Slices
Prepare
Think of a time when you had to follow someone, by car or on foot. What emotions did you experience at the different stages of the journey? How do you feel about following Jesus right now?
Bible passage
Jesus predicts his death a third time
32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 ‘We are going up to Jerusalem,’ he said, ‘and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.’
The request of James and John
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’
36 ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked.
37 They replied, ‘Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.’
38 ‘You don’t know what you are asking,’ Jesus said. ‘Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?’
39 ‘We can,’ they answered.
Jesus said to them, ‘You will drink the cup I drink and be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.’
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must 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.’
Explore
Maybe it was because Jesus chose them first (Mark 1:16–20) that James and John expected preferential rewards for following Jesus. They may have had Psalm 110 verse 1 in mind as they anticipated Jesus’ glory.
Jesus is leading the way (v 32) directly to the cross. After his resurrection he will continue to lead the way (Mark 14:28; 16:7). This trajectory – to suffering before glory – will continue to be the heart of what it means to follow him. He made this clear (eg 8:34,35), but his disciples seem incapable of absorbing this reality. They are astonished as he heads to Jerusalem.
Power is seductive. Regimes change all the time, but unless there is a radical shift in attitudes to power, one oppressive government will simply be changed for another. At the heart of Jesus’ kingdom is the reverse of what people normally associate with ‘leading’ (vs 42–44). Jesus’ leadership serves rather than dominates, and liberates rather than enslaves (v 45).
Respond
Pray: ‘I have decided to follow you, Lord Jesus, but I’m so often the straggler, the wanderer, the one who disputes your navigation, even challenges your right to lead. Here, now, I fall into line. Lead on, Lord.’
Deeper Bible study
‘Breathe on me, breath of God, / fill me with life anew, / that I may love what thou dost love, / and do what thou wouldst do.’1
Jesus knew what awaited him in Jerusalem – protracted torture and suffering, culminating in a cruel and ignominious death. Yet again he tried to explain this to his inner circle, but to no avail. The fact that he would rise again was lost on those who could not accept his death in the first place. Yet there was an uneasiness, an ominous atmosphere as they trod the path which everyone knew would lead to Jerusalem. The disciples were amazed that Jesus would risk going there at all, but to their credit, they followed him anyway. Other people, who also followed Jesus, were afraid the Romans might think them a dangerous political rabble, an uprising they must quell with violence, but these loosely attached followers would soon enough disappear, melting away into the city crowds.
Reading Mark’s carefully structured Gospel, we are again surprised, even appalled, that on the road to Jesus’ death and passion, James and John are still consumed by their desire for recognition and status. That today’s reading is a single unit is made more obvious by removing the intrusive heading, the verse numbers, spaces and punctuation. This gives considerable literary force to the word ‘then’ (see v 35). Jesus finishes telling the disciples about his approaching death and resurrection. Then James and John try to ingratiate themselves. Jesus asks if they are willing to endure what he is about to endure. Unknowingly, they say they can, not realising what they are saying. But Jesus knows. He knows that they will soon follow him to martyrdom. By then, however, they will have understood. By then, their faith will not be in power and prestige but in the dying, rising and ascending Jesus, whose path of humility and self-sacrifice they will finally comprehend and embrace – the only path to God’s eternity.
Jesus, Lord of destiny, grant me the grace and fortitude to follow the path that I must tread, your path of humility and self-sacrifice, the path to everlasting life.
1 Edwin Hatch, 1835–89
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ezekiel 28,29; 1 Peter 5
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for all our Grow Communities across England and Wales that support and encourage children and young people in their journey of faith. Pray that we can continue to support them effectively and that new Grow Communities will continue to emerge.
