SPEAKER_00 0:04

When was the last time you were truly captivated by the work of Jesus on the cross? In today's sermon entitled The Ransom for Many, we see how Christ gave his life to buy us back from the slave market of sin, redeeming us by his precious blood and calling us to follow the way of the cross.

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The Gospel reading today is taken from the book of Mark, chapter 10, verses 32 to 45. Verse 32. And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them, and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the child again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him and flock him and kill him. And after three days, he will rise. Verse 35. And James and John, the son of Zibedee, came up to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, Grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory. 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 was baptized? And they said to him, We are able. And Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I was baptized, you will be baptized. But to sit at my right hand on my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. Verse 41. And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you, but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and you give his life as a ransom for many. This is the gospel of Christ. Praise to Christ our Lord.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

So Mark 10, verse 32 tells us that the disciples were on the road. They were on the way towards Jerusalem. And Jesus was, in a way, walking ahead of them and leading the way. The text tells us that the disciples were amazed at this, at the fact that Jesus was leading the way, and some of them were afraid. Perhaps there was something in Jesus' resolute focus that startled those around. So uh in Mark chapter 10, there's a turn in the gospel towards Jerusalem. So Jesus was walking to the cross, uh, he was journeying to the cross, and there was a sense of intensity in his posture and mannerisms. So it kind of stirred those feelings of amazement and fear among those who followed Jesus. And when Jesus had a time again with the disciples, he took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was to happen to him in what is often known as the third passion prediction in Mark 10, 33 to 34. And Jesus said, See, we are going to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him and spit on him and flock him and kill him, and after three days he will rise. We see a close connection in our reading today, if you follow me in the text before us, in Mark chapter 10, verse 33 to 34, and Mark chapter 10, verse 35 to 45. In other words, it is part of a unit and is meant to be written, meant to be read together. So Mark 10, 33 to 34 tells us about Jesus' prediction about him going to the cross and his passion. And Mark 10, 35 to 45 tells us about the request of James and John. So the two incidents, Jesus' prediction of his death and James and John, their response and request to Jesus are to be seen and read together. And this is indicated by two factors. One is there isn't a change of scene, right? So according to account, it seems that they were still on the road to Jerusalem. And the other indication is a more uh grammatical note, is if you look at Mark 10, verse 32, it says, and they were on the road going up to Jerusalem and so on. And in Mark 10, 35, the connecting uh word and is again used. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus and said to him, uh and so on and so forth. So uh these two indications tells us that Mark wants us to see both of them intimately connected. Jesus predicting his death and the request of the disciples. We also see further developments from the previous passion predictions in the Gospel of Mark. So if you look at the uh the PowerPoint slide, so there are altogether three predictions. Passion predictions meaning the Jesus foretelling he's going to the cross and uh to die, and three days he will rise again. So there are two uh passion predictions, one from Mark 8 31 and one from Mark 9.31. So they are quite similar, but the amount of details given in the third passion prediction is much more. That means uh Jesus is going towards the cross, is intensifying. So Mark is giving us more details as to what Jesus will go through. So in the first passion prediction in Mark 8:31, and Jesus began to teach the disciples, telling them the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests and the scribes be killed, and after three days rise again. The second passion prediction in Mark 9 31 carries a similar thought where Jesus taught his disciples and he said the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him, and after he is killed, he after three days, when he's killed, after three days he will rise. But as we read earlier, the third passion prediction includes further gentile further details, and we see one of the details that is being revealed is that the Gentiles would be the ones to execute Jesus. So there's further details on who will be the ones uh executing or killing Jesus, and there are also further details on how Jesus will suffer, right? Uh Mark tells us, Mark 10, the scripture before us, in Mark 10, 33 to 34, it tells us further details. Jesus will suffer, he will be mocked, he will be spared at, flocked, and finally killed. So as Jesus proceeds towards the cross, Mark informed us with greater detail and in greater intensity what Jesus himself will go through. So we see the description of what Jesus will go through, his suffering, his being mocked at, spat at, flocked, and killed. A clear resemblance of what we call the suffering servant of Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 55, there were uh prophecies made regarding uh the coming one who will suffer and give his life on behalf of humanity. So Jesus in a way embodies this suffering servant of Isaiah, and we see that in Isaiah 53 verse 5, which says, But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. Again, Isaiah 53, verse 8 says, By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. Then we see the response, the close connection. Jesus predicted his death, and then we see the response of James and John in Mark 35 to 40. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And Jesus said, What do you want me to do for you? And they said, Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory. Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, We are able. And Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. But to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to grant, but is for those for whom it has been prepared. So both James and John were eyewitnesses to the transfiguration of Jesus. In Mark chapter 9, verse 2 to 13 records the transfiguration of Jesus. And very significantly, they were the ones Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on the mountain, and Jesus was transfigured. Right? And when they were coming down the mountain in Mark 9, verse 9 to 10, it reads that as they, Jesus, and the disciples were coming down the mountain, Jesus charged them to tell no one what they had seen about Jesus' glorification until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So the disciples kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. This is what Mark says. So for the disciples who had witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus, perhaps at this point their minds connected with Jesus rising from the dead. That's what he mentioned in Mark 9, verse 9 to 10. And immediately they connected Jesus rising to the dead with his glorification. And therefore they were focused on the final vindication and glorification of Jesus. And both James and John, part of Jesus' inner circle, wanted a share in Jesus' glorification. So they said, uh, when you are in your kingdom, grant us one to sit at your right and one at your left. Moreover, since Jesus was nearing Jerusalem and nearing the climax of his earthly ministry, perhaps they were asking the question, what would my share be in the kingdom of Jesus? They wanted the place of honor, the place they wanted in some ways, it's quite an audacious claim. They wanted to be glorified with Jesus in his right and his left. They wanted to be at the place of prominence, of recognition. Therefore, Jesus responded to them in Mark 10, 38. You do not know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? The cup here speaks of the judgment that Jesus will absorb on himself on the cross. So biblically, the cup speaks of judgment. So Jesus is saying, Are you able, Peter and John, you want to seek glory? Uh sorry, not Peter and John, James and John. You want to seek glory, but are you able to bear the judgment of sin on yourself? In other words, this is the question the Jesus posed to the disciples. And the baptism refers to Jesus' vocation, his role as a suffering servant of the Lord in Mark. So are you able to bear the baptism? Are you able to embody me as a suffering servant of the Lord? So precisely they couldn't, right? They couldn't be the one to drink the cup and to bear the judgment. Neither can they embody the suffering servant of Isaiah. So again, the disciples having their eye and their view towards glorification said, ah, they could, they could do that. They could definitely drink. So it shows us that they were at this point when Jesus was nearing the cross, they were still completely ignorant of what Jesus had to go through, despite explicit details being mentioned to them. So they had their minds all along on vindication and glory, which is not wrong because it will happen at the time when Jesus is finally glorified. But Mark wants us to know that it will not happen without Jesus' suffering and service in paying a ransom for us. So one of the greatest irony and the truth of the text before us today is that actually if you turn to Mark 15, verse 27, in there's an identical uh phrasing of the words to sit at my right and my left, you know, where do you know who were at Jesus' right and Jesus' left? In Mark 15, 27, they were the two crucified robbers. Mark 11, verse 20. Mark 15, verse 27 reads, and with Jesus, with him, they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. So what Jesus is saying here is startling. He's saying that his own suffering and judgment, the cup that he has to bear, the judgment of God and his suffering, being the suffering servant of the Lord, is not merely a means to glory. It's not just having to endure that to have final vindication and glorification. But according to Jesus, when he was lifted up on the cross, that was the display of glory itself. So suffering and judgment for Jesus, according to Mark, it's not just a means to glory, it's not like how the disciples understood the end and just the vindication, but the whole process of Jesus bearing suffering and judgment on himself, it is the glory. Right? Because in Mark 15, 27, Jesus was crucified, and on his right and on his left were two robbers. Jesus then gives his punchline in Mark 10, 42 to 45. Jesus called them to him and said to them, called his disciples and said, You know those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles, lord it over them, and their great ones, exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. For the Gentiles and the Roman rulers, the concept of greatness means that the greater you are, you will have more servants at your command and authority who will serve you. In other words, if I'm a someone who is great, I will have an entourage of servants by my side at my pack and call. So the more people I command, the more people I have authority that I can exercise that authority shows my greatness. And Jesus kind of reversed this whole idea and concept. So, in other words, Jesus is saying that if the great ones, if those who are great are actually the servants, what advantage is there to be a supporter of a servant? How what is the greatness? How great can you be if you be support a servant? So, in other words, according to Jesus, there are no positions of glory to be handed out. On the contrary, the greatest glory is manifested in Jesus' suffering and judgment. His bearing the cup of judgment and his vocation of being the suffering servant of the Lord. It's not an appendix to his ministry, but at the central core of the gospel of Mark, it is the glory itself. So Jesus achieves this through service, by being a servant and by paying a ransom for us. Mark 10 45 instructs us for even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So if a first century Jew had heard the statement that Jesus died for many, his first thought would probably have been to connect with the system of sacrifice in the Old Testament, where blood was shed in God's presence for the sake of God's people as a sacrifice to cover their sins. In Leviticus 17, verse 11, we read that the blood of a sacrificed animal covers over sin or guilt, because the life of a creature is in the blood, and it is the blood that makes atonement or that covers sin. In Numbers 15, we hear about again sacrifices made for sin. And in Exodus 29, there is a command, there's a commandment given to offer a lamb morning and evening, day by day, in the temple sanctuary, reminding the people of Israel that at their central figure of worship is sacrifice. Something must be sacrificed, something or someone must be offered up. So we cannot worship God without a sacrifice. In other words, Jesus has to come to pay to pay a ransom for us, to die on the cross, to pay the ransom, to ransom, to buy us back from the slave market of sin. So Jesus came to give his life on the cross as a ransom. He buys us back, so to speak, from the slave market of sin. This is also Jesus' ultimate service to us. Jesus serves us by dying on the cross for us. Let me repeat Jesus serves us by dying on the cross for us. This is the ultimate measure of the extent He would go to. Be a servant of the Lord and also his ultimate glory, symbolized by the two robbers being crucified. The disciples wanted the place of glory on the right and the left, but Jesus Himself showed us that the true place of glory is the point and the place of crucifixion. Because when Jesus was crucified, there's hope of reconciliation between God and man. So I'm reminded of a song by Bob Coughlin. It's a familiar song that says, Thank you for the cross. And remember, I used to sing that uh in camps, especially in youth camps, in the 1990s and early 2000s. So, you know, the words of the song is very meaningful, thank you for the cross, the mighty cross, that God Himself should die for such as us. And every day, because of the cross, because of our gratitude and experience of Jesus being a servant for us by dying on the cross for our sins, then every day as we embrace the cross for our lives, every day we are changed into his image more and more. And yes, by the cross we've truly been transformed. And we are so amazed and we give you praise that you would save us at such a cost. We are so amazed and we give you praise for the power of the cross. For the power of the cross. You see, in our lives today, one of the uh key uh ideas of spiritual formation of or God forming Christ in us is that the cross of Jesus has to be bigger and bigger in our lives, right? But as we go through life and trials, you know, when we face uh tough situations, sometimes the cross gets smaller and smaller in our lives. So can you imagine uh uh when you throw a ray of light uh onto a screen, right? Uh there is the, I mean, in your physics lessons and all, you will draw arrows, right? As light is reflected. So whether object is far from a certain distance, you know, whether it's bigger or smaller. So the whole idea is how do we keep Christ, the cross, at the center of our lives and ever large and ever in focus, instead of bringing it, making it smaller and smaller in our lives. And that happens sometimes inevitably as we go through uh trials or when we uh go through uh tough times, challenges. How can we keep the cross as the center focus in our lives? Because I believe when we truly embrace the cross as Jesus' ultimate act of service to us and his ultimate glory, it will transform us. We will never be the same. So, as much as we recognize uh that God is transcendent, that he is the great and almighty God that is so much uh greater and transcendent from us, we can never be like God. We can never be like him in terms of his greatness, his power, and the Old Testament is full of imageries of God's sovereign rule and his greatness. But we mustn't miss the fact that God is also a servant, right? And uh and for Jesus, as what uh um Dr. Tan Kim Huat from uh um Trinity Theological College once said um to be God is to be a servant, right? For Jesus, to be God is to be a servant. I mean, when you think about that, it's astounding. I mean, can do you ever think of God as a servant? Right? We don't usually associate that idea or concept very readily, right? Because we come to worship, I mean service, we always magnify God's greatness, which rightly so. But if you read the gospel of Mark carefully, you can't help to but come to this uh conclusion that the Son of Man shows us his servanthood to his extremities by giving his up his life for us on the cross. So for Jesus, according to the gospel of Mark, to be God is to be a servant, right? So he's going, even uh like Philippians tells us, right, he humbled himself to death on the cross, and more than that, he became a servant by giving up his life for us. So this forms the heart of our faith and what it means to follow Jesus today. The cross of Jesus must always be central in our lives. It must always be at the center of our focus and our lives. That's how we walk, some would say the cruciform life, a life where uh we learn to deny ourselves, take up our cross. But if the cross is not centered in our lives, if the sacrifice of Jesus is not at the center, then self-denial will be almost an impossibility. Right? I don't think God calls us to deny ourselves in our own strength. You know, if you just read the gospels and try to live it out in your own strength, you will fail. Because it's impossible for us to live out the gospel and the demands of Jesus in our own strength. But if you look at it from the angle of the cross of what Jesus had done for us, his prior work for us, he's setting the example for us, then it becomes doable. Denying ourselves becomes possible because God Himself showed us the example. So for Jesus to be God is to be a servant. This is the core and the heart of what it means to follow Jesus. In other words, as Jesus is, so we are called to be. In other words, just as how Jesus laid down his life for us on our behalf, John could exhort us similarly in John chapter 15, verse 13, he says, Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. Again in 1 John 3.16, he says, By this, we know love that he, Jesus, laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. So Jesus laying down his life for us, for John, then becomes a pattern of our life and ministry. Right? So, and John himself was an eyewitness to the transfiguration of Jesus, and he was in the Gospel of Mark, right, with Jesus jostling for the place of honor, and now perhaps in a more mature version upon reflection, he could say, Love is this, because he has seen his master giving up his life on the cross, and therefore he can say that by this we know love, that Jesus laid down his life for us, so we ought to lay down our life for our brothers, and again, John 15, verse 13 greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends, right? So there's something unique about Jesus' death and the cross that is able to transform us from the inside out, right? And again, if you read this John 15, 13 and 1 John 3, 16 in isolation, it seems that God is calling us to martyrdom, right? It seems so impossible. I mean, how can I, in all my selfishness and inward uh focus uh to myself, how can I die for others? Right? But again, because Jesus has set the example, so all of us can do it. And so the question I like to leave with us is this When was the last time you were captivated by the cross of Christ and his sacrifice for you? When was the last time the cross was enlarged before you? When was the last time you were captivated by the cross of Christ and his sacrifice for you that you were inspired to be a servant who lays down his life for others as Jesus would do? Now is the time for us to ask Jesus to make this truth real in our experience of Him.

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We pray that you've been ministered to by the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about Eastern Christian Church, please visit our website at yccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.