Sunday Sermon - September 6, 2026 - Gospel of Mark 10:32-45 - James and John

As we have move through the Gospel of Mark we have gone through many phases of Jesus teaching. Jesus has taught about his pending death, but not in detail. The disciples have not seemed to understand what the meaning of all of this is. They know and believe that Jesus is the Messiah that the Old Testament prophets have promised but they are still under the impression that Jesus is the Messiah that will overthrow the Romans and establish the new Davidic Kingdom. Jesus will again put that to the test using the disciple’s own pride.

Mark 10:32 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 twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,

Mark 10:33 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.

Mark 10:34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

Just to give you a time frame, Jesus is heading to Jerusalem for the Passover, and it is during this time that Jesus is going to the cross. Our Roman reader does not understand these concepts, what is taking place, why all of this which was foreshadowed in the OT is now about to come clear.

But let’s remember that in the eyes of the Roman reader all he sees is a man, who is on his way to Jerusalem, a place where according to Jesus he will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and give him to the Gentiles. And these same Gentiles are going to mock him, spit on him, flog him and then kill him. So this death is not a quick and easy death, it is a death full of pain and suffering, and yet there is no explanation as to why this has to take place, and why this man who was able to heal so many people, who was able to calm the storms, to raise people from the dead, why this person with so much power is seemingly willing to go through all of this. This truly makes no sense. And now that Jesus has told them this, we see his disciples asking for favors.

Mark 10:35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

Mark 10:36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Mark 10:37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”

James and John still functioning in this idea that Jesus is some type of earthly ruler. We often read in your glory as a heavenly rule, but, in this case they are speaking of the glory of the new kingdom of Israel. It is quite a request, these two brothers are asking Jesus for the opportunity to be sitting in the second position of authority, it would be Jesus, James and then John. That is a bold request, and even more bold considering the conversations that the disciples had earlier about who was the greatest among themselves, clearly James and John believed themselves to be the greatest, and why they asked Jesus for these positions.

Mark 10:38 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?”

Jesus says to them, Boys you do not have a clue what you are asking for, because to have that kind of authority, you have to do the same things that I have to do. This is not a job that is just all perks, and no work, this is more works than perks, and I think you are just looking at the perks, and not the work that is takes to be in those positions.

Mark 10:39 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,

When they respond that they are, by the way having zero clue what either of those mean, they just said yes, because they want to be in the position more than they want to consider the consequences of what Jesus had just told them. But Jesus confirms that they will indeed drink from that same cup and be baptized with the same baptism, because those things are what Jesus said He was on His way to Jerusalem to do. Again, there is a disconnect between what Jesus is saying and what the disciples are wanting.

Mark 10:40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

Here Jesus tells them that even though you are willing, it is not his to give. What do you mean Darin, this is God here, He can do anything that He wants. That is true, however the Triune God has already established the order of events, the plan of redemption moves forward, and those places are not in that plan, that is not what Jesus is here for, He is here for another purpose, and the purpose and the plan of God will not be altered because the sons of Zebedee wish to do a power grab.

Mark 10:41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.

Well of course they did. This is another reminder that these men are not some types of super spiritual humans, something we all too often place them. These men as sinful, and maybe even a bit more so, because they have attached themselves to a winner. See in the 1^st century Judah has a lot of “Messiah” walking around but these disciples have had to good fortune to get connected with the real one, so the rest of you losers out there are just pretending, we are the real deal. So being a part of the real Messiah you want to make sure that you are at the top of the food chain.

Mark 10:42 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.

Mark 10:43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant.

Mark 10:44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

Jesus once again tries to correct their view of position, power and leadership. Jesus tells them, look in the world especially the Gentiles, leaders exercise their authority over people, they sit in a position above everyone else, and if is a view of do as I say, not as I do. Jesus says that His disciples are not to function as this type of leader. What Jesus is describing here has been pretty much unknown concept during His time. Today we call this the Servant Leadership model. In other words, you demonstrate leadership by being a servant to those who you lead. This requires a humble spirit, one that is willing to lower themselves, hence why Jesus remarks that the servant leader is a slave to everyone else. They are there to serve others, they are the ones who step in without being asked, they are the ones who sacrifice their wants, dreams and desires for the good of their followers.

Look, it is simple, anyone can tell someone else what to do. That does not take any skill whatsoever, but to step up and demonstrate to them the action you expect by doing it yourself takes a special person, it takes a person who is willing to lay it all down, putting the needs to everyone else before themselves. It is never about what the individual wants, it is what is best for everyone, and if you think, well I know what is best for everyone, hence I am going to tell them what to do, that is not servant leadership, you are still functioning as what Jesus said, the Gentiles do. We should want to inspire servant leadership, we should want to have people step out and we do this by stepping out ourselves, and asking them to join along, helping them to see their abilities. Trust them, do not micromanage them, stand over them, you gave them the job, let them do it.

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus notes two things here, one He has stated before. The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and Jesus has done this, He has served by healing, feeding and teaching. He has not lauded over men, He came teaching repentance of sin, the true meaning of the Old Testament teachings. He came to heal, to show that He has the power of God to heal the sick and the lame, to caste out demons. None of this was Jesus under any obligation to do, and yet He did it, willingly. He allowed many of personal teaching times with His disciples to be hijacked by others almost to the point of frustration, and now that His time is running short, Jesus is trying to teach His disciples what the true meaning of leadership is, what the true meaning of sacrifice is, and that their worldly ambitions are misplaced.

But it is the second part that is new. Jesus has said three different times that He was going to die and be risen on the third day, but until this point, He has not said why, until now. Jesus says that He is going to give His life as a ransom for many. A ransom? A ransom means that you need to pay off something that someone else owns. Now in our modern view a ransom is to pay off someone who has been kidnapped. They take the person hold the hostage and demand that you pay to get them back.

However, the Greek term here is λύτρον lutron, in the root of the word means to loosen, that something that has a grip on them and so Jesus is says that something as a grip, a hold on them and He has come to provide away to remove that grip, or to loosen it, so that the many may escape that grip. But the question our Roman reader has is, what is holding onto this many, that Jesus has to lay down His life for. And that it must be serious indeed if a man needs to die. Our Roman readers is trying to think this through, what is so serious that Jesus, who has done all of these wonderful things, why is it that He is now telling us, that He has to give His life, so that many will be released from the grip of something so bad, that He actually needs to die to set them free?

John Stott, gives us a clear definition of what is that which must be loosen, by Jesus in his book the Cross of Christ.

“First, our sin must be extremely horrible. Nothing reveals the gravity of sin like the cross. For ultimately what sent Christ there was neither the greed of Judas, nor the envy of the priests, nor the vacillating cowardice of Pilate, but our own greed, envy, cowardice and other sins, and Christ’s resolve in love and mercy to bear their judgment and so put them away. It is impossible for us to face Christ’s cross with integrity and not to feel ashamed of ourselves. Apathy, selfishness and complacency blossom everywhere in the world except at the cross. There these noxious weeds shrivel and die. They are seen for the tatty, poisonous things they are. For if there was no way by which the righteous God could righteously forgive our unrighteousness, except that he should bear it himself in Christ, it must be serious indeed. It is only when we see this that, stripped of our self-righteousness and self-satisfaction, we are ready to put our trust in Jesus Christ as the Saviour we urgently need.”

Stott, John R. W. The Cross of Christ (p. 92). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

The problem is sin, sin has a hold on each and every person, the Roman would understand that doing wrong is sin, and just like the Jew he would handle it much in the same fashion, he would acknowledge the sin before his god, confess it, say that he is not going to do it anymore, repent, and then because it needs to be paid for, he will sacrifice something dear to him. This could be an object that he likes, to an animal. The Jew is going to sacrifice an animal. But I hope you see what this results in, a transactional process that is just repeated over and over and the routine of the process takes any actual meaning out of it, it is just what you do. So, while the Roman does not know yet, that Jesus is talking about sin, we can help point him to that and direct him to his routine that fails to address the problem. In our modern world, unbelievers have developed other process to handle their sin problem, it is called behavior management or behavior modification, I see that my behavior is causing dysfunction in my life so I seek to change my behavior by modifying my routine, and in all honesty, it is no different than the process that the Roman or Jew was doing. I am made aware of the problem, I confess that problem openly, I say that I am going to change and stop doing that behavior and then I seek a system of punishment and reward.

So what is the problem with that? Darin that seems like a good thing, it helps the person better themselves, why are you beefing on this. One because it is not addressing the real issue, which is not found in the behavior but found in the heart. They do not need their behavior modified; they need their hearts transformed. So when our unbelieving friend reads the Gospel of Mark and he gets to this, Mark 10:45, and he looks at us about this ransom, we can explain to them that it is sin that has a grip on them, and when they say, Oh, well I had a problem with X and I did this plan and it took care of that problem. And we need to be honest with them, because at this moment, they are not being honest with themselves, and this is where the conversation can get difficult and uncomfortable.

Did you really take care of the problem? Or did you just substitute something else in its places that is less of an issue? See the problem is not the problem, the problem is you, and unless you have been changed from the inside, you are just dressing up the problem, putting a new set of clothes on it and declaring it all better, the problem is still there, you have not address it, you are avoiding it. But when we expose those problems to the light of Christ, we see through the dress up, we see through the behavior modifications, and we see what is under it all and it is sin, a sin that has a hold and a grip that will not let go, and let me tell you my friend, you in and of yourself cannot loosen the grip of sin from your life, only the transformative work of the Spirit of God can remove that grip.

There is no behavioral modification in the Christian faith, behavior modification is works salvation, it is I can do better, I can sin less if I just do XY and Z, no you cannot, and better yet, you do not have to, Jesus came to pay a ransom, to loosen that grip on your life, and transform your heart so that you do not have to modify your behavior, the Spirit of God will change your heart

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

Ezekiel 36:26-27

Darin Bracy is the pastor at Yorktown Baptist Church in Yorktown Virginia. He is a graduate of Veritas Baptist College with a BA in Ministry and a minor in History. He has a wife Stacy, two daughters, Ashlynne and her husband Justin, their daughter Harper Darin's other daughter Aftyn, and her two dogs, Eddie and Lulubelle.

You can reach Darin at his email address, Darinbracy@gmail.com and you can see his video content on YouTube – Basic Baptist Guy