On to Jerusalem

So we come in at verse 32 of Mark 10. They were on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way and the disciples were astonished while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him.

We are going up to Jerusalem he said and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.

Then James and John the sons of Zebedee came to him. Teacher, they said, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. What do you want me to do for you, he asked.

They replied, let one of us sit at your right and the other on your left in the glory. You don't know what you're asking, Jesus said. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? We can, they answered.

Jesus said to them, you will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. But to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.

When the ten heard about this they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, you know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them, not so with you. Instead whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must 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. May the Lord give us his understanding of that word. I'd like you to turn with me in the gospel that Peter read to you from, the gospel of Mark and the 10th chapter.

Mark's gospel and chapter of 10 and the reading you recall was from the 32nd verse right through to verse 45. What I want to do this evening, God willing, is to speak to you on a subject that I've entitled, On to Jerusalem. And I further subtitled it, Three Challenges to a Greater Discipleship.

Three Challenges to a Greater Discipleship. When I was a little younger than I am now, I used to watch cowboy films. In fact I was an addict to them.

And one of the features of the cowboy film that I particularly remembered was if an Indian chief silhouetted against the skyline, seated astride his horse, raised his hand to indicate to those following him that they had to stop. Then from his vantage point he would survey the panorama, the view in the valley, get his direction, raise his spear, point it downwards, and he'd gallop off with all his braves following him. Now I wonder if you would accept that as a valid illustration, at least in principle, of what you discover here from the 32nd verse of Mark chapter 10.

You see here is our Lord and he's going towards the holy city and in his retinue amongst his accomplices are 11, at any rate, very brave men. And our Savior stops, so to speak, in his tracks, directs the way, and then he goes forward and these men follow him. Now there are some people here who want to be as brave as the disciples of the Lord Jesus.

You want to be followers of him. And there are some of you who are already followers of him, but you want to be better followers. And that's the reason why I've entitled this little address this evening, Three Challenges to a Greater Discipleship.

And the first thing that you've got to appreciate, I think, from these verses of Scripture is the significance of what the Lord does when we are told they were on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way. The first principle is simply this, follow the leader's path. Follow the leader's path.

Here the Lord Jesus retains something that's been a custom of his. I've told you that the disciples are in his retinue, they're alongside him, and they know full well from early days of being associates of Jesus, that when he says come and follow me, then he expects them to do just that. I mean here's Peter and he's amongst a bunch.

And at the beginning of the gospel in the first chapter you hear of Jesus going up to Simon Peter who's a fisherman and he says come, follow me. And then later on in the next chapter, the second chapter and the thirteenth verse, he comes across a tax collector, a man by the name of Levi who's doing very well on the side as well as legitimately getting a salary from the Roman government and Jesus says come, follow me. And throughout the gospel you discover that Jesus is always telling folk to follow him and giving the lead.

And I want to say this, that Jesus retains that custom down the centuries. I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes unto the Father but by me. If you're going to be a follower of the Lord Jesus, a disciple of the Lord Jesus, then you have to to obey his instruction.

And this is precisely what he's saying. They're on the way to Jerusalem, these men, with the Lord Jesus going on ahead, leading the way as he always did, retaining the custom. I'd love to have been around when the Savior was ministering and many Christian folk here, every Christian person would associate with that comment.

Wouldn't it be wonderful just to see the Lord Jesus. Now even the best preacher in the world is handicapped when he handles Scripture because though he can speak the words of the Lord Jesus, he can't speak as Jesus spoke. And neither can he act as Jesus acted.

And there's something very significant about this verse of Scripture, this opening verse, that I want you to look at. And incidentally if it's not your practice to bring a New Testament to the service on a Sunday evening, will you make it your practice? Because what's important is not what I teach or Ted Davey or David White or anyone else teaches in this pulpit, it's what the Bible has to say. If you haven't got a New Testament then come and see me.

If you promise you'll read it, I'll gladly pay for you to have one. Well here we are in this 32nd verse. They went on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way and the disciples were astonished.

And those who followed were afraid. Now isn't that extraordinary? The disciples were astonished and there are some people who are afraid. Why? Jesus isn't saying anything at that particular moment.

The idea of following me, well that was something that they got by implication of him marching on before, pointing the way. And they're the braves, you remember? But Jesus hasn't communicated anything at that point. And yet they're astonished.

And others who are not amongst the 12 who are there, they're afraid. Why? Well was it because the road he took was marked Jerusalem Road and they got some idea that at the end of the road there may be something unpleasant. So they were scared because of that.

I don't think it was. You know the word charisma. It's the word that's often used these days, sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly.

But charisma is a word that describes someone with a certain amount of influence that's unusual, magnetic. And occasionally in the ministry of Jesus that there comes to the forefront of his personality the concept and you've got to be there to feel it because it's not something that you can really describe. It's not something that you hear.

It's something that you, something that you realize that Jesus is more than just ordinary. Have you ever been in the presence of someone who, not the same level as the Lord Jesus, but has charisma? Isn't it amazing when you go to a, into a school playground there are always leaders. Doesn't matter which school playground you'll always find some boy, some girl who has a personality that is somewhat more dominant than the other.

Though charisma does not necessarily mean dominance. There's something that attracts them or rather that makes them attractive to others. Now in John's Gospel, right at the beginning he says this of the Lord Jesus, we beheld his glory.

As though occasionally there was something that burst through the personality of the Lord Jesus and it made people stand up and realize that he wasn't just ordinary. I mean in Mark's Gospel you get this, don't you, on a couple of occasions. Let's take one of them because times are a premium.

Here is the Lord and he's on the Sea of Galilee. There's a storm that's blown up and the waves are high and the disciples are scared stiff and they say, Jesus can't you help us, wake up man. He stands up and he rebukes the wind and he stays the waves and they say, gosh, that's my translation, what an extraordinary manner, what an extraordinary man and they're fearful.

The charisma of the Lord Jesus, it stands out and here he is going towards Jerusalem and he hasn't said a word and his disciples are are afraid or rather those who follow are afraid and his disciples are utterly amazed. Why is this? Well it seems to me that when Jesus is going down that road with this retinue following him, he's got some idea as to not only what's going to happen at Jerusalem in terms of his death but what's going to happen after his death. You'll read later on in this Gospel in the 14th chapter and the 28th verse the words of our Lord Jesus when he tells the disciples that when he dies, when he's executed, then he'll be brought back from the dead and he says, but after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.

Jesus always is ahead of his followers and then you recall when he's actually been raised from the dead in the 16th chapter and the 7th verse, those who are in attendance by the tomb where Jesus has been raised from the dead are given a message, he has risen, he is not here, see the place where they laid him but go tell his disciples and Peter he is going ahead of you into Galilee and I see Jesus as he walks down this road in front of the disciples heading towards Jerusalem and he's got a look of wonder, he's got a charisma, he's got a determination about him and when he turns around the people are fearful, they've never seen anyone who looks just like this before. Sometimes we use the word destiny don't we, a man of destiny and that's what Jesus was. In South Africa they've got a term, a fuhrtrekker, my wife will tell me that I've not got the Afrikaans very well there but the idea of the fuhrtrekker was this, that he was always the man who was trekking beyond, he was always going beyond Cape Province into the Transvaal and further up into what subsequently became known as Rhodesia, always going beyond, always pioneering and that's Jesus, he's the pioneer.

Hebrews chapter 2 says of the Lord Jesus, he brings many sons to glory. Hebrews chapter 12 says of the Lord Jesus, he is the author and finisher and uses almost the exact equivalent word in the Greek for our term pioneer, he's the pioneer of our faith and those who would follow the Lord Jesus Christ, they must recognize his custom of saying follow me and appreciate that when he speaks he's got a power and authority that no one else has got. So if you're going to be a Christian, follow the leader's path but it seems to me from this verse of Scripture, from this passage of Scripture, I can also put up another comment, share the leader's knowledge, share the leader's knowledge.

Jesus is God's own son, God only has one son and he made him a preacher, that to me is a very wonderful thing, it's kept me in the ministry quite frankly on many occasion when I was prepared to quit. The first thing that you read of the Lord Jesus in Mark's Gospel in chapter 1 is that he came preaching, he came proclaiming the gospel, chapter 1 and verse 14. See Jesus has got a lot to teach and if you are going to be a disciple not only do you have to follow the leader's path but you've got to share the leader's knowledge.

A leading minister in South Africa was talking to me some while ago in Cape Town and he was speaking of a British preacher as to whether he ought to invite him out to South Africa and he said to me, has he got anything to say? Well that's a very interesting, pertinent, impertinent question but he was dead right to ask it, I mean who wants to listen to somebody who hasn't really got anything to say, he was always chasing their own tail verbally. Now Jesus has got something to say and what's more it's worth saying and what's even more it's worth listening to and so Jesus who's caused astonishment and amazement to come into those who are following him, he turns and he addresses the 12 and he starts to speak to them about what's going to end, happen at the end of the road when they get to Jerusalem, why it's going to happen and what it's all about. I remember these 11, it's got 12 here but I'm excluding Judas of Cariath, he was there but he's not really a full follower of Jesus therefore he doesn't slot into the example that I'm trying to pinpoint this evening.

Jesus turns to the 11 and he gives them a briefing, now this is the third occasion that he's spoken to them about his death, the first one was, it was Mark 8, the second one was Mark 9, both of them verse 31 and here we are again and he repeats what he's already taught and he adds a bit more. Now isn't it unfortunate when those who you try to teach don't listen to what you have to say, sure that never happens to worthy teachers, used to happen to me in London but then you're much better at teaching and in worthy and you have your kids at the end of their seats just clinging on to every word don't you, I don't believe you. Isn't it terrible when you pour knowledge into the mind of a child and it goes you one ear accelerates and straight out of the other, at the end of the day you think my goodness why didn't I take up an easy job like being a civil servant instead of in the teaching profession.

Do you know I get great encouragement from the Lord Jesus when I try and teach people from this pulpit and they still don't understand me, I get great encouragement because the Lord tried to teach the disciples and they couldn't take it in. You see he wanted to tell them about the end of the road and well he'd had a go if I may put that reverently in the eighth chapter and in verse 31 he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and so forth but Peter didn't want to know, in fact Peter was more cheeky than most of your children in your class he turned around and he put Jesus right. Then in the ninth chapter again there's another attempt another briefing verse 31 the Son of Man is going to be betrayed verse 32 but they didn't understand what he meant and they were afraid to ask him about it and now in the tenth chapter the third briefing to his brave eleven men we're going to Jerusalem and he repeats what he's already said the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law and he adds that he's going to be executed and that he will rise again but he slips in this information that they hadn't cottoned on to before that he'll be handed over to the Gentiles verse 33 and he says what will happen to him when the Gentiles get hold of him they'll they'll mock him spit him flog him and kill him and all that is fulfilled as you'll find in chapter 15 where there's the mapping out of the drama of the sufferings of the Lord he tells them what is going to happen at the end of the road but it doesn't only tell them what he tells them why now they don't like the idea they're no more impressed about this business as I shall show you of him dying than what they were in chapter 8 or chapter 9 because as I indicated they're very dull pupils and my good friends there are so many and I mean this lovingly dull people even in this dear town of Worthing who just find it so hard to understand or maybe not so hard to understand so difficult to grasp the essence of Christianity is so infinitely simple so the problem see if it was complicated if we said well you've got to go up Sisby ring 50 times in one evening and if you get up and down inside that evening then you'll be safe it's it's something that they can attempt themselves you see though how many people would succeed is another question but but you see that there's the idea of effort of doing something but Christianity is not exerting effort to make yourself a Christian Christianity is simply believing and acting on what Jesus says happened to him at the end of the road when he got to Jerusalem he died that's what but why why did he die now this is the this is the key to the whole thing well verse 45 tells us he died that he might give his life a ransom for many now you see the reason why he's walking along as I mentioned a few moments back with such charisma such bold determination Isaiah 51 is the best commentary on this I think it's Isaiah 51 in verse 5 it says that Jesus set his face as a flint towards Jerusalem you couldn't shift him from you couldn't deflect him from doing what his father wanted him to do and he's got that glow of a man who knows where he's going thank God for people who know where they're going in this world some folks are just like a cork on the ocean tossed around no purpose at all to their lives well Jesus wasn't like that he knew where he was going and there was a look in his eye that conveyed the fact that you couldn't shift him but why are you going there well because my life is a pure life and your life is on impure and outside of me giving my life for you then when you stand before God you will be more than just embarrassed you'll turn away and you'll want to flee voluntary and rush off into hell because it's better in hell as a sinner than in the presence of God as an unforgiven individual did you know that but Jesus has not got to be like that you see because I link my life to the many for whom I will die so I've got to die for them and you're part of them the disciples just a little embryo just a little group representing the whole total church all those people thousands millions of them down the centuries including dear folk here in Worthington for whom Jesus will die that's what he has to tell the disciples and indeed you can't be a disciple you see unless you follow the leaders path and and you share the leaders knowledge I was gonna slip in another story here but I want to have quite a lot of time for our communion so let me go on to the third the third direction that I get from this passage and we're there with it rapidly from the 35th verse rather a lot of narrative right down to the 45th you've got to copy the leaders example you see it's no use just believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and then there's not one wit of difference in your life because faith that's exercised in the Lord Jesus eloquently testifies to its quality by changing your life that doesn't mean he'll make you a saint my dear wife's been married for 15 years and she'll be the last to describe me as a saint I'd love to be a saint in the sense of being 100% holy and 100% sanctified but I'm not but thank God I'm not what I used to be there has been a degree of change so you've got to copy the leaders example and here are James and John and they come to Jesus and in a most remarkable fashion what they have to say which is crass insensitively expressed meets with the graciousness of the Lord how do I put their graciousness in spite of dullness that little girl who comes to her dad you know the girl with the lovely flowing hair and the blue blue eyes and feels that she's got dad round a little finger she says dad will you do anything for me that I ask well he's an idiot if he says yes isn't he he really is some of our dads perhaps will buy it but not an astute one he'll sort of get himself off that hook and pretty quickly well James and John they come to Jesus and they say well what what we want you to do will you do it well Jesus doesn't say not only your life but he does say verse 36 what do you want me to do for you what do you want me to do and here's the insensitivity now remember he's just been speaking about his death a horrid death spitting him whipping him putting me among the cross that's what's at the end of the road Jerusalem and they come and they say Lord when you come in your kingdom in all your glory can can can me can I let's get the grandma right can can can I sit on my right and on your right and can he sit on your left can we have the positions of authority in your kingdom well what a time to ask even if it was a legitimate question how dull were James and John Jesus has to say well look there's a cup at the end of the road that I've got to take and it's a pretty nasty one and by cup he was referring to all the suffering that he'd have to go through in the garden of Gethsemane and then ultimately on the cross there's a baptism and by baptism he wasn't referring to being baptized in water but being baptized in death he says can you can you really enter into this have you have you worked out what you're trying to say they said we have and I don't really believe that they understood properly what Jesus was on about if that were the case then James and John wouldn't have fled with the rest of the disciples when Jesus was arrested when they began to see the contents of the cup they were not so attracted to fulfilling what the Lord had to go through were they although credit to John he came back and he was the only disciple that was around when Jesus was crucified you recall but I digress here is the Lord and he he with great graciousness addresses disciples who are utterly insensitive and the others come in on it and I know you think that they might be mad with James and John because of well as I said that insensitivity but they're not they're mad but not because of that reason they're mad because they didn't get in on it first you know if the credits are going to be around in the kingdom then why doesn't Peter get it or Andrew why why these two and why didn't they have a discussion and maybe a formal vote handle it like a trade union does we could teach them a thing or two I tell you or could we but look at the way Jesus responds his utter graciousness graciousness in the face of dullness yes he says lads eventually you will share in my suffering and they did James was the first of the disciples to be killed and John well the art of Pacmas he bore testimony for the Lord Jesus a prisoner for him but to take the right under the left hand it's not my prerogative to give and then the Lord went further you recall as he was teaching the disciples who came up because they were annoyed with James and John and he tried to show them in fact he didn't just try and made it clear that the that lowliness is really the stepping stone to being great tells them not to be like the Gentiles because they are always wanting promotion and when they get promotion well there it's pretty terrible to live under their authority if you ever had a boss like that who when you he coughs you have to jump terrible isn't it Jesus said well that's what the world is like you see these trumped-up officials they get their authority and they really let rip but but not so you verse 49 sorry verse 43 not so with you instead whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant whoever wants to be first must be slave of all you know that's what Jesus not only taught but he did it didn't he I mean this is really Jesus saying fellas hold it and look at me not just now but later on he was great all the glories of heaven belong to him and yet he was so lonely the Lord of all became the servant of all and here Jesus responds in the face of dullness he responds with graciousness and he of loneliness as being the step to greatness all right I'm through you didn't think that I'd preach as short as this did you here is our Lord and he's pointing the way forward you remember the red Indian chief with the feathers in his head falling down his back his braves are at the rear and from his vantage point on the hill he lifts up his spear and in effect he says onward fellows onward and that's what Jesus is teaching us right now how to be disciple follow in the steps the leader took share in the knowledge the leader taught copy the example the leader set that's how to be a disciple let's pray Lord so easy the preaching so hard the practice deliver us from the dullness of the the years of the the lovable disciples we honor them Lord for their ultimate bravery but at this point we don't want to follow them Lord simply the message has been explained to be a disciple means following the Lord that was the custom that he retained and in the very following to discover the charisma that he reveals that's what we want to know more about Jesus tell us Lord more about Jesus and then father we want to share the knowledge tell me the old old story of Jesus and his love the why he came and the what describing his accomplishments and then father his example as his spirit comes within us help us to be gracious in the context of insensitivity help us to discover that the way up is the way down and it's loathiness that begets greatness help us father teaches these lessons and may we make our peace with you if we have not yet discovered the joy of knowing the Savior just in case you think we've forgotten hymns of faith we'll turn to four hundred and seventy one four seven one have thine own way Lord have thine own way thou art the Potter I am the clay a suitable hymn to conclude with but our conclusion is not really a conclusion it's a link because we want you to come around this table and to share this feast with us as we recognize afresh the goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ so there'll be a short break and then an invitation for you to join with us downstairs please four seven one and now the grace the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore amen