Read this text several times over the next few days. It is one of the three major passages in the later half of Mark concerning discipleship (8:31-38; 9:33-37; 10:35-45). Mark begins his gospel by letting the reader know the true identity of Jesus (1:1), but the disciples seem to be clueless about Jesus’ identity, as well as his teachings (4:13, 41; 6:50-52; 7:17-19; 8:14-21). Then, they appear to understand who Jesus is when Peter makes his confession, “You are the Messiah” (8:29), but in reality they merely want Jesus to be the kind of Messiah that they want; the disciples want to be the ones calling the shots (8:32; 10:35).
Mark uses the second half of the gospel to flesh out what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah: he will be handed over to the Jews, then he will be killed, but on the third day he will rise again (8:31; 9:9-10; 10:32-34). And at the same time, Jesus teaches the twelve what it means to be his disciple: you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus (8:34). And as we follow the Savior, we learn that we must love as he loved (Eph. 5:1-2) and serve as he served (10:42-45), even if that means that we sometimes have to sacrifice our own well-being for the good of the other (1 Cor. 10:24, slightly out of context, but still applicable, I think…).
Mark 10:35-45 is a beautiful passage that I need to reflect on more as a disciple of Jesus. It is the passage that I preached at the Westgate Church of Christ this past Sunday, but unfortunately it is not a passage that I often live out in my own life. That we may all follow in our Savior’s footsteps nearer everyday, that is my prayer.
