Mark 10:35–45 - Glory = Humility

Christ calls you to a theology of the cross, not glory.

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Gospels: Week 7 - The cost of discipleship

Your prayers may seem humble, but are you praying like a theologian of glory?

Mark 10:35–45 (NASB95)

³⁵ James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.”

³⁶ And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

³⁷ They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.”

³⁸ But 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?”

³⁹ They said to Him, “We are able.”

And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.

⁴⁰ “But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹ Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. ⁴² Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; ⁴⁴ and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Heidelberg Catechism

Q&A 43

Q. What further advantage do we receive from Christ’s sacrifice and death on the cross?

A. Through Christ’s death

our old selves are crucified, put to death, and buried with him,

so that the evil desires of the flesh

may no longer rule us,

but that instead we may dedicate ourselves

as an offering of gratitude to him.

Summary

What a way to begin a prayer - with the demand that Jesus do for us whatever we ask of Him. Now James and John - the Sons of Thunder, as Jesus had nicknamed them earlier - weren't formally praying the way we normally think of it, but they were certainly coming before God Himself as they spoke to Jesus. Hopefully you're a bit offended at their presumptuousness, but then think of how often you pray the same way, even if you'd never use their same words.

Remarkably, Jesus doesn't scold His two disciples. He simply and patiently asks what they want Him to do for them. What a blessing to know that even when we so often jump right into the third "A" in our prayers by Asking for what we want instead of first Acknowledging who God is and Aligning our lives with Him in our prayers as Jesus taught us, that our loving God still listens and is interested in what we are demanding!

So James and John power on, boldly insisting Jesus proclaim that they may sit, one on Jesus' right and one on His left, in His glory. Now it becomes clear to Jesus that His two beloved, yet boisterous, disciples have the same misconceptions about what Jesus had come to do that so many others had in their day, and continue to have even today: that Jesus came to simply glorify the existing order of things which had been dulled by sin. We want a Kingdom whose citizens are as equally glorified as the King.

But Jesus knows what James and John didn't, and what we often forget. When Jesus is at the actual moment of His greatest glory, there will be somebody on the right and the left, but they will be criminals being crucified. Jesus says to John and James: You have no idea what you’re asking.

  Dig Deeper  

Martin Luther famously said that there are two types of theologians. And he wasn’t just referring to bookish scholars with the term “theologian,” but to everyone who thinks and speaks about God—which means all of us. You can be a theologian of glory, who assumes God’s power and favor will be displayed through visible success, strength, influence, and advancement. A theologian of glory expects Jesus to simply improve the existing order and secure a better place for people like us within it.

Or you can be what Luther called a theologian of the cross, who recognizes that God most clearly reveals His power through what the world considers weakness, His wisdom through what appears foolish, and His glory through suffering and self-giving love.

It's this second type that Jesus expects us to be - people who don't seek to lord it over others, but rather those who aspire to greatness by becoming servants. James and John learned this lesson the hard way; they'd aspired to greatness by attempting to lord it over the others, but instead only earned the indignation of the other ten disciples.

Jesus points them instead to His own example - an example you're to follow in principle, not in its particulars. Like Jesus, you should be set on serving - even to the extent that you make yourself the slave of all. Jesus did this in such a particular way that you can't - nor do you need to because Jesus did it so completely: He gave His life as a ransom for many.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sent His Son not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that more and more you'll shed your theology of glory and replace it with a theology of the cross;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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