Gospel-Centered Discipleship
Mark 9:30-37
Introduction:
I like the title of a book by James W. Moore: Yes, Lord, I Have Sinned
but I Have Several Excellent Excuses.
That is a sermon in itself! In that book he tells a story that can serve as an
introduction to our passage today…
In the golden days of the settling of
the West, one of the major means of transportation was the stagecoach. But did
you know that stagecoaches had three different kinds of tickets — First class,
second class and third class? A first-class ticket meant you could sit down.
No matter what happened, you could remain seated. If the stagecoach got stuck
in the mud or had trouble making it up a steep hill, or even if a wheel fell
off, you remained seated because you had a first-class ticket.
A second class ticket meant
that you got to sit down until there was a problem, and then you had to get off
until the problem was solved. You got off, stood to the side, and watched
somebody else fix the problem. When the situation was corrected, you could get
back on the stagecoach and take your seat again because you had a second-class
ticket.
A third
class ticket meant that you got to sit down until there was a problem, and then
you had to get off and push! You had to put your shoulder
to it and help solve the problem, because you had a third-class ticket...
…When I was living in China I saw the principle of the third-class
ticket in action. I was riding on the bus one day on a six-lane road when we
passed another public bus at an intersection. That bus had broken down and so
everyone had gotten off and the passengers were pushing their bus through the
intersection! It is assumed that because you are riding on the public bus you
have a “third class” ticket. Second class ticket holders take a taxi and first-class
ticket holders have their own car or a car and driver.
He then makes his point that “Here in North America we lead a first-class
ticket lifestyle where no one would think passengers should push a public
transit bus down the road.” What
kind of ticket do you think the disciples were thinking they should have in our
context? What was Jesus trying to teach them about what it means to follow
Him? Let’s make it personal: What kind of ticket do you and I think we should have? Are we here to be served, or to serve? If we
see a need, do we step in and put our shoulder into it, or step back, and
assume someone will do it? What did Jesus mean when he said He came to serve? What
did He mean when He said that we need to serve one another? That brings us to…
The BIG Idea: Jesus came as the promised Servant,
and He calls us to serve Him by serving others. We’ll look at that from three
perspectives, 1. The Foundation of Authentic discipleship; 2. The Attitude…
and 3. The Practice of Authentic discipleship.
I. The Foundation of Authentic Discipleship: Is the Gospel itself (30-32). After
being with the three disciples on the mountain, Jesus came down and set free a
boy who had been demon-possessed. His ministry is now focused primarily on
teaching the 12, but He is still moved with compassion by the needs He
confronts on the way.
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want
anyone to know, 31 for he was
teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is going to be
delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed,
after three days he will rise." 32
But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
Jesus is heading south toward the Sea
of Galilee and the town of Capernaum, which had become His base of operations
for the ministry in Galilee and beyond. We are told that He “did not want anyone to know.” Why? He
was passing “through Galilee” on His way to Jerusalem. He was focused on teaching
the disciples about what would happen, what had
to happen, when they got there. Just as He had told them in 8:31, he tells
them again here, and still they don’t understand. “The Son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men…” The
same verb appears in the Greek translation, the Septuagint, of Isaiah 53:6, and
then twice in 53:12. That context there is a detailed prophecy of the Suffering Servant, the One who would
bear our sins. Jesus is laying a foundation for the disciples’ future
understanding of the Cross and Resurrection in the light of Scripture. Jesus
came as the Servant. That will have implications for those who would follow
Him. Consider the next phrase, not only will He be “delivered,” but…
“…they will kill Him…” The Son of Man will be delivered in
the hands of men and they will kill Him. “Delivered” is the passive voice.
Delivered by who? At one level by the religious leaders. At another level, by
the will of the Father (Acts 2:23; Rom 8:32). It was necessary for the Messiah
to die—He came to give His life as a ransom for many. I don’t think the
disciples could understand the meaning of Him rising from the dead, because
they couldn’t grasp the idea that He would be killed. All of their messianic hopes were focused on
victory and deliverance. It was unthinkable that the Messiah would be rejected
and killed. That was an oxymoron, it was a contradiction, it made no sense.
That is why they could not even get to the second part of Jesus’ statement: “…after three days He will arise…” Even coming down the mountain after the
transfiguration the three were questioning among themselves what this rising
from the dead might mean. So,“they did
not understand…” At least not yet. John Calvin said, “So great is the influence of preconceived opinion, that it brings
darkness over the mind in the midst of the clearest light.” Soon the veil
would be lifted. After the cross and resurrection Jesus would “open their minds to understand the
Scriptures” (Luke 24:44,45). We are part of the post-Pentecost church. So we
understand that the foundation of authentic discipleship is the Gospel. That
means we must under-stand who Jesus is and what He did for us. And we must be
willing to take up our cross and follow Him. Jesus came as the promised
Servant, and He calls us to serve Him by serving others.
II. The Attitude of Authentic Discipleship: Humility, the attitude of a servant
(33-35).
33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them,
"What were you discussing on the way?" 34 But they kept silent, for on
the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the
twelve. And he said to them, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of
all and servant of all."
Alistair Begg preached this
passage focusing on two questions: 1) A question the disciples were afraid to
ask (32), and 2) A question the disciples were ashamed to answer, which we see
here in verse 33, “What were you
discussing on the way?” Why would they have been ashamed? They kept silent
because “…they had argued with one
another about who was greatest…”! Think about that in light of what Jesus
had just been teaching! He would soon be
delivered up and killed. He came to lay down His life for all who would
believe. The disciples not only did not understand, they were afraid to ask
about it and turned the subject to themselves. Remember Mohammed Ali’s line, “I
am the greatest!” My dad used to like the country song that had a line, “It is
hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way.” Pride is something that
fallen humans don’t have to learn it seems! Benjamin Franklin said,
There is
perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Beat it
down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive. Even if
I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud
of my humility.
None other than the famous preacher Dr. Harry Ironside told a story on
himself. He was once convicted about his lack of humility, and a friend
recommended as a remedy, that he march through the streets of the city wearing
a sandwich board, while shouting the scripture verses on the board for all to
hear. Dr. Ironside agreed and he did it. When he returned to his study and
removed the board, he said "I'll bet there's not another man in town who
would do something as humble as that." Oh well! We can learn from
the words of some saints from the past. Augustine famously said, “Should you ask me: What is the first thing
in religion? I should reply: the first, second, and third thing therein is
humility.” My favorite quotation on the subject of humility is this eloquent
statement by Andrew Murray…
“Humility is perfect quietness of
heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to
feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and
when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I
can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace
as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.”
Remember that Jesus had just been
teaching the disciples about His impending suffering and death, and rather than
searching what that might mean they were arguing about which of them was
greatest! Paul reflected on the Christ’s example when he told the Philippians,
“Let this mind be in you which was also
in Christ Jesus…” (Phil 2:5). The Cross would be the ultimate example of
the attitude of THE Servant. Just in chapter 8 He had challenged the crowd
along with the disciples: “If anyone
would be my disciple, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow
Me.” They were not there yet… instead of pondering or even questioning
Jesus, they were sounding a little like Mohammed Ali, arguing about which of
them was greatest!
Jesus asked them what they were talking about on the way, but, apparently,
they were ashamed to answer. Obviously, Jesus knew what they were talking
about—His teaching afterward shows that. But, as the Master-teacher, He was
using questions once again to provoke their reflection, in this case to expose
the attitude that they will need as His disciples. Jesus himself was their
example. Remember the scene recorded for us only in John 13, when in the upper
room, Jesus, God incarnate, washes the feet of His disciples. As they are no
doubt embarrassed by the humble service rendered by their Master, He concludes,
“As I have done for you, so should you do for one another.”
“…if anyone would be first
he must be last, and servant of all…” The path to greatness is not what they expected. It is
through humility, through serving, through putting others before ourselves. It
may have been Andrew Murray who said, “the humble person does not think meanly of
himself, he simply does not think of himself at all!” Rick Warren
paraphrased that when he said, “True
humility is not thinking less
of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” So we don’t
conjure up some sense of humility, because once you think you’ve achieved it,
you’ve lost it. Instead it is found in focusing on the Lord, on knowing Him and
loving Him and serving Him, and then seeing with His eyes the needs of people
around us. Charles Spurgeon put it this way,
…he who would be chief, must always
be aiming at the rear rank, willing to do the most humble service and to be the
lowest menial in his Master’s service. Only in this way can we rise. In
Christ’s Kingdom, the way to go up is to go down. Sink self and you shall
surely rise.
That is contrary to popular thinking!
God’s ways are not man’s ways. Jesus came as the promised Servant, and He calls
us to serve Him by serving others.
III. The Practice of Authentic Discipleship: Serving (36-37).
36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in
his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever receives one such child
in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who
sent me."
Remember the three questions that Mark is answering for us as he writes
his Gospel: 1) Who is Jesus? 2) Why did He come? And 3) What does it mean to
follow Him? The disciples are starting to get a sense of the answer to that
first question, at least realizing that Jesus is the Messiah, and slowly
perceiving that He is more than a mere man. Why did He come? He has begun to
teach them explicitly about His impending death and resurrection, but the
meaning of His words seemingly eludes them still, they cannot understand, and
won’t, until after the resurrection. They are obviously struggling as well in
understanding the answer to the third question. What does it mean to follow Him? Here, He gives them an illustration,
taking a child from the crowd, then picking him up in His arms.
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me…” Children were not the center of the universe
in the first century. They were to be taught the truth. Godly parents
understood that they were called to train them in the way of the Lord. But at that time, in that culture, children (and women!) had worth only in relation to the head of the household. Remember
the reaction of the disciples when parents brought their children to Jesus?
The disciples wanted to keep them away! We’ve got important things to do,
important teaching to hear! They had no time for a bunch of kids. That is until
Jesus said, “Do not forbid them… of such
is the Kingdom of God!” If Jesus valued children, clearly we should as
well.
I am thankful that we have parents in our church who prioritize teaching
their children, and workers that volunteer, dedicating themselves to partnering
with parents in training their children. Children are so close to the heart of
God that Jesus says here, “whoever
receives one such child in my name receives me…” By holding up a child, one
who by most of the crowd was considered of little worth, Jesus is calling His
hearers to not think more highly of themselves than they ought.
“…whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” Later
Philip says to Jesus, “Show us the Father
and it is enough for us!” Jesus answers, “Have I been so long with you and you still do not know me? He who has
seen me has seen the Father!” Such is the unity in the Godhead – Father,
Son, and Spirit. Three persons, one divine essence—one God! To receive Jesus
is to receive the Father. “No man has
seen God at any time, but the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the
Father, He has made Him known!” Now remember the sequence: receive a child,
receive Jesus, receive the Father. Children are close to the heart of God. God
doesn’t call only the highly exalted or powerful in the eyes of society – we
are called to bring the message of his grace to the humble and to outcasts:
Jesus said “I have come… to call sinners
to repentance!”
What is God saying to me in this passage? We are called to Gospel-Centered discipleship.
The foundation is the Gospel: Jesus came as the promised Servant, and willing
laid down His life for us. He humbled himself, taking the form of a Servant. He
obeyed the Father’s will, even to the point of death on the Cross. He calls
us to follow Him—to serve Him by serving others.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Remember Moore’s book I mentioned at
the start: Yes Lord, I have sinned, but I
have several excellent excuses! Really? One writer said, “An excuse is the
skin of a reason, stuffed with a lie!”
1) Do you believe that Jesus came as the Servant prophesied in the
Scriptures? Do you believe that we are called to deny ourselves, take up our
cross, and to follow Him?
2) Are you
willing to serve? Do you have the attitude of a servant? How do you know? How
do you act when someone treats you like one? Paul said, “Have this attitude
in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…” Jesus came to serve, and He
said “As the Father sent me, so send I you.” God gets to make the rules,
and He has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation, so we urge men on
behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God!
All of us have a part in that mission. He has molded each of us into the unique
person we are. He does all things well, and He has a plan. You and I are a part
of it. Though we are all different, we are all called to serve God by serving
others.
3) None of us
can do everything, but all of us can do something. You might think, “I’ve done my part.” Really?
I truly believe that God will give us work until our life is over, and life
until our work is done. Until He returns or takes us home, we need to be engaged
in His mission together! Let’s remember His example of coming as the Servant,
the One who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, as we celebrate the
Table… Amen.
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