Authority in the Kingdom

This morning, we come to the final part of this section of the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus has been laying out the morality of the kingdom. Today, we end where we began, with this upside-down principle of the kingdom: the first will be last, and the last will be first. Let’s begin by reading Mark 10:32-45. From this text, see two points: the Selfish Request and Servant Authority.

First, from verses 32-40, see the Selfish Request. For the third time, Jesus prophesies his coming death at the hands of the Jewish leaders and Roman authorities. This third prediction is more detailed than the others. It warns that he will be tried by both the Jews and Gentiles. It also details some of his suffering, from the mockery to his beatings. Yet, even with all of this detail, the disciples still don’t get it. As with every other prediction Jesus has made of his death, the disciples go on as if nothing will happen. So, after this prophecy, we read that James and John approach Jesus to ask a favor. Matthew’s account of this comes in chapter 20, which is two chapters after Jesus told his disciples, “When two or more are gathered in my name, whatever you ask will be granted to you.” So, now these two come to Jesus and say, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” No doubt, they took Jesus very literally in his promise. And, interestingly enough, Jesus, in a strange, ironic twist, grants it. So, what did they want? They ask Jesus to let them sit on his right and left hand when he comes into his kingdom. In ancient kingdoms, the right and left hand of the king were positions of authority and honor. The person who sat on the right was the ruler with the most authority in the kingdom, besides the king himself. And, the one on the left, would be third in command. James and John are not simply asking to be rewarded for their loyalty to Jesus. They are asking for the top positions of government in the Messianic Kingdom that Jesus has promised.

As I mentioned earlier, Jesus, in a bit of irony, does not rebuke them for their request or outright tell them no. Instead, he answers them with a challenge: “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” To this, the brothers answer without hesitation: “we are able.” Their answer is, no doubt, naïve. For one, they are likely thinking that by cup and baptism, Jesus means a cup of blessing and the baptism they already practice. After all, in Jewish tradition, a cup of wine was often seen as a blessing, and baptism was a symbol of purification. Why would they not be willing to take that cup and baptism, then? But, what Jesus means is something very different. There is another cup found in the OT that symbolizes the wrath of God. Psalm 75:8 says, “For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.” This cup of wrath is pictured many times as the full measure of God’s wrath visited upon a people. It is something that cannot be partially consumed, it must be drained. The OT also pictures God’s wrath as a baptism or being engulfed. Jonah 2:3 says, “For you cast me into the deep… all your waves and your billows passed over me.” In Jonah’s case, God’s wrath literally swallowed him up.

It is this kind of cup and baptism that Jesus must face – the cup and the flood of God’s wrath. In this and later statements, Jesus teaches us about what exactly he does for us on the cross. There are two ways that Jesus saves us through is death on the cross. One, which we will talk about later, is called expiation, and it is the one that we like. Expiation is the idea that, in his sacrifice, Jesus removed or covered our sin. This is typically the way we talk about salvation. But, there is another aspect of Jesus’s sacrifice, and it is called “propitiation.” Propitiation is the work of satisfying the wrath of God. This is a less popular way of talking about salvation because we don’t like to think that God is angry with us. In fact, many modern preachers will try to say that God does not get angry, or that wrath is not an essential part of God’s nature. They would argue that any time we read of God’s wrath, it is really just humans trying to understand God, not really a reflection of who God is. Yet, the Bible clearly teaches that God hates sin and is wrathful towards it. Deut. 4:24 says, “The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Nahum 1:2-3 says, “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God… and will by no means clear the guilty.” This is important to understand because our problem of sin goes far deeper than just a legal offense. It is not that we have broken some arbitrary rule that God established, but we have acted against the character of God and offended his very being. Think of it this way. Murder is a law that is on the books at every level of our government. When a murder is committed, we call that a criminal offense. The police gather evidence. The prosecutors bring charges. The judge adjudicates. The jury brings a verdict. And, law enforcement exacts the punishment. All of that happens without any personal offense to the police, the prosecutors, the judge, or the jury. But, there is one party involved during that process that has been grievously, personally offended – the victim’s family. They followed the process through, advocated for justice, and waited for the verdict. And yet, even with life in prison, they don’t feel that justice has been done, why? Because the offense is not a legal matter to them, it is an offense against their very nature. The same is true of our sin against God. And so, if we are going to be saved, it is not enough to wipe away the legal offense. God’s wrath must be satisfied. This is what Christ has done for us on the cross. So, Heb. 2:17 says of Jesus, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

Jesus’s response to James and John is ironic, because he tells them, “You will drink of my cup and be baptized with my baptism.” Here, Jesus not only prophesies of his own death, but of the persecution of James and John. These two brothers are bookends of the Apostolic age. James was the first of the apostles to be martyred. In Acts 12 we read of a great persecution that broke out against the church, and James was beheaded as part of that. John, on the other hand, was the last of the apostles to die. He died of natural causes, but his life was full of persecution. Tradition has it that he was sentenced to death by boiling tar, but he was not burned by it. So, the Romans ordered him exiled to the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the book of Revelation.

This brings me to my second point: Servant Authority. In verse 41 we read that the other disciples hear of this request and become indignant. From a worldly viewpoint, we can understand this. Why would James and John be first and second in the kingdom? Why not Peter, Judas, or Phillip? To address all of this, Jesus has a “come to Jesus” meeting with all of them. They all have a faulty view of leadership and authority, and Jesus sets out to correct this with a contrast and a paradox. First, in verse 42, Jesus contrasts the leadership of the Gentile rulers with that of the kingdom. He says, “Don’t be like the rulers of the Gentiles.” There are two reasons that the Gentile rulers stand as a contrast to godly leadership. For one, Jesus says that they “lord over them.” This means that they subjugate their citizens and use their power to control them. In other words, they rule by brute force. Also, they “exercise authority over them.” This is the idea of absolute, unquestionable authority. There is no reasonableness or compassion, just pure, authoritarian rule. In verse 43, Jesus says, “It shall not be so among you.” This type of rule is not Christian rule. This is not the way God’s people are to exercise authority.

Rather, Jesus repeats the famous paradox he established back in chapter 9: “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first must be a slave to all.” This paradox contrasts two extremes. Whoever would be a high ranking official in the kingdom of God must be a “diakonos” (deacon/servant). In Roman culture, deacons were the lowest of servants: those who waited on tables or ran errands. So, to hold a high position, you must be willing to serve in the lowliest of ways. Then, to be first (to be at the right and left of the Messiah), you must be a slave (doulos) to all. A doulos was nothing more than his master’s property. So, if you would rule in the kingdom of God, you must place your needs below everyone else’s.

This paradox is not an arbitrary command. It is not something Jesus set up just to see how desperately we would scramble for his approval. No, this is the reality of authority in the kingdom, because this is the way of Jesus. In verse 45, he says, “For even the son of man came not to serve but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus did not come to gain the palace in Jerusalem. He did not come to be adored by the religious elite. He did not come to be served by the subjugated masses. Jesus came to serve his people by dying on the cross. And, in this we find the second way that Jesus saves us, through expiation. Jesus says that he came to “give his life as a ransom for many.” The word ransom there is the idea of purchasing the freedom of a slave. Oh, what great ironic beauty there is in this! The Son of God, the Lord of heaven, the one who sits at the right hand of God the Father, became a slave so that he might purchase our freedom. And, now that we are free, he calls us to do the same – to take on the role of a servant so that others might be free.

Brothers and sisters, this paradox of the kingdom is beautiful and good because Jesus calls us to his way. Jesus has all authority because he made himself nothing. If we are to rule in his kingdom, we must do the same. This is why, in Ephesians 5:21, Paul says, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” And then, Paul goes through all of the power dynamics of this world to explain how Christians should serve in each case. Husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church. Wives should honor their husbands as the church honors Christ. Children should obey their parents as though they are obeying the Lord, and parents should lovingly instruct their children in the Lord. Slaves should obey their masters as though they are working for Christ, and masters should treat their slaves as though they will give account to God. Certainly, in each of those cases, there is a position of authority and one of subjection, but in every case, both the ruler and the subject are called to serve the other. This is the way we are called to live as believers in this world. So may we go and serve that we might rule well in God’s kingdom.