A brief overview for Sunday School teachers and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Mark 10:32-45, for Sunday, October 22, 2023, with the title, “Serves.“ A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO: Some of you know, my sister is a missionary with our International Mission Board among an unreached people group in a closed country. Years ago she told me that she was at a meeting of the IMB, and she had hoped to see the man who was then President of the Board, at the meeting. She said she was seated at one of the tables, and kept craning her neck around the room, looking for when he might come in. Finally she saw a man, with a pitcher of water in his hand, filling up people’s water glasses. When she looked more closely — that was him! That was the President of the International Mission Board — NOT some “imposing figure” making a grand entrance, but a humble servant, filling water glasses like a waiter. 

You could begin the lesson with that story, or use it a bit later in Point 3, and/or you could ask your group: “Can you share an experience when you were humbled by how someone served you or others?” 

Then you can say that Jesus teaches in our lesson for today, that the one who learns to serve like that, is the one who is great in His kingdom.

CONTEXT

We’re continuing to study the life of Jesus in Mark; now in Chapter 10 starts “the beginning of the end” as He makes His way towards the cross, which He will again remind His disciples of in today’s passage. 

OUTLINE

I.  The Prophecy Repeated  (:32-34)

II. The Selfish Request (:35-41)

III. The Pre-Eminence of Service (:42-45)

I. The Prophecy Repeated (:32-34)

NOTE several things here in :32: (you could either put these as questions to your group, or just point them out, depending on your teaching style:

— ??? WHERE were Jesus and His disciples going???
(“up to Jerusalem”)

— ??? WHO was leading them???

(“Jesus was walking on ahead of them”. That’s significant, isn’t it? HE was going before them; He was leading them. They were following. We are to do the same thing! 

— ??? What EMOTIONS were the people here described as having???

(“They were amazed, and those who followed were fearful”)

— ??? WHY do you think they would be “amazed” and “fearful” at this???

(Because His life was being threatened by the Pharisees — and here He was, going right into the “lions den” of Jerusalem!)

And :32 concludes: “And again He took the 12 aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him.” So He was going to prepare them for what lay ahead of them.

THEN in :33-34, Jesus repeats His “Amazing Prophecy” from a couple of weeks ago:  “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. (:34) They will mock Him and spit upon Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.”  This is actually the THIRD TIME Jesus specifically tells His disciples that this is going to happen, in advance. 

??? Can you recall a time when you repeated instructions to someone because it was so important??? 

This is what Jesus does here. Several times He repeats what will  happen to Him, to His disciples, because it was so important. This was God’s plan. This is what was going to happen. (Of course, in their hard-heartedness they still didn’t “get it.” But the record was there — and it became such a powerful witness after His death and resurrection, of what He had done.“He was declared the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead” Romans 1:4 says — and as we see here, He even “called it” in advance. It is unmatched and unique in all history; no other religion has anything like this. It is the most amazing prophecy! 

II. The Selfish Request  (:35-41)

Then :35 says, “James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, ‘Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.”

(Does this sound like little kids or what? “Daddy, will you give me whatever I ask you?”!)

Then in :36 He says, “And He said to them, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?”

:37 “They said to Him, ‘Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.’”

??? Have you ever been in a situation where someone was hurting, or dying, but all someone else could think of was their own selfish desires?

(Once a family member was dying, but all another family could think of was nailing down what they were going to inherit.

You/your members may be able to share similar stories …)

THIS is what Jesus went through here. He had just told them that He was going to be tortured and DIE — and all James & John can respond with is, “Can we sit on Your right and left in Your glory?” How selfish; how self-centered!

One application here is: let’s make sure that WE are not this same way today. WIth all the needs of the church; with all the needs of the world; with all the needs of people we know who are hurting, let’s don’t make things about US!  That IS our human nature; sin has made us self-centered, and “all about us.” 

BUT:  God can change this in us: one great example of this, is that by the time John wrote His Gospel, this man who here was one of two who was so selfish that he asked to given the place of prominence, was then so selfless that He wouldn’t even mention his own name in the Gospel of John; he just called himself, “the disciple whom Jesus loved”! Jesus had changed him. And thank God He can change US too, as we follow His example, which we’ll see more of in a minute ….

NOW note :41 “Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John.”

Here is what we might call the “collateral danger” of sin: not only that James and John sinned — but NOW the OTHER disciples are holding their against them! 

Sin is so pervasive and dangerous. We have to guard against it in SO many directions. If it doesn’t come one way, it will come another. 

— If we are the selfish/ambitious ones, then we sin in that way.

— But then if we DON’T ourselves succumb to it, we can also be hit with the temptation to be INDIGNANT (get angry, hold a grudge, feel superior, etc.) to those who DID sin in that way. 

This is what you might call the “older brother syndrome” — after the older brother in the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. The Prodigal Son was the one who “sinned”: in going away, and living dissolutely, wasting everything, and causing his father so much grief. His older brother did NOT do all that — but then HE HIMSELF sinned, NOT in the same sin as his brother, but in his RESPONSE to his brother’s sin! He was superior, self-righteous, unforgiving, lacked real love for his brother, which are sins in their own right, which also grieved his father. 

So let’s be careful, lest we be like the older brother, or like the 10 disciples here, and fall into that same kind of temptation to be indignant, or not love, forgive, or accept someone who has sinned in some way that we have not. It is not only the person in the “open sin” who is tempted — those who are not actively involved in that same sin are also tempted to be like Pharisees, and hold it against them. As Jesus often showed us, those Pharasiacal sins are often worse to deal with than the sins they condemn! Nothing is worse than a proud, self-righteous heart! Beware of it! 

You might ask your group: ??? Is there anyone right now that I am tempted to judge, feel superior to, or not forgive, because of some sin in their life??? 

(They don’t necessarily have to mention their name/situation out loud, just warn them not to succumb to the sin of indignation/self-righteousness against them.)

III. The Pre-eminence of Service  (:42-45)

“Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them; and their people in high position exercise authority over them. 43 But it is not this way among you; rather, whoever wants to become prominent among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wants to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Here Jesus points His disciples to the prominent place that SERVICE has in His kingdom. His disciples are NOT to seek the world’s kind of “greatness” — lording it over others — we are to seek to be great SERVANTS for Jesus! 

We’ve all experienced the heavy-handedness of someone who seemed to enjoy “throwing their weight around”: they’ve got a position you don’t have, and they are going to boss you around. That’s “the way of the world;” that’s what people in the world do. Get other people to serve YOU. Get the title, the recognition.

Paul Tsongas was a Massachusetts Democrat, who had served in the U.S. House and Senate for a number of years. Tsongas had voluntarily retired for family and health reasons. 

“But after retirement, he confessed to me what “heady stuff” it was to win the title of U.S. Senator. … “It was so overwhelming to have that word next to my name,” Tsongas said, a bit of wonder in his quiet voice even years later. “It just seemed so unlikely to everybody in the car, and yet from that moment on, that title attaches. And the respect accorded to that title, irrespective of person, is enormous, and you begin to think of yourself in those terms, to a lot of senators that title is life. I’ve seen people who have been defeated and who basically never got over having lost the title.”  (Hedrick Smith, in Katharine Graham’s Washington, p. 716)

This is the way of the world: everyone wants the “title,” the “position”, the recognition, honor; to feel like a “big shot,” and have people know and serve you. 

But then Jesus says these significant words in :43: “BUT IT IS NOT THIS WAY AMONG YOU.” That’s the way of the world; but that’s not the way it should be among My people; in My kingdom.  — Pastors are not to be this way (I Peter 5:3 says “Nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock”); 

— deacons are not to be this way (remember the very word “deacon” means “servant”, not “lord”!); 

— church members are not to be this way either. The church is not our “territory” and we are not its “lords.” It’s not “our committee,” “our kitchen,” “our ministry” or “our church.” We are not “little lords;” Jesus is Lord, and we are only His SERVANTS, all of us. “It is not this way among you”!

I’d share some examples of great men who were servants, like Jesus commended here. If you don’t use it for an opening illustration, you could use my sister’s story about the IMB President serving tables during this point.

OR: you could use this example of the second President of the United States, from David McCullough’s biography of John Adams;

“(One) evening, when fire broke out next door in the Treasury Building, (President John) Adams was immediately out the door and across the way to lend a hand. A newspaper described the event the next day: ‘The fire for some time threatened the most destructive effects — but through the exertions of the citizens, animated by the example of the President of the United States (who on this occasion fell into the ranks and aided in passing the buckets) was at length subdued.’” (David McCullough, John Adams, p. 559)

Another illustration you could use here is from Robert Caro’s biography of Lyndon Johnson:

“(LBJ’s campaign group) was an organization not only young, energetic and capable but devoted to its leader. When someone sneered at Carroll Keach for again being only Johnson’s chauffeur, Keach replied simply: “Everyone can do something for him. This is what I can do for him.” (Robert A. Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path To Power, p. 680)

That is how we should be with the Lord. He is our King; we are His servants. We should GLORY in anything good we can do for Him, no matter how menial it might seem to others. We shouldn’t have to have “recognition” or some “high profile” job; just whatever service we can do for Him — and Jesus says if we will be His servants, even in humble, menial ways, we will be rewarded as GREAT in His kingdom.

??? For discussion/application, you might ask your group (and have some of your own answers ready here too):  ??? What are some ways we can apply being “servants/slaves” in OUR church, right now, instead of “domineering” and “exercising authority” like the world???

(Some answers might include: 

— Serving in the nursery; a “menial” job, yet important, letting parents be in church where they can hear the word (might be a good day to have nursery signup sheets in your SS class!) 

— Be willing to be a “role player” in the choir and not a soloist in the “spotlight”, etc. 

— I think of our “Trunk or Treat” — we need people to sign up for various tasks: giving out treats, watching the bounce house; serving food; these are “menial” jobs — but Jesus says if we will be willing to do menial jobs, we will be great in His kingdom!

— In our Texas Port Ministry: taking supplies to sailors, driving them in vans to Walmart or to the Port Ministry building where they can hear the gospel;

— going on a mission trip, and being willing to be whatever they need you to do, as a servant. (Remember: servants don’t do what THEY want to do; real servants do whatever NEEDS to be done!)

SO many ways: letting others have their way in the church, not demanding your own way/opinions/preferences; something as small as letting others go first in line; cleaning up something messy, not letting it go because it’s “not your job” — and on and on …

Another good application/discussion question might be: ??? “Who is someone is our church who may not be “prominent” or thought of as a “leader”, yet who humbly and quietly serves, like Jesus says here — and whom He may reward as great in His kingdom?”???  Who exemplifies this in our church?

(I think of the ladies who serve our Wed PM meals; of several of our folks who weed our flower beds; of Susan Knight, who so patiently works with our Adults with Special Needs SS class, etc. Every church has people like that; you/your group can share some of your people; it will be good to hold up some good examples for others to imitate.)

Then you might either ask, or point out: ??? Who is THE greatest example of this???

(Of course it is JESUS Himself. He lived this out. In verse 45 He says: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

JESUS is the greatest example of service.

Ask or point out: ??? What are some examples of Jesus’ humble service??

— His coming to earth in the first place: Philippians 2 says He emptied Himself to come to earth in the first place: God becoming a Man; then “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death; even death on a cross.”  He came to earth, as He says in :45, not to be served. He didn’t come down, expecting everyone to worship and serve Him — though they should have! But He came to serve — and to serve is the greatest way, by giving His life as a payment for our sins. If He had served us in no other way, it would have been the greatest service. (YOU MIGHT SHARE THE GOSPEL AT THIS POINT.)

— His washing the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. Especially when we realize that even many SERVANTS in Jesus’ day would’t do that; it was considered beneath even some of the household servants! But Jesus did it. And He told His disciples, follow My example in this. We are to serve each other in the most menial things. There is nothing that is “not in my job description” as a Christian!   And Jesus is the greatest Example of this. 

The application for this lesson is, if we want to be great in God’s Kingdom, don’t seek the “spotlight” and “power” like people in the world do. In fact, this is one of Christianity in America’s biggest problems: we have too many people who are trying to be like the world, in the church. And Jesus says: “It is not this way among you.” May those words become seared into our minds: “It is not this way among you”!  Jesus calls us to be servants, not “lords” if we would be great in His kingdom. 

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