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.