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Mark 10:35-45

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

By: The Rev. Briane K. Turley

In his commentary on this passage, Matthew Henry observed that “Worldly honour is a glittering thing, with which the eyes of Christ’s own disciples have many times been dazzled. Our care must be that we may have wisdom and grace to know how to suffer with him…. Christ shows them that dominion was generally abused in the world.”

Human ambition is intrinsically connected to the sin of pride, and few if any of us have not dabbled in that region of darkness. So often throughout the Gospels, Jesus must remind his disciples of this pervasive trait in the fallen human race and explain to them that to follow Jesus, to live kingdom life to its fullest, requires that we learn what it means to become servants. Here, Jesus turns the sinful model of the world on its head. Unless believers become fully immersed in the model of servanthood, which Jesus exemplified, and open their hearts to the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they remain ill-equipped to serve as leaders in God’s Kingdom.

Servants in the household of faith live their lives for others. This does not mean they try to live others lives or control them. To the contrary, they recognize their need to live sacrificially, so that others might see the reflection of God’s light in them and enter the Kingdom of God. Ambitious leaders poll the general public before taking a stand. One day, if the opinion polls suggest that a majority of Americans believe abortion or euthanasia, or—As one Princeton ethics professor argues—infanticide is right and good, the worldly leader will adopt the herd mentality and go along with whomever helps him or her achieve power.

Servant leaders take a radically different approach. They study the Word and seek God’s wisdom in all matters including the issues of life. They pray for strength, so that their faces may be set like flint (Ezekiel 3: 9; Isaiah 50: 7). They do these things so that they may lead others toward the light of God’s love for his creation, and above all his love for those whom he created in his own image.