The Path to Greatness

MARK 10:35-45

     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.”

   In the Spring of 1981, 35 years ago, President Ronal Reagan was  shot by John Hinckley and rushed to the George Washington University Hospital.  Washington D.C. was shocked and stunned.  Vice-President George H. W. Bush was not immediately available; there were no cellphones then.  No one knew who was in charge.  There was much confusion in the While House.

   That's when Gen. Alexander Haig, the Secretary of State, entered the White House and confidently announced to the press--"I'm in charge here!"

   He's never been able to live those four words down.  What He thought he was doing, providing crisis leadership in times of trouble, backfired.  What the country saw was a man hungry for power, who would go to any length to become president.
   "I'm in charge here!" 

   Inside us, we all want to be "in charge;" the top dog.

   We all want to have the highest place of honor.

   v.  44, "And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all."

   A slave was the lowest person in society.

   Jesus was teaching that the way to the top is down.

   The highest is the lowest.

I.  THE PATH TO GREATNESS IS NOT BEING SELF-FOCUSED

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

   The two brothers, James and John, asked Christ that they be given the highest honor in the kingdom; to sit one at His right and one at His left.

   They were self-focused: sought self-glory, self-honor, self-advancement, self-recognition, and self-aggrandizement. 

   These two were ambitious.  Like Gen. Alexander Haig, they wanted to be top dog.  They wanted to be in charge.

   There are three kinds of ambition: healthy ambition, unhealthy ambition, and lack of ambition.

   In a healthy ambition, you seek to glorify God.  "I want to succeed to glorify You, Lord."

   In an unhealthy ambition, you seek to glorify self.  "I want to succeed to glorify myself."

   James and John showed unhealthy ambition in our text.  They thought to themselves, "Never mind the others, just give us what we want."

   In a healthy ambition you desire to help others.

   In an unhealthy ambition you have no desire to help others but yourself.

   Philip McLarty gives a poignant story.  Osceola McCarty  was a little elderly lady in Hattiesburg, Mississippi who made a living taking in laundry for folks who were well-off.  She scrimped and saved her meager earnings and, when she was eighty-seven years old, she donated $150,000 to Southern Mississippi University.
   Someone asked her what motivated her to work so hard and then to give it all away.
   She replied, "I always wanted to help somebody else's child go to college."

   This was healthy ambition displayed.

   By the way, this was not the first time the disciples argued about who would be first in the kingdom.  In Mark 9:33-34 we read, "They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, 'What were you discussing on the way?'  But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest."

II.  THE PATH TO GREATNESS DOES NOT TAKE SHORTCUTS

   In some eastern cultures success is not based on what you know but on who you know.

   It is believed that the mother of James and John was the sister of Mary, making the two brothers cousins of Jesus.  If so, James and John may have thought that because they were kin to Jesus, they deserved the highest honor.  But thank God, promotion is not based on patronage or nepotism, but on God's tender mercies.

III. THE PATH TO GREATNESS CONSIST OF A LIFE OF SERVICE TO OTHERS

   v. 45, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve."

   Jesus entered the planet earth to serve.

   What a wonderful paradox!  Jesus is Creator; and we His creatures.  It should be us to serve Him.  But in our text, it is the reverse: the Creator serves the creature.

   Christ came to serve, and so must we.

   Do you ever ask the Lord, "Lord, what do you want me to do?"  We do not need to look any further, for verse 45 provides the answer: serve.

   The path to greatness is being a servant to others.

   The path to greatness is self-denial and self-sacrifice.

   v. 43, "But whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant."

   We are called "servants," called to serve others, and not step over them to get ahead.

   Serving others is difficult, it is not the norm.

   Serving others goes against our ego.

   We all want to be superstars, not servants.

   We all want others to serve us.

   In the world, greatness is measured by how many people serve us.  But in the Christian life, greatness is measured by how many people we serve.

   The good news is that everybody can be great because everybody can serve.

   Saved people serve people.

   Mark 9:35, " Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, 'If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.'"

   Greatness is the result of being a "servant of all."

   A story is told of a track meet for special children: children who were physically and mentally challenged.
   The climax of the event was the quarter mile race at the end of the day.
   The contestants lined up, the gun sounded, and they were off.  Everything went well until they got to the final turn.  One of the contestants stumbled and fell.
   As soon as the other runners realized what had happened, they all turned around, came back to the fallen runner, and helped him to his feet. Then arm-in- arm, they limped together toward the finish line.
   They did not care who would be first to win the race.  They all crossed the finish line together.  They were all winners.

INVITATION

   v. 45 reads, "And to give His life a ransom for many."

   This speaks of the voluntary death of Christ for us.

   The cross was not forced upon Him.  He died voluntarily, on His own accord, for us.

   We should forever be grateful for Christ's death in our behalf.

   In fact, in verse 45, the word "for" literally means "in exchange of."  Jesus died on the cross in exchange of us.

   Incidentally, the word "ransom" ("lutron" in Greek) means a payment made for a ransom. 

   There are two elements regarding the payment.

   First, the payment was not paid in cash, but by the death of Christ on the cross.  I recall the hymn "Jesus Paid It All."  Jesus was the payment.

   Secondly, the payment was not paid to Satan (as Origen believed), but to God who we offended.  God is the offended party.  Therefore, the payment must be paid to Him.

   Jesus paid the penalty for your sin.  Repent, come to Him, believe in Him solely for your atonement, and be saved.

The Rich Young Ruler

Mark 10:17-27

Text:

¹⁷ As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰ And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” ²¹ Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

   Note the title: The Rich Young Ruler.

   In our text, we read in v. 17, we read, "a man ran up to Him."

   But in Luke 18:18 we read, "a certain ruler asked him."

   This young man was a ruler.

   This account is recorded three times in the New Testament: Matt. 19:16-26,  Mark 10:17-27 (our text), and Luke 18:18-23.  Repetition means there are important lessons for us to learn

LESSON 1:  THE RICH YOUNG MAN DID SOMETHING GOOD

   v.17, "a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him."

   Here was a ruler, a man of authority and power, yet when he approached Christ, the first thing he did was kneel before Him.

   This ruler approached the Lord with humility and humbleness.

   That is how we too much approach our Savior.

   Today we no longer use a word: veneration, which means "great respect and reverence."

   We come to Christ with the attitude of veneration.

   What a wonderful act of humility; a ruler bowing before Jesus showing extreme humility.

   But this rich man did several wrong things.

LESSON II:  THE RICH YOUNG MAN DID NOT HAVE FAITH

   In v. 17 the ruler called Jesus, "Good Teacher."

   Not "Son of God," not "Son of David," not "Redeemer," not "Savior."

   The ruler just thought of Jesus as only a good teacher.

   Many today who think of Jesus only as a Good Teacher.

   Who is Jesus to you?

1.         Good teacher - unsaved

2.         Moral teacher - unsaved

3.         Reformer - unsaved

4.         Activist - unsaved

5.         My Lord and my Savior - saved !  

LESON III:  THE RICH YOUNG MAN THOUGHT HE COULD SAVE HIMSELF

   v. 17 (end), "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

   Note the two words "I do."

   If I do this and I do that, I will inherit eternal life.

   Nothing is farther from the truth than this.

   We cannot save ourselves.

   The ruler thought good works could save him. 

   Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us."

   Eph. 2:8,9. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast."

   Gal. 2:16 (end), "For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

   You cannot work your way into heaven;

   You cannot beg your way into heaven;

   You cannot bribe your way into heaven;

   You cannot buy your way into heaven;

   You cannot climb your way into heaven;

   God does not grade on the curve.    

   Many think that God grades on the curve.  We say to ourselves, "I'm not so bad; I'm not that bad.  Therefore, on the curve, God will save me."

   God does not grade on the curve; He grades according to the geniuses of one's faith.

   Jesus gave an interesting answer.

   v. 19, "You know the commandments, 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'"

   In other words, keep every law every time, every place, from your first breath to your last breath on earth, and you can earn eternal life.  However, this is impossible as no person has ever been able to keep all of God's moral law..

   You can save yourself if you are able to keep every law of God, not fail even once, and live a perfect, sinless life from birth to death.  Then you can earn salvation.  Problem is: no one has been able to to this.

   James 2:10, "Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point is guilty of all."

   So if you kept all the law ecxept one; you cannot enter eternal life.

   In Bible, "saved" is always in the passive sense, meaning that someone must save us.

LESSON IV:  THE RICH YOUNG MAN THOUGHT HE OBEYED EVERY LAW

   v. 20, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up."

   My answer to him would have been: "Liar, liar, pants on fire."

   He just told a whopper of a lie, thinking he kept all the law.

   v. 20, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up."  

   If there was a moral man who deserved to be saved, it would be this rich, young ruler.  He was a moralist, a very virtuous man.  Yet he was unsaved without Jesus.

   No matter how moral you are, you are lost without Jesus.

LESSON V:  HE SOUGHT RICHES INSTEAD OF GOD

   v. 21-22,  "Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, 'One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.' ²² But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property."

   Note v. 22 (end), "for he was one who owned much property."

   Instead of seeking eternal life, salvation, the kingdom of God, he sought to become rich instead.

   Many rich people are unhappy because riches cannot satisfy.

   Only Jesus can satisfy fully.  He alone can satisfy your soul.

   There is nothing wrong in riches, per se. 

   But don’t make the pursuit of riches your primary goal and god.

   Seek rather to be rich in obedience!

LESSON VI:  SALVATION IS IMPOSSIBLE FROM MAN

   v. 25-27, "'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' ²⁶ They were even more astonished and said to Him, 'Then who can be saved?' ²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus said, 'With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.'"

   Can a camel go through an eye of a needle? No!  So neither can a man save himself.

   In reference to salvation, v. 26, "With people it is impossible."

   With sinners it is impossible to save himself.

    v. 27 (end), "for all things are possible with God."

   In other words, all things, including eternal life, is possible only with God.

   v. 26, "Then who can be saved?"

   No one in and of himself; it is of God.

INVITATION

   v. 21 (NIV), " Jesus looked at him and loved him."

   That is good news - no matter your past, the depth of your sin, the depravity of your heart, the wickedness of your behavior, God loves you fully, completely, and unconditionally. 

   Jer. 31:3, "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love."

   God loves you regardless.

   v. 21, "One thing you lack."

   You lack Jesus.

   Come to Jesus, trust HIm and live.

Prince and the American Spiritual Recession

   Disclaimer: the views of this post are mine and mine alone.

   The world mourns the sudden death of Prince.  I too mourn; I mourn what he has done to promote decadence in our American society. 

   There are certain men and women who Satan has used as his instruments to advocate evil.  It is of my opinion, and I write this blog with much anguish, that he was an agent of darkness, drawing people towards unrighteousness.  Certain videos he produced were sex-depraved, amoral, and fed the lust of the flesh.  In one word: reprobate.

   What a man does with his life is his own business.  But what one does to promote evil among others, and especially among the vulnerable youth is unconscionable.  His lewd behavior is perpetuated by those who have come to endorse it and promote it to the next generations.

   My heart is in pain for the harm he has done to draw people: away from God; towards offensive mores; and a step closer to hell.

   The church's response must be to pray; pray for a spiritual revival for God to turn back evil.