Mark 10:32-52
Date: April 16th 2023
Speaker: Samuel Crites
Scripture: Mark 10:32-52
Mark 10:32-52
Exegetical Outline
MIT: Jesus teaches the disciples that true leadership in the kingdom of God means being a servant of all, just as he is serving them.
32-34: Jesus foretells his death a third time.
35-45: James and John attempt to grab power in the kingdom of God, but Jesus teaches that true leadership is service to others, just as Jesus serves them.
46-52: Jesus demonstrates true leadership by serving a blind beggar.
Homiletical Outline
MIS: Leadership in the kingdom of God means being a servant of all.
Leadership is possible because of the crucifixion. (32-34)
Leadership mimics Christ’s example, not the worlds. (35-45)
Leadership serves the least of us. (46-52)
Introduction
Last week’s sermon and this week’s sermon are very closely related. In fact, you could think of this week’s sermon text as merely a continuation of what Jesus was teaching last week, but apply directly to the disciples.
Last week, we saw that Jesus taught his disciples that there is a selflessness that is essential to entering the kingdom of God. In Mark 10:15, Jesus said,
Mark 10:15
15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
As we discussed last week, the selfishness that Christ has in view is not merely forgetting one’s own desires, that is, not being a selfish person. Rather, it is the humility to remove the self, my self, from the center of my universe. The children came to Christ trusting that he was able to help them. The selflessness that is required to enter the kingdom of God is a radical God-centeredness.
When God is the center of the Christian life, not the self, not only can the person enter the kingdom of God, but there is a great reward. As we saw last week, those that have sacrificed for the sake of Christ and for the sake of the Gospel receive the Church in this life and eternal life in the age to come.
Christ is trying to teach the disciples that, in the kingdom of God, the first will be last and the last first. This is a critical lesson that they have failed to understand. We first saw Christ try to explain this to them when they came off the mountain of transfiguration, then last week as he explained the manner in which one enters the kingdom of God, and this week, as the disciples bicker over who will rule alongside Christ in the kingdom of God, Christ tries to explain it to them one last time. Each time, Christ has furthered and deepened the application of this one, essential lesson regarding the kingdom of God. Let’s read Mark 10:32-52 and consider Christ’s final attempt to teach the disciples that the first will be last and the last first. Let’s read Mark 10, beginning in verse 32:
Mark 10:32-52
32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
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.”
46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
The main idea of our sermon today is this: Leadership in the kingdom of God means being the servant of all. The disciples, particularly James and John, are concerned with who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God. Their self-centeredness is on display. They totally ignore Christ’s prophecy about what is going to take place when they get to Jerusalem, the attempt to undercut their fellow disciples, and attempt to twist Christ’s arm to grab power for themselves in the kingdom of God. This cause the other disciples to be angry and indignant at James and John. It is out of this conflict that Christ tries, for the third time, to teach his disciples about selflessness, in particular, he attempts to teach these future leaders of the Church what it means to be a leader in the kingdom of God.
We are going to learn three things about leadership from our sermon text today. First, we are going to see that leadership is only possible because of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. All leaders in the kingdom of God must first die the same kind of selfless death that Christ dies in Jerusalem. If you do not drink the cup that Christ drinks and are not baptized with the suffering with which Christ is baptized, not only can you not be a leader, but you cannot be a Christian. Being a Christian is prerequisite to being a leader in the kingdom of God.
Second, leadership in the kingdom of God mimics Christ’s example, not the world’s example. Christian leadership is counterintuitive to worldly leadership. The disciples think like the world. They want to know the pecking order amongst themselves, they are attracted to the rich young man and want to keep the riff raff away from Christ, and they think that once leadership is established, they will be able to rule over each other. This is not how leadership works in the kingdom of God, and it is not the kind of leadership that Christ has modeled for his people. Leadership in the kingdom of God serves others, just like Christ has served them. How has Christ served the disciples? Mark says that Jesus “came not to serve, but to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) We need to throw out any concept of leadership that we have seen in the world and follow the example of Christ if we want to be leaders in the kingdom of God.
Lastly, we will see that true leadership prioritizes the least of us. It is those that are challenging to love and require the greatest effort and care that should be the first to receive the attention of the Church. Blind Bartimaeus was a beggar on the side of the road. He couldn’t come to Christ because he couldn’t see Christ. In spite of the efforts of the crowd, Christ called to him and met him in his need to serve him where he was. He didn’t let his position of leadership prevent him from service, but showed that it is his position of leadership that requires him to serve this man.
Leadership in the kingdom of God is not about power or prestige, it is not self-centered, it is about being a servant to all, just like Christ.
Leadership in the Kingdom of God is only possible because of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
One of the unique contributions of the Gospel of Mark to the canon of Scripture is how the evangelist shows us the purposeful relationship between Jesus and his disciples. Unlike the other Gospels, Mark has a particular focus on how Jesus taught his disciples. As we have been studying this Gospel, these lessons have served to help us differentiate the different acts of the Gospel.
The first act focused on Christ teaching his disciples who he is. Jesus taught his disciples that he is the Messiah, the anointed one. He taught them through parables, backed it up with miraculous works of power, and even deputized the disciples to exercise his own authority; all in an effort to teach them that he is the Son of God. The first act of the story came to an end in Chapter 8 when Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ.
The second act began as Christ transitioned his teaching. No longer was he attempting to teach the disciples his identity, but he wanted them to understand the work that was set before him as the Messiah, namely, that he would have to go to Jerusalem, suffer, die, and, on the third day, rise from the dead. The disciples did not understand this and Peter attempted to rebuke Christ. This is not who the Messiah was supposed to be. The Messiah can’t suffer and die, the Messiah is supposed to be the king. His job is to liberate Israel from their oppressors, not die.
This misconception of the mission of the Messiah has led to multiple moments where Jesus has tried to correct the disciples’ misunderstanding of what he is here to do and what it means to be a part of the kingdom of God. Three times Christ prophesies his death and resurrection, each time the disciples respond poorly, giving Christ the opportunity to teach them something new about the kingdom of God.
The first time Christ prophesies his death and resurrection Peter attempts to rebuke Christ. Peter does not understand what it means to follow Christ, so Jesus says this in Mark 8:34 and following:
Mark 8:34
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to follow him in all things, especially his death and resurrection. To be a Christian is to die to yourself on a daily basis. Death to our old selves is the front door to the kingdom of God.
The second time Christ prophesies his death and resurrection is after Jesus, Peter, James, and John descend from the mountain of transfiguration. The disciples did not understand what Christ was saying and they were afraid to ask what he meant. Instead, the decided to quarrel with each other along the road about who is the greatest among themselves.
Jesus responds to the controversy and tells them that whoever wishes to be first in the kingdom of God must be the servant of all. To illustrate this, he pulls a child to his side and says
Mark 9:37
Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
Further, Christ tells the disciples to worry about themselves. They are not the only servants that God is working through to bring about the kingdom. Instead of worrying about each other and other preachers, they should worry about themselves. They should seek to live holy lives in order not to make any of God’s children stumble and they should be at peace with each other. Living in the kingdom of God requires holiness and a peace between the brothers.
The third and final time that Jesus prophesies about his death and resurrection happens in our sermon text today. Now, his immanent death is no longer a mental exercise. They are literally on the road to Jerusalem. What Jesus has been saying is about to take place at the end of the journey they are currently on. Immediately after hearing Christ’s prophecy, James and John attempt to beat the other disciples to the punch b asking Jesus to give them the two highest places of honor in the kingdom of God. This naturally makes the other disciples upset. All of the frustration from their previous disagreement comes bubbling back to the surface. It makes you wonder if James and John were not the source of the previous disagreement. Perhaps James and John were arguing that the special treatment that Peter, James, and John received by accompanying Christ to witness the transfiguration meant that they felt they were superior to the other disciples. Jesus responds by teaching the disciples about leadership. Leadership in the kingdom of God is not like leadership in the world. If they didn’t get it the first time, Jesus is more specific. The leader in the kingdom of God will not Lord is authority over his brothers and sisters in the kingdom, but will have to be the servant of all.
This has been a long-winded way to set up the point. The point is that all of Christ’s teaching about the kingdom of God is dependent on Christ’s work on the cross. Notice the proximity and connection between Jesus’s prophecy about his death and resurrection and his teachings on the kingdom of God. The basic pattern is: first, Jesus prophesies; second, the disciples misunderstand; and finally, Jesus clarifies with teaching on the kingdom of God. Everything that Christ is teaching the disciples depends on the sacrifice Christ is going to make for them on the cross. Which means, for our purposes today, Christian leadership is only possible because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now this might seem like an obvious point. I am essentially saying that Christian leadership is only possible if one is a Christian, if one has experienced the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is exactly what I am saying, and I am saying that is a fundamentally profound point that we could easily miss in this text if we were not careful.
Let’s consider the flow of the passage. Jesus prophesies his death, burial and resurrection. James and John come to him and essentially say, we want the two positions of highest honor and leadership in your kingdom. Please give us this responsibility. Christ does not immediately say, no, but he asks them for their qualifications. Look at verse 38 and 39:
Mark 10:39
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,
What is Jesus referring to when he asks them if they can drink the cup he is about to drink and be baptized in the baptism that he is about to be baptized in? Christ didn’t come to sit on a throne, but to hang on a cross. James and John have totally missed what Jesus has been trying to teach them. They cannot sit on his right and his left, because those positions of honor have been reserved for two thieves: one that curses him with his last, dying breath, and the other that recognizes him as God and king.
James and John are confident they can pay whatever price is necessary to receive the honor they have requested. The irony is that if they would have understood what Christ taught them originally, that to be his followers they would have to die to themselves, they would never have approached Christ to ask him for such a selfish and ostentatious request. They will eventually understand and suffer for the sake of the kingdom, but their bravado will be gone. James will be martyred by Herod, and John will live to the end of his life, the only disciple to watch all of his brothers pay the ultimate sacrifice for the kingdom and die of natural causes. In that day, they will both be fit to lead God’s people, but not this day.
To reinforce this point, look at what Jesus says in verse 45.
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The illustration that Jesus uses to make his point about Christian leadership is that even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve. Christ does not mean menial service: making the food, sailing the boat, keeping the finances, etc. The particular way that Christ is an example of service to Christian leaders is that he has given his life as a ransom for many. His sacrifice on the cross makes Christian leadership possible and is the primary example of Christian leadership that all leaders should follow.
James and John have failed in one crucial act of Christian leadership. They have not understood and contemplated the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the primary source and example of Christian Leadership. They have heard it three times, but they never stopped to consider what that meant for them personally or for the leadership position they so desired. Their example for leadership was every worldly king and magistrate that lorded their power over their subjects. They wanted that same kind of power, and if Christ had given it to them, they would have become just as evil and corrupt as those worldly leaders they idolized.
In our first point, leadership in the kingdom of God is made possible by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is counterintuitive to think that the most practical thing that a Christian leader can do is to meditate on Christ’s sacrifice for them. However, to serve others is to remember how you have been served. God humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross so that he could put your needs before his own, so that he could count you as more valuable than himself.
Leadership in the kingdom of God mimics Christ’s example, not the worlds.
So how do we make that more practical and useful as a leader? The second point and third points of our sermon help us to focus on the practice of being a leader. Let’s take a look at our second point: Leadership in the kingdom of God mimics Christ’s example, not the worlds. Let’s reread Mark 10:35-45:
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.”
Where did James and John get the idea to approach Christ with this request? They definitely did not get the idea from Jesus and the previous teachings that they have heard. The ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus describes Saul’s court as having Saul sitting on his throne with Jonathan, his son, sitting on a throne to his right, and Abner, the commander of Saul’s armies, sitting on a throne to Saul’s left. These places were places of honor and power. James and John still believe that Jesus is setting up an earthly kingdom. They fail to understand the significance of the Christ’s teaching and the three prophecies about his death. They are thinking about the kingdom of God in worldly terms only.
It is interesting to observe that this is not unique to James and John. The rest of the disciples are thinking with the same worldly paradigm. You can see this because of the indignation. Now, they should be indignant towards James and John. James and John ignored Christ’s teaching about his death and resurrection, and made a crass and selfish request of Jesus. At the very least, it was poorly timed, but in reality, diminishes the seriousness of Christ’s prophecy. This should have made the disciples upset. However, this is not why they are frustrated with James and John. They are frustrated with James and John because of righteous indignation, but because of greed and envy. They are mad that they got beat to the punch. James and John’s savviness outmaneuvered the other ten.
Jesus says, you have all missed it. You are thinking like Gentiles. The world cares about power and influence. How does the world choose their leaders? We would like to think that leaders are skilled and talented individuals that people want to follow. But actually, in the world, leadership is something to be claimed and enforced. Rarely do people choose their leaders. In reality, leaders choose themselves and then enforce their leadership through power and influence. This is what James and John want to do. They want Jesus to set them up in positions of power so they can lord their authority over their subjects. Jesus says in verse 42 that this is the way of the world. It is not the way that he is trying to teach them.
Jesus says his disciples will not be leaders like the world are leaders. Instead of lording their leadership over their followers, leaders in the kingdom of God must serve their followers. Instead of exercising authority over their followers, leaders in the kingdom of God are slaves of their followers. This is radical language, but it is not nearly as radical as his illustration. Christ’s illustrates his point with himself. He did not come to be served by his followers, but to serve his followers.
But notice how he serves them. He serves them by being their ransom. He is not a slave in the sense that he goes about at the beck and call of his disciples. In fact, the disciples do most of the serving. We see them passing out food, sailing the boats, keeping the finances of the group, etc. The service Jesus has in mind goes far deeper than merely doing the menial tasks that other people do not want to do. The service Jesus is a kind of humility that seeks the good of others as if you were caring for your own needs. This is exactly Paul’s point in Philippians 2:3-8. Christ doesn’t need atonement, but he became incarnate in order to demonstrate a genuine love and affection for us by putting our needs above his own. Read Philippians 2, beginning in verse 3:
Philippians 2:3-8
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Paul here calls all Christians to a humility that is defined by two things. First, in verse 3, we see that humility counts others as more significant than ourselves. Clearly Christ, who is God, accomplished this in the incarnation. He humbled himself by taking on human nature in order to save a humanity that was his enemy. There is nothing more humbling that God, the uncreated one, could do than take on created humanity. He did it to demonstrate a genuine love and affection for his creation. The second thing Paul says in verse 4 is that humility does not only look to its owns interests, but also to the interests of others. Christ exemplifies this by being willing to come and pay the penalty for our sins. What is more valuable to a prisoner on death row than to have someone take their place in punishment? Preservation of life is the top priority of all men, and Christ came, not only to save this life, but to give us an eternal life in the age to come. Christ is the perfect example of humility for all Christians, which makes him the perfect example for Christian leaders for how to selflessly serve those that follow you.
Therefore, as we think about leadership in our particular outpost of the kingdom of God, we need to encourage Christ like leadership, not worldly leadership. We need leaders that understand how to follow Christ’s example, and not the world’s example. The easy application for this point is to think about elders in the Church. And let me just say, we want elders that are Christ like leaders. That follow his example and serve selflessly and sacrificially. Our church has been praying for this for a long time.
However, I would like to take a minute to apply this to the ladies in our room. We are a complementarian church, meaning, we believe that men and women are equal in value as image bearers of God, but complementary in the roles that God has designed for them. This means that we believe Scripture teaches that the office of the elder is reserved for men only. However, it does not mean that we do not need women leaders in the church. Quite the opposite. The office of the elder is the highest level of leadership under Christ in the local church, but there are abundant opportunities for women to be leaders in our congregation.
The first way that women can be leaders in our congregation is in discipleship. If a leader is the servant of all, then women can lead by doing deliberate spiritual good to each other. Teaching each other the word of God. Bearing each other’s burdens. Keeping watch over each other and encouraging each other in ways that it are difficult for men to do. There is a unique opportunity, especially for the older women in our body, to lead out in discipleship by choosing to do deliberate spiritual good to their younger sisters in the faith. Take them under your wing and help them love Jesus better. Some of you might wonder, why don’t we have a women’s bible study yet. It is not because I do not think it is a good idea. I think it is a great idea. We just need a leader that wants to serve in that capacity.
Another way that women can be leaders in our congregation is by speaking out in membership meetings. Our membership meetings are not business meetings. We do conduct some business on behalf of the church, but first and foremost, the membership meeting is a family meeting that allows the body to love on each other and meet each other’s needs. We eat together and discuss the ministry of the church, and I want to encourage our women to engage in our membership meetings. Not that this has been a problem to date, but I just want you to hear from the front that our church is served and helped when our women engage in our membership meetings. Often, it is my sisters in the body that demonstrate faithfulness and compassion that makes me want to follow Christ more closely. They are sensitive to things that I am not sensitive to, and they help encourage me to be a better shepherd of God’s people.
One final way, but surely not the last way, that women can lead in the Church is by being godly wives, mothers, and grandmothers. One of the most influential and important teachers in my life that has the most enduring impact on my life is my mother. From the time I was a little child, I can remember her studying the Bible. Then, I sat under her teaching in Precept Bible studies. I cut my spiritual teeth on the biblical teachings of my mom. We would sit up late at night and discuss the lesson that she was going to teach that coming week. We would have theological discussions, but it was always centered on the word of God. Frankly, she has always known the Bible better than me, and I am not certain that I have surpassed her literacy even still. She taught me to love God’s word with all my heart, not because she told me it was important, but because she showed me it was important. With her whole life, she made God’s word the center of everything she did with a passion that was infectious. We need wives, mothers, and grandmothers in the Church like my mom. Women that are so infatuated with God’s word that their husbands, their children, and their grandchildren can’t help but learn to love what they love.
Leadership in the kingdom of God mimics the example of Christ, not the world. The leader pours himself out in humble service to other people as he seeks to count others as more significant than himself and look out for the needs of others. We have also seen that leadership in the kingdom of God is only possible because Christ has made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. It would be impossible to be focused on someone else if Christ had not first set us free from our self-centeredness. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the beginning of leadership because it makes leadership possible.
Leadership in the kingdom of God serves the least of us.
The last point of our sermon is both practical and the logical conclusion of the first two points: Leadership in the kingdom of God serves the least of us. Look with me at the end of our sermon text beginning in verse 46:
Mark 10:46-52
46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
After Jesus finishes teaching his disciples, he continues on the road to Jerusalem. As they are passing Jericho, a blind beggar on the side of the road begins to call out to Jesus for mercy. The way Jesus responds to Bartimaeus is the perfect example of the kind of leadership that Christ just taught his disciples. Here we have God himself, in human flesh, on the road that will ultimately lead him to fulfill the mission on which he was sent. He is walking the road that will end with him hanging on a cross to pay the penalty for sin. Christ is literally on his way to accomplish the greatest thing that any human being could ever accomplish, to perform the one act of sacrifice on which all of history hangs. And yet, he has the time to hear the beggar on the side of the road, to stop, and to have mercy on him.
This man is nothing compared to Christ. It is surprising that Mark includes his name and lineage. Christ’s mission is so critically important to all the human race, to all that have lived and will ever live. How does it make sense for Jesus to stop such an important task to turn to a blind beggar on the side of the road and heal him? Because he wants his disciples to know that leadership in the kingdom of God serves the least of us. Just like Jesus held up those children on multiple occasions to teach his disciples that the last will be first and the first last, he wants them to observe how he treats the helpless blind man. Leadership in the kingdom of God seeks out the least of us to serve, because that is exactly what Christ did for us. He healed our spiritual blindness so that we could serve and follow him just like Bartimaeus followed him.
I think this has two relevant applications for us, then we will close. First, when we look to elevate someone to formal leadership, whether it is to be an elder, to serve as a deacon, or to serve in other leadership roles, we should look for people that love to serve those that are hard to love. There are strong brothers and sisters in the church and there are weaker brothers and sisters. It is the responsibility of the strong to bear with the frailties of the weak. We will know that a leader is among us because that person goes after the member that we have not seen recently, or they will reach out to the guest that is new and sitting alone. They will make time in their schedule to disciples a new Christian or meet the physical needs of their needy brother or sister. Before we put someone in a leadership position formally, let’s make sure that they are serving as a leader informally.
The second point of application is that we as a church need to begin to think about mercy ministries. Mercy ministries are the ministries that the church invest in to meet the needs of fellow members and the community around them. They would be ministries like having a food pantry, facilitating adoptions, providing benevolence care for people in need, etc. We are a small church, but already we have had opportunities to do things like this informally. We need to think about structuring our ministry to those that are in need. This is not something that should be driven from the top down. It is something that needs to be an extension of the hearts of our members. My job is not to come up with every opportunity to serve on behalf of the church, but to equip and empower our members towards the ministry that God is laying on their hearts. So if you have a heart for the poor and impoverished let’s talk about how to equip and enable you to lead the church in mercy ministry.
Leadership in the kingdom of God serves the least of us. This was the example Christ set for his disciples and is the logical conclusion of the kind of leadership that humbly serves the needs of others. If you want to lead in the kingdom of God, then you must learn to become the servant of all.
Conclusion
The selflessness that Christ called us to in last week’s sermon and the kind of leadership Christ models in this week’s sermon are impossible. Like the disciples, our selfishness prevents us from allowing ourselves to be the last in the line of our own priorities. We are constantly fighting with our own desire to be at the center of our universe. Christ knew this. This is why he said in Mark 10:27:
Mark 10:27
With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.
If we are going to serve in the kingdom of God, we must recognize our utter dependence on God to make us do the impossible. He is both the example and the means by which we humble ourselves so that we can truly consider other people more significant than ourselves and look beyond our own interests to the interests of others.
Let’s pray.