Where Jesus Takes You: Mark 10:35-45 - 22nd Sunday after Pentecost

³⁵James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” ³⁶And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” ³⁷And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” ³⁸But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” ³⁹They replied, “We are able.” Then 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; ⁴⁰but 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.”
  ⁴¹When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. ⁴²So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. ⁴³But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (NRSV)

Covered bridge in Gatineau Park by monica.orchard.  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

“We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

Those weren’t his exact words, but that’s the gist of what was asked of a former coworker of mine.  Before I worked with him, he had been a manager of a Miami bookstore.

Five minutes before closing, a sharply-dressed man walked in, identifying himself as a personal assistant of pop superstar Michael Jackson.  The King of Pop was requesting a private, after-hours shopping spree for himself and his entourage.

This was a highly unusual request, but the store manager told him that he and the other salaried managers would give him what he asked for, and like it.

So, for the next six hours, the celebrity purchased over $10,000 worth of books and merchandise.  That’s nearly five hundred books. 

In today’s Gospel, the disciples James and John brazenly tell Jesus, “We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 

What they wanted was to sit right next to Jesus when he supposedly ascends to his throne of power over all the world.  They wanted the Rockstar treatment—and believed they were entitled to it. 

After all, they’d been struggling and striving with Jesus for several years now.  They left behind everything to be his disciples—their homes, their families, their jobs.  And they wanted to be sure it was all going to be worth it.  They’ll follow Jesus anywhere, provided they can own their future.

Why do you follow Jesus?  Let’s be honest: we all come to Jesus with high hopes and great expectations.  We all have some ideal in mind about where our discipleship should take us.  Coming to Jesus is supposed to make your life better.  It’s supposed to help you through your problems and become a better person.  People don’t say “Jesus is the answer” or “God has a plan” for nothing.  Accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior; ask him to forgive your sins; and he will let you go to heaven instead of sending you to hell.  Have faith, obey the commandments, do good works, and you’ll be rewarded.

Why do we as a congregation put so much time and effort into our programs and outreach?  We want to see this congregation grow and prosper, of course!

We seek Jesus in prosperity and success; in the triumph over adversity; in the humiliation of our adversaries.  Essentially, You and I are more like James and John than we care to admit!  Then Jesus says, “you don’t know what you’re asking me for.”

Jesus asks James and John if they can drink of the cup he will drink and be baptized with his baptism, and they say, “Yes, of course.  We’re able!”  But that’s a lie.  Honestly, I don’t think anyone follows Jesus for the right reasons.  I’ve never witnessed an altar call where someone says, “I’m here to be crucified with Christ.  I hereby give all my possessions away.  I hereby surrender control over my life and my destiny.”

You’re not a Christian because you decided to follow Jesus.  Jesus does not claim you because of a decision you made.  You’re a Christian because Jesus decided to pursue you and embrace you as you are, where you are.  James, John, and the other nine disciples do not choose to drink Christ’s cup of suffering and be baptized into his death.  But they will, because this is what God has chosen for them.  And it’s not to cruelly subject the disciples to suffering so that they will prove their worth.  Just as they will drink the cup of suffering and be baptized into death, they will also drink the cup of healing and arise into new life.  Resurrection is born out of death.  Salvation is born out of brokenness.  God’s heart is revealed in humble service.  God’s victory is won in forgiving, reconciling, welcoming, sharing.  God’s glory is new life being born in death.

The disciples’ lives certainly changed when Jesus called them to be disciples.  But their whole world; their whole existence will change when he dies and is raised from the dead.  Jesus does not say, “if you do this or believe this, then you will…”  Jesus just says, “you will…”

That means if you are going through tragic and terrible times right now, Jesus is already in it with you.  God isn’t subjecting you to it; God is embracing you through it.  You know Jesus not in the absence of pain but rather in the triumph of life and love over pain.

At the same time, Jesus is leading you in the way of his self-giving and self-emptying service.  Jesus binds himself to those who are prisoners to pain, poverty, death, and despair.  Sometimes, you must stop and marvel at what people are going through and be amazed that they’re enduring it.  That’s because Jesus is there—and when you enter into fellowship with those persons, you are in fellowship with Christ.  He will act through you to ransom his people from poverty and pain.  At the same time, those persons will ransom you from all the stuff that keeps you from living in Christ’s promises.  You come into the life that was meant for you.  You discover your true self.

We spend so much of our lives trying to control our own futures; to eliminate uncertainty; to prevent loss; to ensure favorable outcomes for all that we do.  We follow Jesus for what we can get—and Jesus says, “you do not know what you are asking me for.”  Nevertheless, you will drink the cup of suffering that overflows with healing.  You will be baptized into death and rise to new life every single day. 

Trusting in these promises, be bold then to ask Jesus to give you faith to see his presence in your trials; to see his face in fellowship with the poor and hurting.  Be bold to ask Jesus to take you to where his glory is revealed—not on the peaks of power and privilege but where life and love conquers evil and death.