Psalm 88; Isa. 61:1-9; 2 Tim. 3:1-17; Mark 10:32-45
This is the passage that Jesus chooses to define His ministry and then invites them to watch and see if He does exactly these things in the world. As they don’t accept Him as the servant of God, the Messiah, they don’t see the full blessing and the glory of Israel. The fullness of that revelation awaits the second coming, the coming in judgment. If we look back at chapter 49 of the prophecy we see the servant mourning that he has failed in bringing the people to the Lord and yet the Lord says that is too small a thing, that the real mission will include also bringing the Gentiles into the kingdom. It is the grace of God that we await this same end that was promised through Isaiah to the Jews. Are our eyes and hearts seeking truly for His kingdom to come?
This passage makes me cringe to read it. James and John surely cringed every time they recalled this encounter, asking for chief seats at Jesus’ throne and the presumption that they could be like Him. Jesus tells them that not only will he undergo rejection and ignominious death, they will likewise drink the cup of suffering. Their lives will not be what they imagine here with an earthly throne, but they will be honored in heaven and we know that because of the revelation. Our lives are to be like Jesus’ life, servants. We don’t like it though, we can do it for a while but we often come to places where we want to be more, just like these men. Humility doesn’t come naturally to us.
The first five verses are an incredible catalog of what we are without Jesus at the center of our lives. We will have something there and without him it we rarely fill that void with anything approaching noble desires and even when we do there is self-seeking in our motives most of the time. How many people would we have to avoid in life if we avoided those Paul warns against? How many people would need to avoid us? Paul says something truly remarkable, “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” All? He is right and I know it because Jesus said the same thing. Have we accommodated ourselves too much to the world? Are we truly pursuing godly life? I like singing the song better than the reality.
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold and precious silver
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold, pure gold
Refiner's fire, my heart's one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You, my Master
Ready to do Your will
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