Good evening. Would you turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 10, where you'll find your place in Verse 35. We want to begin by asking you to remember when you were a child, how often people asked you, what do you want to be when you grow up? I think of when I was a child and I remember Thinking at various times that I might be a baseball player, a superhero, the president. One time in the third grade, I remember even responding to the question, what do you want to be? Thinking I was clever by saying, I'd like to be Bill Gates' boss. But the theme that united all of those ideas, all of those dreams and whims of a child, was the idea that all of these professions were somehow glorious, were somehow praiseworthy. I wanted to be something that people would look at and say, he's someone, there's a great person. But for those who have faith in Christ, Christ calls us to a different ambition. He calls us not to aspire to be great in a worldly sense, but rather to pursue greatness by becoming servants, even to aspire to be slaves. If that sounds like a difficult thought, if it's never been one that ran through your mind that you would like to be a slave, you're not alone because his disciples struggled with the same problem. wondering how was it that the Messiah, the one whom they came to confess as the Christ, would call his closest associates to embrace a life of service. And yet what we'll see in the text today is that Jesus grounds that call in the truth that he, the son of man, came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. And it's in light of that truth that we confess that we can obey his call to follow him by living lives as humble servants. So if you've found your place, would you follow along with me in verse 35 of Mark chapter 10 as I read. 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? And 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 ten 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 the Gentiles lord it 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. Father, we come to you tonight and we ask that you would open our minds and our hearts to receive your word. We pray that you would teach us by your word to follow Christ's example of service and to trust the service that he has rendered to us by going to the cross and dying for our sins. is only in light of this truth that we confess that we can embrace a life of service, not in our own power, but by the power of your spirit working in us. And so to that end, we pray that you would work in us to mold us and make us into the image of Christ. In Jesus name we pray. Well, to set the context of the passage we come to tonight, we only have to look back a few chapters to Mark 8, 27, where we see a turning point in Mark's gospel. There, Jesus asks his disciples, who do people say that I am? To which they respond that some say you're a prophet and some say Elijah. But then he asks, who do you say that I am? And Peter responds, you are the Christ. the Son of God. In one sense, Peter, representing all of the disciples, has grasped the truth about who Jesus is. They recognize that he's the Messiah, the Son of David who would come and reign, who would reconstitute God's people, God's kingdom. And yet they missed a major part of what that meant, because in the very next passage, Jesus predicts for the first time that he will suffer and die and after three days be raised. Peter's response is to rebuke him for this. This is not a fate that's worthy of the Messiah. This will never happen to you. But Jesus, in response, rebukes Peter for setting his mind on worldly things, on the things of man, not on the things of God. Well, in the following passages, we see that Jesus will predict his death and resurrection at least two more times and reference it even a third time after his transfiguration. Yet the disciples display the same sort of dullness. Though he speaks plainly to them, they don't understand. In one case, they're even caught quarreling over who will be the greatest, who is the greatest of his disciples. Yet, along the way, Jesus teaches them that just as he goes to the cross, just as he goes to suffer and die and to serve, so too he's calling them to a similar life. He tells them that they must not be afraid to suffer for the gospel, saying, take up your cross and follow me. He teaches them that those who would follow Him must follow Him like children, with the kind of humble faith of a child, not like the great ones on earth. And when they fight over who's the greatest, He instructs them, saying that if you would be first, you must be a servant. You must be a servant to all. And so Jesus teaches them, though they're slow to hear it and they're slow to respond, that discipleship requires one to follow Jesus' example, of service, of sacrifice, of humility, and a willingness to suffer. Well, as we come to our passage tonight then, we see that it follows immediately after Jesus' third prediction of his death and resurrection. And James and John show that they've learned very little from that. They approach him and they say, teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask. They don't come up front and make their request to him, but they come to him with a kind of deceit. We want you to commit before we reveal to you what it is that we want. Jesus isn't going to give in to their request, but rather says, what is it that you want? What do you want me to do for you? They say to him, grant us to sit, one at your right and one at your left in your glory. To sit at the right and the left of the king was the chiefest privilege for one of his followers, for one of his associates. It would have been given to a close brother or a near advisor. And so in the mind of James and John, they're asking for that chief privilege to be honored above the other 10 disciples, to be Jesus' closest associates when he comes into his glory. But they have it wrong. Because their eyes are fixed only on Jesus on the throne, but they don't see that the path to the throne goes through the cross. Though he said it very clearly, they did not grasp it. So here Jesus reminds them gently, patiently, that he is going to suffer to die. But instead of using the clear language that he has used three times, he uses imagery to drive the point home. He says, you don't know what you're asking for. And then asks them, are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They say we are able, but they don't understand exactly what he means. It's clear because if they did, they would not have said, yes, we are able with such confidence. You see, when Jesus uses the imagery of the cup to our minds, it reminds us of the Lord's supper. And when he talks about baptism, to our minds it reminds us of the baptism that we underwent when we came to faith and proclaimed that publicly. And it's true that there's an association there, but not because Jesus is speaking about those things, but because they speak about the same thing that Jesus is speaking about. When he refers to the cup, he's speaking about the judgment of God. He's using a common Old Testament image that we see again and again where the Old Testament writers speak about the cup of God's wrath being poured out as judgment upon Israel for their sins. So Jesus uses that imagery in the same way. The cup that he's about to drink, make no mistake, It's God's judgment upon sinners put upon the Christ. And so, too, his baptism that he's about to undergo. Just as when we are baptized, we remember that we are united with Christ in his death and burial and resurrection. So, too, he speaks of his baptism pointing to that same thing, that he is about to go and die, be buried, and after three days be raised. So he asks them, are you able to drink this cup? Are you able to be baptized with this baptism? The clear answer is no, it's impossible, for he's the only one that can undergo that. And yet there is a sense in which they will experience the same cup and the same baptism, not in the way that Jesus does as our atoning sacrifice on the cross, but in experiencing the same suffering as they will proclaim the gospel after his resurrection, as they'll go forth and declare the excellencies of Christ, and as people will persecute them. Remember that James was the first of the apostles to be killed for proclaiming the name of Christ. Jesus points to that fact. He points to the fact that they will experience his suffering, but not in the same way. Then he says, though you will experience the baptism with which I am baptized, though you will drink the cup with which I drink, nevertheless, to sit at my right hand and my left hand is not mine to give." Again, he's not thinking of the right hand and the left hand when he sits upon his throne, but he's thinking about the right and the left when he comes into his glory through the cross. You see in Mark 15 verse 27, Mark calls to mind this passage by telling us that with them they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. In the parallel passage in Matthew, we see a similar, though subtle, similar hint that this is what Matthew also intends us to see because Matthew tells us that it's the mother of the sons of Zebedee who first approaches Jesus asking that her sons may have this chief privilege. We only see her once more in the gospel of Matthew at the cross. When beholding Christ on the cross and the thieves crucified next to him, Matthew tells us the mother of the sons of Zebedee was there. You see what Mark and what Matthew subtly do is they point us back to the cross, that what James and John did not understand they were asking for was what Christ was going to, to be crucified. That was His glory, the glory of the cross. Well, you might wonder then, how do the disciples, the other 10 respond? They respond with indignance. But they don't respond that way because they say, why are you so slow? Don't you remember he just told us? He's going to the cross. He's going to die. He's going to suffer. How can you not listen to what he said? It's not what the 10 are thinking. They're indignant because James and John beat them to the punch. Because James and John asked for the thing that they themselves craved. So Jesus calls his disciples to himself. And he teaches them what discipleship requires. If they are to follow Christ, they must become servants. He says, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. And their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. Whoever would be great among you must be your servant. And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. Jesus teaches his disciples that they must aspire to be servants if they hope to be great in the kingdom. He calls them to a new ambition. It's an interesting one because he doesn't say you must serve. He doesn't say you must perform acts of service. That's not what Jesus is calling them to. As if they can say, well, this month I served in the nursery. This month I served the Lord's Supper. I served as an usher. I checked my box for service this month. Next month I'll do it again. He doesn't call them to acts of service. No, he calls them to become servants in their whole life. In fact, he calls them to become slaves of all. The call of Christ is much more complete than a mere call to Christian acts of service. It's a call that demands our entire lives. It demands all of us. It demands that no service, no act of service is beneath us. No opportunity to help another is too much for us to consider to do. And he grounds this call in the truth that he himself came for this purpose. And so we come to verse 45 and we will camp here for the rest of our time. Here Jesus says, for even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. There's so much in this one verse that not one detail should escape us. We must consider it all. He begins by saying, for even. This is the ground for what he's just instructed his disciples to do. And even the Son of Man, that is, he uses that terminology, the Son of Man, referencing back to Daniel chapter seven. pointing to himself as the exalted son of man who Daniel saw when he saw a vision. This is what Daniel said, I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man and he came with the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. This is how Jesus refers to himself here. Saying the Son of Man did not come to be served. Throughout the Gospel of Mark, he uses this at different times to speak about himself. At first he uses the language when he emphasizes his authority. saying that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins and the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. But then in chapter 8 through chapter 10, he exclusively uses this language, Son of Man, in connection with predictions of his suffering. Again and again and again, the Son of Man must suffer and die and after three days be raised. not till chapter 13 does he point to the fact that he is the Son of Man will come in glory again a second time. At that time we will see him for who he is just as Daniel saw him as the exalted Son of God, the one who reigns forever and ever and ever over all people and all nations and all the universe. But here he uses this language, Son of Man, with reference to his greatness, to say that even he, the son of man, came not to be served, but to serve. And so, if we think that service is beneath us, changing diapers, not for me. I prefer the higher services. We must remember, even the son of man, Even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. There's a second part to this, though, that we must not miss. He came to give his life as a ransom for many. This is a verse that has met with much debate throughout the centuries as Christians have sought to understand what does the cross of Christ mean? Why did Christ come to die? There are many in our own day who say that Jesus did not die for us. That it's not right to say that he died as a substitute for us. It's not right to say that he bore the penalty of our sin. That he experienced God's wrath on the cross. They say that it's inconsistent with the love of God. And they argue that it's impossible for a man to die for another person. And yet I was so helped by a book by Leon Morris, as I looked at this passage, a book called The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, where Morris shows that this language of ransom, again and again and again, is used to refer to something that is substituted for another thing, and to refer to something that pays a price to redeem something else. Whether it's in the marketplace or in the context of ancient slavery the idea here is that Jesus with his life pays our penalty ransoms us, frees us from slavery by taking upon himself the judgment we deserve and if there was any doubt about that Morris goes on to show us that this little word for this little word for when he says a ransom for many almost always refers to someone being substituted for something else. And so we cannot dismiss this passage on exegetical grounds because it very clearly points to the substitutionary atoning death of Christ. And that's how Jesus understood his death. But if people cannot dismiss it exegetically, they'll try to dismiss it theologically. There are some who would say that, as I've mentioned, it's not consistent with the love of God and it's impossible for a man, it's impossible for a man to pay the debt of another person. They say that instead we should merely see Jesus' death as an example to follow. Something that we can do, that we can follow his example of sacrificial service, just like we might follow the example of soldiers who give their lives on a battlefield, who inspire us to similarly sacrifice for some kind of glorious cause. And again, here I was helped by someone else, by John Gresham Machen. In his book, Christianity and Liberalism, writes, the modern objection that the doctrine is contrary to the love of God is based upon the most abysmal misunderstanding. The modern liberal teachers persist in speaking of the sacrifice of Christ as though it were made by someone other than God. You see, what Machen argues is that their mistake is thinking that Jesus was a mere man. They were right. No mere man can pay the penalty for another. But He's not a mere man. This exalted Son of Man is Himself the Son of God. And so it answers both objections because it is not an act where God requires someone else to pay someone's debt. It's where God pays our debt for us. God himself giving his life that we might be free from sin and reconciled to him. That's how Jesus understood the cross. And because of that, we can follow his example of self-sacrificial humble service. In fact, if that's not true, his example is none to follow. Again, Machen points to that analogy of the soldier on the battlefield. He shows that this is a wrong analogy. Why? Well, you could say that Jesus' death is like soldiers who died for some glorious cause, but if you say that his death did not affect our salvation, that it wasn't necessary for anything, then it's more like a soldier who dies in a meaningless war. So many meaningless wars in history where men were sent off to die because of the sin and the wickedness of other men. Fighting because they're greedy. Fighting because they want power. Because they want fame. And all the while people dying for no purpose. If Christ died for nothing, that's the example he gave us. One that we should dismiss. But he did not die for nothing. He died for us. And because he died for us, we can see in his example one that we can follow. Because as the Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians chapter two, He who did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, who made himself nothing and took the form of a servant, going to death, even death on a cross. He is the one who God has highly exalted, who sits at God's own right hand. At his name, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord, the glory of God the Father. And so when Paul says, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, we can have that mind. because he's not a mere man. He is the Son of God who died for us. There are two ways then, as we come to a close, two ways in which Christ's atoning sacrificial death enables us to pursue a life, embrace a life of humble and sacrificial service. The first way we have already spoken about by showing us what it means for one above whom no one is exalted, to descend to the lowest of lows, to become a servant and to die the death of a slave. And the other way is by the fact that because he died for us, he freed us from the power of sin. You see, what the disciples found so hard to do is the same thing that I found so hard to do as a child, to make my ambition something other than self-serving, Self-exalting ambition. But because Christ died for us, because he frees us from the power of sin, he sets us free. Free from slavery to sin, so that we might become slaves of righteousness. So it's in this truth, it's only in this truth, that Jesus' call to this radical discipleship makes any sense at all. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we come to you tonight, we worship you, the one who loved us, the one who sent your only son, your beloved son, to die for us. We worship your son, who freely gave himself for us, who was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Apart from Him, we have no hope. Apart from Your great grace, we have no hope. So Lord, we pray that You would impress that on our minds, not upon our hearts. That in so much as we hear the call to live lives of service, lives of humility, lives that face suffering with perseverance and endurance and faith, we depend upon You to make this a reality in our lives. We pray these things in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.