The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
GREATNESS THROUGH SERVICE
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
GREATNESS THROUGH SERVICE
Lesson Plan:
1. The Heroic Christ (vs 32-34)
2. The Request of the Two Brothers (vs 35-37)
3. How Jesus Dealt With Ambitious Disciples (vs 38-41)
4. Jesus Teaches a Lesson on True Greatness (vs 42-45)
Lesson Setting:
Time: Last of March, A.D. 30. Soon after the last lesson, and a few weeks before the crucifixion
Place: Southern Perea beyond Jordan, Jesus being on His last journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.
Research and Discussion: The request of James and John, and its motives. What shows that the other disciples were infected with the same feelings? True and false ambitions. The test of true greatness. Why is service the way to and the proof of greatness? The social democracy of Jesus. What change was made in the spirit of the disciples? – how and when?
Scripture Reading: Mark 10:32-34
1. The Heroic Christ
The Scene: “And they were in the way [the highway] going up to Jerusalem” (v 10). After restoring Lazarus at Bethany the Pharisees were intensely bitter against Jesus. So much so that Jesus retired for a time to the mountainous country of Ephraim, because His time was not yet come. Now He was returning to the city. The Passover Feast was near, and multitudes thronged the way to Jerusalem. As ...
v 32 ... “Jesus was going before” the disciples, He took the twelve apart from the throngs (Matt.), to share with them what was on His heart. “There are few pictures in the gospel more striking than this of Jesus going forth into the deep valley, while behind Him, in awful reverence and mingled anticipations of dread and hope, the disciples walked and dared not disturb His meditations” (Farrar).
Amazement and Awe: “And they were amazed” (v 32) seeing Him bravely going forward into the face of danger and death with sublime heroism. This was a perfect example of true heroism. In Jerusalem, a short time before this, the Jews had sought to assassinate Jesus, twice mobbed Him, and once issued an order for His arrest (Jn. 7:19, 32; 8:59; 10:31, 39). Their enmity was increased by the resurrection of Lazarus (Jn. 11:47, 48, 53, 56, 57), and they were at this time making strenuous efforts to find Him and kill Him.
v 32 ... “And as they followed [the disciples] they were afraid” not only for themselves but for Jesus, as they saw Him marching into the jaws of death. It was no doubt a mingling of fear and awe.
Heroism of the Disciples: However, they went on in spite of their fear. The disciples were not lacking in heroism. They were learning something from the heroism of their Master. Green says that it was in vain that the father of Joan of Arc swore that he would drown her before she could carry out her purpose of entering the field with armed men. It was in vain that the priest, the wise people of the village, the captain of Vaucouleurs, doubted and refused to aid her. “I must go to the king,” persisted the peasant girl, “even if I wear my limbs to the very knees. I had far rather rest and spin by my mother’s side,” she pleaded, with a touching pathos, “for this is no work of my choosing; but I must go and do it, for my Lord wills it.” “And who,” they asked, “is your Lord?” “He is God.” Words like these touched the old captain at last. He took Joan by the hand and swore to lead her to the king. There are potential heroisms in every life. Without them life would be barren. They may not summon us to such ventures as that of the Master or Joan of Arc, but the call has been sounded for every one of us to rise from the dust and do something requiring faith and courage.
A Forewarning: For the third time (Matt. 16:21; 17:22, and 20:17), Jesus foretells what is coming so His disciples will not be taken unawares or be overwhelmed by a sudden storm of temptation. They needed this preparation for what was coming. Why? So their faith would be established, not shaken, by witnessing the fulfillment of His predictions. Here Jesus sets before the disciples a living example of loving service at great cost, of seeking not to be ministered unto, but to minister, i.e., the highest kind of heroism and greatness. The picture of His sufferings is very vivid. Jesus will soon face insult, torture and death on the cross. But Jesus gives them a vision of hope and faith, by assuring them that death was not the end. He would not perish, but rise again to a new and greater life.
The Heroism of Christ was far greater than that of His disciples. (a) He was clearly conscious of what was before Him. Soldiers say that the severest test of courage is waiting for the battle. (b) He was perfectly able to escape the coming pain and death. “Thinkest thou,” He said to Peter, “that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53). They guarded His spirit from failing, but He chose death.
“Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (Jn. 10:17, 18). (a) He gave Himself for the greatest, most worthy cause in history. (b) He sacrificed Himself amid obloquy, disgrace, seeming defeat. There were no cheers of “on to victory;” no sustaining shouts of applause from admiring crowds; no activity of battle engaging the power of body and mind, enabling warriors to fight enthusiastically. (c) He had the heroism of faith, in the tense darkness, when His death would seem to be defeat and disaster to His cause, through which it was hard to see the resurrection and victory beyond. The heroes of all the subsequent ages have been innovated by Him. Duty has sounded a new call, and her voice has rung with new authority ever since.
Scripture Reading: Mark 10:35-37
2. The Request of the Two Brothers
v 35 ... “And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came unto him” with their mother, Salome, who was one of the women who were Jesus’ constant attendants, ministering to Him “ saying,” through her. They really made the request whether they spoke for themselves, or persuaded their mother to speak for them, as in Matthew.
Light might be thrown upon their request if we consider: (a) Salome was perhaps the sister of Mary, mother of Jesus, and if so, James and John were His cousins. If true, they were simply using the family relationship to hopefully gain an advantage over other disciples. (b) Earlier Jesus had told the disciples that they would sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, while He sat on His own throne of glory (Matt. 19:28). They felt sure the time must be close at hand. They felt the need to secure their places now, or someone else might be before them.
Their request was “Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory” (v 37). Not in the trial. Not by the cross, but in “thy glory,” as the Messiah King. That is, in the two chief places of honor. “The first place of honor was the right hand of the sovereign; the second, the left hand” (Josephus’ Ant., VI. 11, 9). No doubt they still expected an outward kingdom of worldly splendor; not a spiritual and moral kingdom into which the world would be transformed.
Mingled Motives: These disciples were good men, not yet as good as they would soon be under the baptism of the fiery trials and the Holy Spirit. However, they were among the best men of their nation. Therefore we can be sure their request had mingled motives. And we can be sure that good motives were most in evidence, or Jesus would never have treated their request as He did. (a) One motive was undoubtedly love for Jesus. It is understandable why they desired to be near Him in a more intimate acquaintance, receiving a fuller instruction of the truths of His kingdom. There is even a possibility they desired to help and defend Him in the coming perilous times. After all, they had been named “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus (Mk. 3:17). Among the disciples, it was they alone who wanted fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans for not receive Jesus into their village (Lk. 9:53-56). At the same time there was also a degree of selfishness in their request, for it would have excluded the other disciples, who may have had greater need to be close to Jesus. (b) Another motive was doubtless a degree of selfish ambition, wanting great things for themselves. They had some reason for perhaps thinking Jesus regarded them as especially fitted for higher places. They had been chosen with Peter more than once to accompany Jesus while the others were left out. They were self-confident and natural leaders. Probably, along with ambition, something far more prominent was in their minds: desire for a larger field of usefulness. They no doubt had strong confidence in their ability to carry out the Master’s work better than others; therefore, it was their duty to do so. Which of the disciples do you think might be as willing to fight and suffer for the Cause and the Master as much? Their request showed faith in Jesus and His promises. It showed courage; a willingness to go with Jesus to the cross in order to wear a crown with Him.
Scripture Reading: Mark 10:38-41
3. How Jesus Dealt With Ambitious Disciples
v 38 ... “Ye know not what ye ask.” They knew not the greatness of the favor they asked; how blessed it was, beyond their highest dreams, to sit on the right hand of the Son of God, how radiant the glories of that kingdom were to be. They knew not what their request involved; how hard the way, how difficult the conditions. They knew not what they were specially fitted for. None of us knows enough to wisely choose our own lot. To be wise, seek only God’s wisdom and love. There are a few things we need to be more thankful for than that some of our prayers are not answered in the way we desired.
v 38 ... [R.V., ‘Are ye able’] “to drink of the cup that I drink of?” Can you pay the price? Can you share the sacrifices?
v 38 ... “The cup” signifies our portion, or lot, holding whatever God puts into life – all good, all joy, all work, including sufferings – as God’s will and accepting it as coming from His hand.
v 38 ... “And be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” It was consecration to a cause even to death.
v 39 ... “They said unto him, We can” [R.V. ‘we are able’]. This was perhaps a somewhat overweening assurance, but it was what they felt and believed in the face of what Jesus had just told them about His sufferings. They were not wholly mistaken in their self-judgment. After all, no one can be absolutely sure what he will or won’t do. They fled with the other disciples on the night of the arrest, even the brave Peter. Only John, in the trial before Caiaphas, maintained his courage.
v 39 ... “Jesus said ... Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of.” James was the first martyr (Acts 12:1, 2). And John lived a long life of labor amid persecutions and exile in Patmos (Rev. 1:9), and, according to tradition, he was immersed in a caldron of boiling oil, and compelled to drink a cup of poison. But he survived these and died at an old age.
v 40 ... “But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give,” but “it is for them for whom it hath been prepared” (R.V.), or “not mine to give” “except to them for whom it is prepared.” Can we reach the places of greatest usefulness and power to do good without being endowed by God with the talents, training and preparing for the work? What about the incompetent, unfitted, or those unwilling to undergo necessary training? Note: Our Lord did not deny the petition of James and John, or say they would not occupy the place they now improperly sought. For all we know, that may be their true place. Jesus turned them from the path they thought led to the desired good, but which led away from the goal. They drank the Lord’s cup. They were baptized with His baptism. They stand among the immortal Apostles through whom Jesus built His church. Judas alone took the wrong way, and utterly failed of his hopes.
v 41 ...”When the ten [including Judas who would naturally be a leader in this movement] heard it, they began to be much displeased with [R.V. ‘moved with indignation concerning’] James and John.” They only “began,” for Jesus nipped the wrong feeling in the bud. There indignation demonstrates they were just as guilty as James and John. It is our own personal faults that must be condemned, especially when we see them mirrored in others. When we are selfish it is easier to condemn others as being selfish; when fretful ourselves it is easier to condemn others as being bad tempered; and when we are stubborn it is much easier to think of others as being set in their ways. All the disciples were in one boat. Like us, they needed the Master’s instruction.
Jesus’ method of curing this fault of His disciples – This incident is of special value because it shows one of Jesus’ ways of curing a fault of His disciples. Curing it was essential to forming their character as well as their usefulness in building up His kingdom. He was the Teacher, they were His students. Note: (a) Jesus did not rebuke their request. He did not find direct fault or bad with them, as He did the Pharisees against whom He launched His “Woe unto you.” Jesus found little fault with the disciples, faulty as they were, because He had a better way. (b) He asked if they could fulfill the conditions. (c) The Master dwelt on the cultivation of the good, developing a spirit that would overcome their faults and selfish spirit. Jesus was like a gardener. If the garden is full of weeds and brambles, the gardener cuts out the weeds. But if the garden is bearing good fruit or flowers, the weeds are eliminated in the process of cultivation. His thoughts focus on the good. There is often great harm done by good men who berate the church and Christians because of imperfections, failing to reach the perfect standard. Thus discouraging and misrepresenting them before the world.
Scripture Reading: Mark 10:42-45
4. Jesus Teaches a Lesson on True Greatness
Jesus gathered all the disciples around Him and taught them a lesson which would be deeply impressed on their souls by the exciting events which had just taken place. It is needed to all time, the contrast between the worldly and the Christian ideas of greatness.
First: False and Unworthy Ambitions – “Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles [R.V. ‘seem to be chief,’ have the place and honor, and appearance of leadership; but instead of leading they] exercise lordship [R.V. ‘lord it over them’] And their great ones [those regarded as great, possessing the authority and office of greatness] exercise authority upon them” (v 42) for themselves, to get all they can out of the people instead of doing all they can to make them good and prosperous and virtuous. It was a selfish authority, an utterly false ambition, full of dangers, crowded with temptations to sin and crime. As long as we desire to possess rather than give; to seek power to command rather than bless; to hope for supremacy instead of love; to be greatest instead of least, first instead of last; then in the end we shall have death’s crown, death’s wages.
Second: True Greatness – “But so shall it not be among you” (v 43). Most problems in the church can no doubt be traced to a disregard of this command; desiring honor and power rather than to serve, love and help.
v 43 ... “But whosoever will [wishes to] be great among you.” Jesus does not forbid the desire to be great, but only the desire for selfish greatness. The wish to be greater than others is always a wrong ambition. The wish to be as great, as good, as useful as possible, to grow and improve is right, though it, too, has dangers. However, desiring to serve others can never be too strong.
v 43 ...”Shall be your minister,” “one who advances others’ interests even at the sacrifice of his own” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon).
v 44 ... “Whosoever ... will be the chiefest,” [R.V. ‘be first’]. Do we truly desire to be the greatest for Jesus? If so, then we are now seeking to provide the greatest possible service to others by conferring on them the largest benefits at real cost to ourselves. Such requires heroism, self-sacrifice and the highest qualities of manhood, all of which are divine, noble and most heavenly. Seeking to be the greatest for Jesus requires from us the greatest thing of all, love.
v 45 ... “For even the Son of man,” the greatest man, the son of God “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,” and to do this at the greatest self-sacrifice, by giving “his life a ransom for many,” “the many,” the whole multitude of the human race. Here is the example, the proof, the ideal of Christ’s teachings.
