The Servant's Heart of Christ

Mark 10:32-45 – The Servant Heart of Christ (Jesus - The First and Greatest)

The life of a disciple of Jesus Christ is like a tree. The roots are our identity as sons and daughters of God. Today we will look at the trunk of the tree which is the servant’s heart of Christ.

Introduction

The Scripture is filled with the idea that followers of Christ should be servants. But this thinking isn’t popular. Why? It doesn’t seem to produce the results we want. So few seek a life of service and humility and not many are motivated to it.

There is only one legitimate motivation to live a life of service and humility. It comes by looking at and listening to Jesus, the First and Greatest who became last and is the greatest servant because he loved us. He shows us the character of God and asks us to live it out.

In Mark 10:32-45 Jesus teaches His disciples that the heart of God is the heart of a servant and we as God’s children should have his heart…the heart of a servant. Why? Because the essence of the gospel is self-sacrificing, self-denying, God-loving, people-caring because the essence of the gospel is that the King of the universe gave Himself as a sacrifice for us.

Background

In Mark 10 Jesus is now only weeks or days away from Passover week. Over the course of 3 years, Jesus has amazed many by his authority over the hearts of humans, the physical world, the spiritual world, over sickness and disease, and even sin. He has shown himself to be the true king. And now, in the last few months leading up to his death, he has been teaching his disciples what true discipleship is. He has predicted his looming death two times and he is about to do it a third time.

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem by way of Jericho. More than likely with a crowd of pilgrims. The crowd is going to celebrate the Passover, but Jesus is going to fulfill the Passover.

Exposition

In today’s text we will see three things. First, Jesus lives out the heart of God. Second, the disciples miss the heart of God. Third, Jesus teaches the heart of God.

First, Jesus lives out the heart of God.

Jesus appears to be in the front of the procession while the disciples are walking behind in amazement as Jesus journeys to Jerusalem. A crowd appears to be behind them travelling in fear. The disciples are more than likely amazed because of how resolutely (Luke 9:51) Jesus is heading to Jerusalem while knowing that death is awaiting him at the hands of his own people.  He fulfills Isaiah 50:7, “But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.”

The crowds are probably afraid because they have seen John killed, a plot to destroy Jesus, and a commission sent from Jerusalem to find out if he was a heretic. They may be thinking that they may be caught up in a fight with the rulers and authorities when Christ brings his Messianic kingdom in. There is a sense of finality...the end is coming.

Jesus separates himself and the disciples from the rest of the crowd and tells them one last time what they should expect as they come to Jerusalem. He tells them that they should expect all that the prophets wrote about the Son of Man to be fulfilled.

He gives them a mini summary of his passion. He would be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. These priests and teachers would condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles. The Gentiles would mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him by crucifixion. Then on the third day, he would rise from the dead.

This picture is clear, but the meaning seems to be hidden from the disciples. They expect some sort of trouble on the road to victory, but it seems as if they have not really understood him.

Second, the disciples miss the heart of God.

Shortly after this, James, John and their mother came up to Jesus we know this from the other gospels. Their mother kneels down and asks Jesus a favor. Like a child unsure of whether or not they should be asking this question, they essentially ask Jesus to write them a blank check. Jesus, in his wisdom, replies nicely saying to the effect, “It depends, go ahead and ask.”

Based upon Matthew’s account, it looks like, Salome, their mother replied with a ridiculously big request. “Grant that my sons will sit on your right and left hand in your kingdom.” Then, apparently, the brothers echoed this, “Let us sit at your right and left in your glory.”

They were asking for the most prestigious and powerful positions in Christ’s glory, which was synonymous for them of the kingdom. They were expecting Jesus to establish his kingdom in Jerusalem, and so they want to be in the highest positions of authority in this new kingdom.

Jesus responds by telling them that they don’t know what they are asking. He then asks them a seemingly rhetorical question. Could they do the task that he was going to do? He uses a metaphor of drinking the cup and being baptized. This was a reference to the death that he would experience for God’s glory and our salvation. Of course, they couldn’t drink the cup of God’s wrath, but they are willing to face suffering for the glory they seek. They are loyal and courageous.

The cup

The cup is an image or metaphor for Jesus’ destined suffering. In the OT, sometimes it is used for blessing, but more often of judgment. It normally denotes the punishment of the wicked, but in Is. 51:17–23 and Lam. 4:21 it is used of the suffering of God’s people, which will now be passed from them to their oppressors. The cup represents total ruin under God’s judgment. Thus, it refers to divine judgment on sin which Jesus will bear in place of the guilty (Is. 53:5).

The baptism

Baptism is more of a Greek image that carries with it the idea of being overwhelmed or swamped by misfortune and sorrow. Baptism is an idea which runs parallel to the cup. It speaks of being overwhelmed by disaster or danger...being submersed or plunged into suffering. It was more than likely used because of the connotation of John’s baptism and expressed Jesus’ solidarity with sinful men and willingness to assume the burden of God’s judgment on them.

So, both the cup and the baptism together signify that Jesus bears the judgment earned by the sins of men. This is Jesus’ messianic task.

James and John clearly didn’t understand what they were asking and boldly set aside Christ’s warnings. “We can do it!”

A failed request

Jesus tells them that they would experience the cup and baptism (James was killed by sword, and John was banished), but he is not the one to ask for the seats of honor in the kingdom. The Father alone grants this to the ones for whom it was prepared.

At this, the other 10 became angry. They were more than likely thinking “What about us? The nerve of these guys. They just tried to seize an opportunity to become the most important people in the kingdom.”

Third, Jesus teaches the heart of God.

Upside-down

So, Jesus calls them all together. He explains how the Gentile leaders use their power and authority to control people and rule over them with power. But in the kingdom of God everything is upside-down. The greatest is really the servant of all. The first is the slave of all.

The currency of the time may be helpful here. The denarius had Tiberius as the semi-divine son of the god Augustus and goddess Livia. Another coin had Augustus or Tiberius with the inscription, “He who deserves adoration.” The rulers of the Gentile world demanded this type of respect and adoration. The irony is that the disciples are struggling for rank, precedence, and authority. just like the Gentile leaders they despised and wanted to see Jesus wipe out.

The way of the world is to spend all your time trying to reach the top, and when you get there, use all your weight so you can experience the exhilaration of being at the top and having others serve you.

The world values exercising authority over others. It has two major principles: 1) The greatest is served by others. 2) The first gets to do whatever they want without limitations.

There is a subtlety in the text. Jesus says, “…those considered rulers of the Gentiles.” In Daniel 7-12 we see that earthly rulers are not as sovereign as they appear. Behind these rulers stand angelic and demonic forces, and ultimately God. Jesus is saying that the worldly rulers are impotent. Their power is given to them by God and they can lose it in a moment. More than this, Jesus seems to be saying that they are ruling completely wrong. True leadership models Jesus’ own leadership…service and sacrifice. Giving up one’s rights for another.

The kingdom way

But, the way of the kingdom of God is the way of the servant and slave. The word servant holds the idea of a freeman who serves, it stresses services rendered. Whereas, a slave denotes the involuntary aspect of slavery, being under someone’s control, and is a legal term.

God’s kingdom values service and also has two major principles: 1) The greatest is actually the servant: caring and serving others. 2) The first is committed to being a slave: a slave foregoes their rights.

Demonstrated in Jesus

And this is demonstrated in Jesus because though he is the Son of Man, God himself, he didn’t come for people to serve him but to serve people. And more than this, to give his life as a ransom for many.

Before we look at this, it is important to see why these are principles of the kingdom. They are principles because the character of God is this way. God is not a power-monger. God does not grasp at power and authority. He has it. But, he uses it to do good, to love, and to serve. Jesus demonstrates these principles in the most powerful and full way.

The First Kingdom Principle: the greatest servant is the greatest

Jesus is the First. He is before all. He created all things. Yet, he gave up his glory and was committed to everybody else’s good at his own expense. Jesus is the greatest slave. And as such, he not only is the First in his own right, but he is the First by this kingdom principle as well. Why? Because he left his glory, took on humanity, lived and died for our sake, bore God’s wrath, and became last so we could be with him.

The Second Kingdom Principle: the greatest foregoes their rights

Jesus is the greatest. He has absolute authority and should be served by all. He is eternal and unchangeable, the I AM. He Created all things and in him all things exist. Yet, he came in humility to serve, not be served. Jesus is the greatest servant. And as such, he not only is the Greatest in his own right, for he always existed and is magnificent, wonderful, all-powerful, and reigns over heaven and earth, but he is the Greatest by this kingdom principle as well. Why? Because he is the greatest servant that ever lived. He served us as he “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Phil. 2:7-8)

We can see his servanthood because though he is the Son of Man, God himself, he didn’t come for people to serve him but to serve them. And more than this, to give his life as a ransom for many.

This then allows us to see why he would be exalted. He not only is the First and Greatest by the nature of who he is, but he is the First and Greatest in the kingdom of God because of what he did. He willingly performed God’s plan to redeem his people. Therefore, Paul writes, “…God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Ransom

One commentator wrote, “Jesus, as the messianic Servant, offers himself as a guilt-offering in compensation for the sins of the people. The release effected by this offering overcomes man’s alienation from God, his subjection to death, and his bondage to sin. Jesus’ service is offered to God to release men from their indebtedness to God.”

Is. 53:10-12 shows us that Jesus came to fulfill the task of the servant of Yahweh. He voluntarily gave up his life as a sacrifice offered in place of a guilty person to remove their guilt (Lev. 5:17-19). This is close to the idea of ransom...the payment to secure release from slavery to the world and slavery to sin. This whole idea is brought out in the phrase “many” as the beneficiaries of the servant’s self-offering, he bears their sin to make them righteous. The whole thrust of Isaiah 50-53 is to show the servant of the Lord who suffers and dies to redeem his people by his own life as a substitute for their guilt.

Jesus is the First and Greatest because he became a servant in order to save us from the penalty that we deserve so we could be with God. And he did this so that we could live like him as servants of others. He showed us the heart of God…the heart of a servant.

Application

A student at a Bible school in the Philippines was disturbed over the condition of the men’s rest rooms. When nothing was done to clean them, he took matters into his own hands and complained to the principal of the school. A little while later, the student noticed that the problem was being corrected, but he saw with amazement that the man with the mop and pail in hand was the principal himself! Later the student commented, “I thought that he would call a janitor, but he cleaned the toilets himself. It was a major lesson to me on being a servant and, of course, it raised a question in my own mind as to why I hadn’t taken care of the problem!”

Francis Shaeffer said, “If we have the world’s mentality of wanting the foremost place, we are not qualified for Christian leadership. This mentality can lift us into ecclesiastical leadership or fit us for being a big name among men, but it unfits us for real spiritual leadership. To the extent that we want power we are in the flesh, and the Holy Spirit has no part in us.”

The question that we must ask ourselves is this: “How are we like the disciples? How are we trying to get positions of power instead of positions of service?” For pastors, it is easy to want to be a success. To see our influence expand and people say good things about us. It is easy to want to be served and not simply serve others. It is easy to make it about us…being first. This attitude has nothing to do with the gospel…it looks more like James and John in Mark 10. For others, it looks like wanting to be in charge, having others doing things for you, thinking things are beneath you.

There is no room for questions about greatness in our church. Jesus is the first and the greatest. Our job is simply to live our lives like he did, for others, being the last and the servant of all. True greatness consists in self-giving, in the pouring of self out for other’s sake and God’s glory. To be great means to love.

The rule of life, the trunk of the tree, for a disciple of Jesus is this...love expressed in service. Only by serving do we become great, and ironically, those who are in our community and serve the most deserve the most recognition. Why? They are the most like Christ. Are we striving to be like Jesus by living a life of servanthood for and to others?

Living as a servant is the heart of God and so as God’s children we should be living our lives with a servant’s heart.