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Well, isn’t our world just constantly filled with battles for glory and honour? That sounds rather grandiose doesn’t it? We obviously no longer walk through town in chain mail with polished swords hanging at our sides, ready to be drawn in the name of honour and glory. No longer do we stand in the town square, issuing bold challenges to rivals, demanding satisfaction upon the field of combat, where victory would bring status and recognition whilst defeat would cast us into disgrace. No, today we simply marvel at the battle of our politicians as they desperately attempt to gain power. We watch on the edge of our seat as our favourite athletes or sports teams, jostle for 1st place, and we cheer exuberantly when they are crowned as champions. We eagerly seek to prove ourselves to others as a suitable partner, a good friend, an esteemed colleague, a fun grandparent, and a Mum or Dad whose got it all together. I wonder if it’s fair to say we all seek a sense of glory in one way or another in our own lives. We all desire some form of glory attributed to us by others, to bask in the glory of our own achievements, or to experience any form of glory we can get.
So whether you are a follower of Jesus, or not yet a follower of Jesus, today I want to pose the question, How do we find true glory? What we’ll see in today’s passage is how the Son of Man reveals what true glory is, so we might experience it too. We’ll see this through three separate points then we’ll unpack what that means for us.
Let’s begin with our first section of the passage – Earthly glory. Here we see how James and John misunderstand what true glory actually is, and we’ll notice that we often misunderstand as well. Our passage begins in verse 35 with James and John, some of Jesus’ disciples making a remarkable request of Jesus himself. In verse 35, we read,
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
Given what’s been happening in Mark’s gospel so far this is a rather audacious statement. For starters let’s just put ourselves in Jesus’ shoes for a moment. This is effectively that awkward moment when someone asks if you’re free for a favour, and you’re thinking “Hmmm, well that all depends on what you’re about to ask”. If it’s to help with the dishes or putting the bins out then maybe, if it’s to spend all day doing yard work or prepping meals for the whole week and slaving away for hours then maybe not. Yet here the request of James and John is so much more. To give some context to this request by James and John, just before our passage in verses 32-34, Jesus predicts his death and resurrection to the disciples, for not the first, not the second, but the third time. Previously in chapter 8 and 9, Jesus has also predicted his fate, and in both instances the disciples have responded with a mixture of fear, confusion, and disbelief. This might seem repetitive, but in this account, Jesus provides a more detailed prediction than previously, and the disciples also react differently. The disciples and Jesus are on their way to Jerusalem when Jesus says in verse 33-34, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
In each of his predictions across the last three chapters, Jesus has referred to himself as the Son of Man, and alongside this title, declares that he will be rejected and will suffer. Here though he goes one step further and even specifies that he will be mocked, spit on, and flogged, before finally being killed. As some of you may remember from last week, what made this so confusing and fear inducing for the disciples is who they understood the Son of Man to be. We hear from Ch 7 of Daniel from the Old Testament, that the Son of Man is to be given authority, glory, sovereign power and an everlasting dominion overall. The disciples would have believed the Son of Man would be an all-conquering warrior to come and defeat the Romans, and rule as King. So for Jesus to be saying that he is destined for such torment, rejection, and scorn, would certainly seem to go against who the Son of Man was and what he was meant to do. How can the supposed king suffer and die whilst ruling in glory? Well Jesus has explained this to them on both occasions previously, and he explains again in this passage tonight, because for the third time we see the disciples, namely James and John, reacting with disbelief and confusion. Even after three tries, they still aren’t getting it right! In fact, here James and John don’t just misunderstand, but their prime examples of human selfishness. Examples which we often aren’t fair from ourselves.
If we turn back to verses 35-37 of our passage, given the context of Jesus predicting his death and resurrection for the third time, it’s clear how ignorant James and John’s request is. Jesus has just said he’s going to die, they not only ask for whatever they want, but they ask for a seat at his right and left in his glory. They want greatness for themselves. They want power and success for themselves. They want status for themselves. Maybe they even picture themselves at a royal banquet, being lavished in riches and praise, sitting at the right and left of their conquering King as he is glorified, and they are glorified as well. Even later in the passage after some discourse between Jesus and James and John, in verse 41 the remaining disciples are indignant! They’re indignant! Likely angered that James and John have snuck in first to stake their claim at glory. Friends, is this not the way of the world? Is this not the human condition? I’m sure many of us can attest to our own desire for power, glory, and status, and undoubtedly these manifest in many ways. Perhaps it’s the pull towards financial stability in the current struggles with the cost of living. Perhaps a desire for promotion, awards, or some form of positive affirmation amongst colleagues at work. Perhaps in your retirement or later years, it’s a desire for a return of your strength, your youth, and a return to the so called “glory days”. Perhaps for the youth, young adults, and kids here tonight, it’s a desire for independence, and to be able to do everything on your own, in your own strength. Please don’t mishear me, none of these desires are inherently wrong, Jesus does wish for us to work hard, to be healthy, and independent, but we must be reminded how quickly these desires can become twisted and overrun us. Notice how James and John ask for a seat at Jesus’s left and right in his glory, almost trying to give Jesus the glory whilst receiving some for themselves. They don’t ask for the main seat, the head of the table, or to sit on the throne. No! They’d always give Jesus the honour first, of course, but they’ll happily take some honour for themselves in the process. How quick are we to give lip service to glorifying and honouring Jesus, when in reality our actions and our hearts are focussed on ourselves. As James Edwards puts it in his commentary, “How easily worship and discipleship are blended with self-interest; or worse, self-interest is masked as worship and discipleship.” Think for a moment when was the last time you said, “I do this all for the glory of God”, and just ask yourself, was it really all for his glory, or was it for yours as well? Finally, are you seeking glory not by actively searching for power, status, and success, but rather out of saving face? Has life become a game of having everything together, not letting others see your weakness or pain, and even being averse to the weakness of others? This is all earthly glory, first seen by the request of the disciples and continually manifesting today. The question is, what does Jesus think about it?
Now this brings us to the next point of our passage tonight – Conditions for the Kingdom. We’ll see in this section that there are conditions for the kingdom and by extension experiencing true glory. Conditions which both us and the disciples cannot meet. As we read on in verses 38-40, Jesus begins by saying,
“You don’t know what you are asking, can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?”
There’s really two interesting parts about Jesus’ response here. Firstly, notice the tone of his response. Whilst it’s of course hard to hear tone through some words on a page, I think we could all agree Jesus is clearly not rife with anger and fury. He’s certainly firm, he’s certainly serious, but remarkably, he’s not angry. Despite the disciples’ insistence on plugging their heads in the sand as Jesus explains how and why he will be killed; he’s not harbouring some pent-up rage. In fact after all that, he’s remaining patient, he’s remaining calm, and he’s doing so because he knows that he is the King whose come, not to be served, but to serve his people, and we’ll discuss this more shortly. Secondly, it’s also interesting how in response to James and John, Jesus doesn’t simply reject their request. Rather he answers with a question, almost as if to test if they’re worthy of joining him in his glory. His conditions for success? Well, they must drink the cup he drinks and be baptised with the baptism he is baptised with, but what do these mean? Here Jesus is using two of the most famous metaphors in scripture to demonstrate what it takes to experience Kingdom glory, and in fact he has more or less highlighted them to the disciples already when he spoke earlier of his impending suffering and death. Throughout the Old Testament a cup typically symbolised something allotted by God, it could signify joy and prosperity, but generally referred to God’s judgement and wrath. Here Jesus doesn’t just refer to any cup that he will drink. He refers to THE cup he will drink, THE cup of God’s wrath on human sin. Similarly, when Jesus speaks of the baptism he will experience, he speaks not of just any baptism, but of THE baptism of death he will endure at the cross to identify himself with sinners and bear their judgement before God. See Jesus doesn’t expect James and John to be able to pass such a test. He knows that the cup and the baptism are for him to bear alone. It is the task set out for him by the Father, the one he must fulfil. For it is the only way the Kingdom itself can be established. It is the way to true glory. Perhaps unsurprisingly at this point, the disciples remain oblivious, and without hesitation say they can drink such a cup and undergo such a baptism. See this reminds me of people at the beach. You know the ones. The overconfident swimmers who walk straight past the warnings of strong currents and dumping waves, they ignore the red and yellow flags, and are either oblivious to any potential danger or just think they’re invincible. Only a short while later do they find themselves in need of rescue and actually understanding the warning signs they so confidently overlooked. Now, I don’t think the disciples think their invincible, but they’re certainly oblivious. They’re quick to grab the benefits of the kingdom, but slow to realise the costs of participating in Jesus’ glory. In verse 41, Jesus actually admits they will indeed drink the cup he drinks and be baptised with the baptism he is baptised with. This may seem contradictory given we just established these are His task to fulfil alone, but what we’ll see is that this is all part of Jesus’s plan to reveal true glory and invite others to experience it too.
This brings us to our final point for tonight – Kingdom glory. We’ll see here the contrast between earthly glory and true glory, and finally answer our question, how do we find glory ourselves? Across verses 42-45, Jesus provides a clear outline of what it means to partake in the glory of God’s Kingdom. Addressing all twelve disciples now, Jesus says in verse 42,
“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.”
He flips the paradigm of the disciples on its head. They will not become great by seeking status and power, rather the economy of God’s kingdom is that of service. Just like for the disciples, we too will not find true glory until we accept this paradigm. All our desires we discussed earlier, for power, for accomplishments, for security, for avoiding weakness, these will not bring us to true glory. They will only fall short. We are called explicitly here to serve one another within the kingdom. We are called to be a slave for one another, to forego our own desires for personal gain, for the sake of those around us. On initial impressions, it seems that only after we have foregone any desires for earthly glory and given our whole life to serve one another will we receive true glory, Kingdom glory.
Are you serving in this way? I admittedly would be shocked if any of us here today could turn to the person next to them and wholeheartedly say yes. See, in the broken world we live in, it is all too easy for the indicators of success in the world, to also become our indicators of success at church. Instead of serving to attain true glory from God, we all to easily serve to receive thanks and praise from others, and ultimately chase earthly glory. How many of us at our church on a Sunday have stood up the front to pray, to sing, to read the bible, to preach the word, or throughout the week lead on session, our committee of management, in growth groups, at youth, at kids’ church, and in our tech team, and served yes for the glory of God, but also just a little bit for our own satisfaction. Or even if we haven’t thought that, but rather we’ve felt it in our heart? We’ve felt in our heart we are somehow better because of our service. How wretched we are and how impossible it seems for us to attain this true glory Jesus has revealed to us.
Yet, Jesus has shown us the way. Verse 45, “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.” This is the hope we have from the Gospel. This is true glory realised – Christ giving up his life on the cross. This is the ultimate manifestation of the one who was slave to all, and was our servant, who is now exalted as the greatest and the most high by giving his life as a ransom for many. Mark uses the word ransom here to refer to the cost Jesus pays to the Father. Bearing the punishment for sin and death, God’s justice is fully satisfied by Jesus, and his glory is realised in his victory over all evil. So this means, we can serve, because Jesus first served us. We can be made great in the kingdom because Jesus was not only made great in the kingdom but established the kingdom by crushing all sin and death. He served us as a slave perfectly, without any desire for personal gain. And in his mercy, he invites us to share in His glory with him, despite knowing we can never do what he has done.
Sharing in his glory won’t come without a cost, for when Christ unites himself with us, we too must share in sufferings and persecution, just as he did. If we look back to verse 39 where Jesus says to James and John, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with,” Jesus here likely alludes to the sufferings James and John will experience in their future ministry for His sake. Yet, he in some sense also suggests that all those in Christ will experience sufferings too, because whilst Jesus has defeated sin and death, and now reigns in His Kingdom, we remain in this earthly realm where sin and death abide. We belong to the Kingdom and are a part of the Kingdom, because of the grace poured out to us by Jesus, but we are yet to physically join Him in his glory. So part of experiencing true glory, will be hard. What Jesus is teaching the disciples here is true discipleship. He has forged the path we could not ourselves, and he now calls us to follow him by serving with our whole lives. As we day by day seek to serve one another, we will struggle. Instead of making time for the friend who really needs some support, we will want to tend to our own busy lives. Instead of remaining patient with our family, we will want to throw in the towel, make them see how much we’ve already done for them and how they should be thanking us. Instead of sticking our hands up to serve at church or reaching out to the friend who does not yet know Jesus, we’ll want to cower away and make excuses because we’re just don’t have time. But this is what we are called to do, no matter how hard. Let us take great comfort though, that when we are serving and battling against desires for self-gain, we can turn our eyes to the cross and be reminded that we serve not to gain, but because we have already gained. We serve not so we can receive grace, but serve because we have received grace, and received it in abundance. We serve out of gratitude, because those of us who are in Christ, we know that not only have we ourselves been saved, but our feeble attempts of righteous acts of service, they are redeemed, they are loved, and they are welcomed, because they have been purified by the blood of Jesus too. If you are someone who is not yet a follower of Jesus, I invite you to consider what would it mean for you to receive this grace that Jesus offers too? Consider whether you think you would pass Jesus’s conditions for the Kingdom. And if not, you too can ask Jesus to wrap you up and place you on the path to true glory as well!
Now brothers and sisters in Christ as we go, let’s remember as our society fights and scraps for every slither of glory, our battle for glory has already been won. May we continue to seek to serve one another as Christ served us, and when we grow weary, when we struggle to serve, or we are pulled towards earthly glory, be reminded that the Son of Man has established his kingdom of true glory so we wouldn’t have too. He has bought us into such glory and is bringing us into such glory by His glorious grace.
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