Gathered

³² Jesus and those with him were on their way to Jerusalem. He was at the front of the group. His followers were wondering what was happening, and the people who followed behind them were feeling afraid. Jesus gathered the twelve apostles again and talked with them alone. He told them what would happen in Jerusalem. ³³ He said, “We are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the leading priests and teachers of the law. They will say that he must die and will hand him over to the foreigners, ³⁴ who will laugh at him and spit on him. They will beat him with whips and kill him. But on the third day after his death, he will rise to life again.” (Mark 10:32-34, ERV)

Though Jesus is moving towards Jerusalem, He knows what awaits Him at the end of His journey. His example shows us that…

Jesus led as a servant.
²⁰ Then Zebedee’s wife came to Jesus and brought her sons [James and John]. She bowed before Jesus and asked him to do something for her.

²¹ Jesus said, “What do you want?”

She said, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right side in your kingdom and the other at your left.”

²² So Jesus said to the sons, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink from the cup^[a] that I must drink from?”

The sons answered, “Yes, we can!”

²³ Jesus said to them, “It is true that you will drink from the cup that I drink from. But it is not for me to say who will sit at my right or my left. My Father has decided who will do that. He has prepared those places for them.”

²⁴ The other ten followers heard this and were angry with the two brothers. ²⁵ So Jesus called the followers together. He said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority over the people. ²⁶ But it should not be that way with you. Whoever wants to be your leader must be your servant. ²⁷ Whoever wants to be first must serve the rest of you like a slave. ²⁸ Do as I did: The Son of Man did not come for people to serve him. He came to serve others and to give his life to save many people.” (Matthew 20:20-28, ERV)

“Who is more important: the one serving or the one sitting at the table being served? Everyone thinks it’s the one being served, right? But I have been with you as the one who serves.”  (Luke 22:27, ERV)

Jesus loved as a servant.

³⁵ Jesus came near the city of Jericho. There was a blind man [Bartimaeus] sitting beside the road. He was begging people for money. ³⁶ When he heard the people coming down the road, he asked, “What is happening?”

³⁷ They told him, “Jesus, the one from Nazareth, is coming here.”

³⁸ The blind man was excited and said, “Jesus, Son of David, please help me!”

³⁹ The people who were in front leading the group criticized the blind man. They told him to be quiet. But he shouted more and more, “Son of David, please help me!”

⁴⁰ Jesus stopped there and said, “Bring that man to me!” When he came close, Jesus asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?”

He said, “Lord, I want to see again.”

⁴² Jesus said to him, “You can see now. You are healed because you believed.”

⁴³ Then the man was able to see. He followed Jesus, thanking God. Everyone who saw this praised God for what happened. (Luke 18:35-43, ERV)

Jesus died as a servant
¹⁷ The Father loves me because I give my life. I give my life so that I can get it back again. ¹⁸ No one takes my life away from me. I give my own life freely. I have the right to give my life, and I have the right to get it back again. This is what the Father told me.” (John 10:17-18, ERV)

⁴ The fact is, it was our suffering he took on himself; he bore our pain. But we thought that God was punishing him, that God was beating him for something he did. ⁵ But he was being punished for what we did. He was crushed because of our guilt. He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace. We were healed because of his pain. ⁶ We had all wandered away like sheep. We had gone our own way. And yet the Lord put all our guilt on him. (Isaiah 53:4-6, ERV)

 “Servanthood does not nullify leadership; it defines it. Jesus does not cease to be the Lion of Judah when He becomes the lamb-like servant of the church.” (John Piper) [i]

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[i] Inspired by the sermon “360 Jesus: Servant Jesus” (installment five) Good Friday April 19, 2019, Pastor Dave Jansen, CenterPoint Gahanna Church Gahanna, OH.