The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
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. “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, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
“We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Three stories, or events, or images in this section of Mark 10.
The first section follows up on Jesus' conversation with the rich man and his disciples. Money, then and now, is an obstacle to the kingdom of God.
Mark ends this section with Jesus saying, “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
Then, as they continue on their way to Jerusalem, Jesus tells them again about his death. Their reaction? Two of them ask Jesus for places of honour. They want to be “great”!
It is easy to stand outside the story and be critical of the disciples, but I don’t think that is why Mark gives us this episode.
It's a familiar situation. It's when we have such powerful images in our minds-eye, that we cannot see, or hear, the actual situation. What are the images that James and John have?
They have grown up with an image of the Messiah that is very different than Jesus. They also have not received the Holy Spirit. This is all so new and different.
Jesus, for his part, does not look at them with disbelief. He takes their request at face value and asks them, if they are able to fulfil what those seats of honour will demand. He spends some time taking them through the painful reality of what awaits him and therefore them. Jesus’ reaction is rather amazing.
Jesus never appears disappointed in us. He does not mock us for silly requests. No, Jesus meets us where we are, and invites us to journey with him. If the reason the disciples are having difficulty seeing and hearing Jesus is because of the image they have of him in their mind’s eye, how about us?
Think about these questions or thought experiments.
- What are some of the images that modern-day Christianity presents about Jesus? Can you make a short list?
- Do followers of Jesus today want to have places of honour?
- What are some of the images you have of Jesus? How do those connect with the first in this list?
- What are the images you have of Jesus from reading Mark’s Gospel to this point?
Speak with Jesus right now. Ask him to help you see him as you need to today.
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