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(the suffering servant)
Verses 33-34 is the third and last time in the Book of Mark that Jesus predicted his suffering, his death and resurrection.
The first time is in 8:31, as simple as one verse:
“The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
The second time is in 9:31, also as simple as one verse:
“The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.”
This third time is in more detail:
“The Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles. And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.” (v33-34)
This time, he mentioned that he would be delivered to the Gentiles, namely Pilate the Roman governor and the Roman soldiers. Besides, he described how he was insulted by the Roman soldiers. As explained in the section for Mark 8:31-38, he kept on telling the disciples about his suffering, and in more detail as the time for his suffering was getting closer. There are two reasons behind the repeated messages:
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He told the disciples in advance what was going to happen on him, so that they might believe afterward what he predicted was true.
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He kept repeating this message so that they would not forget and might recall what he previously said regarding his suffering, and then believe that he was truly the Christ of the cross and, more significantly, the Christ of resurrection.
He died for the whole world and was oppressed by his own people, who condemned the innocent to death. He was nailed on the cross and received the same penalty as a murderer. He finally proved himself to be an honourable and righteous servant of God: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin…He shall see of the travail of his soul (他必看見自己勞苦的功效), and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isa 53:10-11)
(the disciples sought high position)
Apart from Peter, James and John were the two closest disciples of Jesus. They suddenly came to Jesus and said, “Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.” (v35) Just think of what they said. They called Jesus their ‘master’. Yet they were asking their master to do for them whatever they wanted! Weren’t they supposed to do whatever their master wanted them to do? What were they thinking of the role of Jesus--their servant? Yes, their demand seemed to reflect the thinking of the general public, who kept demanding Jesus to serve them with regard to their physical needs. They honoured him as master but treated him like a servant. Are we treating our Lord like that? We keep praying to the Lord and asking him to cope with our life difficulties. But when it comes to serving Him, do we ever pray to the Lord like this, ‘Master, we would that we shouldest do for you whatsoever you shall desire.’? The two disciples took advantage of their intimate relationship with Jesus and raised their unreasonable demand, and expected their master to fulfill their wish.
Anyhow, their master asked them with a soft tone, “What would ye that I should do for you?” (v36) The two brothers said, “Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.” (v37) Matthew’s account was a little different. Matt 20:20-21 stated that it was their mother that brought two sons to Jesus and pleaded for them, “Then came to him the mother of Zebedees children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, ‘What wilt thou?’ She saith unto him, ‘Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.’ ” It’s not known whether the idea came from the mom or the two sons who asked their mom to plead with Jesus for their sake.
Jesus was about to enter Jerusalem the last time: “And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him.” (v32) Although Jesus foretold the disciples of his suffering, they had no idea of what he was talking about. They were just hoping that the time for Jesus to become the king of the Jews to arrive soon. The two sons (or their mom) thought that it was the appropriate time for them to request Jesus for an honourable seat in His kingdom before he overthrew the Roman authority, and hopefully would obtain his promise in advance. Their demand reflected their objective of following Jesus, which was to secure a top rank in the new Jewish government headed by their master.
What are we seeking indeed when we firmly say that we follow Jesus? Are we seeking an honourable seat in church like the Pharisees? Are we seeking a position in which we only obey our Lord but everyone else should obey us? In this manner, we are willing to submit to God’s command only but we won’t let ourselves subject to any human voice. Some of us who feel close to God tend to seek a leadership role like Moses and Joshua to lead the people of God and to pass God’s command to his people. This is what the Bible terms ‘arrogance’ or ‘self-conceit’ (I Tim 3:6, II Tim 3:4).
(Jesus’ reply)
1. They needed to suffer.
Jesus answered them, “Ye know not what ye ask.” (v38) Then he asked them back, “Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? And be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (v38) What was the cup that Jesus drank, of course, the cup of the cross. In the last supper, “he took the cup…and he said unto them, ‘this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.’ ” (14:23-24) What was the kind of baptism that he was baptized with? I think he was speaking the same thing, which was suffering for his Father’s work of salvation. In Rom 6:3-4, Paul likens our baptism to the baptism of Christ, which refers to his death and burial. Rom 6:3-4 says, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death...” Besides, his baptism carries onto his resurrection after death. Rom 6:4 says, “...that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” In this sense, Jesus was asking his two close disciples, “Can you die and resurrect like me?” And Jesus was telling the disciples that if they wanted a high seat in the kingdom of God, they had to suffer for it. This message is in line with what he said in 10:31, “the last first” (在後的將要在前).
The two disciples quickly gave their master a firm answer, “We can.” (v39) They did not even bother to think twice what their master meant but speedily gave him a positive answer. It looks like they wanted to receive a positive answer from Jesus quickly as well concerning their right and left seats. Jesus sounded like telling them that they really could do what he was about to do: “Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized.” (v39) In my opinion, Jesus’ word can have two different meanings. The general interpretation for this verse is that Jesus was predicting their suffering in the end for the gospel like him. Of course, in terms of the degree, their suffering was not comparable to his suffering. James turned out to be the second martyr after Stephen. (Acts 12:2) John was exiled to the island of Patmos in his advanced years. (Rev 1:9) Whether he became a martyr like his brother was not known. Another meaning was taken literally: like every believer, they would drink the cup every time they took the Lord’s supper. They would also be baptized into death like Jesus, as interpreted in Rom 6:3 above (“baptized into his death”). This meaning, which excludes physical suffering, may be the kind of thing that James and John were thinking of, and hence, their answer was so sure and fast.
2. Jesus had no authority to make the decision
Whichever the meaning was, Jesus gave them an answer that certainly disappointed them: “But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.” (v40) Jesus told them outrightly that he was not the final decision-maker with respect to their demand. As he implied, the positions next to Jesus in the kingdom of God were already prepared by the Father. The ranking, though prepared in advance but, according to the context of Jesus’ response earlier in verse 38, seems to relate closely to how much one suffers for the kingdom of God. Again, this principle is in line with the messages throughout the New Testament. While salvation is obtained by God’s grace through our faith, our position (or ‘reward’—the term generally used in the Four Gospels and Paul’s epistles) in God’s kingdom depends on our efforts devoted in our spiritual path. In the parable of the talents recorded in Matt 25:14-30, the servants who were given different amounts of talents were supposed to trade for more talents. According to the amount of labour they contributed, the landlord said to the two servants who received five and two talents, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.” (Matt 25:20,23) But as for the wicked and lazy servant who buried the one talent underground, he took the one talent from the wicked servant and gave it to him that received five talents at the beginning. To conclude the parable, Jesus said, “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” (Matt 25:29) In a sense, we have to make good use of the spiritual gifts given us and work as instructed for the glory or kingdom of God. At the end of our labour, we will be rewarded accordingly. At the end of his spiritual path, Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (II Tim 4:7-8) Those of us who have fought a good fight in their spiritual paths are guaranteed to receive a crown of righteousness as their reward.
(high seat in worldly system: command and not do / high seat in heavenly system: not command but do)
Now, Jesus’ firm answer to the two disciples did not end the issue. Instead, their demand triggered the fury of the other ten disciples: “when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John.” (v41) Why were the other disciples angry at them? Obviously, this is a phenomenon of power struggle. Their reaction fully exposes human desire for high position, which naturally causes envy and strife. In order to pacify the situation, Jesus had to correct their false views and cease their power struggle.
In our ruling and political system, high position means power and dominion over those who are under and subject to the authority: “their great ones exercise authority upon them.” (v42) This system inevitably causes endless struggle in which the contestants try to expel each other by all means. But Jesus said, “But so shall it not be among you, but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister (用人). And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.” (v43-44) In other words, the political or management system in the kingdom of God is entirely different from the worldly system. High position does not mean power or dominion over anyone but service only. What the disciples should practice while on earth is to serve others, if they are given honoured seats among the children of God. In such system, there exists no envy or power struggle, since everyone is looking for better ways and opportunities to serve others. Christians are to serve each other out of love rather than mastering others. The higher position you are in, the more service is required of you! In the parable of the talents, the one who is more able is given more talents to manage. Do you still have the strong desire of seeking a high position in the kingdom of God? Are you ready to take more service to serve more people?
Our Lord Jesus cited himself an example of being a servant for the disciples to learn: “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister (並不是要受人的服事，乃是要服事人), and to give his life a ransom for many.” (v45) Throughout the Four Gospels, we can see that Jesus serves more than commands, and this point is emphasized more strongly in the Book of Mark. That’s why this verse is aptly chosen to be the theme verse for the Book of Mark. Even when he commands his disciples, he is sending them away to serve others instead of staying with him to serve their master. The reason why he keeps his disciples by his side is to let them watch him how to serve the multitude in order to pave way for their ministry of being God’s servants in future. It is through service that promotes the servants of God to a higher position in the eyes of God.
Jesus said in Matt 23:11-12, “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased (必降為卑); and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” And he said in Matt 10:24-25, “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.” The Son of God became a servant of man (hence, he named himself 'the son of man'); shouldn’t we also learn to be the servants of man, or namely 'the sons of man'?