Please take back your copy of the scriptures. Turn, if you would, to Mark chapter 10 as we continue in the gospel of Mark. This will be the text for the sermon this morning. Mark 10, starting in verse 32. Before we hear the word read and preached, let’s ask the Lord’s blessing upon that. Join me once more in prayer.

Our heavenly Father, we do thank you for this, your word. vested as perfect and complete and preserved for us. You have revealed yourselves to us there and you have shown us all that we would need to know for life and godliness. And we ask now at this time, dear Lord, that you would help us to believe it, to base our lives upon it. Lord God, to find the comfort that attends it for us as we do receive it, Lord. We pray that the instrument of your mouth this morning and truly the meditation of all of our hearts would be acceptable and pleasing in your sight, dear Lord. All this we ask in the name of our mighty Savior, Jesus, and all God’s people said together, amen. You may be seated.

Mark 10, starting at verse 32, Once again, please, your full attention, this is the authoritative, inspired word of our God. Mark 10, 35 says, and James and John, I’m sorry, I’m gonna start at verse 32. 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. And 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 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 he 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 us life as a ransom for many.

The word of the Lord. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but this word of our Lord endures forever. May he truly add his blessing to it now as we hear it expounded.

Well, in considering this passage and the themes therein, I wonder what changing the world would look like. What would it look like to you? Do you want a revolution, a change, a transforming of the way that things are? And if so, how so? And what would that end with? It’s not a new question. It’s not a unique question. The song famously begins, you say you want a revolution. We all want to change the world. And that was way back from like the mid 1900s, right? Very old. But long before that, there’s this desire and after that for revolution and change in the world. Many people seek to make a difference at various levels. Some seek to impact global issues like we see in the news. Others focus on understanding all the whole totality of the political landscape through podcasts or social media or blogs, hoping that their favorite leaders will come into office and bring a positive change in the world. They will fix everything. Others have more personal focus, more personal aspirations, seeking to change within their own lives. And when we come to a text like ours today, we might wonder, are we far from this text? Does this have to do with us? And the fact is that every human being, whether believer or unbeliever, wants to see some sort of change come upon this world. They do want a revolution. And what’s interesting is that if you read the entirety of the story of Scripture, if you follow the storyline as it goes, that is what the whole thing is pointing towards, that God really has entered into this story in order to change all things, in order to bring about a true revolution. that would place individuals in a situation where all the factors, all of those things that have impacted them negatively through their whole lives would be eliminated. And right, we see this as we read, we see this unfolding, a story of pain and calamity, a story of sin and suffering, a story of rebellion and retribution. And yet over and over throughout this history, as it’s being told, there are these promises that come. where God tells us that one day this story will be utterly different. It will be transformed, there’ll be no more tears, there’ll be no more sorrow, there’ll be no more pain. Forever, the threat of death will be removed. A kingdom will be established. All will be right in the world. And so I want us to see in this text this morning that to be a Christian is to be someone who is hoping, who is living for a revolution. To be a Christian is someone who has been placed into a story that has long been in the telling. And our place in it is those as revolutionaries who are looking for a world that is utterly different than the one that we presently live in. A world that will be entirely changed, a place that will be filled with people who always and only do the will of God, the way of God. Everybody wants to change the world, but the question is, how does that change come about? What will that look like? How does one bring about a change that is so all-encompassing, where nothing is left unchanged, where everything is instead in complete transformation, completely transformed to the way that God would want it? Well, in this text, Christ draws us close and allows us to listen, to listen in on the very secret of that kingdom revealed, this secret of the kingdom that he’s communicating to his disciples and by extension to us. And he’s telling them what in this text? He’s telling them, if you wanna see the world change, if you want the secret of how that change is going to come about and about how all things will be left different. This is the way, this is what he’s telling us there. So as we turn to our passage, let’s do so and hear this third discussion as the heading, the non-inspired heading of your scripture probably says something like, Jesus foretells his death a third time. We’ll look at this third discussion with Christ and his disciples on the way, on the road, the Exodus road, to Jerusalem.

The Declaration of the Coming Cross

And the first thing we wanna see here, the first thing that we see here is this declaration of the coming cross. The declaration of the coming cross. We notice in verses 32 and following that we’re told first off that Christ is on the way. He’s on the road to Jerusalem. And when we see this phrase here, on the way, we see it several times. We’ve seen it in the Gospel of Mark, for instance, already, and it has a very special meaning And we should notice, in addition to this, that the destination, Jerusalem, has a special meaning for us as well. This isn’t just filler, this isn’t just a throwaway line where Mark’s saying, oh, and by the way, they happen to be walking towards Jerusalem. And then the story took place, right? There’s no filler in scripture. We’re told this for a reason. The story that’s taking place is a smaller story within a larger one. which is Christ marching with his disciples on the road to Jerusalem, where ultimately a revolution will be established and a kingdom will be claimed. Mark has been telling us that after the first chapters of this book, that God has come to establish a kingdom. The kingdom has come because the King has come, King Jesus. Jesus is the one in this story. He’s nothing less than the very King who has come to deliver Israel. to take them on a way, to take them on that road out of the wilderness into the true promised land, to lead them like Jerusalem, like Israel of old, into that place they’ve been waiting for for so many hundreds of years. And I mean, we think about the pain of the Old Testament and all that happened. Think of all the rebellion throughout that history that’s taken place. Think of the miseries that Israel has experienced and all those promises hanging out there in the distance, that God one day would indeed come and establish something different for them. And Christ is saying here, now is the time. And we’re walking on this road of exodus to Jerusalem, and all the expectations that are filling their minds, all the things that they were hoping for are going to take place. They know the scriptures. They know the promises. And that is why Christ keeps saying, what he keeps saying is so utterly misunderstood. It’s incomprehensible to them. This is why it’s so odd and out of place. Because notice, on the road to Jerusalem, Christ tells them, as he’s headed to that capital city, that city of the great king, the Davidic throne, And he’s headed there, and he says, by the way, this is what’s going to happen when we get there. The Son of Man is going to come to Jerusalem. He will be delivered by the leaders of Israel to the Romans, whom you hate. And these Romans will lay hands on him, and they will mock him. They will flog, beat him. And ultimately, they will crucify and kill him. But he says, on the third day, he will rise. And he begins, Jesus does, to try to, for the third time, to unfold for them the sort of king that they are following, the sort of army to which they have been recruited into, this band of brothers on the way to the kingdom. And he’s saying, by the way, this king whom you’re following, when he gets there, is going to suffer a terribly ugly fate at the hands of people who will be your enemies. And then I’m asking you to trust that this is the way of the kingdom. We know the story ourselves in this day and age and where we are in history on this side of the closing of the canon. And so we wonder at the dense mindset truly of the disciples. We’ve been in the chapters of this section, chapters eight to 10, seeing this over and over again, where Christ seems to say, in the simplest of language, I’m going to die. And the disciples respond again with their utter lack of understanding and seeming callousness, to some extent, with the way that they respond. But again, remember, this is easy for us to understand, because we’re on this side of the events recorded for us here. This makes complete sense for us. Listen to the language that Christ uses. The Son of Man is going to be crucified. And we spoke weeks ago about, we have been, about what this language, Son of Man, meant for these Israelites as they are hearing it. The Son of Man was someone they were waiting for that was promised in the book of Daniel, you’ll recall. This one who was, it says, as he comes to the Ancient of Days, this Son of Man will be handed kingdoms and dominions and thrones, and all the powers of the earth will stop and submit to him. They will stop and submit to this one. Jesus says, yes, that’s the one, and that’s me. And when I get there, they’re going to kill me. And you try to put all that together when you’re, think about that, when you’ve been entrenched in an identity all life long, when you’ve been waiting for the hope of Israel since the days of your youth and your generations before you, you’ve had that story told to you and the hope of deliverance ingrained on your very identity and your purpose as a Jew. And then you have this one saying this, I’m the king, and you begin to follow. And then he says, the story’s been told to you. That story, yes, I’m the one that fulfills it. I am the one to come, I am that Messiah. And by the way, as we pass through the city of the great king, it ends with me hanging on a Roman cross. Trust me, this is the way of victory. Right, and so you can imagine the disjointed thought that these don’t seem to go together in their minds. We’ve encountered this various times so far, this repeated pattern. Three times where Christ says, the son of man must suffer and die. And you’ll recall Peter upon hearing this says to him, not so, Lord. That’s not the way this kingdom is going to work. And you recall Christ’s response to him. He says, Peter, I hate to tell you, I hate to break it to you right now, but in saying this, you’re being used as a tool of the enemy. You’re being used as a tool of the devil. We see it in chapter nine, the telling of the same tale, where he says the Son of Man is going to suffer and the disciples respond with question and argument as they’re along the way. Right after Jesus has spoken, they argue with one another, which one of them is the greatest? You’ll remember a bit earlier in chapter nine. And then we hear a third time here in our passage this morning where Jesus says, I’m going to die, and not only die, let me give you some details about what kind of death it’s gonna be. And he gives them a description, the detail of all the miseries that the Messiah is going to encounter. He’ll be beaten and flogged and spit on and ridiculed.

The Disciples Confusion

And when we see that the very next response of these disciples is confusion once again, confusion. Confusion at the declaration of the cross. Firstly, but notice the next thing that we see in verses 35 and following, are there confusion, right? The cross and then the disciples’ confusion. James and John, when they come to the master and they say, Lord, we want you to do for us whatever we ask, right? Quite an open-ended question. And the answer they get is, from Christ, no, I’m going to die, right? They said, okay, we have a request. What kind of request are you gonna bring at this time? And so Jesus says, well, what do you want me to do for you? And they say, well, when you come into your kingdom, when that kingdom is established that we’ve been waiting for, for all this time, for all our lives, for all the lives of our generations, This thing that we’ve been waiting for since our youth, when it finally comes, as you’ve said, one of us wants to sit on your right hand and one of us wants to sit at your left. And what they’re saying there is basically put us in charge. We want to be on that team. We want to be part of your cabinets. We want to have special seats in the kingdom, because we know what kind of king you are. We’ve been following you, we’ve been waiting, and how great it would be for the Israelites who are closest to the king, and we’re asking from you, all it is is this, that since we 12 are the closest to you, that we be the two special ones of the 12 at your side. And you put us, one on the right, one on the left, and Christ responds to this, and he says, you have no idea what you’re asking me. You have no comprehension. Can you drink of the cup that I’m about to drink from? Can you be baptized with the baptism that I’m about to be baptized with? And you know, we hear that and we recognize the language of scripture. We see that the cup, this reference, at its very basis is one’s portion in life, right? The first thing that probably comes to your mind in thinking of this is are the psalms, particularly Psalm 23, right, where it says, my cup overflows, or overrunneth, if you have the older version. My cup overflows. And the psalmist is saying that my lot in life, my portion in life, is one that is overflowing, blessedness, blessedness, because God is with me. So one’s cup, whether for good or for ill, is his portion in life. And Christ says, can you drink the portion that I’m about to get. Can you do that? Can you join with me in the suffering that I’m about to experience very shortly? Can you join me in the suffering that I’m going to experience in this baptism, this overwhelming ordeal that I’m about to enter into as we head and arrive at Jerusalem? Can you be with me there? Can you join? Will you join with me there? and not knowing what he’s talking about, they say, well, of course, sure, we can do that, Lord, yes. And what’s interesting is that Christ says, I can’t guarantee you anything about the seats and your place in the kingdom, but I can guarantee you that you’re right in your answer. You will be joining me both in my cup and in my baptism when the time comes. And notice what he’s saying there. They’re saying that when his kingdom comes, when what has been promised to Israel finally comes about, and look at the vision that they’re waiting for, which is a vision where God finally sets the world right. He enters into history with his mighty hand, and he sends a deliverer, and all these nations that have been trampling God’s people underfoot for so long are set to the side. Israel is exalted among the nations, and the king of Israel is set as king on the king’s throne above all the kings of the world, so that those who were left come, they come humbly, trailing into the kingdom. And Israel is set as the nation above all nations. And James and John come, and they’re saying, that day is arriving, and we want a special place in it when you enter your glory. Let us be there, Lord. And we wonder why they’re confused. But again, this is their story. They’ve read the Old Testament in one sense very rightly, because that is what God had promised. But the question is, how is God bringing that particular future glory to pass? How is he doing so and what will that look like? How is Israel going to be exalted in this way so promised? And how are the nations going to come trailing into the kingdom? They think it’s gonna come by means of power and exaltation, and therefore, they’re seeking self-promotion, and they’re seeking places of power, and they’re seeking a name for themselves. And Christ says, that’s not how this is going to work. you’re gonna have to learn a new way of doing things, a new way of doing business, a new way of expectation. And it’s interesting that we would think that this is how change has to occur, right? It seems very natural and reflexive. You notice what they’re thinking, right? They’re thinking that, well, if God’s bringing in a new world order, he’s gonna do it by removing the old world order, or removing the bad guys from the system and putting in the new guys into that same system. We’ll be on top again. And you know, it’s not that the system’s broken, they’re thinking, it’s just that the wrong people are in charge of the system. So if we can remove the Romans and put ourselves in charge, all will be well. And you know, people, many people, even in our day, certainly view the political land, the power structures like this in our lives. The problem with the nation isn’t just the wrong people. Or they say that it is just the wrong people. And if we get the right people in charge, then all the problems will go away, all will be solved, and we’ll all live happily ever after. And of course, we’ve seen how this has really worked out for the last 200 years, or not worked out, right? All you need to do is exchange one form of leadership for another regime of leadership, and all of man’s problems go away, is the promise and the disappointment every time. And yet the disciples, even after knowing the history of Israel and this repeated failure, disobedience, and wandering, and even exile, They really believe God is going to adopt the system of the world and just put Israel in charge of that system of the world. It’s reflexive for them. It’s natural that they would think this way. And so it’s not strange for James and John, given this context, to think, well, if we’re going to be in power, we might as well have a special place there in that power structure. But Jesus is going to teach them that this sort of method will never work. In the revolution that is at hand, the overthrow that he has planned is not going to be accomplished by using the old order of things in bringing them into rule and reign. And what’s interesting is that after Christ has finished speaking with James and John, and he’s told them of their future and his future, and that they will join him in cup and in baptism, He says that it’s not his place to set the seats. It’s not for me to decide, he says. And then we see that when the other disciples arrive, they say, oh, that’s great, we’ll vote for James and John. That’s not what they say. What does it say? How does it describe Scripture, the other disciples when they get there and they find this out? It says they’re indignant. They’re indignant. They’re angry with James and John, and they’re not angry because James and John still don’t get what Jesus is teaching. They’re not saying, oh, you’re still missing it, James and John. They’re indignant. Why? They’re angry because they’re just as thick headed as James and John, and they’re frustrated that James and John got there first and they had the idea and pushed it forward. They’re frustrated that they got there first. And this, we can feel the same sort of frustration when we see others pushing for, or asking, or doing things that we want, and they were just more bold, or more on the ball to make that request. But why are we angry when this happens? It’s because they have, again, the boldness, and they beat us to it very often. Look at that obsequious person. How dare they? Really, we want that very thing they’re asking for. But at the end of the day, we’re angry because we want the same privilege as the other 10 were when they realized what had happened. They’re just not going about it in the same way. And so the disciples here, as they commonly see this, they’re not mad at James and John because they’re just so wrongheaded. They don’t have a right offense at what they did. Rather they’re mad because James and John are trying to take their spots or upend them. They’re trying to get there before us. And they know that these other two, are saying, no, no, we deserve that kind of privilege. We want to be the special ones. We deserve that kind of place. And so all of them end up being called out for their guilt in this particular section in Mark. They’re all chastised for it. They wanted front row seats, right? And to be on Christ’s right hand and on his left. And it’s interesting, all these men who were following the Messiah, this group, the 12, in hopes that they can come to some sort of privilege and name and place for themselves. And that’s the sort of blindness that’s still infecting them and guiding them. They all want it to be on Christ’s right hand or his left in glory. They all want that power when the new system, the old system is filled with the people of the new system. And that’s what they’re seeking power because that’s the way they’ve been taught all life long. That’s how power works. That’s how change works. We want a political rule in a kingdom that has authority over others. And we’re the right guys to put in charge. They’ve all had the same mindset as they walk along with the Lord, this exodus with Christ to Jerusalem. And it’s interesting also, ironic, and so sadly, is when James and John say, we want these special places. They’re saying we want a political place in the overthrow of the regimes of the world. And when we see Christ come into his glory in Mark’s gospel, he will be nailed to a Roman cross. and recall that situation. He’s nailed to a Roman cross, and on his right hand and his left are whom? Two political insurrectionists who sought to achieve the overthrow of the kingdoms through the methods of this world. through power and seeking a place. You see, isn’t that interesting? The very thing that James and John were insinuating to do, this is the end of Christ’s earthly life, right, as he hangs on the cross. And those at the right and the left are guilty of these very things with the same mindset. And throughout this illustration, Mark is saying, you can seek to overthrow and gain power with power, and you will end in death. but there’s a way of seeking power. There’s a way of seeking revolution. There’s a way of seeking this overthrow that ends, not in death, but in resurrection.

The Demand of Christ

And so we have this declaration of the cross, and then the disciples’ confusion, and then the final part of this passage, we see the calling of Christ, or the demand of Christ. Notice in verses 42 to 45, Again, so they’re fresh in our minds. And Jesus called them to him, and he 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. It shall not be so among you, but whoever would be great among you must be your servant. 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. And so what is he saying there? He’s saying there’s a way of the world. This is how the Gentiles work. This is how the Romans work. This is how it’s worked down through the ages in the ways of man. and nations. These leaders seek to lead by having power and authority over people, and lording that power and authority over them that they might rule. And Christ says, no, that’s not how it’s going to be amongst you. That’s the way of this particular kingdom. And I’m not here to establish a better kingdom among those same rules. I’m here to establish a whole new world order that plays by a whole different set of rules. If you wanna be great in the kingdom, he’s saying I’m establishing you to become servant and that you become slave. And as you become servant and slave, you will what? You will become greatest and you will become first. And then he tells us why. Notice how he shows us the rules are completely changed. And he says, because the son of man that Daniel spoke of did not come to be served by the world, but rather he came to serve and to give his life as the purchase price, the ransom for many. And we cannot help but hear the echoes in all of this of our Isaiah passage, right? Whether the beating and the suffering Or the last part, when he tells us that the Son of Man is going to become a ransom for many, just as we heard at the end of Isaiah 53. And you’ll remember before that, in Isaiah 52, there’s this one who was called the servant, the servant of the Lord will do all these things. The servant of the Lord will do this, and he will become a payment, a ransom. His body will be broken. His death will come for many, and Jesus takes picks up on that language, which we’ve already seen using the book of Isaiah that the gospel of Mark does so often. And he says, the son of man from Daniel is a servant of Isaiah. In chapter 53, the one is going to be crushed and bruised and stricken and smitten and afflicted in order that many might be saved, might be made alive. And because of this, there’s a new way of life that must issue forth. Now this figure of the servant of the Lord in Isaiah is somewhat of a riddle, a great riddle amongst those who study these things. And even as reading it, reading the text bare afresh for the first time, it might be a riddle, right? As we try to put the pieces together and make sense of what’s going on and Christ is letting them know, he’s declaring for this first time with great clarity, but how the riddle of Isaiah, that prophecy is solved. And if you read the prophecy from beginning to end, Isaiah is a big book, it takes lots of focus and concentration, but if you read it from beginning to end, this section, in particular chapter 52 and following, we see in chapter 52, there’s this language of God coming to lead his people on Exodus, much like we’ve already seen in this book. What’s also interesting is that he comes to bring curses. And the curses that he brings are those that were promised in Deuteronomy 28, you’ll recall. They set the stage for the rest of the Old Testament and are very clarifying for us. And those curses of Deuteronomy 28 are against all the ungodly and all of the unrighteous, all the plagues that he poured out on Egypt. He’s pouring out in chapter 52 on this servant. But oddly enough, in chapter 52, the recipients of these curses, these plagues that’s come upon the nations aren’t the pagan nations. Upon whom did these plagues come? The recipients are whom? The recipients of all God’s judgments there are this Israel of God who has created them from the very beginning to be sons of God and servants for God in the world. They’re the ones receiving it. Israel was made and set apart from the nations, you’ll recall. Set apart as the Lord’s, as his people, as his son, as Exodus calls Israel. That they might be servants, that the other nations of the earth might see who God is. And through their light and through their obedience to God’s commands, what? The nations might want to behold God and to follow after him. But by the time we get to Isaiah 52, their light has become such darkness that God is bringing the very darkness and death and judgment of Egypt against them. And then oddly, as we read on in chapter 53 of Isaiah, you see God coming to his people for a renewed marriage ceremony, right? Beautifully, and he comes and he finds this spotless bride and he’s married to her again. and they rejoice in this glorious party, the description there in chapter 54. You might spend some time later this Lord’s Day reading and reflecting upon that. And as the party goes on and God has wed himself to his people, he speaks of the glories that will exist there. And one of the glories that will exist there, as this description unfolds in chapter 54, is that they will all be servants of the Lord. They will all be his servants. They will have this horrific judgment come. Then we have this glorious future coming. And then oddly, enigmatically, in the middle of it, there’s this servant who is very hard for us to wrap our minds around, who suffers all sorts of anguish and pain and death. And then it’s unexplained. Isaiah doesn’t say, and by the way, it’s through this death that this marriage comes, right? He doesn’t say that overtly. He doesn’t say, by the way, that these curses that are coming are all going to be somehow remedied in chapter 53. It’s very odd, a very curious imposition on the text. The servant songs of Isaiah can be very difficult. But here comes Christ in Mark, And Mark records Christ in this text saying, I’m solving one of the riddles of the Old Testament for you. And I’m bringing in this language and I’m identifying for you this one, that the one who stands before you today, me, this King, this Messiah has come to establish the kingdom. But I’m telling you, disciples, the only way for that establishment to come is for me to march with you to Jerusalem to be crucified. And I’m betrayed by my own people, betrayed by the nations, and forsaken by you, power-hungry followers of mine, in order that what? That I might gift you by gift and grant the glories of a wedding and make you finally and fully servants of the living God. The disciples have already shown that there is no great difference between them and Israel of old, right? In the mindset, in their thinking, in their reflexes. How did they show that Israel of old is judged in Isaiah 52? Because they’re constantly worshiping idols, right? That’s why they’re judged. And why worship idols? because the nations of the world are coming against them. Israel feels desperate, they feel weak, and so in order to get power and place and prestige, in order to defeat their enemies, they go after other gods. Why? Because their god, they think, isn’t coming through in the way that they want. And so they’re looking for that thing that will satisfy them instead of that which was promised to them. And they exalt self in order to achieve power that they might want above all things. And here the disciples come to the Messiah, who has just said he will be crucified, and they say, we want power. What we want is power, and we want you to give this power to us. And Christ says, for that very reason, for the very reason that I marched to Jerusalem, to receive from the hand of God all of those judgments that every one of his enemies deserves, because they have all sought power. They have all sought in their own way, every single one of them. has done so, they’ve gone astray. None of them have been a light to the nations. None of them have followed after me. None of them have been servants of God who have fully, wholly obeyed God and shown forth his righteousness in the world. But this one will. This one takes upon himself the whole meaning and role of Israel. And all throughout, Jesus says, I’ll do it. I’ll do everything you were supposed to do. I’ll be everything that you were supposed to be, that I might give back to you life. Here’s how I’m going to achieve for you success and power and glory and kingdom. I’m going to give myself away. I’m going to die so that you can rule as servants of the Lord. In the glory of the text, is that it doesn’t end there. It doesn’t end there. He says to this group, this hard-hearted, stiff-necked group who wants nothing more than their own way and glory for their own name, and he says to them, you will become servants and slaves as well as I establish my kingdom. You will become its citizens as you change day by day. So think of this text. We’re so often in this text very much like the disciples, right? We have this, the influence of our own sinful heart and the influences around us and the influences of the world or of the enemy. And we think of this idea of becoming servants of all, slaves to the Lord for his way and his will in all of our workings in our life. We’re very often drawn or pulled in the direction that the disciples were. I think of our marriages, those of you who are married. How prevalent is it in your thinking? How often it is that you think of your marriage, husbands, for instance, how often do you look at your wife and say, how might I die for her, that she could live, that I could unburden her with the blessing of life before the Lord? How can I die for that to take place? Or is it rather, I fear often the case, what can she do for me? What has she done for me? Why isn’t she doing more for me that I want for me? And it’s not just husbands, right? Wives, you might look at your husbands and we would like to think that you would think of your husbands, how might I respect and honor him and submit to him that he might be further blessed and glorified in this life in serving the Lord for the Lord’s glory? Often it is, why isn’t he meeting my needs? Why has he not served me in the way that I need and that he knows that I need? I’ve told him after all. Or how many of you go to your work, your place of employment, and you look at your employer And you say, how might I die to serve that this man might prosper? This individual whom the Lord has placed me at his service, how might I die that he might prosper? Very often we look at our employer in terms of our own success or frustrations. our own animosity and we look for ways to cut corners or that we might be satisfied with ease or sloth or we complain against the impositions that are put upon us and the restrictions that that the boss wants for his way that we might think and realize aren’t the best, and we want to assert ourselves, and sometimes we get fired for that. Or how many of you, if you’re employers, look at your employees and say, how might I serve them since I too have a master in heaven? How am I to bless them? We think about these things that are required upon us. and these standards that are unreachable in many ways on this side of the cross with the lingering sin that we have and the scars and fogginess that all that brings, we’re not far from this text. I begin with asking that question, we’re right there in the text. How often it’s about our place and our position and our comfort and our wants in our desires above all. But Christ comes and he said to you, I know that’s your problem. He doesn’t leave the disciples here on the way. He doesn’t leave them saying, how is it that I’ve told you that I’m about to die and you’re so selfish that all you can ask for is your place in the kingdom? That’s not what he comes with. No, he said he’ll keep walking on this road until he pours out his very life in order that he might pour into them a brand new existence. And he’s teaching them as they look to him and as they see that the son of man himself came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom. And he gives them a new life. And he says, you come, come join me in the new rules of the kingdom that I’m bringing. Come, become less that you might become more. Let’s actually change the world and start a revolution. Follow me, he says. And here are the rules of the game. You give yourself away and the world will live. Husbands, love your wives. How? Like Christ loves the church and died for her. Wives, submit to your husbands like as Christ himself, like Christ submits to the Father, like the church submits to Christ. Children, obey your parents. He says, not because they’re all wise and all knowing. We know that’s all not the case. No, do so because God is all wise and all knowing, and you can trust him. Fathers, deal tenderly with your children. and serve them, not for your own peace and quiet and lack of being disturbed, but for their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace, that they might end in glory with you. He gives us back to the world, and he says, I’m ready to change it all. Join with me. Join with one who’s given all for you, and simply give yourself away. Stop fighting for things that will never give you what you want. in the end anyway, and instead go out with this mind in you, that though this one was rich beyond all splendor, though he was equal with God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he humbled himself, taking the form of a servant. Consider others better than yourselves. Or think of Paul elsewhere when he says, for you were called to freedom, brothers, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but what? Through love, serve one another. And why would we do these things, brothers and sisters? Why would we do these things? Because we see that the Son of Man saw you in all of your selfishness. And he said, I’m not here to serve myself, but as king, I will die. that you might live, that you might, as my children, be sent into the world to continue that same service until all of the world bows the knee in humility to the humble King Jesus, who gave us life, that this world might be made new. A revolution indeed. And that is why, for instance, the flow of our liturgy ends with commission. We’re being commissioned and sent back into the world to serve. to serve with the love that we’ve been shown in Christ and the freedom and the rescue and the new hearts that he gives. So let us do so as we go back into the world from this place, rejoicing in this King who brings true revolution for the Father in all things.

Let’s pray. Our dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word to us. We thank you that we’re not left to the inventions of our own hearts. We thank you that we’re corrected from the inventions of our own hearts with the purity and surety of your word. We thank you, Lord, for its clarity. We thank you, Lord, that where we struggle with clarity, There are no struggles with your word and the Lord that we can truly discern those parts that we see unclear by those parts that are very clear. Lord, we praise you and we come and we receive in faith. We thank you what you’ve told us. We ask for the faith to believe it. We pray Lord that we would continue to grow In that faith, we pray that you continue to grow us, Lord, as we believe, as we exercise the faith that you gifted us with, Lord, that we would be changed day by day by day. And Lord, as we seek to recognize and remember and truly reside with, walk with, abiding in Christ our Savior. And we trust, Lord, that as we follow your way, and as we walk with him through his spirit, we trust you when you tell us that we will be changed day by day through the power of your spirit. Lord, we pray for this church. We ask, Lord, that you would continue to bless us, Lord, with peace and with love, one for another. Lord, we are so We are so grateful, and we want to cultivate hearts of gratitude. We’re thankful that your peace and your provision, Lord, has preserved and sustained us in Christ’s love. Lord, we pray that whatever station in life that we are in, wherever we are on that spectrum, on that road of sanctification, that we would be soft with one another, that we would be kind, that we would have a posture of grace, towards all, Lord, and knowing that we need others to have a posture of grace for us. Lord, we thank you that we can look away from ourselves and our deficits and our failures that are truly crushing, if we were to understand them fully, that we can look away from ourselves to another, one outside of ourselves, that is the Lord Jesus, who was perfect in every way, And we praise you and thank you that as you see us in him, you see his perfection. Lord, we praise you that we don’t come by any way in ourselves, but we come by way of a Redeemer, your son. We praise you for the satisfaction of the agreement that was made. between Father, Son, and Spirit, as it’s worked its way out in our lives, and as you have called us and cleansed us, and indeed commission us back into the world with the truth. We pray, Lord, continue to grow us in our sanctification, in our love, in our understanding, of the way of your way and of our Savior, continue to grow us in depth and in number. We pray, Lord, that you would lead us, that you would guide us to the place you would have us to be. Lord, as we outgrow this this building that’s been our place of meaning for so long. Lord, we commit that search to you. We commit that need to you.

Lord, we pray for the families of this church. We pray for the parents that they would indeed set a model for their children. that they would love their children tenderly, even as you treat us tenderly, and that, Lord, we would keep short accounts with you and with our children, that we would indeed pray with our children, that we would model for them seeking forgiveness as we wrong them and praying for that forgiveness and praising you for that forgiveness, that those children might see in us truth, and that it might be a witness to them, and that you, as you use us throughout this world in their lives, that you would prick their hearts, that you would draw them to yourself, and that they would see Christ as as a mutual Savior, parent and child, we pray that you would bless the children of this church, bless them physically and emotionally and Lord spiritually, grow them to be strong, grow them to be aware and curious and cognizant of all that they hear. concerning Jesus, the only Savior of the world. Lord, we pray, bless them, protect them, be that wall of protection around them. Lord, we pray for those in this church, regardless of station, single or married, that you would put in us the true and healthy desire that satisfies all of our needs. and that is Christ. And we pray that you would give us victory in the battle for anything that competes with that affection. It’s Jesus whom we want, it’s Christ in whom we find the fullness of delights. And so Lord, we pray be with us, be with those of us who suffer, whether it pain, physical issues or otherwise, Lord. And still within us, a hearty and healthy comprehension and trust that you are indeed the God of the resurrection of the dead, and that those things that we go through will one day be fully removed, and we will walk unhindered, Lord, and we will walk without, Lord, without stutter, without difficulty, and Lord, we will be free of the things that plague us in this life. We praise you for that, Lord, and we pray that that would indeed enable us to rejoice through the sufferings we go through. Lord, we ask that you would continue to be with us as we continue to worship you and sing your praises and meet with you at the table, and Lord, that you would indeed be glorified in all that we do. And we ask this all in the mighty name of Christ, amen.