Mark 10:44

Verse of the Day Devotion Mark 10:44 

“And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.” – Mark 10:44 

These words of Jesus were spoken due to a question asked by James and John, the sons of Zebedee.  “Grant that we may sit in Your glory, one on Your right, and one on Your left.” Mark 10:37. Jesus then responds with a question of His own. “You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” Mark 10:38.  In the scriptures, to drink of a cup is figurative o being filled with either good or of ill things.  Here, Jesus is referring to a cup of suffering.  The object of this question seems to have been to see how far those two men were capable of the dignity to which they aspired and this on the principle that he who is able to suffer most for His sake will be the nearest to Him in His kingdom. They responded by saying, “We are able.” Mark 10:38a.  Then Jesus responds by telling them they will suffer. “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.” Mark 10:39. And then He adds, “But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” Mark 10:40.  It was not His choice, but it is for those who they were prepared for.

Now the disciples other ten were indignant with their request.  But Jesus calls them together and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them.” Mark 10:42.  The leaders in that time period did not lead the people but ruled over the people.  But this is not what Jesus wanted of His disciples.  “But it is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.” Mark 10:43-44.  And then He makes it clear that they should follow His way regarding this.  “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45.

At no place do the ethics of the Kingdom of God clash more vigorously with the ethics of the world than in the matters of power and service. The ideas that Jesus presents regarding rule and service are combined in a way that finds no obvious precedent in either the Old Testament or Jewish tradition. In a decisive reversal of values, Jesus speaks of greatness in service rather than greatness of power, prestige, and authority: whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  Theologian James R. Edwards wrote, “The preeminent virtue of God’s kingdom is not power, not even freedom, but service.  Ironically, greatness belongs to the one who is not great, but the diakonos, the ordinary Greek word for waiting on tables. The preeminence of service in the kingdom of God grows out of Jesus’ teaching on love for one’s neighbor, for service is love made tangible.”

Another interesting point here is where He tells the disciples in our focus verse, “and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all”. Mark 10:44.  The pronouncement is, of course, an oxymoron, for a slave, who was inferior even to a servant, was in ancient society the last and least of all. The idea of a slave being first is as absurdly paradoxical as a camel going through the eye of a needle (see Mark 10:25) and it probably induced smiles and shaking heads from Jesus’ audience.  But this must be our way.  Too many leaders today believe that people should serve them rather than serving the people.  We see this in our governments, places of employment, and many churches as well.  Now I am not saying all regarding these three categories,  but speaking regarding churches, I have seen this more often than I imagined.  The desire for power and dominance focuses attention on self and this kills love, for love by nature is focused on others. The Christian fellowship does not exist for their sake, but others. Neither is the apostle or Christian leader above the congregation, but part of it. The congregation does not belong to him; rather, he belongs to the congregation and the Church itself belongs to Christ.

In closing, what Jesus teaches about service and self-sacrifice is not simply a principle of the kingdom of God but a pattern of his own life that is authoritative for and transferable to disciples. The ‘for’ at the beginning of verse 45 has a strong and important purpose: disciples should adopt the posture of servants and slaves not on the basis of ethical reasoning but because it is the way of the Son of Man. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45. The life to which the gospel calls believers is not an ethical system but the way of the Lord, of which Jesus is the pattern and incarnation. This model of ministry cannot come from the secular order, but only from the unique way of Jesus, which defies the logic of this world and its fascination with dominance, control, yields, results, and outcomes. The key to the model commanded by Jesus is in the verbs ‘to serve’ and ‘to give.’ The reason why a servant is the most preeminent position in the kingdom of God is that the sole function of a servant is, through love, to give, and giving is the essence of God.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.

Matthew 16:25

Verse of the Day Devotion: Matthew 16:25 

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.’ – Matthew 16:25

This is a difficult thing Jesus told His disciples.  In order to understand the full picture of what Jesus said, we must go back a few verses to understand the context of these words.  Starting in verse 21 we read, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You. But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”  Matthew 16:21-23.  Jesus had just foretold His death and resurrection to His disciples.  After He does this, Peter pulls Him aside and rebukes Him, stating that it will never happen.  I cannot imagine anyone rebuking Christ, however, Jesus rebukes Peter, telling him to go away, for this is God’s plan for the Messiah to fulfill, not what man thinks it is.

After this, Jesus told the disciples their role in this if they wish to follow Him.  “Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24.  Jesus came here to die for the sake of mankind, giving each of us the opportunity to be saved and spend eternity with Him.  He gave His life for us.  What He is saying here is that He expects His followers to do the same if need be.  If doing the work of God meant sacrificing their lives, would they, or would they do what was necessary to save their lives.  If they were not, then they needed to stop following Him because they were not giving all of themselves to the work required of them.

He then builds upon the idea brought forth on the prior verse with our focus verse.  “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”  Matthew 16:25.  In essence he is saying those who are doing the work of the Lord and choose to stop because they will be killed if they do not have a choice.  Either he can continue and trust that God will either save his life or allow him to give the ultimate sacrifice, or He can walk away from Christ and His work. 

The question we need to ask ourselves is are we willing to give all for Christ?  Is our life more important that Christ?  As stated above, Jesus came for the express purpose of suffering and dying for our sake so we can be reconciled with the Father.  Are we willing to do the same in order to spread the gospel throughout our areas of influence?  This is the question Jesus is asking.  And we must be ready to give an answer.  Search your heart and pray that God will help you know what your true answer is.  If it is yes, than you are willing to give everything for the sake of Christ.  If it is no or I do not know, then pray and ask God to give you the strength and courage to say yes.  He is much more important than anything else in our lives, including our lives.  Give your all to Him and His work.  You will find it to be more satisfying than any other.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.