“The Upside Down Kingdom” (Mark 10:35–45)

1 The Upside Down kingdom (Mark 10:35 45) Do you remember your first day of high school, college, or graduate school? What types of emotions did you experience? I ll never forget my first day of graduate school. I was excited and apprehensive. I was looking forward to the challenge of seminary and preparing for pastoral ministry, yet I wondered if I could cut the mustard academically. I had only been married a month and was eager to begin a new life with Lori. I was excited about my classes, especially my class on the book of Romans. I couldn t believe I was going to be able to spend an entire semester studying Romans the greatest book of the Bible. The professor for this class was, Dr. John Terveen. I ll always remember my first day of his class.

2 The attendance roster was being read and my name was called. Dr. Terveen smiled and said, Hey, Krell, what s it like having a wife who can out preach you? Of course, the class erupted in laughter. This amusing but accurate remark stemmed from the May 1993 baccalaureate sermon at Multnomah University. My wife to be, Lori Griffin, was the valedictorian speaker and she preached the best sermon I ve ever heard on Mark 10:35 45. One Multnomah staff member said that he might have to rethink his view of women in ministry. A Bible professor said it was the best sermon he s heard a woman preach in the last thirty years. Regardless of how well I preach this text, this sermon will be the second best sermon preached by a member of the Krell family.

3 It is important for you to know that even though I have taken eight preaching classes, Lori has taught me more about preaching than any other professor or biblical scholar. Having listened to thousands of sermons during her life, Lori is a student of preaching. Hence, she knows my preaching strengths and weaknesses and is able to evaluate both. Furthermore, her journalism background has given her great command of the English language. Consequently, she has edited and critiqued my sermons for years. Lori s mission in life has been to serve me and ensure that our ministry is faithful to God. I share all this with you so that you understand that if there is anything worthwhile in my preaching, it is because of my wife s expertise and patience.

4 More importantly, if there is any good that comes out of our ministry it is because of God s grace and Lori s humility and self-sacrifice to serve our family and me. In Mark 10:35 45,1 Jesus and His disciples have one of the most memorable dialogues in the New Testament. In these eleven verses, Jesus emphasizes the importance of humility and service. He insists that self-giving service is the only greatness recognized by God, and only those who give of themselves for others will be the big winners with In so many words, Jesus insists that we must: Climb down the ladder to greatness. In other words, instead of ambitiously seeking to climb the ladder and attain greatness, we must sacrificially serve others.

5 Jesus reveals that He is the King of an Upside down kingdom . His rules go against the grain of what our world says. In 10:35, while Jesus is speaking of His looming death (cf. 10:32 34), James and John3 approach Him. James and John are two brothers who belong to Jesus inner circle. 4 The inner circle also includes Peter. These disciples are especially intimate with Christ. They alone were present for the healing of Jairus daughter (5:37) and for the Transfiguration when Jesus was glorified (9:2). James and John are also called the sons of thunder (3:17). These brothers have fiery personalities and zeal for the Lord. This leads them to ask a rather presumptuous question: Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.

6 In other words, Jesus, we have this blank check .. would you mind just signing your name right here so we can cash it in? Several times my daughter, Jena, has asked me, Daddy, will you promise to do whatever I ask? In other words, Jena wants some degree of confidence that I will say yes to whatever she asks me. Needless to say, I find it rather unwise to make blind promises. Earlier in Mark s gospel, Herod Antipas made a blank check promise of up to half of his kingdom that resulted in his wife and daughter requesting John the Baptist s head be delivered to her on a platter (cf. 6:22 23).5 Wisdom dictates not making blind promises. Since Jesus is wise and shrewd, He asks James and John, What do you want Me to do for you?

7 (10:36). Jesus cuts to the chase and makes the brothers cough up exactly what they want Him to do for them. The brothers reply, Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory (10:37). The word grant (dos) is an imperative verb of command, not a request. In other words, these brothers are audaciously commanding Jesus for a seat of Every night when I was growing up, my parents would take turns reading the Bible to my brother and me. Our time of Bible study took place in my younger brother s room. My Dad or Mom would sit on the middle of the bed and Tim and I would sit on the left or right side. Every night, we would fight for the left side. We both wanted the left side because it was the closest to the door.

8 If we behaved well, when we were done with our Bible study, we could go upstairs and play. So every night we would position ourselves so that we could sit on the left side and be the first to exit the room. There were times when I would deliberately go downstairs early, hide behind my brother s door, and wait for him to adjourn downstairs. The moment he entered his room, I would dive on the bed in front of him. Other times, I would let him sit down and then I would pounce on top of him, wrestle him off the bed, and assume his position on the left. This became quite a problem. One night, my Dad said, Boys, did you know that the right hand is the highest assigned position? We said, Huh? He then explained the story of James and John and their request.

9 This began a fierce war for the right side of the bed! Okay, back to our story. James and John believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and they thought He was likely going to establish His kingdom when they reached Jerusalem. These brothers wanted the positions of highest honor. To be seated at the king s right hand was to take the position of most prominence; the person seated at the left hand ranked just below that (Luke 22:24 30). James and John wanted the number one and number two spots. They wanted to be Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. I find it interesting that James and John thought that not everyone received the same eternal reward; otherwise they would not have requested the highest thrones in God s kingdom .

10 Jesus had been teaching that another world existed beyond their present life and that some positions in God s kingdom were better than others. In fact, Jesus guaranteed the disciples twelve thrones in His coming kingdom as part of their reward for following Him (Matt 19:28). Yet, James and John said, It s nice to make the top twelve, Jesus, but we have higher aspirations than those other ten guys. We would like to reserve a couple of the executive suites. Nonsmoking please. How insensitive can you get?! It s insensitive to Jesus, but it s also cruel to other disciples. To James and John, life is like the reality show Survivor, and they ve just voted the other ten disciples off the In 10:38a, Jesus says to these ambitious, seemingly cutthroat brothers, You do not know what you are asking.