Mark 10:35-45 · John 17 · 1 Corinthians 6 · Philippians 2 — Leadership
Leadership That Imitates Jesus
Jesus rejects the disciples' desire for power and prestige, teaching instead that kingdom leadership means serving others, losing oneself, and being last rather than first.
The Lesson of Finishing What You Start
One of the many lessons my father taught me is that if you start a job, you finish it. You don’t walk away from it. One summer, wanting to make extra money, I worked with an individual named Troy delivering newspapers. When I mentioned looking for more work, Troy said he was working for a company and would talk to the boss about getting me on. Sure enough, he helped me get additional hours working at their warehouse during the summer.
When I met Troy on the first day, he told me we’d be working in the warehouse, which had no air conditioning. Mid-summer in Nashville is slightly better than mid-summer in Memphis, but not much. The wall thermometer reached 120 degrees and just kept rising. Troy was a carpenter, and I worked alongside him as his gopher, picking up whatever he needed. We built something for the company for a particular exhibit, and when we finished, Troy was done with the job.
I talked to the boss and asked if I could work additional hours. He said yes and told me to come back Monday. When I arrived, he walked me back to the warehouse. I had expected to do some kind of important work, but when we entered that large cavernous room, I saw about a hundred fuel pumps—the external things you see at gas stations—lined up on one wall three, four, five deep. The boss said, “I want you to move all of those from that wall to that wall using a dolly.” Then he continued: “Once you’ve moved all of those over to the other wall, I want you to get some soap and water and a stiff bristle brush, and I want you to clean the floor. Then I want you to take all those pumps and move them back to the original wall and clean the floor where they were.”
It took me about three days. These pumps were very heavy, and I was working by myself in a warehouse that was over 120 degrees. After about two hours, I thought to myself, “I’m not sure Dad knew what he was talking about. I started this, but I’m not sure I’m going to finish it.” Three days later, I did finish. But the whole idea was that I thought I was going to do something that mattered. I finally discovered that there’s actually a lot of work that doesn’t matter.
The Request That Revealed a Kingdom Misunderstanding
Our passage today comes from Mark chapter 10. In this particular passage, two disciples, James and John, come to Jesus with visions of what it will be like when Jesus comes into power. What Jesus does is dispel that vision. He takes what they think will happen and corrects their thinking. Just like me in that warehouse that particular summer, thinking I was going to do important work and recognizing that I was just working, James and John are going to discover that if you want to do the important work of Jesus, you have to think very differently.
I don’t think James and John’s request is a simple one. I think it comes out of selfishness. They’re trying to get first in line. Their idea is that Jesus is going to come into a new kingdom, and when he does, they want to be at the top. They understand Jesus will be at the top of the hierarchical pyramid, but they want to be left and right—the closest seats. We would say today: Jesus president, them co-vice presidents. They want to be as close to that power as possible. For them, the kingdom is about power, and when Jesus comes in power, they want to be at the top.
How do you think Jesus’ face looked when they came and asked him that? Disappointed? Wouldn’t it be great if Mark had told us his facial expression? Did he smile and shake his head like, “You boys”? Or was it one of those looks of great disappointment where he just thought, “One more time, this close to the end of my ministry, what have you been learning?”
Sometimes looking at James and John is like looking in a mirror. How do we approach God in our prayers? When was the last time you prayed without asking for anything? When was the last time your prayer was filled with praise and thanksgiving, with no requests? I’m not saying we don’t praise and give thanks—we usually do, especially on the request part. But how many times have we sat here in comfort and wanted it to be different? We’re materially comfortable, but we ask God for more. We live in relative ease, and we want God to continue it. When challenges come, what do we do? We complain. We voice our displeasure. I’m not saying it’s wrong to approach God with requests, but sometimes it sounds like we’re James and John: “I want you to do for me what I want you to do for me.”
In this passage, I see the beginning of Jesus’s patience with his disciples when he says, “What do you want?” It’s like he’s saying, “I know what’s coming, so tell me what I can do for you.” Then Jesus moves down the spectrum where he becomes completely close to anger. He starts by saying, “You don’t even know what you’re asking.” They respond, “Yeah, we do. We want to share in your glory.” Jesus then asks, “Can you drink my cup? Can you be baptized with my baptism?” They answer, “Sure, yeah, absolutely.” And Jesus says, “That will happen to you, but these places, the right and the left, belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
I’ve read this passage numerous times and wondered who those right and left hand seats are prepared for. Here’s what I think Jesus is doing. When I first saw this, it absolutely blew me away. James and John want to be with Jesus in his glory, but their thinking is about power. According to John chapter 17, the glory of Jesus is the cross. And who’s at the right and the left? The two thieves who are crucified with him. That’s the right and the left that’s been prepared. They want to join Jesus in his glory, in the power. Jesus says, “You don’t understand what my kingdom is.”
The Kingdom That Requires Losing Everything
Mark tells us that the ten disciples became indignant—angry, deep anger with a purpose to inflict harm. They wanted to hurt James and John. You talk about division within the ranks. It’s not pleasant. Jesus calls them all together and begins to explain what his kingdom is. He says, “My kingdom is not about power.” They know about power. They serve under Rome. They’ve seen Roman oppression firsthand. Their vision is one exchange of power for another. They want to get rid of Rome and be benevolent people of power, but they still want to be in power. Jesus says, “That’s not my kingdom. You’ve got the wrong idea. In fact, you’re thinking like a bunch of Gentiles. You’re thinking like Rome.”
Jesus explains that Gentile rulers “exercise authority” over their subjects—that phrase has the idea of coercion by force. If you’ve had older siblings, you know what coercion by force is. Sometimes it’s twisting your arm up behind your back. Sometimes it’s putting your face into the ground and spitting on you. Jesus says, “You know what it’s like to see that kind of power, and my kingdom has nothing to do with that kind of power.” You want to be with me in my glory? My glory is on a cross. My glory is the light shining on me while I die.
How do I know Jesus is angry? Verse 43 begins with “Not so with you.” It’s translated as a nice, tepid little phrase, but the negative word comes first in the sentence, which means you’re shouting. It’s there for emphasis. Jesus is saying to his disciples, “No, not my kingdom. You think the kingdom’s all about power? No, not my kingdom.” The clear contrast is given: glory, not the kind you’re looking at; power, not at all. My kingdom is about losing. My kingdom is about being last. My kingdom is about serving.
If you want to be a part of my kingdom, you’ve got to change the way you think about kingdoms, and you’ve got to change the way you think about power. The way you will serve best in my kingdom is to lose. The way you win in my kingdom is to be last. If you want to be great, give up selfishness. Give up thinking, “I want you to do what I want you to do.” Instead, pray, “Father, use me wherever you can use me. Use me however you can use me.”
It appears that at that moment things settled down, but the disciples still didn’t fully get it. It’s not until much later that it finally comes together and they understand that power is not what they’re after. When Jesus describes his kingdom, he isn’t merely using words. At the end of that conversation, he says, “Pay attention to what I’m getting ready to do.” And we’re back to the glory. He’s saying, “Watch what’s about to happen, because I’m going to show you how to lose. I’m going to show you what it means to be last. When you see me die, then you will know. That’s my kingdom.”
The Ransom That Sets Us Free
Jesus uses the word ransom. We understand the concept of ransom—something that has to be paid in order to be set free. We think of it in terms of terrible events like kidnapping, where a ransom must be paid for the person’s release. But Jesus is talking about spiritual ransom. He’s saying there is a spiritual captivity. You are enslaved. You are captured. Someone owns you, and it’s not God. This very conversation demonstrates that none of the disciples have their heart set on God. Their hearts are captured by the lie of Satan—that the kingdom is about power.
When Jesus speaks to these disciples using the word ransom, it’s for them. It’s for us too, but it’s for them. He says, “I will ransom many.” Because your heart needs to be set free. The idea of ransom means a price has to be paid in order for somebody to be set free. Jesus says, “I’m going to be the ransom, the spiritual ransom, so that you can be set free.”
Free to do what? To lose. To be great by being last. By having a heart of a servant. Paul writes in First Corinthians chapter 6 that this idea of ransom means because you’ve been ransomed, you do not belong to yourself. To put it in very blunt terms, if somebody kidnapped me and wanted money from my family, and my family paid the money, I would be forever in debt to them. Not financially—my heart would belong to them for setting me free. And especially if one of you came up with the money to set me free, it would be like, “Whatever you want, I will do.” That’s what Paul’s talking about in First Corinthians 6. You no longer belong to yourself. You’ve been ransomed, so think like Jesus thinks.
Philippians chapter 2 tells us that Jesus left the glories of heaven in order to be a servant on earth. We sit here as part of the kingdom of God—I am not questioning that. We are part of the kingdom of God. But the kingdom of God doesn’t have a hierarchy. The kingdom of God has one person: Jesus, God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. There is no right or left hand. There is no hierarchy. It is just them. Anything that we can do to serve them is what it means to be part of the kingdom. Wherever God sends you, that’s where he sends you. Whatever he asks you to do, that’s what you do. Because your life is not yours. We are all here because we’ve been bought with a price. We’ve been ransomed.
So let us approach God with praise and thanksgiving. Ask, fine. But remember who you belong to. Look in the mirror every once in a while and make sure you don’t see a James or a John there. Make sure you have in mind what the kingdom is.
We are looking for servants who will lead this congregation in the roles of elder and deacon. These are not roles of authority. They are roles of service. They are opportunities for those men to serve this congregation in specific ways. We’re looking for leaders who say, “I understand that the kingdom is not about me, it’s not about my opinions, it’s not about what I want. It’s about what God wants and how can we make sure he is seen.” That’s what we’re looking for.
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