Whoever wants to become prominent among you shall be your servant

Mark 10:32-52 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, ³³ saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴ And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him; and three days later He will rise from the dead.”

³⁵ James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying to Him, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” ³⁶ 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.” ³⁸ But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” ³⁹ They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. ⁴⁰ But to sit on My right or on My left is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹ Hearing this, the other ten began to feel indignant with James and John. ⁴² 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.”

⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. And later, as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a beggar who was blind named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷ And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they called the man who was blind, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” ⁵⁰ And throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ And replying to him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the man who was blind said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” ⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.

Today’s text says: 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. But it is not this way among you; rather, whoever wants to become prominent among you shall be your servant; and whoever wants to be first among you shall be slave of all. 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.” Founded as a Christian nation, the idea of servant leader was established as the model for our government. Sadly, we have fallen far from that model. Our leaders domineer and exercise authority over us. As career politicians they serve themselves rather than the people. They serve the agendas of those who will line their pockets, accumulating wealth far beyond their salaries.  In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. ”Neither can one serve both money and the nation. The love of money has caused many in authority to despise our nation.

It is often said, regarding the passage of laws and appointments by the majority party, that elections have consequences. We see by the current conditions in our nation, record inflation, record crime, the crisis at our border and disrespect throughout the world, that it is true, elections do have consequences. Fortunately in our nation we have the opportunity and responsibility to choose those who are in leadership. A quality that should be a high priority of those who we elect should be that they understand the concept of serving rather than being served. In order for us to recognize that quality in others, we must also have it and exercise it in ourselves. In Luke 6:31 Jesus says: “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” Rather than complain about those who are in authority, Romans 12:14-21 says: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never repay evil for evil to anyone.Respect what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. We need to pray for our leaders to change and to be changed by coming to know the one who laid down His life for us all. For good to overcome evil, we must be willing to do good. We need to stand for what is right and for the one who is righteous.

Perhaps our nation has forever strayed from the model of servant leader and from our Christian values and foundation. Yet God says: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Amen.