Mark 10:35-45, Hebrews 5:
A servant not a celebrity
It is very appealing to want to be seen as someone important, like a king or a celebrity, with everyone making a fuss of you.
Who are the current top celebrities? Who are we expected to look up to, to admire and to aspire to be like?
In our Bible reading from Mark 10, James and John wanted to have lots of glory and fuss and the best position in heaven, sitting next to Jesus. Not content with being nobodies on earth, these men had a future perspective. Their request was, of course, preposterous (Mark 10:35,37). Had they simply not been listening (vs 32-34)? Had they learnt nothing from what Jesus had said or how he had lived? Very patiently Jesus asks them, almost ironically, what he could do for them. Yet, even when they reflect on whether they could really keep pace with his standards, they exhibit a brainless sort of confidence nurtured by self-help purveyors of a good self-image (vs 38,39)! or something! It is not surprising that the rest of the disciples, possibly out of jealousy and a feeling of being upstaged, got annoyed with them (v 41).
Jesus went on to point out that the local politicians and officials acted very arrogantly and that kind of behaviour is not appropriate for Jesus’ followers. Still, a desire for fame, power and glory is nothing new – every person is susceptible. We all want to be significant; we all want our 15 minutes of fame. There is plenty of pressure in our society to want these things. The media nurtures this desire for celebrity by making it appear within the reach of ordinary people.
Jesus’ leadership contrasts starkly with the way that the so-called ‘real’ world operates – through bullying, manipulation and imposing their will. Service is the hallmark of any leadership which deserves to be called ‘like Jesus’ or ‘Christian’.
A servant gets dirty
Jesus told his friends they had to live a different way. [check Mark 10:43-45.] Instead of being a celebrity, Jesus’ followers should make it their goal to be servants or slaves. He could tell his friends to do this, because that was what he also did. [Refer to Mark 10:45.] If anyone had the right to be a celebrity, Jesus the Christ did. Instead, he chose to be a servant. This command is still true for Jesus’ friends today.
Christ’s service was in some ways unique to him and in other ways common to us all. The writer to the Hebrews portrays Jesus as a great high priest. The normal pattern or expectation in the Old Testament is that the priest, as a fallible human being, should be able to adequately represent broken humanity to God. He had to sacrifice for his own sins before he could do anything about the sins of others (vs I-5). He was specially appointed, as Christ was too. But Christ was appointed, not as a fallible and sinful high priest, but as one who had shared human experience without succumbing to its sinfulness. Jesus experienced everything in common with us all and his ‘perfection’ is to be found in this, that, throughout his life, he chose obedience to the Father (vs 6-10) which included the ultimate challenge of facing death. Many consider verses 7 and 8 as a description of Gethsemane where Jesus passed the ultimate test, submitting to the will of his Father. Submission to God’s will is the ultimate test of genuine Jesus-shaped leadership and status.
A servant suffers
Being a servant is not an easy thing to do. Jesus said that James and John would follow him in his suffering as must all true disciples to a greater or lesser degree. Hebrews 5:8 states that Jesus suffered as he lived as a human being and obeyed what the Father wanted him to do. He got sore feet and dirty hands, he was laughed at, criticised and threatened. Ultimately he was killed. This suffering had a purpose; it made him perfect for the job of saving all human beings. Since Jesus suffered, we should not be surprised that when we put ourselves last and become a servant we might also suffer.
This is more serious than just not getting what we want sometimes. For example it could include: letting someone else get all the praise for something you did, giving up a career or being overlooked for promotion, getting very dirty, doing difficult things that benefit others. Or it might be something much more serious. Our suffering has a purpose although we may not understand it, but it does mirror God’s love to people and shows them what God is really like.
The writer, Adrian Plass, tells of how he remembers his mother going out every evening at 9.30 to push their elderly neighbour up the stairs to bed because she (the neighbour) had bad knees. She did this physically demanding and awkward task year after year, and it shouted to him of God’s compassion and humility (Jesus – Safe,Tender, Extreme by Adrian Plass, p.53).
You can very likely think of people you know who have benefited from another person’s service. Especially those whose service and pointed to God.
A servant looks out for others
Remember that to be servants we need to help one another. In Mark 10:38, Jesus’ response to James’ and John’s request for the best seat in the house was to ask if they were able to be suffering servants like he was. We do well to ask this question of ourselves – and often: “Am I willing to be a servant like Jesus?” James and John said ‘Yes’ without knowing what it would involve. Are we also willing to say ‘Yes’, whatever that involves – and maybe we have a better idea than James and John did!
Summary
Jesus acted like a servant, even though it wasn’t easy. He did it because he loved us. If we want to follow Jesus, we should also be willing to be servants too. This means being willing to do what needs doing.