♪ Your mighty arm to save me when my pulse alarmed ♪ ♪ The work you have for me begun ♪ ♪ Shall by your praise be fully done ♪ ♪ Your mercy shall forever be, O Lord my Maker, think on me ♪ Truth and grace together shine. And let us turn to God's holy word. The grass withers. The flower fades. The word of our Lord endures forever. And so we turn again to Mark, Mark chapter 10, verses 32 through 45. That's page 1,076 in most of the pew Bibles. There are a couple of brief words about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but this is now the third clear and detailed, we could say the third clear and detailed foretelling by Jesus of his own death and resurrection. And so we come, Mark chapter 10, beginning at 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 was to happen to him, 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 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? 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 at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. And when the 10 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 Gentiles lorded over them and their great ones exercise authority over them, 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. So far the reading of God's holy word. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Perhaps in this changing world of getting your news from all different places nowadays, we're not as familiar with radio commercials or TV commercials as maybe we were 20 years ago. But I think most of us will still probably hear some radio commercials over the course of a month or whatever it be. And so we know that these commercials tend to use really big language, really big descriptions of products, right? Such as this, best ever, life changing, these things are essential for fill in the blank. But our descriptions of household items as being essential really justified? Does it really matter whether I use one cooking pot or another? Does it really make a foundational life-changing difference whether I use one brand of paper towel or another? Language is really quite silly when you sit back and think about it. And certainly to emphasize how important these things are within the commercial industry, often commercial manages to be quite repetitive in a short amount of time. Maybe a 30-second commercial manages to repeat the same basic thing three or four different times. Well, people of God, what should words such as essential and life-changing be reserved for? When are they actually appropriate to use? What is worthy of such strong language? And what is worthy of repetition? Certainly, Jesus Christ describing His particular mission is worthy of such strong language. and is worthy of such repetition. And so we have it here again. Mark 8, verse 32 and following. Mark 9, verse 32 and following. Mark 10, verse 32 and following. clear predictions of that coming event, which is the very reason why Jesus came. The very thing which is essential for life itself. And so we come again, and now we consider the particulars of this declaration. And we'll look at the road in verses 32 to 34, and then the seat after that. So what is this road they are traveling? Well, they are traveling up to Jerusalem. We have made a reference to this before as we have been working, as they have been working their way almost in as straight a line as you can make through Galilee, through Judea, toward Jerusalem. Jesus is set upon this journey now and he goes up to Jerusalem. That's how you describe going to Jerusalem. You're going up in the physical sense. Jerusalem is in the hill countries. It's rather elevated compared to most of Israel. You're going up in the spiritual sense. This is where the first temple was built so long ago. This is where the second temple was rebuilt many centuries ago and still stands to this day. Jerusalem was both the civil and the theological religious capital of the nation of Israel for many, many years. So you go up to Jerusalem and Jesus is walking this path. He's walking ahead of them. And it says there in the middle of verse 32 that they were amazed. They were amazed. Why were they amazed? It doesn't really tell us. It's not that they were amazed because they knew Jesus was walking to his death. Jesus is going to declare that in a particular way, but it's clear both here and even explicitly stated in the parallel account in Luke 18 that they did not understand these things. So they're not amazed because they know he's walking to his death. They just don't understand when Jesus speaks clearly about that. Are they amazed because this is the first time they're walking to Jerusalem? Well, that's not the case either because the Gospel of John makes it clear that though this is the trip to Jerusalem, Jesus went to Jerusalem at other times in his life. Why are they amazed? Luke gives us one hint, speaks a little bit more, gives us slightly more detail than Mark chapter 10. This is really left for implication. Mark 10 is not telling us correctly. Luke 9 verse 51, describing the beginning of this trip to Jerusalem says, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. He set his face, he was walking ahead of them. These are not greatly different from the general descriptions of moving from one place to another, but we get a picture of Jesus walking with a certain intensity, a certain pace. a certain seriousness. It's the very demeanor, it's the very body language of Jesus which is leaving the disciples and others who follow him amazed. This is a rare time when actually the clearest detail is not found in the Gospels and the parallel accounts, but in the prophets. Isaiah 53 we rightly think of as the servant, suffering servant passage, but the chapters before that speak about the servant of the Lord as well. Isaiah chapter 50 says this, it's one verse, but it helps us to understand another description of the body language of the servant going to his suffering that helps us to understand why the disciples were amazed. The prophet says this in Isaiah 50 verse seven, but the Lord God helps me, therefore I have not been disgraced, therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. Did you hear how that's like the words of Luke chapter 9, but with a little more detail? This is a rare place where remark just says it for us, doesn't really explain why, and we actually have to go back to the prophets to help us to understand. It's the very body language of Jesus that leaves His disciples as amazed. This makes us think of the Garden of Gethsemane, doesn't it? the body language of the Savior, knowing what He is going to do. And so He prays before the Lord. He pours out His heart before the Lord and sweats drops of blood. He knows His cup. He knows His portion. He knows where He's going. He knows what He has to do. His very face is set like a flint. And so, what at first glance seems to be undescribed in Mark, through some details in Luke, and especially in the prophets themselves, we can understand how the body language of Jesus leaves the disciples and others following amazed. And so it's appropriate then that after the amazement of the determination of Jesus that Mark brings us again to an explicit prophecy which Jesus makes concerning his own mission. Verse 33, see, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be delivered. And then there are details here which we have read previously, chapter eight and chapter nine, the execution of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus. Those details are included in all three chapters. The deliverance in a particular way to the chief priests and describes, that was in chapter nine, wasn't it? And the being sentenced to death was included in chapter eight. There's also a new detail here. There's also a new detail. The Messiah who came through the Israelites, the prophet that will arise from among the brethren. What is he gonna do? He's gonna come before the Israelites. They're going to deny him, they're going to deny their own Messiah, and they're going to, what? They're going to hand their own Messiah over to the Gentiles? This is unthinkable. We're going to reject the Messiah? Our own chief priests and scribes are going to sentence him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles? To the Goyim? Those pagan people? To this day, that's a Hebrew insult. Goyim. Nations. Non-Israelites. We're going to hand Jesus? We're going to hand the Messiah over to the nation? This is unthinkable. I mean, in a sense, no wonder the disciples didn't understand what Jesus was saying. Because he's speaking plainly, but what he's plainly saying is, look, I am the Messiah, I'm gonna be sentenced by your chief priests and scribes, and they're gonna hand me over to the Romans, and the Romans are going to mock me, scourge me, kill me. That's beyond comprehension to the Jewish mind. that they would both deny the Messiah and hand him over to the Romans, to the people of the world. Are we really going to miss the Messiah that badly? But Jesus who grew in knowledge and wisdom, as the Gospel of Luke tells us, knows the Old Testament Scriptures intimately. And he's quoting prophecies about himself. We sang from Psalm 22, this, I love 22C and 22D. those hymns of praise so appropriate to open worship. And that's the same psalm, it's the psalm which ends with verses such as we had our call to worship from this morning. It's basically those verses from which 22C, 22D pull those songs of praise. But what's at the beginning of Psalm 22? Words such as this, Psalm 22, verses six through eight. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me. They make mouths at me. They wag their heads. He trusts the Lord. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, for he delights in him." Mocked. Despised. Isaiah chapter 50, we already read Isaiah chapter 50 verse seven, the setting of the face like a flint. What's the verse before that? Isaiah 50 verse six, I gave my back to those who strike and my cheek to those who pull out the beard. I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. Jesus has set His face like a flint and He knows where His face is going. The first application is clear. Jesus has suffered. He has done this for his people. Let us rejoice in all that our Savior has gone through for his own people. Another application is this. The words which Jesus says are just unthinkable to the Jew. The disciples were so It was just so unthinkable that the people of Israel would do something like this. That they would deny their Messiah in such a way. What are errors that we can drift into? What are misunderstandings of who Jesus really is that we can fall into? And then just not hear because it just sounds unthinkable. We must remember that God is one who says, my thoughts are not your thoughts. We must remember that scripture directs us. We can never direct scripture. So we must learn this lesson from this direct prophecy and from the other two direct prophecies We must hear what Jesus is really saying. We must hear what the Word of God is really saying at all parts. May we not think something is so unthinkable that we just put it out of our minds and disregard it or misunderstand it. It's a lesson to hear Scripture carefully. It's a lesson to be commanded by the Word of God, whatever it says. But again, the first application is look at what Jesus has done for His people. Look at what Jesus has done for you. Believe in Him. Believe in Him who went on this road and drank from this cup. And so we come to our second point. What is this cup? little less time on each point as we go. This cup, first of all, the request is made. Notice Jesus gives a wise response. They ask for a blank check, right? Whatever we ask of you, teacher, give to us. Verse 35, and what does Jesus say? Well, what do you want me to do for you? He doesn't just say that he will do it. Careful response of the Savior. And then they make this bold request. Verse 37, grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left. How could they dare make such a request? Well, the parallel account in Matthew tells us that their mother spurred them on to do this. That's one thing. The nickname that Jesus gives them, Mark 3, 17, do you remember? These were the brothers, the sons of thunder. That's a kind of character description which can have positive and also negative impact. They were part of the inner circle. What's the inner circle? The three, Peter, James, and John. Those are the three who, Mark chapter 5, they're the only three who go into the healing of Jairus' daughter. Mark chapter 9, verse 2, they're the only three who go to the Mount of Transfiguration and yet upcoming, They're the only three who go with Jesus into the inner prayer circle of the Garden of Gethsemane in Mark chapter 14. They were wealthy, they were well-connected. There's a detail in John chapter 18 where when Jesus goes into his trial before the high priest, Peter is not allowed in because he doesn't know the high priest, but John, the son of Zebedee, he's allowed in. In short, from the human standpoint, at first we read this and we might say, Jesus just made this clear declaration again, are we gonna go through this cycle again where Jesus makes the clear declaration, the disciples don't understand it, and Jesus has to teach them about what true service is? Yes, we have to repeat that again. But also from a human standpoint, we might say, oh, And they're in the sons of thunder. They're in the inner circle. They're well-connected. James and John, they can make this request. But it is nothing more than a request which shows a lack of understanding at what Jesus has just said, at what Jesus is about to do. Grant us to sit in your glory. Grant us to sit in your glory. We're going up to Jerusalem. That means glory, right? Jerusalem is the place where you're gonna sit on the throne again. That's not what Jerusalem is about. Jerusalem is where Jesus is going to suffer. And he just said that. And so Jesus speaks about his cup. about his baptism. The cup and baptism, they're both used widely as illustrations in the Old Testament for a number of things. The cup especially, it can stand for your portion. Think of Psalm 23, you know, my cup overflows. but it can speak of kind of the portion, that which God gives through his providential sovereignty, but it can be the portion, whether good or bad, whatever you have to endure. So think of the prayer in the garden again. Jesus will say, oh, that this cup, that what you have allotted for me might pass away, and not my will, but yours. It can also, in a particular way, and this is how it's used in Psalm Psalm 11, for example, if you want to write down Psalm 11 verses 5 and 6, and then this is done many times in the prophets as well, it can speak of the cup of God's wrath against sin. So in both of those ways we see how this is appropriate, isn't it? That Jesus would speak about his cup, that Jesus would speak about his difficult task in God's providence, that Jesus, who is God, would speak about taking God's wrath upon himself. The cup is a picture of both of those things. Baptism, again, can be a reference to many things, but it's so parallel to that cup here It's best to think of it as an overwhelming of a baptism of being flooded and being drowned in something. That's how Jesus is using it here. So he says in verse 38, Are you able? And then speaking, with, again, a kind of ignorant boldness. They don't understand what Jesus' cup in baptism is. They say, we are able. And then Jesus says, the cup I drink, you will drink, and the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. Well, what does that mean? going to jump from a number of passages, so perhaps you just want to write these down if you want to come back to them later. Romans 6.3, I think, is important to help us understand this. Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Certainly, we are not drinking the same cup that Jesus drinks. We know that. The context of Scripture makes that clear. Certainly, we're not baptized in the same exact way that Jesus is, but there is this sense in which The Apostles speak clearly that we share in Christ's very suffering. That's part of what we are called to as believers. And so in this broad sense, James and John, and each one of us here, shares in suffering. In that broad sense, each one of us, 1 Peter 4, 13, but rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, in so far as, For some in the history of the church, that means martyrdom. For others, it's not nearly so far. But for each one of us, rejoice in so far as you share Christ's suffering that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. And this would be to different degrees for James and John. Again, even a martyr is not sharing in the same cup as Jesus because Jesus is taking the very wrath of God upon himself. But in so far as martyrdom is an extreme case of what many believers have been suffered to. We're going to open Zechariah 3 tonight in a vision of conversion, right? And the devil stands there as the accuser. And it's true, Christians are persecuted. They continue to be persecuted. What did James, the brother of John, suffer? He did suffer martyrdom, the first martyrdom of the disciples. It's recorded for us in Acts chapter 12. What about John? What about John? Well, it says this in Revelation 1 verse 9, I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation. John suffered many things. John suffered many things for the sake of the gospel. In so far as, yes, all believers are called to suffer. but again, it's not exactly the same, certainly as the cup or the baptism of Jesus. And leading into our third point, again, we're going a little more rapidly through each point, but going into our third point, Jesus then says, but this seat, this seat that you asked for, it's not even mine to grant, but it is for whom it has been prepared. And then Matthew 20, the parallel account, adds explicitly, by my father, my father knows. Which takes us into verse 41. And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. The context is telling us this isn't some kind of righteous indignation, this is jealousy. That's what the context is telling us, isn't it? Like, why did they ask and not us? We should have asked first. The disciples don't get it. Again, that's the repeated theme. We saw that already in chapter eight and chapter nine. And now we see it again. The disciples do not understand. And so Jesus needs to teach about what true service and servant leadership is. So he makes a contrast between the way rulers are in the world and the way that rulers must be in the church. This needs little explanation. Verse 42 needs little explanation. That's how the leaders of the world operate. That is what we see time and time again. On smaller scales and bigger scales, there is power. on all sides of every political spectrum, in every country, everywhere. Power with little regard for others. Domineering, using strength for personal gain instead of lifting others up. That's the constant pattern that we see in the leadership of the world. And Jesus is clearly implying here, look, This is how the leaders of the world operate. And you despise it, don't you? You're Jews, you're oppressed. You know what domineering leadership is. The very thing that you despise, you as leaders of the church are demonstrating it right now in your failure to understand what true leadership is. That's the movement which Jesus makes. He said, let it not be so among you. Whoever would be great among you must be your servant. Surely this is described further in the description of how leaders of the church must be in 1 Peter 5, verses 2-4. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight. not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, Reminder that the shepherds of this world are very much under the rule of the chief shepherd. When the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. I mean, the modern illustration is simply something like this. We tend to dislike politicians. Because time and time again, we see them use their power for personal gain with little regard for those under them. But the reality is that we're prone to make the same kind of power struggles in our own lives. And now again, we can apply this to every age, right? Because we're prone to make that in relationship between one spouse and another, between one sibling and another. Already two young siblings know the temptations of this direction towards domination. Let it not be so among you. Let it not be so in the church. Let it not be so in your home. Let it not be so for any that you have authority over at work. Let it not be so. rule as one who would be a servant. And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man, and again that's the glorious name, because it's so clearly connected to Daniel chapter 7. Even the Son of Man, even the One who is divine and will come from the clouds in glory, even He came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life. as a ransom for many, paying the price for sin itself with His blood, salvation in Him. People of God, believe on this One. Believe on this One who set His face upon the most difficult task the world has ever seen, and did it for the sake of His people. Repent from sins, and believe in Him who without sin bore all these things from the Jews to the Gentiles onto the cross. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our Lord, we pray that you would show us your perfect leadership that you would show us that very service to the cross, that great love with which you have loved us. Teach us to hear then all that your word commands us to do. Teach us then to be your grateful servants. this we pray in Jesus' name, amen. People of God, our song of application, 241. Let's stand together and sing, or 541, excuse me, verses one and two and four. Verses one, two, and four of 541. The Son of God goes forth to war, the kingly crown to bear. His blood will never shrink, so far he follows in his trail. his strength. The martyr burst his eagle-eye when he saw the great eagle, who saw his master in the sky and called on him to save ♪ In the rump to fallows in his train ♪ ♪ Our noble army men and boys ♪ ♪ The matron and the main ♪ ♪ Of round the Savior's throne ♪ ♪ Rejoice in robes of white array ♪ King, hide that steadfast hand of heaven through peril, toil, and pain. O God, to us may grace be given to follow in their dream. It is time now for our morning gifts and offerings. This morning, that is for the Costa Rica mission. And it only came yesterday, but there's also the Costa Rica mission updates now on the table. And following that, our benediction and doxology 567. you of God, if you would stand. Let us receive God's parting blessing. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. praise father