Blind Ambition

Preached by Jason Abbott

February 16, 2014

Introduction: Remember

After Jesus predicted his crucifixion, death, and resurrection for the first time (Mark 8:31), Peter immediately told Jesus that he was certainly wrong and that such things would never happen to the Messiah.

After Jesus predicted his crucifixion, death, and resurrection for the second time (Mark 9:31), the disciples promptly had a private debate about who, among them, was the greatest of all.

Last week, we saw Jesus predict his crucifixion, death, and resurrection for the third and final time (Mark 10:33-34). Consequently, this week, we get to see what the disciples will make of their rabbi’s teaching about his passion. Sadly, we’ll find out that their human ambitions have (once again) blinded them.

Let’s read this passage together and then ask our Heavenly Father to teach us about being his followers.

Mark 10:35-45

35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Well, in order to delve into this passage more deeply, let’s ask 2 questions: (1st) How blinded are these disciples by their ambitions? And (2nd) How eye-opening is their master’s response, in contrast, to their request?

1. How blinded are these disciples?

Let me simply read a few of the teachings they have received from Jesus, thus far in Mark’s gospel, as a way of setting the stage for their ambitious request. Jesus has taught them:

  • If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it (8:34-35).

  • If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all (9:35).

  • Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it (10:15).

  • [And] many who are first will be last, and the last first (10:31).

These are just a few of the lessons Jesus taught which Mark’s book records. I imagine that James and John, as well as the other disciples, had received many, many similar lessons, concerning kingdom humility and kingdom servant hood, from Jesus, which aren’t written down (cf. John 21:25). Yet:

a. Consider their approach.

Mark records that James and John came and asked:

‘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?’ And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory’ (vv. 35-37).

James and John approach Jesus in a very specific way for a specific reason. They begin their request for something (while that something remains unknown) with a pre-request request. They want assurance that Jesus will certainly grant their still unstated and unknown desire.

Do you see? This is a kind of childishly manipulative, strong-arm technique. It is something like your significant other coming up and asking whether you love them or not. “Honey, do you love me?” Then, when you say: “Of course, I do.” The follow-up question is: “Then, can I spend the weekend away with my friends while you stay home by yourself with our 12 children?”

In a sense, James and John are trying to (not unlike the Pharisees elsewhere) entangle Jesus, in his words, so their master will, in actuality, become their servant. Basically, they want Jesus to be their personal genie in a bottle. They want Jesus, as they put it, “to do for [them] whatever [they] ask” (v. 35).

Next, think about what they’re asking for:

b. Consider their motives.

These brothers want fame! They want honor from Jesus! They ask Jesus for places, or seats, at his right and left hands when he comes into his glory (v. 37). Now, let’s give their request some context. What are these coveted seats?

It was customary in Jewish society for the most prominent person to be centered in any given occasion, the 2nd most prominent person at his right hand, and then the 3rd most prominent person at his left hand. (In contemporary society, we retain some of this with phrases like his right hand man.)

One commentator explains the brothers’ request in this fashion:

It was not a mere desire to be near their Lord at the moment of triumph that moved them to this request; they wished for themselves the post of Grand Vizier in the new kingdom. It was ambition, not loyalty, that moved such a request….1

How subtly they have mixed their discipleship and belief in Jesus’ glory with their own personal ambition to be powerful and prominent in his coming kingdom’s hierarchy.

We, in the church, can do the same thing. We can grasp biblical teachings ambitiously. They can simply become another way of seeking our own glory!

The negative examples are plentiful today and throughout church history, but the positive examples (I believe) are far more powerful and transformative!

Consider Eric Liddell the Scottish track athlete who won a gold medal in the 400 meters at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris then, in 1925, left fame and fortune in order to serve as a missionary in one of the poorest areas of rural China. He only came back to England twice from China during the remainder of his life.

On one of those two occasions, Liddell was asked if he regretted leaving the glory and fame he had in England. He reportedly responded:

It's natural for a chap to think over all that sometimes, but I'm glad I'm at the work I'm engaged in now. A fellow's life counts for far more at this than the other.2

Liddell would die in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in 1945.

However, despite his fame, he was apparently a servant to the end of his life. In 2008, before the Beijing Olympics began, the Chinese Government revealed that Liddell had turned down an opportunity to leave the camp in a prisoner exchange, giving up his spot so that a pregnant woman could be released instead.3

How different was Liddell’s perspective than that of James and John here. How different was his perspective than mine is. This is a disciple’s perspective. This is a Christ-like perspective!

And, we see it (even here) in Jesus—especially against the backdrop of James’ and John’s selfish and ambitious request. Against that backdrop:

2. How eye-opening is their master’s response?

I taught high school English for two years, and (during that time) I encountered my share of dense students. I coached various competitive sports for seven years, and (during that time) I had my share of selfishly ambitious requests.

Never, in any of those interactions, was I as calm and gracious as Jesus is, with James and John, here in Mark chapter 10!

Look at how he responds to their request:

“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” [They, of course, say: “Sure we are!” So Jesus responds,] “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared” (vv. 38-40).

a. Consider Jesus’ approach.

Jesus gently begins by cautioning them. (And, well they should be cautious!) Then, Jesus asks them whether they can drink from his cup and be baptized with his baptism. Both terms are pregnant with weighty Old Testament implications. (The brothers would have done well to consider this before answering!)

In the Old Testament, cup is sometimes a symbol for the experience of joy. However, it’s more often used as the symbol for the outpouring of God’s wrath. Take Psalm 11 for example:

Let him rain coals on the wicked; / fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup (v. 6).

Baptism also is used in the Old Testament to symbolize the visitation of God’s wrath upon the wicked. So, the psalmist pleads with God:

Let not the flood sweep over me, / or the deep swallow me up (Psalm 69:15).

Jesus is absolutely gentle and gracious in his response to these recklessly ambitious brothers. He does not mock them for their stupid answer (though I would have) or tell them to have at the cup and the baptism (though I would have).

Instead, he assures them that they, in deed, will drink from a cup and be baptized with a baptism when they follow him. For:

A disciple is not above his teacher… (Matthew 10:24).

However, their cup and baptism will not be the wrath of God but the persecutions, of this world, for being followers of Christ Jesus. They would not have to drink the cup of God’s wrath for Jesus would drink it for them!

b. Consider Jesus’ motive.

The brothers—as we’ve seen—were driven by pursuit of their own glory. Yet, Jesus does not pursue his own glory but the glory of his Heavenly Father. Here, Jesus doesn’t even presume to determine who will sit at his right or left because it is the Father’s to determine!

God the Father makes such determinations in his great redemptive plan. Thus, the entirety of Jesus’ mission is to glorify his Heavenly Father by perfectly accomplishing the Father’s salvation plan.

We see this when Jesus is explaining to his disciples (once again) the servant ethic as the true measure of greatness in the kingdom of God:

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (v. 45).

Jesus didn’t come to be served but to serve. To serve whom? To serve us? Perhaps in a secondary sense. But, in a primary sense, the Son of Man’s service is first and foremost for the glory of his Heavenly Father!

Think about how James’ and John’s motives (and our motives) look when they are placed alongside the pure and selfless motives of Christ Jesus!

Yet, for us to really have our eyes opened by Jesus’ gentleness and graciousness in light of his disciples’ ambitiousness and hardheartedness, we must:

c. Consider Jesus’ context.

This passage climaxes with Jesus clearly teaching about his life’s purpose. Jesus lived so that he might die. He lived that he could die as a ransom for sinners. Jesus is heading to Jerusalem in order to pay that price even now as he speaks with these selfish, hard-hearted, ambitious, childish disciples.

If ever there was a time for Jesus to throw down, if ever a time to condemn, it was at this moment! If ever there was a time to say the mission is not worth it, this was probably that moment! But, he didn’t! Why?

Because, the disciples weren’t earning his obedience. We don’t earn his work on the cross! Jesus graciously earns our obedience for the Father’s glory!

1R. Alan Cole, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Mark, 169.
2Simon Burton, “50 stunning Olympic moments: No8 Eric Liddell's 400 metres win, 1924” in The Guardian (January 4, 2012).
3Ibid.

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