Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, we methodically teach verse by verse, even phrase by phrase.
We have completed many books of the Bible and offer free lesson plans for teachers. If you want to browse our entire library by book or topic, see our website www.ReasoningThroughTheBible.com.
We primarily do expository teaching but also include a good bit of theology and apologetics. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity must address both the ancient truths and the questions of the people today. Join Glenn and Steve every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S37 || How to be a Servant for Jesus || Mark 10:35-45 || Session 37 || Verse by Verse Bible Study
What happens when ambition collides with Christ's mission? Mark 10:35-45 captures a revealing moment where James and John approach Jesus with a startling request for positions of power and prestige—immediately after Jesus has just predicted his suffering and death.
Jesus responds with a gentle but firm correction: "You don't know what you're asking." Using the powerful imagery of drinking from his cup and being baptized with his baptism—metaphors for the suffering that awaited him—Jesus redirects their ambition. Though the brothers confidently claim they can handle whatever lies ahead, Jesus knows the road will be harder than they imagine.
This teaching challenges us to examine our own motives in leadership, ministry, and service. Are we positioning ourselves for recognition, or submitting ourselves to serve others regardless of the personal cost? The disciples eventually embraced this radical model—not through their own strength, but through the transformative power of the Holy Spirit.
Join us as we explore this countercultural message that remains as challenging and revolutionary today as it was two thousand years ago. Subscribe to Reasoning Through the Bible and discover how these ancient words continue to reshape our understanding of true greatness.
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
Hello and welcome to Reasoning Through the Bible. We do a verse-by-verse Bible study, through the entire Bible. We go verse-by-verse, even phrase-by-phrase. You should go to our website, if you haven't already, and check out our information there, ReasoningThroughTheBiblecom. You'll find free materials there. You'll find out how to contact us and you'll find out more about our ministry and how you can pray for us and be involved. Today we were in the Gospel of Mark in chapter 10, and we've just studied in our previous sessions where Jesus told the disciples once again that he will be going to Jerusalem and there he's going to die and to be raised again. That's the context in this section that we have here between two of the disciples. Steve, can you start at Mark 10, 35 and read through 45?
Speaker 2:James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus saying 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? They said to him Grant that we may sit one on your right and one on your left in your glory. But Jesus said to them you do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink of the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism which I am baptized? They said to him we are able. And Jesus said to them the cup that I drink, you shall drink and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized, but to sit on my right and my left. This is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.
Speaker 2:Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant, with James and John Calling them to himself. Jesus said to them you know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you. But whosoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all, for even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.
Speaker 1:In this section, the themes are serving and sacrifice. These themes are the same as what was given to the rich young ruler and to here, James and John. Jesus is telling us that there is greatness in serving Steve. At the beginning of this, James and John comes up to Jesus with a question, a request. What are they asking.
Speaker 2:I find it curious that here Jesus has just told them I'm going to go in and the leadership is going to arrest me. They're going to put me on trial, then they're going to turn me over to the Gentiles, who are the Romans at the time. They're going to beat me, they're going to mock me, they're going to spit on me and they're going to beat me. They're going to mock me, they're going to spit on me and they're going to condemn me to death. They're going to kill me, and then I'm going to raise again a third day.
Speaker 2:And then the next section, james and John says well, wait a minute. Okay, enough about you, jesus. We want you to do something for us. I just kind of find that that's curious as to how we approach into this question they have. But the question they have for him is we would like for you to grant us a request, and the request is that one of us sit on your right, one of us sit on your left whenever you come into your glory. You know, I just find it curious that while Jesus is talking about what's going to happen to him, they in turn are thinking about themselves too. It's just kind of an odd thing for me.
Speaker 1:But isn't that too often the way we are, in the sense that look at everything God has done for us, any of the profound things that God has done? He's saved us, he's cleaned us up, he's set us on a new path, he's given us a wonderful ministry to do that'll help others and bring glory to the Lord. And then we come to Him, oftentimes with requests without even telling Him thank you. So I think, yeah, these two brothers here, they missed the whole point of what he was trying to say and got off on something that's really kind of silly. But I think we have been guilty of doing that same thing. We should go to the Lord and thank Him first and glorify Him before we ever bring any requests. So they asked to be exalted. They asked to sit at the right hand and left hand when he's in His glory. Now, what does it mean in that day and age to sit at the right and the left? What does that mean?
Speaker 2:Well, you have the idea that they're talking about a king who's in charge of his court in the throne room and sitting to the right and to the left would be the two most powerful people in the kingdom that have the responsibility for that, and I think that we know that that's what they're talking about, because it says when you come in your glory.
Speaker 2:This is a way for them to depict that the Messiah was going to be ruler over the kingdom, the restored kingdom of Israel. We saw when we went through Zechariah that God was going to fight for Israel and that Messiah was going to come and defeat the enemies and such, set up the kingdom and would rule from Jerusalem and there was going to be the glory of God that was going to be there in the temple at that time, ruling all of the other nations. This gives us an indication that they are aware of what he's talking about, that he's going to set up their kingdom, but I just don't get the idea that they understand the implications of him dying and being raised again, that this kingdom is something that's going to be years later in the future and it's not going to be immediately after he is raised from the dead.
Speaker 1:It shows us with this question that they were expecting an earthly kingdom to be coming relatively near future to when they asked this question. That's the only thing that makes sense. Sit at your right and your left would be his kingship. They understood exactly what he was doing, which was to go set up the Davidic kingdom, but what they didn't realize was there's going to be a few things in between here and there. Now also, I think we can get another lesson out of this.
Speaker 1:James and John were asking to be exalted. Can we sit at your right and your left? This would be in the throne room of the king, and sitting there, the only people that sit, especially sit next to the king, is royalty. These are the most important people in the kingdom other than the king. Everybody else in a throne room stands up and the only people sitting would be royalty. What they're asking for is to be exalted. Now, there are people today that want to be exalted. Now, there are people today that want to be exalted. They seem to always be interested in getting a bigger church or a bigger ministry or more money or more viewers on their program. They're trying to exalt them in their ministry. Is there really something that we should be praying for Steve. I mean what happens in the kingdom when we try to exalt ourselves.
Speaker 2:We end up putting the focus on us instead of putting the focus on God. We should be serving God in the capacity of doing what he wants us to do, as we serve him doing his will. That really the basic of it is is to go out and spread the word of God and make disciples. That's the great commission that we got from Jesus before he ascended back into heaven. We're to be servants and not be worrying about what we're going to get. Whenever we get into the next age and the eternal state, or get into the kingdom of God here on earth and the eternal state, or get into the kingdom of God here on earth, that's going to shake itself out and it's for Jesus to determine what we're going to be doing, not for us to be trying to determine it on our own.
Speaker 1:James and John didn't learn the lesson that Jesus had already told them back in 935, which was those wanting to be first will be last. Here they're wanting to be first, and Jesus is going to have to correct that. Instead of praying to be exalted, what should be our prayer Thy will be done that should be our prayer is Lord, thy will be done. We should be satisfied with wherever he puts us and say Lord, I want to do whatever you would have me to do and please glorify you there in my work. Don't glorify me, because that's what Jesus is precisely teaching against.
Speaker 1:If we want to glorify ourselves, it's just going to end in something very bad. If we glorify him, then great things will come. So they ask this request can we sit at your right and your left? And in verse 38, he says you know not what you ask. I wonder how many times he says this to us and says it to me, saying you don't know what you're asking about. Don't we get that sense here? Steve is oh, you don't even really know what you're asking, we do.
Speaker 2:And then we also have the same response many times Sure, I know what I'm asking, but we really don't know what we're asking. Jesus is going to explain to them that, well, some of the stuff is going to happen to you, but you really don't understand what it is.
Speaker 1:He asks them a question are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? Of course he's talking about the persecutions and the death and all that comes along with it. That's his question. And their response is oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we can do that, no problem. Well, they really had no clue as to what they were asking about. They really didn't. They did not understand what they were asking. That's why we don't always understand what we're asking.
Speaker 1:We need to pray. Thy will be done. Lord, lead me in the direction you would have me and give me the strength to get there. That should be our prayer in the direction you would have me and give me the strength to get there. That should be our prayer. And his answer again in verse 39, they're confident, but they don't understand. They're going off on a place where they really should have been quiet and said Lord, what would you have me do? They didn't grasp Jesus' repeated teachings that he would die. They were still thinking that he would immediately usher in an earthly kingdom, right then and there. That week or that month. They also had no clue as to what it meant to drink his cup or to be baptized with his baptism, just like them. We sometimes misunderstand God's Word and have no clue what God has in store for us, for us today, steve. Can we draw lessons of this about the things that we ask God about?
Speaker 2:To answer that question, Glenn, I would like to read verse 39 with the actual meaning of the word baptism, Because we have this picture of baptism, of somebody going and being submerged under the water and then brought back up immediately or maybe even some sprinkling that some of the other denominations and other churches do. But baptism here the word baptizo and it means to immerse, to submerge for a religious purpose, but to overwhelm, to saturate. I want to read the verse here to get a little bit more flavor. As I answer the question, We'll just read verse 39.
Speaker 2:He says they said to him we are able. Jesus said to them the cup that I drink, you shall drink and you shall be immersed with the immersion with which I am immersed into. I think through that word of immersed there we get a picture of it's, a full commitment. What Jesus is about to do is he's going to commit fully, fully, all the way to death and we're told of that in other scriptures that he obeyed even unto death. This is really what he's asking them and they're coming back kind of a little bit flippantly saying, yeah, we're able to, that we're able to be able to go full out, full immersion on the cup that you're going to drink.
Speaker 2:I just don't think that they fully understand what they're saying and what they're committing to. As to this, Jesus is assuring them you are going to experience it, but it is a full commitment, I think. Going back to your question, do we always understand that the commitment we make is a full commitment? I don't know. I think that we would like to think of that way whenever we say up front, yes, I'm all out for Jesus, but then when we hit the persecution, we sometimes have a tendency to kind of withdraw back and reclude into ourselves, rather than being as bold and boastful as we were before.
Speaker 1:It's so ironic here is that they're asking for oh, we want to sit at the right and the left, and so they're thinking palace, fine food, lots of money, easy life. No, you don't know what you're asking about, is his answer. Here's the question Did they end up being immersed in the things that he was immersed in? What actually happened to these two brothers later in life? Did they end up drinking the cup and being baptized with the same baptism?
Speaker 2:Well, james was the first one to be martyred and the first disciple to be killed. I believe that he was pushed off the walls of Jerusalem. I think that's the way that he was killed, john. He ended up being exiled to the Isle of Patmos and, while he wasn't martyred in a brutal way, he was taken away and sequestered, and then some of the other disciples. They were actually martyred in horrible and horrific ways. So, yes, they did experience full immersion into the type of cup that Jesus went through.
Speaker 1:I'm reminded of the list of things that the Apostle Paul lists off that he experienced in Corinthians, where he talks about shipwrecks and beatings and imprisonments and going hungry and things like this. And so, yeah, all those things they went through, but they were passionate about it because of all the rewards they were getting. They were seeing the kingdom grow. So the true follower of Christ sees these wonderful benefits. I'm reminded in the book of Acts, paul went out from the church at Antioch and he went on one of these journeys and he came back to report to the elders at the church there and on the journey he had undergone a lot of persecutions. When he got back to the report, what is he talking about? Oh, we had these people saved here and a church started there and we had believers start over here. He didn't really talk about the persecutions because he was just so overjoyed about doing the Lord's work and seeing the benefit. This is part of what's going on here. They're having this actually quite shallow expectation of what the kingdom was about. Jesus says oh, you're going to drink it, all right, you just don't know what you're asking. We can learn some things about God from this verse In verse 40, to sit on my right or on my left, this is not mine to give. In verse 40, to sit on my right or on my left, this is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. From that verse we can learn God has a plan. He has prepared things for us. So he has a plan. He's working it out in history. God has purposes and destinies for different people. We don't all have the same destiny, but we have a destiny that he has prepared for us. We cannot choose some of God's gifts to us and we cannot choose God's plan for our lives. There's a plan, but it's his plan. He's going to have us work out this plan. We don't choose the gifts he gives us and we don't choose the path he puts us on. What we choose is to follow him. And then he just says follow me and trust me, and he'll take us into the places that he wants us to go to.
Speaker 1:There are some distinctions in the Trinity. That's the other thing we can learn from this passage, because he says it's not mine to give, which means that it's given from the Father. So there's distinctions in the Trinity. People that deny the Trinity end up trying to sometimes force Christians into this. Oh well, see, we found something here that the Father does, that Jesus didn't do. This is quite apparent. There's no issue with that. It doesn't destroy the Trinity whatsoever.
Speaker 1:There are distinctions in the Trinity because there's different persons in the Trinity. The things that are the same amongst the persons of the Trinity are the attributes of God, the nature of the being of God. But there's different roles in the Trinity. The Son's role was to die on the cross. The Holy Spirit didn't die on the cross. The Father didn't die on the Trinity. The Son's role was to die on the cross. The Holy Spirit didn't die on the cross. The Father didn't die on the cross. And there's things here in Mark 10.40 that the Father gives, that the Son doesn't give. There's distinctions in the persons of the Trinity. It has nothing, no damage at all, to do with the Trinity. People who deny the deity of Christ look for these verses where Jesus says something that's only done by the Father and they try to think it's somehow a gotcha. But this passage is not a problem, for there are distinctions between the persons of the Trinity. Then, once they say that in verse 41, how did the disciples feel? What was going through their mind, do you think, steve?
Speaker 2:The other 10 became indignant. They're incredulous that James and John is out there trying to position themselves to be in a place that obviously would be above them. They're missing the point too. All the way around, their emotions are misplaced as to what's really happening. I still find it curious that, again, jesus has just told them what's going to happen to him. That includes death, yes, it includes resurrection, but they're fighting amongst themselves about who's going to be doing what in the kingdom. Now's not the time to be talking about these things, but yet here they are.
Speaker 1:They're doing that. The same thing happens in our churches today. We've got this great work to do for the kingdom and our churches end up not always, but sometimes fighting over who's going to get to lead this ministry, or why do I have to do this when I wanted to do something else, and who does that person think they are? I had this program and somebody else comes along and upsets this and all of these petty personality things are what comes across in our churches today. We are no different. What I find here now is there's dissension in the twelve. The two of them, the two brothers, james and John, wanted to be first, and now the others are indignant. Who do they think they are coming up? So Jesus is now having to deal with this internal strife.
Speaker 1:What I noticed, steve, is after the church starts in Acts, chapter 2, there's hardly any of this. Suddenly they're working together. They're not interested in who gets the glory amongst themselves, they're interested in what. They're interested in doing the work of Christ, and each of them has a different location. They work maybe a different ministry, different focus. Nobody's vying for power here. They're just doing what needs to be done. What's the difference between Mark, chapter 10, and what happens after Acts, chapter 2? Well, it's the Holy Spirit. Once we have the Holy Spirit and we submit ourselves to the kingdom, we're less concerned about who gets the credit, who gets the glory. I shouldn't be worried about who in my church is going to be viewed by the rest of the church as more or less important. That's the lesson here.
Speaker 1:Jesus verse 42, calls them to himself and then has this little sermonette, if you will, that talks about how they should get along. Verse 42 to 45, he's teaching the disciples. God's economy is opposite to that of the world. The world's ways are like what Jesus says about the Gentiles the leaders lord it over people. Leaders in the church are to view themselves as servants. Pastors are not to view themselves as the boss In the church. We're not to have envy of other people's ministries or gifts. Let me just read part of this again, just to kind of get a flavor, because again, in verse 42 through 45, he's dealing with this jealousy, this dissension that's in the 12. Jesus pulls them aside to himself and in verse 42, says you know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great men exercise authority over them. But it's not this way. Among you, whoever wishes to become great shall be your servant. Now, isn't that really opposite kind of upside down from what the world is?
Speaker 2:Steve, it's the exact opposite, because in the world, it's whoever was closest to the king had greater wealth, had greater position, had control over people. In many cases, the king controlled the land, so he dictated who owned what land and who didn't own other land. There was always jockeying for this position to be closest to the king, because that's how you rose to power. Jesus is saying the exact opposite here. It's not this way among you, because whoever wishes to become great shall be your servant. They are to be servants of one another, which means that you defer to the other person. You don't jockey for position to be closest to the king. You just focus on serving the other person and let the king decide what's going to be given to you and let it lay there. That's where your focus is not trying to outmaneuver somebody else, just being a servant. How do we become great in the kingdom of God that way, serving others, serving other Christians and also serving the people of the world.
Speaker 2:From this perspective, our mission should be to spread the word of God all the way back of Jesus telling the parables of the sower. What are they sowing? They're sowing the word of God and the different soils that are there, and then also the parable that he told that the person sowed the Word of God, went to sleep and the plant came up and was cultivated by God. That's what we're to do. We should show the Christ-likeness through us. And what we do In fact, what is? Verse 45 says that even the Son of man, the human side of Jesus, didn't come to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many. We should follow that example. Here's the king himself saying I didn't come to be served, I came to be a servant, even unto death. That's the way that we should look at our life here. We are a servant of God. We need to spread the word of God, we need to disciple others and we need to pass that down to the next generation.
Speaker 1:That's so opposite of the world. The way the world thinks is the way you get to be a position of power and influence is to step on everybody on the way up the ladder. That is the opposite of what the Lord says happens in the church. In the church, servanthood makes a person powerful. Why is that? Because when you're a servant, you earn influence in the church. When you're a servant, you earn respect from other people in the body of Christ. When you're a servant, you prove yourself faithful to the master, who appreciates your faithfulness. The people whom you serve are humbled and gain respect for you and gain an appreciation of you. That's how the kingdom economy works. It's just the opposite of the world.
Speaker 1:For what purpose did Jesus come? To give his life? To pay for our sins. He is our example. He is the ultimate servant and we should follow in his footsteps. If our master was a servant, then we should as well. Next, at the end of verse 45, it says to give his life for a ransom. That's what the Son of man did give his life for a ransom.
Speaker 1:One of the doctrinal explanations for how Jesus atoned for our sins is called the ransom theory, saying that Jesus' death paid a ransom for our sins. Four times in the book of Judges, god sold Israel is the word it uses into the hands of the enemies Judges 2.14, 3.8, 4.2, 10.7. He sold Israel. Therefore, it makes sense that God would ransom them back. Theologians have held at least nine different views of the atonement and what Jesus did. One of them is the ransom theory, and it comes from passages just like this he came to buy us back, to pay the ransom. Most Protestants think of the penal substitution theory that Jesus paid a legal debt for us. Another is this ransom theory, which is held by Augustine and others. That's what we have here. Did he pay ransom for many or ransom for all?
Speaker 2:Well, that's part of the conundrum that the theologians get into, but his death and resurrection is sufficient for all those who actually believe in him, I think are the ones who receive the benefit of the ransom might be a way to put that. But, glenn, whenever we went through Exodus, remember there was a yearly ransom that the people were to come and pay as part of the offering that they would make, and I think that this possibly has something with that as well. Every year, the people had a ransom that needed to be paid and they would pay it themselves. Well, here Jesus is saying I have paid your ransom. Well, here Jesus is saying I have paid your ransom, and I think that's another thing that we can put into the bucket of what this means by him paying a ransom.
Speaker 1:I would agree. There's so much here in this that's probably a good place to stop here. We have Jesus's wonderful commands to be a servant. Those who are going to be first of all should be the servants of all. That's how God's economy works. We're still not out of chapter 10, because next we're going to have blind Bartimaeus, but we'll get to him next time.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.
