Mark 10- Sharing in the service and suffering of the Messiah

 

Job 38:1-7, (34-41); Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35; Hebrews 5:1-10; 

Mark 10:35-45

When we meet the disciples in our Gospel reading, they are on their way up to Jerusalem, where Jesus will soon be killed. The disciples obviously don’t know this, but as the readers, we know this, and I think Mark wants us to keep this in mind as we read this passage.

James and John are part of the inner core of the disciples. You might remember that James, John, and Peter are often selected out from among the disciples by Jesus. They were allowed to be present when Jesus brought Jairus’ daughter back to life (Mk 5). They were the ones on the mountain with Jesus to witness the Transfiguration (Mk 9). He brought them aside at the Garden of Gethsemane to pray before he was taken by the authorities (Mk 13&14). So, these three seemed to have been the inner circle within the 12 Apostles.

Given that James and John are a part of the inner circle, it isn’t completely out of nowhere that they request the places next to Jesus in his Kingdom. They seem to be close to occupying those places already. The one who might have the most right to be offended would be Peter, since he was also a part of that inner three.

As human beings we seek to climb whatever ladder of hierarchy we consider to be important. If we are in elementary school, we want to be the fastest runner or the best at drawing. In high school we want to be chosen for the lead role in the play, or to be captain of the volleyball team. If we are into the culinary arts, we want to be the most highly rated by the food critics. If we get into sales, we want to sell the most in the region. Whatever we value throughout our life, we create a hierarchy and desire to be at the top of it. Or, at least we don’t want to be at the bottom of it. … The community that wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran would rank all the members of the community in terms of their holiness. You knew who you were better than, and who you were worse than.

Our earthly egos seek that hierarchy, even though we also hate it and are crushed by it. We like to be able to look behind us and see all those we have surpassed, but we hate looking forward to see all those who have surpassed us. It ignites our jealousy and our envy, as we covet the position they have.

Those who are at the top can become full of contempt for those below them in the hierarchy. Jesus’ words ring true here, 

“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” (v42).

 I think we have all probably met someone who becomes a bully when they become a manager, or gain any kind of power over others.

In ancient royal courts, the positions near the king were the most powerful in the kingdom. To sit at the right and the left of the king meant you were the most important people in the kingdom, apart from the king. Like others in their culture, James and John would have thought about the Messiah in terms of a king like David- An earthly king, who would establish God’s rule on earth through an earthy kingdom like the kingdom of David- A king who would defeat the enemies of Israel and bring the people into a new golden age.

The request is based on a false understanding of who Jesus is as the Messiah. The Gospel of Mark often shows the Apostles stumbling about as they try to understand who Jesus really is. Peter will grasp it one moment, calling Jesus the Messiah, but then rebukes Jesus for saying that he would suffer and die at the hands of the authorities (Mk 8). … James and John’s request is a similar kind of stumbling, showing they only understand a part of what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah. They are missing a crucial piece. … This will involve suffering for Jesus, and for those who follow him. There is an intense humility and service that is a part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

Jesus’s response to them shows they don’t really get that their calling to him involves joining him in his service, his trials, and sufferings.

He says, 

‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ … whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’ (10:38, 43-45)

Jesus sabotages the hierarchy by making the basis of the hierarchy service and humility. The contempt of the person on the top of the ladder towards those below them disqualifies them and nocks them off the top. The desire to use others to serve their own desire, their own glory, to serve their own ego- that is all reversed. The questions stop being ‘how can I use you to serve me and raise me up?’ ‘How can I use you to fill my needs?’. … The question of the disciple becomes ‘how can I serve you in the name of God?’. Instead of expecting comfort and for things to go our own way, the disciple is called into suffering and trials as they follow Jesus, especially those in leadership. … Of course, Christ’s trials and suffering are unlike those of anyone else. No one else takes on the sin of others, and the evil of the world, which are defeated in their own suffering and death. … But disciples are called to pick up their own crosses and follow him.

Jesus asks James and John if they can drink from his cup and be baptized with his baptism. They are easy to see as comforting images. To sit with your Lord and drink from his cup is a comforting image. … But the Bible also talks about the cup as a cup of judgement (Ps 75:8; Is 51:17-22; Jer 25:15-28; 49:12; 51:7; Lam 4:21; Ezek 23:31-34).

Psalm 75:8 says, “For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup/ with foaming wine, well mixed;/ he will pour a draught from it,/ and all the wicked of the earth/ shall drain it down to the dregs.”

In Isaiah 51:17 we read, “Rouse yourself, rouse yourself!/ Stand up, O Jerusalem,/ you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord/ the cup of his wrath,/ who have drunk to the dregs/ the bowl of staggering.”

In Jeremiah 25:15 we read, “For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.”

And from Ezekiel 23:32-33 we read, “You shall drink your sister’s cup,/ deep and wide;/ you shall be scorned and derided,/ it holds so much./ You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow./ A cup of horror and desolation/ is the cup of your sister Samaria”

In the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus prays, 

“Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want” (Mark 14:36).

 It seems like this is the cup Jesus is referring to- The cup of ‘judgement on sin’ is the cup that he drinks as he goes to the cross. … The question, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?” takes on a different edge.

The reference to baptism might have a similar edge. Paul says in Romans 6:3, 

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”

 There are a number of places in the Bible that refer to being overwhelmed by waters (Ps 42:7; 69:2, 15; Job 22:11; Is 43:2). It’s possible to think of baptism as not just a washing, but also a terrible flood of judgement- Like Noah’s flood, or like the waters that consumed Pharaoh’s army. In Luke 12:50, while speaking about him being the cause for division, Jesus speaks about a painful baptism saying, 

“I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!”.

They thought that to be on Jesus’ right and left were positions of glory only, not suffering, not trial. They don’t know what they are asking because they don’t have a complete idea of what it means to be the Messiah- which includes the cross.

This might be a lesson for us, as well. The Cup and Baptism obviously make us think about the two main sacraments of the church- The Eucharist and Baptism. They would have likely been in the minds of the first readers of the Gospel of Mark as they read this. This criticism of James and John might also be a warning to us. As we partake of these sacraments, we claim a place with Jesus in his kingdom. But this cup and this baptism also implies a joining Christ in self-sacrificial service, in pain, and in trials as we participate in the mission of God. I wonder if this reading asks us the questions, “what discomfort have you endured for the sake of Christ?” “What trial have you faced as a part of following Christ?” … These are uncomfortable questions. … We have to keep in mind that we don’t earn a place with Jesus through our service or suffering, but he does tell us to pick up our cross and follow him. We can’t earn a place in the kingdom through suffering and trials, … but trials and suffering and selfless service to others in the name of Christ seem to be what it looks like to follow Jesus and call him Lord. … Archbishop William Temple once said, "The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members”. It is a bit of an exaggeration, but perhaps it can challenge us to ask, ‘who has benefitted from my being a Christian?” If the answer is "only me" then that might be a problem. 

AMEN