I mean, that's what happens to what we ingest. The food and the liquid that we ingest, it becomes part of us. And so Jesus will drink this cup. of the wrath of the father, wrath, which he does not deserve, but wrath, which we deserve, which his people deserves. He will drink the wrath of his father and it will go into him. But in addition to the wrath of God being drink into him, there's also the symbolism of baptism. Now, baptism just speaks of a suffering that's overwhelming. That's all encompassing. being plunged into the baptismal waters. Remember back in chapter one, we talked about Jesus baptism and how he's plunged into the baptismal waters of the confession of sin. So he's plunged into the sins of his people. And so in a similar way, he'll be plunged into the wrath of God. And so the, just like baptismal waters are without, Without the person they're outside and once you go under the waters, they're all over you They're all around you in that same way the wrath of God. He'll be plunged into the wrath of God So it's from without but it comes upon him just like baptismal waters Are you able to drink this cup and be baptized with this baptism? and they say The I'm sorry the verse 39 and they said to him we are able Now, right there is just yet another example of the disciples, I don't know, foolish self-confidence. We see it often from the disciples, Peter, I'll die before I deny you. Or once again, Thomas, let us go and we'll die with Jesus. You know, the sort of this overconfidence, it's like this, do you ever, you ever think of something that you want, some sort of prize or some sort of goal and you want it so badly And then you set your heart upon it, but then you begin to contemplate what it's going to take to get it. But your strong desire for the prize or the goal causes you to think little of the suffering that's going to take to get it. And you just sort of brush that off. Oh, yeah, I'll do that. Right. Before you actually begin the suffering. Right. The prize, the goal, the desire. It's so desirous to you that you belittle the price of getting it in your zeal to get that. That's kind of where they're at. Yes, we want those thrones. We want to sit beside you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll drink that cup. Yeah, whatever. Jesus will do whatever, because that's what we want. So they're in their enthusiasm in their foolish zeal. Yes, we are able. And Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you will drink. And with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. In other words, the way to glory. Passes through suffering for both master and servant. The way to glory passes through suffering for all who enter the kingdom. We read in Acts chapter 12 that we will enter into glory through many tribulations. We will enter into eternal life through many tribulations. Or we read, for example, 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 12. If we endure, we will also reign with Him. I'm sorry, that was Acts 14 in verse 22. Romans 8 in verse 17. We are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. So Jesus says to them, He's not saying that you are going to experience the very same cup and baptism as me. Because his cup, his baptism, was a vicarious cup. Ours is not. But nevertheless, the path of suffering is the same for the disciple as it is for the master. So he says the cup that I drink you will drink and with the baptism with which I'm baptized you'll be baptized Verse 40 but to sit in my right hand or my left hand is not mine to grant But it is for those for whom it has been prepared notice there that Jesus said that the preparations already made Notice there that's in the perfect tense has been made. It is an occurrence in the past. So those thrones those places In fact all of eternity Has already been settled to the minutest detail. It's all been settled. It is already been prepared for them. And Jesus says, that is my father's decision, not mine. In other words, here's another example in which Jesus submits himself fully and totally to the father's will. As he says in john's gospel, I can only do the father's will. I can only do what the father has sent me to do now. Verse 41. And when the 10 heard it, they began to be indignant at James and john. So indignant they are offended at James and John and they're not offended Don't don't mistake some sort of false spirituality or piousness here. They're not offended because James and John got out of line They're offended because James and John got ahead of them in line They're offended because they have now taken upon themselves the boldness or they had the opportunity to ask of Jesus to say What they all would have asked in a different occasion. So they're indignant at James and John because they are, in essence, trying to get ahead of them in this line for the best seats in eternity. Verse 42, And Jesus called to them and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. So Jesus is just making a normal observation here. He says, we all know this to be true. We all know that in the Gentile world, and by Gentile he means those who are not the people of God, those who are not the believing covenant people of God. We know that in that world, here's how things work. Those who have authority tend to be the ones who abuse that authority, to lord it over those over whom they hold authority. Now, by that, Jesus is not saying, don't, don't hear him saying that every single non believing non Christian ruler is an abuser of authority. That's not what he said. He's making a generalized observation in the same way that we make generalized observations. I might say something like this, you know what, this is an election year and in election years, you can't believe anything a politician says. You might answer by saying what makes that different than any other year, but that's beside the point. But if I said that, you would not understand me to be saying, Oh, Pastor Jason said that you, that no politician can ever be believed in an election year. That's not what I said. I made a general observation. You understood that that's what I was making. And this is the same thing Jesus is making. He's making this observation in the Gentile world. This is how things typically work when authority is held. That authority is something that, for most people, causes them to be abusers of that authority. Maybe in big ways, maybe in small ways. But I would challenge you to think through all the experiences of your life and think of an instance in which there was someone who had authority over you and never abused it in any way. And I would say that if you think really hard and carefully about that, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who held authority and never once abused it. So Jesus is making this general statement, this is the way of fallen man. Fallen man grabs authority and uses that authority to abuse it, to elevate himself, to lord it over others. But it shall not be so among you. It shall not be so among you. This will not be the way. So Jesus here is making an observation of the Gentiles. Elsewhere, he makes the same observation of the chief priests and the scribes. He says, they love the long robes. They love to walk around town in their big long flowing robes. So that everybody sees them and says, Oh, holy are you. So he makes the same observation here, but in the kingdom of God, 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 slave of all. So notice what Jesus says there, Jesus. First of all, let's notice the ascension, the ascending nature of what he said. There's like this level here. Whoever would be great among you must be servant. But whoever will be first must be slave. Okay, so he uses two different words. The first word servant is the word we get our word deacon from. Whoever would, would be this level, whoever would, would have this level of greatness, whoever will be great among you must be a deacon, a servant, a one who literally the word means one who waits tables. But then Jesus takes it up a notch and says, and whoever would be first must be, and there's a different word. Do lot. which is rightly translated in our English standard, slave. So you see the progressions. Jesus says there's a, there's a type of greatness that's attained by being servant of all. There's another type of greatness when one gets even lower to be slave of all. So you see what he's saying. He is turning on its head fallen man's understanding of greatness. The best way that I know to picture this in my mind is the picture of a pyramid. Like, imagine a big, great big Egyptian pyramid. Maybe some of you have seen a pyramid. Brother James probably has. But if you've seen this, I've not seen one, but if you've seen the pyramid, just imagine a picture of a pyramid. And if you or I, in our fallen condition, or any fallen people, would look at a pyramid, what would you say is the greatest part of that pyramid? The, the, no, you ruined my analogy. The peak. Wouldn't that be what you'd say, the peak? That is how fallen man looks at greatness. But Jesus is saying, no, greatness is, the only holy one in here, Leanne said, is the base. That's what Jesus is saying. And greatness is not the pinnacle. Greatness is the base upon which the weight of the structure rests. You see, what Jesus is doing here is the same thing he did in the last passage. In the previous passage, we delved into the whole realm of human desire, and we saw how that our God is not a God that says to us, you know, if you're going to be my follower, you got to kill your desires. You've got to put to death your desires and just follow me. And that's not at all how God presents himself. Instead, God presents himself in Scripture as one who has infinitely greater pleasures to give, infinitely greater satisfactions to give, you, what you have to do is you've got to change your desires. Because the problem is not that fallen man wants too much. As C. S. Lewis said, the problem is that fallen man is too easily settled for too little. They were too easily satisfied with counterfeit gods and were too easily satisfied with false gods and earthly trinkets when we were made for far greater pleasure and far greater satisfaction. The same thing applies here. And this is part of why these two stories are together. Every human heart has deep within it a desire, or I can put this more strongly, a need to feel that your life is significant. I don't think that there is a sane person who doesn't have a need to feel as though their life matters, that your life has significance to it. That once your life here is over that there will be someone who remembers you for something good That you will have made some kind of an impact on the world in which you live Jesus is saying to his disciples who come to him and they Basically, let me rephrase the disciples question instead of saying when you come into your kingdom into your glory Can we sit at your right hand into your left hand? Let me rephrase that to say Jesus. We really need significance in our life We really need to know that our life matters. We really need to know that our life has significance. You see how that's the same question? Jesus answers that question, not by saying, James, John, silly little disciples, you just need to kill your desire to be significant. No. He says to them, I created And I created you with the need for significance. The problem is in this fallen world you have misunderstood what true significance is. You are seeing significance as the pinnacle and that's the fallen way to see it. That's the counterfeit way to see it. Instead, James and John, what I want you to do I want you to desire more significance, not less. I want you to crave more significance. I want you to have greater desire to have significance in your life and not just your earthly life, but your eternal life. Let me tell you how significance is achieved. Let me tell you how true greatness is achieved. It's not achieved on the top. By pushing everybody else down, it's achieved on the bottom by lifting everybody else up. You see how profound that is? Do you see why Jesus did not rebuke James and John? It's very significant that Jesus did not rebuke James and John, just like it's very significant that Jesus did not rebuke Peter in the previous passage. He didn't rebuke them. Because what he hears in them and what he sees in them is a mixture of faith and non faith, of understanding and non understanding, okay? As James and John come to Jesus, they come to him with this carnal, fallen picture of a, of counterfeit significance. And that needs to be corrected. But, at the same time, they come to him. Recognizing that he's a king. Now they got the kingdom all mixed up, but they still see him as king. They still see him as one who can grant this request. And so you see the grace of the Messiah, the precious mercy of the Messiah, the infinite wisdom, the seeing into their heart as they come to him with this most foolishly put of question. He nevertheless sees their heart and sees, well, they've got my kingdom all mixed up. They do profess that I'm king. I can work with that. And they have got this idea of greatness all backwards. That's okay. They desire greatness and they desire greatness that's attached to me. You see, their understanding of greatness is attached to Christ. And although it's confused and mixed up, kind of like the woman with the flow of blood, who had a faith that was also mixed up, their faith is also kind of mixed up. Their idea of greatness is obviously mixed up. But the wise Messiah sees it all, and He doesn't shame them or rebuke them. Instead, He says, My child, I too desire greatness for you. In fact, I have planned greatness for you. And you will have greatness. First, I must teach you of what true greatness is. This is a lesson that they got. They understood. It took a while. It took a while. On the back of your notes, 1 John 3 and verse 16. This is the elderly John. In the Gospel of Mark, that's the young man John, probably in his twenties. In 1 John, this is the elderly John. Writing by this we know love that he laid down his life for us and here it is and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers John got it not overnight and It of course required the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and many years of sanctification with the master Nevertheless, he eventually understood it. I Have greatness for you James and John, but it's greatness that you know, nothing on It's infinitely greater You than this little trinket of a, of a throne that you're asking for. Actually, I think we can finish this way. I think we can finish by saying, or at least asking the question, did James and John ask for too much or did they ask for too little? Look at the final section in your notes, Romans eight and verse 17. If we are his children, then we are heirs, heirs of God. And what fellow heirs with Christ. Or, more specifically, look at Revelation 3, verse 21. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit, what are those next words? With me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. What Jesus won, He gives to us. What he earned is ours. In reality, had James and John understood this, they would also know what you and I see by looking at this passage today, which is to say, in the opinion of Christ, James and John were asking far less than what Christ had actually prepared for them. They were asking to sit on some other thrones beside Him, when what He says to them in Revelation 3 and verse 21, He says, no, you will be with Me on My throne. You will be fellow heirs of my kingdom. The kingdom that I earned will be yours. So to conclude, back to the words of C. S. Lewis from last week, the problem with fallen man is not that we ask too much of God, the problem with fallen man is that we ask too little and we're too quickly satisfied with this world's counterfeit pleasures.