Mark 10:35-45

One would think that the disciples, on hearing their Master's sobering words, would have been filled with compassionate concern for him. How dark was the way that lay before him!

Yet, their thoughts were not for him but for themselves and their own advancement and prestige. They could not get away from the belief that Jesus would in the near future reign on the earth as the Messiah, the second David. So, once again, just as they had done at the last time he spoke to them of his death and resurrection (Mark 9:31), they brought up the question of their places of honor in the kingdom.

It was James and John who brought up the subject. Without any apparent sense of impropriety they asked, Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory (Mark 10:37). This request envisioned Jesus sitting on the throne of his kingdom with his ministers of state gathered about him, the chief minister sitting on the right and one minister next in rank on his left.

Jesus did not try to correct the incomplete understanding the disciples held concerning the nature of his kingdom. That problem would shortly be resolved. All too soon, they would discover just how mistaken they were. What Jesus did assail was their false notion of greatness in the kingdom. He had already expressed himself on this subject (Mark 9:35) but, obviously, his words had fallen on deaf ears. James and John had used the imagery of the Gentile courts in which honors were handed out on the basis of favoritism and to gain political support. It would not be so in the Kingdom of Heaven. The honors of the Kingdom are not gifts but rewards.

Once again, Jesus set forth the Christian principle of greatness: Whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. (Mark 10:44). On a previous occasion he had illustrated this principle by pointing to a little child (Mark 9:36). On this occasion, he illustrated it by referring to himself and his own sacrificial ministry. Even he, the Son of Man, the promised Deliverer, came not to be served but to be a servant to the extent that he would, at last, yield up his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)

The meaning of the phrase a ransom for many as applied to the death of Jesus Christ cannot be better defined than by a reference from the Old Testament: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that brought us peace was upon him (Isaiah 53:5)