Mark
10:28-31
Left off with Jesus saying
to the Rich younger Ruler Sell your possessions come and follow me !
A) ….. Away Sad ! - Impossible for a rich
man to enter the kingdom – too much to hold on to.
28 Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all
and followed You."
29 So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you,
there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother
or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's,30 who shall not
receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and
mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come,
eternal life.31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
Great Promise: Going to
Oregon !
A)
Can’t out give God – Honors the Life of Sacrifice
B)
Not afraid to take those steps of faith !
Mark
10:32-34
Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was
going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid.
Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that
would happen to Him:
Always clued them in
33 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn
Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles;34 and they will mock Him, and
scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise
again."
At this point in the story Jesus
has been underscoring and repeating that He was going to die.
A) Interesting
that Jesus never spoke of the Cross without speaking of the Resurrection.
B) I
point this out because I often hear brothers and sisters talking about the
Cross, saying,
“I’m
going through this trial,” or “I’m dealing with this struggle,
”
or I’m paying this price,” but I don’t hear them talking about the
Resurrection.
C) If
you talk about the Cross, follow the example of Jesus and talk about the
Resurrection as well.
D) Trials – Produce life !
Deeper Character – Deeper life
1) Promises
become real – Randy Moersh -
So When Jesus talked about
the Cross, He never failed to speak of Resurrection.
A)
Saw the big picture – Eternity – Joy set before Him
1)
Rez
2) Hear
his Father say: Well done
3)
You in Heaven
4)
There is a Rez – the trial is going to come to pass!
Mark
10:35-40
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying,
"Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."
Matthews gospel says they put their mom up to asking !
Mark
– see thru that – Really these guys ! –
Genie
syndrome – God do whatever we ask!
A) Oh how we want that to be God
B)
Prayer is not getting our will done in heaven – but God’s will done on
earth. God’s will done in us
C) God is not our Genie –
Father – a father who knows best
1)
pray persistent until he answers in one way or another.
36
And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?" 37 They said to Him, "Grant us that we
may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your
glory." 38 But Jesus said to
them, "You do not know what you ask.
We so often don’t know what
we ask – Lord help this relationship to work out! – Sue – so glad he didn’t!
A)
Lord give me this Job – Better one.
B)
Lord give us this Land – Better
C)
We don’t have a clue what we are asking – Yet He doesn’t fault us!
D) His Glory: John 12 – Now is the time
Glorified – His glory would be displayed at calvary -
Notice
how Jesus responds to them.
V.38b - Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
39 They said to Him, "We are able."
“Do you know
what you’re asking?” Jesus said. “The cup in the kingdom is the cup of death.
The baptism is the baptism
of suffering. Do you understand what you’re asking?”
1) Oh, we understand, Lord,” insisted James and
John.
But they didn’t.
I
wonder what they thought saw Him Crucified –
A) there
on his right and left when He came into His glory – Two crucified men
So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I
drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; They would both be martyred
-
40 but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to
give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."
Jesus answers, “My Father is
preparing positions of authority in the heavenly arena for those who are
preparing for those places.”
You
see, salvation is free but position and rewards in the kingdom are dependent
upon what we’re doing right now.
We
want more prestige, more prominence, more power, more toys and more trinkets in
this life.
But
Jesus is ever desirous of lifting our eyes from the temporal to the eternal and
from the physical to the spiritual
Mark
10:41-45
41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased
with James and John.
Now
Why were the other disciples upset with James and John?
A) Because
they were trying to get a jump on the good seats in the kingdom. { Mad they thought of it
B) Next
time you feel moved with indignation, ask yourself if you’re upset because
there’s been a spiritual violation or merely because someone’s getting ahead of
you in some way.
42 But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You
know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their great ones exercise authority over them.43 Yet it shall not be so
among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your
servant.44 And whoever of you desires to be first 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."
Here
is what Jesus was saying:
A) If
you want to be great, don’t seek prominence. Seek service.
B) Don’t
say, “Who’s praying for me? Who cares about me?” Instead ask, “Who can I
serve?”
1)
Who can I pray for?
C)
Listen: The way you feel when people treat you like a slave is a good
indication of how you’re doing in the arena of servant hood.