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Mark Sermon

True Authority – Mark 11:27-12:12

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Good morning church! What a joy it has been for us to be studying through the gospel of Mark. As a church we’ve enjoyed the whole process of knowing Jesus through the lens of this gospel as we study it passage by passage.

Right now we are in Mark chapter 11 verses 27. As we’ve noticed over the past few weeks, these passages are placed in the context of Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem which actually begins his journey toward the cross. Last Sunday we read how the temple needed to be cleansed.

The cleansing was required because the people & the religious leaders replaced the worship of God with self-centered gain. And Jesus by driving out the sellers and the buyers, overturning the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons showed how holiness & reverence for God was so important to God’s heart.

This didn’t go down well with the chief priests and the scribes. Interestingly this passage says that this resulted in them wanting to destroy him because they feared him. They weren’t ready or prepared to receive this Jesus Christ who literally turned their religious system and traditions upside down. This forms the context for today’s passage:

27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

12 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant[a] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.

3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.

6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

10 Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;[b]

11 this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

I believe there are 3 things we can see from this passage:

  1. Struggle for authority
  2. Sinful Authority
  3. True Authority

Struggle for authority (v27-28)

So the location is the Jerusalem temple and the Top religious leaders of the time come to meet Jesus. These are not ordinary Jews – these are the pastors, theologians, worship leaders, Sunday School teachers, authors – the most learned and scripturally qualified Jews of the day.

And they ask Jesus by what authority is he doing these things? Basically, they are asking Jesus “Who gave you the right to overturn the tables of the money changers and drive out the sellers from the temple”? Who do you think you are to do this in the temple?

And who are they asking this question to? Jesus Christ. The Son of God. He was there in the beginning with God and He is God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made. (John 1:1-3) In Him all things hold together (Col 1:17) He is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15) In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Col 1:19). And yet they ask him “Who gave you this right to do this”?

And this is not a new question. It is symptomatic of man’s constant struggle to submit to God’s authority. Right from the garden of Eden man has struggled to submit to God’s authority.

When we look at Genesis 3, what was the bait given to Adam and Eve? The serpent told them that when they eat of the tree – their eyes will be opened and they will become like God, knowing good and evil.

And that’s the heart of sin…the core of sin…to take the place of God in our lives, trying to make moral decisions apart from God. In other words, Adam and Eve had this insecure desire to become their only authority over their lives. They wanted to determine for themselves what was right or wrong for their lives. They didn’t want to be dependent anymore on God.

And we know what happened when they became the authority of their lives – all of humanity was thrown into a world of brokenness and sin and death. And that nature to not want to submit to God’s authority is there in all of us.

Campus Crusade had this illustration that has been really helpful for me over the years. They had this picture of a throne seat located at the centre of an individual’s heart. All of us have a throne seat in our lives. That’s the place from where we make all our decisions and choices. Everything that we chose to do is controlled from this throne seat.

Whoever sits on that throne is the authority of our life. And then they would ask this question: who is seated on the throne seat? Is it God or is it us? Is it God or is it me? Now I know that I’m preaching to people to publicly claim to be followers of Jesus so why am I still asking this question? It’s because I’m very aware of our tendencies to enthrone ourselves as the authority in areas of our lives. Christian life is all about yielding control.

Giving back the authority to God. In this life we’ll always find ourselves with plenty of reasons to repent of those areas and turn back to Christ. Just last night when I got the call from the hall owner regarding the change of timings and venue for our Gathering, I really saw how anxious my heart was & how I was planning my responses apart from trusting God.

For me that was a reminder of how real is my struggle for authority.

Sinful authority

Not only is there a struggle for authority but when we claim authority of our lives – it is a sinful authority! When Jesus is asked the question on whose authority…he responds back by asking another question to show them what’s really hindering them from submitting to God’s authority. “Was the baptism from John from heaven or from man”?

From their responses there are two things we can see are hindering them:

Unbelief

31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ (v31)

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. People were coming to the river Jordan confessing their sins openly and then getting baptized as a symbol of repentance expressing a 180 degree turn from sin and toward God.

In Matt 21:32 it tells us that the Pharisees and religious leaders did not believe John. In their pride they didn’t think it was necessary for them to be baptized. Tax collectors and prostitutes got baptized in front of them but still they didn’t change their mind.

In Luke 7:30, it says that the religious leaders rejected the purpose of God for themselves by not being baptized by John. Wow! That sounds like an opposite statement.

The most religious people of the day rejected the purposes of God for themselves? How is that possible? That’s because it meant that they would need to humbly accept their position as a sinner. And if they did that, they would be in the right posture to receive the provision of God – Our Savior Jesus.

We keep talking about believing in the gospel & constantly growing in belief. What does that actually mean? Is it just intellectually changing the way you think about some facts? I think what it means from this passage is constantly repenting before God about areas of your life that are against His character and will.

Unbelief at its core is a prideful position that doesn’t want to humble itself before God. And that’s why we see in Scripture…a true believer is always being aware of His sins and always repenting before God because what he desires the most is a right relationship with God.

Fear Of Man

32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.

The other motivation that hindered them from submitting to God was the fear of man. Why were these religious men afraid of the people?

  1. They feared losing their reputation. They didn’t want to be discredited for telling that John got his authority to baptize from man. It’s the question that comes to mind when we think “What will people think of me if I do that?”
  2. They feared losing control. Would they end up losing control over people if they said something controversial? Would people leave them and go somewhere else if they said something controversial? It’s the question that comes to mind when we think “Would I still be able to influence people if I did that?”

I remember back in the youth ministry days during a Youth Camp. We had something called a 4 corners talk which was a weird name because sometimes we had just 2 or 3 people. During one of my 4 corners session with a youth, I could see how he knew that he had to submit to the authority of Christ but he didn’t want to do so due to the fear of man.

He was fearful of what his friends would say. He was fearful of being called as “uncool”. And it just saddened me to see someone so close yet so far.

And the fear of man isn’t just a struggle for my young friend but it’s something that we face daily when we think of sharing the gospel with the people around us.

The fear of man is a real when we have to make decisions on whom to marry – in my lifetime I’ve seen so many professing believers who said that they wanted to marry a believer but when it actually came down to marriage – they married an unbeliever.

The fear of man is also real at our jobs when either there are conversations or decisions made which are unethical and immoral. Would you take a stand because of your faith?

True Authority

You might think that Jesus denies to answer their question on authority but Jesus infact does answer their question using a parable. He talks about a man who plants a vineyard. The man is God and the vineyard is Israel – God’s people.

Using the illustration of the wine-press, the tower and the fence – showing God’s protection and God’s provision for everything needed for them to flourish. And this vineyard was leased to tenants. Another version says he rented out the vineyard to farmers.

The farmers are the religious leaders who were supposed to steward and care for the field. And then God would send servants to get the fruit of the wine – these were the prophets. But what did the farmers do to them? They beat them, hit them, treated them shamefully and killed them.

Finally the Owner sends his beloved Son. What do the farmers do to him? They kill him thinking that the inheritance will be theirs. Again the same theme – it’s always a struggle for authority. It’s always a struggle for ownership.

Like the farmers we are stewards of the life that God has given us. What should’ve been our ideal response to God? We should submit to God and give what is His – our whole lives. What is instead our natural response? Take what is not ours and make it ours.

God reaches out to us and reminds us through various means – through our daily time with God in Scripture and prayers, through sermons or our brothers and sisters. However, it’s not enough to just do all these things – what matters is our response. So how do we respond?

In our sinful self, we are all like these murderous farmers. We are all responsible for the death of Jesus on the cross. Which is why God’s wrath and judgment is directed toward us. (v9) But the story doesn’t end in judgment. In v10 we hear the good news of Jesus:

10 Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;[b]

11 this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

God used the very same death of His Son Jesus Christ to protect you and I from being judged & destroyed forever. In doing so, he poured out all His love, all His mercy, all His compassion and His righteousness upon us! And that’s the greatest news brothers and sisters. Christ came not to condemn but to save! And that’s message that the religious leaders didn’t hear.

They perceived that the parable was about them but they failed to see the answer that Jesus Himself was going to provide. And I want us to once again think about that throne seat of ours – consider how our lives have actually been messed up by us sitting on the throne.

And now think about this Jesus – the rightful owner of our lives because He created us, the one who can enact judgment but instead gave up His life to remove judgment and set us free forever. Isn’t He the best one to sit on that throne? Let’s willingly submit to His authority.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Mark Sermon

Faith & Fruit – Mark 11:12-25

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Good morning Gathering! It’s a joy to be with you this morning and a privilege to open the Scriptures together. It seems the more I preach, the more I feel a sense of humility when I get to stand up here and open the Word with the body of Christ.

It always reminds me how dependent we all are on the Spirit of God to lead us into understanding and to lead us in the application of God’s Word. And that’s certainly what we’re praying for this morning.

If you have a Bible with you, I’d invite you to grab that and turn to the Gospel of Mark and chapter 11. We are continuing our study of the Gospel of Mark this morning.

If you were here last weekend you’ll remember that Pastor Sam (from Red Tree) began chapter 11 for us, and we’ll be continuing in chapter 11 this morning by looking at verses 12-26.

Let me pray for our time together in God’s Word and then we’ll read our text. Pray with me.

This is an interesting passage. It contains two interactions that Jesus has; one is very well known & pretty straightforward. It’s of Jesus cleansing the Temple in Jerusalem (we’re all probably familiar with that one). The other account is a little more obscure, and it’s also a little confusing to be honest. It’s Jesus cursing a fig tree.

And at first glance these two things don’t really seem to fit together, but what I think you’ll see as I read this is that Mark intends for these two accounts to go together so that we might have a fuller understanding of a really important principle. It’s a principle that Jesus was teaching His disciples here, it’s just as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago.

One way to think about this text is as a visual parable. Jesus was always teaching through parables. What I believe He’s doing here is giving His disciples a visual parable.

He’s teaching them through His actions about something that is vitally important for them (and us) to understand. We’ll get into that in just a few minutes, but first, let’s read our text together.

“On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.

And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city.

As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:12-25)

Let’s take just a moment and reset the scene. I want to make sure we’re clear on what’s happening in this picture. Sam highlighted last weekend that Jesus has just entered the city of Jerusalem.

This is what’s known as the Triumphal Entry. It is the closest that the Jewish people have come to actually worshiping Jesus for who He really is. You remember this incredible scene of Jesus riding in on a donkey as the people lined the street and threw their cloaks and palm branches down in front of Jesus. They all shouted, “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

It really is a beautiful picture and if we were there, knowing what we know  and witnessing this in real time, we might think for a moment that the people actually get it. We might think for a moment that they actually see Jesus for who He is and they’re submitted to Him as their king.

But we know that they didn’t really get it. They didn’t understand what was coming later in the week. Jesus did. He understood. He knew exactly what was going to happen. He knew that the praises would turn to jeering and the “Hosannas” will become “Crucify Him!” by week’s end.

It really is a bizarre picture as Jesus enters the city. And then Mark tells us that the first thing that Jesus did when He got into Jerusalem is He went to the Temple to have a look around. And then He left. Mark says that it was late in the evening so Jesus took His disciples and went back to Bethany for the night.

And that’s where we pick up our text this morning. It’s the next day and Jesus goes back to Jerusalem with His disciples and heads straight for the Temple. But on the way something interesting happens. Jesus stops to get some fruit off a fig tree, but but there are no figs.

Mark says that it’s not the season for figs and so Jesus curses the fig tree and forbids it from ever producing figs again. Which sounds strange to us. Why would Jesus would curse a tree for not producing something that it’s not supposed to produce. I’ll explain more about that in a moment.

Mark says that they continue to the Temple and, as Jesus enters, He wrecks shop (which American slang for He turns the Temple upside down). We see Jesus begin turning over tables and kicking over chairs. He drives the money changers and merchants out of the Temple. It’s a display of righteous anger, passion, zeal for worship and for the house of God.

And then, when evening comes, they leave the Temple and go out of the city again. The next day they come back the same way and see the fig tree that (within 24 hours) had died and withered to its roots. And this is where Jesus explains something to his disciples about faith & about fruit (which is where we’ll end our discussion this morning as well).

And that’s what’s happening in the text. If we’re going to be honest, it begs a few questions. Like, “Why is Jesus so angry at the Temple?” And, “What is up with Him cursing a fig tree doesn’t have figs on it?” And, “Why is Mark telling us these things together?” And, “What does all of this mean when you put it all together?”

Well, let’s back up and see if we can figure out what’s happening. There is 1 overarching theme that Jesus is teaching His disciples in this text. I want to talk about that first. And then, with that understanding, we’ll be able to look at two different responses that this text highlights for us. Sound good?

First, let’s deal with the main idea that Jesus is driving us toward. And to understand it, we have to recognize that there is a connection between the cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the fig tree.

Mark is using them together to help us interpret Jesus’ meaning. And the principle is very straightforward:  Jesus is coming against fruitless, empty, wrongly-motivated religious activity. It’s pretty telling that Jesus’ first action after being hailed by the people as King is to pass judgment on the religious leaders as being opposed to true worship of God.

Here’s what we have to understand. In the Old Testament the fig tree was often used to symbolize Israel and her standing before God. I’ll give you a couple of examples:

Jeremiah 8:13 — “When I would gather them, declares the Lord, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them.”

Hosea 9:10 — “Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers…”

Multiple times in the Old Testament the fig tree was used to symbolize Israel. Jesus, in much the same way, is making a pronouncement on the condition of the Jewish people. That they are fruitless. That they appear to have life on the outside (the green leaves), but they are without fruit.

Now, I need to to mention the season of the fig tree (as Mark mentions it). The way Mark phrases this makes it sound like there shouldn’t be fruit on this fig tree, but that’s not really the case. In fact, the variety of fig trees that grow in Palestine have two harvests.

You get an early harvest that grows off of last year’s shoot, and guess when that comes? It comes in the spring, with the leaf. So seeing a fig tree in full leaf in Palestine, you would expect to find figs.They’re not the full, big figs that you get in summer with the main harvest. These are small and not as tender, but they’re edible. And so, when you think about it, Jesus is communicating something really beautiful here.

You see, this whole time through the book, Mark has been telling us that God is doing something new. He’s been telling us that the kingdom of God is at hand. That something wonderful, something infinitely better is coming. That the fruit of this new thing is going to be unimaginable.

But that doesn’t mean that what God was doing before, to make a way for this new thing. should be fruitless. No, Israel was meant to produce fruit. Maybe not as big. Maybe not as wonderful as this new fruit that was ushered in through Christ. But Israel should be producing something, and they’re not.

And this is the visual parable that Jesus is telling of Israel. That, even though there are leaves and the tree gives the appearance of health, it’s not producing fruit. And that is not God’s design. God’s design is that healthy things will grow and produce fruit.

I think the temptation is for us to think that the old system was broken and wasn’t meant to produce fruit. That’s nonsense! The sacrificial system, the law, the prophets, the judges, the kings; all of it was meant to be temporary, yes! It was all meant to point to something permanent, yes! But it wasn’t broken. There should have been fruit. That’s what Jesus is saying.

Now, that shapes how we see Jesus’ interaction in the Temple. Like that fig tree, the religious culture of the day had the appearance of bearing fruit but was not actually bearing fruit. There appeared to be life because of the presence of the leaves, but no fruit was actually coming from the tree. Jesus finds a lot of religious activity in the Temple, but no faith.

In the space that was intended for Gentiles to come and pray, Jesus instead finds money changers and people selling animals for sacrifices. Something given by God for worship of Him and for His glory was being used by people for their own gain. And here comes Jesus, as Lord of the Temple, to purify it. You see, Jesus has come to restore the Temple to it’s original function; that it would serve as a house of prayer for all the nations. And so, He drives them out.

I think we need to pause here and ask a question of ourselves (and I’m including myself in this). Jesus still does this today, doesn’t He? He comes in with loving  and righteous intent to cleanse His Temple. But the Temple is no longer the Temple.

We are the Temple. Just like in this picture, where the Temple is being used for something other than it’s intended purpose, we often take the things given by God for worship and we turn those things into ourselves. Jesus’ purpose is to restore us to our original function; that we would display His glory to all Nations.

That’s true of all of us, as He calls out idolatry in our hearts. I think this text calls us to ask some important questions:  “What is the quality of my faith?” “Is it a faith that’s fruitful or is it a faith that’s just leafy, but lacks fruit?” “Do I just look good on the outside, busy going about my religious activity, doing the right things, saying the right things, but is that producing fruit?” These are the questions that address the motivations of the heart. This is the level where true worship takes place.

And the reality is for us all that there will often be things in our heart that do not align with biblical faith. The question is:  “How will we respond when the Lord of the Temple comes to cleanse us?”

Church, Jesus is always calling things out in us. He is always seeking to cleanse and purify His temple. And the natural inclination of our flesh is to rebel against that purification. Our flesh does not want to give up power, and authority and control. And so we have a choice to make.

Are we going to press into the Lord of the Temple and allow Him to purify us, or are we going to respond in fear and flee His presence in order to continue exercising power and authority in our own lives? That’s the response that we see from the chief priests and the scribes.

They sought to destroy Him because they were afraid of losing power and control. And the call on us to lay down our idolatry is no different. It’s the call to joyful submission that comes from faith.

After all of this, as Jesus and His disciples are walking past that same fig tree the next day, Jesus shows us what the response to His work should be. He teaches His disciples about faith. He tells the disciples that they should trust God to remove whatever is hindering them from bearing fruit for Him. That they should exercise faith as God lovingly cleanses them from the things that are keeping them from intimacy with God.

Jesus uses this image of being able to move a mountain. He’s telling us what this kind of faith looks like in the life of the believer. Things that should be impossible are possible with God where the believer is walking in this kind of faith.

Now, before we close, I want to give you a work of caution about verse 24 and then I want to challenge all of us to wrestle with the application of this text. First, a word of caution. Jesus says this in verse 24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  I probably don’t even have to say the word of caution because you already see the danger here and understand the historical abuse of a verse like this.

Yes, we should pray boldly and believe that God will grant us what we pray for. When we pray according to His will and in submission to that will. This is not an invitation to treat God like a vending machine or a butler. Jesus has just taught us about submission to the Will and Purposes of God through faith. And so our prayers must be rightly motivated and in line with God’s Will. Jesus, in fact, models this very thing in the Garden of Gethsemane later in Mark:

“And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36)

So what do we do with the application of this? Well, I can tell you how God is leading me to apply it in my life and maybe that will serve as an encouragement to you. The Spirit is asking me, “Where are the areas of your life that are not properly motivated toward the glory of God and being used for His purposes?”

If you are really willing to ask God to search your heart in that way, He will reveal areas where you’re turning your heart into a “den of robbers”. And then you have a choice: repent or run.

Let’s close in prayer.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Mark Sermon

What does it mean to walk alongside Jesus – Mark 10:32-52

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]What does it mean to walk alongside Jesus? – Mark 10:32-52

Our passage for today is from Mark 10:32-45. [READ]

As we read this passage, the first thing we notice is James and John approaching Jesus and trying to reserve a prominent place next to Him, one on his right and one on his left, in his glory.

If we are honest, the request that James & John makes shouldn’t be a surprising one for us. Because, if given a chance we all like and desire to have a special place next to the person we love and admire. Won’t you agree?

We like to be the special child to our parents and have a special place in their heart, we like to be the special employee at work – have a close rapport with our managers and bosses, we like to have a special place at church – a close rapport with the leaders, we also love the idea of been associated with famous people, etc

I see my sons Jairus & Amaze often battle with each other to sit or sleep right next to mom & dad.

Likewise, even John & James desired for a special place next to their Lord whom they loved dearly. In the last 3 years, they walked with him, talked with them, also fully convinced that He is the promised Messiah, the son of God.

When Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”. They were so compelled by His love they immediately answered with a ‘Yes’, saying ‘we can’, they loved him so much that they were willing to do anything to be close to Him, however, I don’t think they fully understood what that meant.

What we see here is that their desire to be and walk alongside Jesus was a good desire, but the motive and the approach wasn’t right.

Among all the people that were following Jesus, he had 12 who were close to him, but even among the 12, there were 3 that were closest to him.

Peter, James & John.

What we see James and John doing is that they were pushing themselves to get pre-eminence over others, even pushing Peter out of the circle. In Matthew 20:20 Matthew writes that they got their mother to come to Jesus

and request him to allow her boys to sit next to him.

Looking at what John and James did, in verse 41 Mark writes “When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.” In other words, they saw it as a cheap stunt to get ahead of others in the group.

If I have to put that in the church context, it’s like us wanting to follow Jesus, wanting to come to church, have fellowship with brothers and sisters, wanting to participate in worship, listen to the word – all because we genuinely love Jesus and his people.

But the approach in which we do it could be by performance before God and others & even trying to push ourselves ahead of others

We often do that without even really understanding the truth of what it really means to be called a believer and to walk alongside Jesus.

I believe what this passage teaches us today is ‘What does it really means to walk alongside Jesus’, what does it mean to know Jesus as our Lord and saviour and walk in his paths. Three important lessons to remind ourselves.

To walk alongside Christ, we need to have the mind of Christ.

The number one lesson this passage teaches us is that “To walk alongside Christ, we need to have the mind of Christ.”
Let’s read through (v32 to v37)

32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “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, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem, the place where he will be delivered over to the chief priest, condemned to death, handed over to the Gentiles, mocked, spat on, and hanged on the cross.

He is literally walking towards his painful death, and he is, in fact, leading the way. The verse says the disciples were afraid and at the same time astonished to see Jesus walking towards Jerusalem where the Pharisees and the teachers of the law hated him and was waiting to kill and torture him.

Can you imagine what’s going on in Jesus’s mind as he is taking that route?

I believe, all he was thinking was about was us – the disciples, you, me and the numerous lost souls for whom he left his heavenly glory, emptying himself, taking the form of a servant, humbled himself to become God’s perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

His mind was set on the purpose for which he came down to earth, sent by his Father in heaven.  To set us free from Sin and death.

He seems so full of it that he ends up reminding them once again that 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, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

Now, What’s on the disciple’s mind?

Just as Jesus finished his statement, James & John immediately go to Him and says “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

Reminds me of a scenario in the office where the Manager just gave a presentation on the new marketing strategy and asks his team members to give feedback, and one guy raises his hand and says “Are we going to have Chinese for lunch today?”

It tells us two things about the guy, first, he wasn’t really paying attention to what his manager was talking, second, his agenda for the day was to have Chinese for lunch.

Is it possible for us to have a totally different agenda in our mind and be distracted when we come to church, when we approach Jesus in prayer, when we have fellowship with other believers? Yes, it is possible.

Is it right? NO
To walk alongside Christ, we need to have the mind of Christ.
Paul writes in his letter to Philippians 2:5-8

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but 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.”

Paul is urging the Philippian believers to set their mind on the eternal things, just as Jesus did.

If we truly desire to be with Jesus and walk with him daily, we have to change the way we think, we can’t fix our eyes on the earthly things. Money, possessions, positions, pride – we have to lose sight of all these distractions and fix our eyes on the eternal purpose of God in our lives.

We can’t desire to walk with Jesus and worry about tomorrow, what we will eat, drink, where we will live and what we will wear.

It’s easy to say I want to be with Jesus but let us also be willing to have the mind of Christ – our hearts, minds and soul fixed on the eternal purpose for which we were created. – TO BRING GLORY TO GOD.

To walk alongside Jesus, we have to embrace the Cross (v38 – v40)

38 “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?”

39 “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, 40 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 Jesus said, “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” Jesus meant to ask them, whether they are willing to carry their cross and follow his footsteps.

Just like in Matthew 16:24 where Jesus asks – “Are you willing to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me?

“Take up your cross and follow Me” means being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. This is called “dying to self.” It’s a call to absolute surrender.

Which means dying to our fleshly desires, letting go of our carnal dreams, letting loose the things of the world, the emotions attached with the world, the needs of this world. Where we are fully trusting in God’s provision and providence for us on this life on earth.

I remember when I was a young believer my Pastor, every time we went to a cemetery or a funeral, he would look at me and say “Saju, do you know that dead men don’t feel any pinprick”, He will point me to the graveyards and tell me no matter what you tell these dead men they will never react to you, because they are dead.

And then he would go on to explain what it means to die to ourselves in the Kingdom of God. He would tell me, nothing of this world should move you or distract you from trusting in God and fulfilling His purposes. Consider yourself dead to the world.

(Luke 9:24-25) – “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

On the other hand, we should be aware that Christian life is a radical life, we’re going the systems of this world, the human cultures and traditions and beliefs. You are going against the very foundations on which this sinful world is established.

In Matthew 5 Jesus said you will be insulted, persecuted, falsely accused, for my name’s sake. Our family will hate us, our close friends will reject us, our society will mock at us. But rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.

How can we endure these pain, persecution and hate? We can only do that when we are prepared to carry our cross and follow Jesus, dying to our self, denying the world & trust in God alone.

We can’t say that we enjoy the rains but don’t like the idea of getting wet.

In the say way, we can’t desire to walk alongside Jesus and don’t like the idea of embracing the cross & going through suffering for the sake of Christ. It is part and parcel of our Faith.

Sadly, every time Jesus would talk about carrying the cross his followers would keep reducing. Because even though they liked the idea of following Jesus they did not like the idea of letting go of the world.

Let’s check our hearts and see where do we stand?

To walk alongside Jesus, we have to be servants (v42- v45)

42 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. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must 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 as a ransom for many.”

When the other 10 disciples look down on James and John, Jesus turns to them and tells them about what it really means to become great in the kingdom of God, which is what probably everyone in the room desired for.

He says unlike the Gentiles “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all.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.”

No believer is called to sit on the pedestal and watch. We don’t follow Jesus or come to church just to be an audience, we are called to be participants in the Kingdom of God.

Nobody who claims to be a follower of Jesus should say that they love Jesus and love coming to church but are unwilling to serve in any manner. If our Lord whom we love and admire did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. We also ought to have a heart of a servant.

We don’t wait from someone to come to us and assign us a role to serve. Instead, we ought to look for opportunities to serve in small and big measures as per our giftings.

We shouldn’t come to church with a consumerist mentality, where it’s all about us wanting what pleases us. Music of our taste, preacher of our style, church building of our status, a people group of our mindset etc.

We ought to be servants in the Kingdom of God if we desire to walk alongside Jesus.

Yes, it is great that you love Jesus but how are you serving one another with the love of Christ, when was the last time we sacrificed our time, money & pleasure to bring joy and encouragement to another brother or sister in the Lord.

Conclusion:

As I conclude, I want to encourage you to desire more to be and walk alongside Jesus but let’s do it with the motive and approach. Fully understanding that to walk alongside Jesus, we need to have the mind of Christ, we have to embrace the Cross & we have become servants.

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Receiving as Well as you Give

We all know that it is more blessed to give than to receive however do you know that it is also blessed to receive?

In the early days at The Gathering Church, we used to meet at a home following which we all had lunch together. During these lunch times, it gave me great joy when it came to serving the people, be it serving food, offering second helpings (in some cases third), doing the dishes, cleaning up etc.

Even in my days at a youth group, I had such opportunities to serve. The believers at the youth group and at The Gathering, seeing this, affirmed that this is a gift given to me by God and they were greatly encouraged to see the grace of God working in my life. This in turn encouraged me to continue in the same grace.

However there was something that crept in unnoticed. This was a subtle thought pattern which led to me to behave in a way that did not reflect the gospel.

“What was it?” you’re probably asking. It was this: I found that I had a problem asking or accepting help from most people, in almost all forms. In any kind of settings where the need to serve arose, I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of the service.

This was a manifestation of two sins, I believe. One is pride and the other is a simple lack of finding my full worth in Jesus.
Since being served rather than serving meant adopting a position of humbleness, I found it quite hard to swallow albeit at a subconscious level. It also created a feeling of owing someone, again at a subconscious level. The other reason – my sense of unworthiness – led me to believe that I am not worth being served.

Hence I would do most things myself, whether it be serving food for myself, getting my own glass of water, and the like. I found it hard to ask or accept help in the small things which meant there was seldom a chance of me asking or accepting help when it came to the bigger things.

Surprisingly, what brought this sin to light was a book on marriage, Tim Keller’s “The Meaning of Marriage” to be precise. Consider this excerpt from his book:

“Kathy and I remember a pivotal incident in our marriage that occurred during a visit to New England, where we had attended seminary. The two of us along with our three sons were staying with friends, and I had hoped very much at some point to be able to get away to the nearby seminary bookstore, just to see what was new, maybe pick up a few interesting books.

But I knew that it would mean precious time taken out of the other things we were doing together as a family, and it would leave Kathy with the full burden of caring for the kids.
And so I was afraid to ask for it. Instead, I hoped Kathy would guess about my desire and simply offer the time to me. But she didn’t do it, and soon I found myself deeply resentful of her “failure” to read my mind. Surely she should know how much I love visiting the bookstore! I work very hard – why doesn’t she propose that I take the afternoon away simply because I deserve the break? I began to imagine that she knew I wanted to go to the bookstore but was dead set against it.

After a long, grumpy day helping Kathy with the kids and feeling sorry for myself, I finally told her how sorry I was that I had never made it to the bookstore. She was rightfully unhappy with me, and said, “Yes, that would have been inconvenient for me, but I would have loved to have given you that freedom. I never get a chance to give you gifts, and you’re always helping me with something. You denied me the chance to serve you!”

I immediately realized however, that I didn’t want to be served. I didn’t want to in a position where I had to ask for something and receive it as a gift. Kathy was deeply disappointed and insulted that I had robbed her of the opportunity to do so. We drove home in angry silence as I tried to figure out what had happened.

Finally I began to see. I wanted to serve, yes, because that made me feel in control. Then I would always have the high moral ground. But that kind of “service” isn’t service at all, only manipulation. But by not giving Kathy an opportunity to serve me, I had failed to serve her. And the reason underneath it all was my pride.”

As Keller himself states, his sin, which was pride, stopped him from asking or accepting help from his wife.

If you have seen such a pattern in your thinking and behavior, like I have, then let us look to the gospel to counter this, since central to the gospel, is Jesus Christ, who did all that was needed to be done in order to save us for all eternity

Think about this: When you first heard that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim 1:15), what else did you do other than to humbly receive this saving work through repentance and belief? And when you heard about the “kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1) didn’t this knowledge break down your false sense of unworthiness?

The gospel empowers you to serve one another humbly and it also humbles you to be served by one another.

Endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of the gospel through studying the Bible, through prayer, being part of and serving in the church, reading good books etc. so that the truth takes root and transforms your heart to be a person who gives and receives well, thus glorifying God through Jesus Christ.

Author’s Note: This article also appears on Quiricus.