[0:00] Now we broke off last Lord's Day evening where we had just begun to touch on the request of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, that they might sit on Jesus' right hand and left hand when he came into his glory.
[0:16] Verse 35, Master, we would that thou shouldst do for us whatsoever we shall desire. Grant to us that we may sit one on thy right hand and the other on thy left hand in thy glory.
[0:27] Now we have to recognise, as we said last time, that there is a sense of fulfilment perhaps getting near in the minds of James and John.
[0:39] Jesus speaking about his being delivered up to the Gentiles, to the Romans, and that he would be put to death. They probably don't fully grasp all the horror of that despite the fact that Jesus is spelling it out in no uncertain terms.
[0:53] But what they do almost certainly have a sense of as they approach Jerusalem is that the fulfilment is coming near. Things are coming to a head. So if he's going to come in his kingdom and in his glory, it's getting near.
[1:07] So they're just getting their little marker in quickly before anyone else did. And we said how the flaws of the Lord's people are part and parcel of who they are.
[1:18] And I'm not talking about overt sins, though if we're conscious of sins and perhaps our most heinous sins or besetting sins we are aware of, we know we have to repent of, we know we have to have washed away.
[1:32] But flaws tend to be those things which other people are aware of, but we perhaps are not aware of so much ourselves at all. But Jesus would be aware of them. They are part of what makes us who we are.
[1:44] They will no doubt be perfected and those which are negative will be removed before we enter into glory itself. But some of those things are part of the character of the Lord's people.
[1:57] And they are, in a sense, they are part of what brings out the best in them too. Let's look at James and John just for a moment here. If we think about when Jesus first called them, let's go back to Mark's account in chapter 3, when he's calling his disciples to him.
[2:15] And Simon, he's surnamed Peter, the rock. So we know what he's meaning there. And James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, he's surnamed them Boanerges, which is the sons of thunder.
[2:31] Now it's probably an Aramaic or Syriac term, in other words, the language that Jesus would have spoken and his disciples in Palestine. Why the sons of thunder?
[2:42] We think of Peter as being the impulsive one and the one who's always ready to be zealous for Christ's glory. But the evidence would suggest that James and John too are intensely loyal to Jesus, but also jealous for their master's honor.
[2:58] Remember, these sons of thunder, remember, in Luke chapter 9, verse 54, we read that after they were on their way to Jerusalem, Jesus sent messengers before his face, and that they entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him.
[3:17] And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James and John, the sons of thunder, saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did?
[3:34] In other words, how dare they do this to you, Lord? You know, they've insulted your honor. Come on, let's show them who's boss. Let's really show them that you're the Messiah. You're not going to be treated like this.
[3:45] Come on, let's call down the fire like Elijah did. And let's really show them. And if you think about it, you know, likewise, you go back a couple of verses, where, in Luke chapter 9, but verse 49, John said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us.
[4:07] And Jesus said, Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us. And we saw that same incident in Mark, of course, in chapter 9, verse 38. John answered, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name.
[4:21] He followeth not us, and we forbade him, because he followeth not us. Again, a sense of jealousy for Jesus' honor. Who's this person that thinks he's going to cast out devils in the name of Jesus?
[4:35] He's not one of Jesus' disciples. He's not one of us. Who does he think he is? You know, he's bringing the name of Jesus into disrepute. He's making it every tom, digger, harrowing, and cast out devils in the name of Jesus.
[4:46] We can't have that. So we stopped him from doing it. And if you think about it again, look at the context in Mark 9. Go back to verse 38 there.
[4:57] And see that Jesus has just been talking about receiving the kingdom of God as a little child. And being humble and being faithful and willing to serve others and have that humility of a child.
[5:11] And James and John again, they're thinking, well, okay, yeah, yeah, we want to be humble. But part of being humble is thinking of how great Jesus is. And Lord, we saw this guy casting out devils.
[5:22] And that's the sense of it here. And again, there's a certain context where Jesus has been talking about going up to Jerusalem and being crucified and rising again the third day.
[5:33] That's when they're thinking, here comes the glory. Here comes the kingdom. Let's get in there. There is no sense, I think, in which beyond ordinary, reasonable, you might say, human ambition that James and John are greedy for personal gain in that sense.
[5:50] I think we would have to see, as I think it's fair to say, that Jesus sees that these whom on the first day when he sent them out to cast out devils and to act on his name, he named them sons of thunder.
[6:05] Now, he knew the zeal that they had. He knew the enthusiasm they had, the loyalty they had to his name, an intense loyalty to Jesus, an intense jealousy for their master's honor.
[6:18] And having such a love for him and for his honor, they want to be where he is. They want to follow Jesus everywhere. And when he comes into his glory, they want to be just as near to him as it's possible to be.
[6:32] Now, okay, you might say, oh, come on, you're putting a bit of a rosy glow on this, aren't you? A bit of a rosy tint. But that is to see it perhaps in its best light. And I would suggest to you, in all fairness, Jesus endeavors to see them in their best light.
[6:49] He beholds them and he loves them. He called them. He knows their flaws. He knows their personality. He is gentle in his answer to that.
[7:01] What would ye that I should do for you? Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink? Can you drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
[7:14] He knows them so perfectly. He knows their flaws and their weaknesses and their strengths and their virtues. And he loves them as his own. And he answers us with such gentleness.
[7:25] Now, when Jesus speaks in verse 38, can you drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? He's not talking about the sacramental cup of the Last Supper.
[7:39] And he's not talking about the waters of baptism when he was baptized in the Jordan. This is not about sacraments. He is not saying, well, if you can sit with me at the Lord's table and drink the cup, and if you've been baptized with, then that's okay.
[7:55] You can be what I am. He doesn't mean that at all. These things have a symbolic and metaphorical application to what he's talking about here. But he's not talking about the Lord's Supper or about the sacrament of baptism either.
[8:11] This is not about sacraments at all. Rather, in the ancient world, if we take the cup first of all, when a king gathered his chief lieutenants or his lords or whatever to feasts or banquets or whatever, part of the ritual of the ceremony was the king would partake of a large, no doubt ornate cup, and then pass it around his chief guests.
[8:39] And nobody dared not drink of the cup because the drink of the cup was to declare your friendship and absolute loyalty to the king at whose table you sat.
[8:50] He dragged it, he passed it on to his friends. They passed it around one another. If anybody would stop and say, no, I'm not drinking that, he would be at best declaring that he was not the king's friend, and at worst they claimed that he was a total traitor with evil intent in his heart.
[9:08] So the long and the short of it was, if that cup is passed to you at the king's table, you have no option but to drink it. You don't know what's in it.
[9:20] You don't know the nature of what the king may be passing to you. It may be very bitter. It may be the sweetest, best wine you've ever tasted. But whatever it is, if he passes through, you've got no option but to drink it.
[9:34] And to that end, then, the phrase, the cup, which was passed, it became almost a symbolic metaphor in the ancient world for something inescapable.
[9:47] Something inescapable being required of us by a higher authority. It was like a test of loyalty or friendship to the king.
[9:58] Now, it could be a cup of blessing or judgment or wrath or whatever. But, you know, an example, you know, would be in Psalm 75, verses 7 and 8.
[10:09] As you know, in the Metrical Version, But God is judge. He puts down one and sets another up. But in the hand of God most high of red wine is a cup. It is full of mixture.
[10:20] He pours forth and makes the wicked all. Ring out the bitter dregs that of, yea, and they drink them shy. For better or for worse, you could not escape the cup that was passed to you.
[10:36] And as we say, it could be a cup of wrath or judgment or blessing or suffering. You know, if we think of Psalm 23, you know, my cup runneth over.
[10:47] That's clearly a cup of blessing. Verse 5 in Psalm 23, which is in business. It's so full. It's so rich and it's blessed. It's brimming over with blessing. Likewise, in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 16, Paul writes, The cup of blessing which we bless.
[11:06] Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And he is talking about sacraments here, but there is a metaphor in here as well. The bread which we break is not the communion of the body of Christ.
[11:17] And in verse 21 in 1 Corinthians 10, You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of devils.
[11:30] If you're going to declare yourself the Lord's friend and faithful to the Lord, you can't at the same time drink the cup of his rival. Or his enemy. So to take the cup is something inescapable.
[11:44] Whether for blessing or for judgment. Jesus himself says in John 18, at verse 11, Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into thy sheep.
[11:56] This is in Gethsemane when he's getting arrested. He says, The cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? There is this sense of inescapable or impending event.
[12:12] Whether it be for blessing. Whether it be for suffering. Whether it be for judgment. It is something inescapable. And therefore this cup that he is compelled to drink.
[12:26] He's saying to them, Can you drink of this cup? Can you drink of the same cup that I am going to? They say, Yes we can. In other words, whatever you're going through Lord, we'll go through it too.
[12:38] And the baptism that I am to be baptized with. Now Jesus' baptism was already a past event. From John the Baptist in the Jordan River. So he's not talking about that.
[12:49] Jesus is almost certainly using this word in the sense of which, Outside of its sacramental use of context, Means to be submerged in.
[13:00] Some kind of overwhelming experience. Now if the cup was something inescapable, Then the baptism to be baptized with was literally something overwhelming.
[13:15] You were submerged in this experience. Again, whether it was difficulty, suffering, or whatever the case may be. If we think, for example, of how this is described in the Psalms.
[13:29] Psalm 42, at verse 7. And deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water spuds. All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
[13:42] Submerged in this time of testing and trial and difficulty. Likewise, Psalm 124, where we read, If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, When men rose up against us, Then they had swallowed us up quick.
[14:00] That means alive. When their wrath was kindled against us. Then the waters had overwhelmed us. The streams had gone over our soul.
[14:11] Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Now, again, even in the psalm there in 124, It's quite clearly not illiteral waters that are being spoken about.
[14:22] It's a symbolic or metaphor reference to being plunged into suffering and difficulty. Because it says quite explicitly that men rose up against us.
[14:34] They had swallowed us up quick when their wrath was kindled against us. And this wrath, this enmity, is likened to floodwaters overwhelming, Submerging the victim in it.
[14:48] This is what Jesus is referring to. Going through these waters of suffering. You know, in Isaiah, you may remember, of course, How the Lord says that when you pass through the waters, They will not overflow you.
[15:04] You won't drown, basically, in them. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, Thou shalt not be burned.
[15:17] Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, The Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. Now, yes, you're getting submerged. Yes, you're getting overwhelmed.
[15:27] But you're not going to perish when that happens. These times of testing will come, That's what it's saying in Isaiah. There will be these times of being submerged And suffering and testing and trial.
[15:40] But you're not going to perish with it. That's their message in Isaiah. But what Jesus is contemplating here, Contemplating his own suffering and death For the gospel's sake.
[15:52] And he's saying to James and John, In all gentleness, in all love, Look, can you drink of this cup? This inescapable consequence that's coming. Can you go through these waters of affliction, Be submerged in all that is coming?
[16:07] And they say, We can. Now, of course, They said it readily. They said it lightly and easily. And just in the same way as Peter said, Oh, Lord, I'll go to anywhere.
[16:18] I'll go to death with you. Whatever it takes. And they meant well. Let's not say, Oh, James and John, How stupid they were. And how likely they answered. And they didn't think it through. But they were loyal.
[16:30] They loved the Lord. They said it. And they meant it. Just like Peter meant it at the time. And he said, Lord, I'll go to prison and to death with you. He meant what he said. I think the kindest way of looking at it Is they just literally didn't know What they were saying.
[16:47] They meant it, But they didn't realize The full implications of it. And as we mentioned last week, At least one of them Would be there bearing up Jesus' own mother. Looking at the cross.
[16:58] Looking at the two thieves on either side. Who's on the right hand And the left hand of Jesus now. As he passes through This time of suffering.
[17:09] Being plunged Into this agony Of all that he must endure. Drinking this bitter cup That would not pass from him. And enduring all that suffering.
[17:20] There can be little doubt It would have been imprinted Deeply on John's mind. When Jesus had said to him, Behold my mother. And by that time He took her into his own home And looked after her As his own mother.
[17:33] But there he was. Beholding Jesus. Now he's got plenty of time To think about it. Jesus hung on the cross For six hours Before he died. There's plenty of time For John to stop and think This is what I said So lightly.
[17:48] Yeah, yeah, We'll drink the cup. Yes, we'll be baptized. With the Baptist And we'll be baptized. With no problem. Lord, we'll do that. And Jesus said He said Ye shall indeed drink Of the cup That I drink of And with the baptism That I am baptized With all Shall ye be baptized And so it proved to be For the gospel's sake James was the first apostle To suffer martyrdom You read Acts chapter 12 At verse 2 Lady is being Being beheaded Or being killed with sores It says By Herod Antipas The first of the apostles To die For the gospel's sake We know that Judas Was technically The first to die For less noble reasons But the first one To be martyred Of the apostles John's requirement Was the opposite extreme He lived to a great old age But we shouldn't think In terms of Oh, we lived to a ripe old age And saw this happen And that happen It was a life Filled with witness And suffering endurance
[18:49] Who got off more likely? The one who is killed quickly Near the beginning Of the gospel outreach Or the one who is allowed To live And is made to endure To live long To suffer much To endure more bereavement Than any other apostle Because he outlived them all And he would have seen them One by one Martyred Or going to the ends of the earth Or dying By some other means He lived He lived And he was exiled To Patmos In his old age And he's given the revelation That we have At the end of the End of the scriptures But You know That's a pretty heavy thing To put in an old man as well We're thankful to the Lord That he did But at the end of the day John is made to live For Christ All the way through To The bitter end We might say In physical terms But the sweet and triumphant end In spiritual terms But there is A suffering involved
[19:51] In living For the Lord Just as there is A suffering involved In dying For the Lord And the opposite ends Of the time spectrum James and John Were in the fullness of time Both Enabled Or compelled We might say Or privileged To drink of that cup And to be baptized With that baptism Of fire Whether it be Through suffering To martyrdom Early on Or living right through To the end Of a long life Of suffering And imprisonment In service For the Lord One way Or the other They both drank it Dry They both went through The baptism That Jesus spoke about So he said He shall indeed Drink of the cup That I drink of And with the baptism That I am baptized With all Shall ye be baptized But To sit on my right hand And on my left Is not mine to give But it shall be given To them
[20:51] For whom it is Prepared Now when Jesus says It is not his to give It doesn't mean That he has not The authority To do it It means that It is already Being prepared As it says there To them For whom it is Prepared It has already Been decided From all eternity Who will sit On the right And on the left Of Jesus in glory Now what do we mean In his enthronement In which case As we mentioned Last Lord's Day That the father Is technically On Jesus' Left hand Because Jesus Is at the right hand Of the father In glory So the father Is going to be On his left So whoever else Is on his right On his other side It's the father That is sitting Beside Jesus there Now of course All that is in glory It won't just be One event Jesus also has To sit on his Throne of judgment He has to separate The sheep from the goats And all these other things That will be involved In his glory And in his majesty
[21:52] And his kingdom No doubt There will be times When elders Are casting their crowns Before him And the four creatures Around the throne And other people Are in different positions And there will be Plenty of opportunity For people to have Places of honour It also talks In Revelation About sitting with him In his throne Not just on his right On his left But sitting with him In his throne So you know There is ample scope For the Lord's people To be honoured In the fullness Of time But to sit on my right Hand on my left He says It's not mine to give Just not in a way Not in a favour Just like that But because it is Already determined Prepared by the Father And the Son We cannot From this verse Say Ah well This is a verse That proves That God the Son of Jesus Is less than God Because he doesn't have The power To do this He doesn't have The authority To give out These places
[22:52] What it means is He doesn't have The authority Just to do it To change his mind Say oh okay Well it was going to be Given to Whether Elijah Or you know Enoch Or whoever it was Hey I'll just give it To James and John Now Jesus is not going to Act in that way Whatever has been Decreed from all Eternity It has been decreed By the Father And the Son With the Spirit This is not a verse Reducing the Son To inferiority Under the Father If we look You know At Matthew 20 For example At verse 23 Where Jesus says You know It shall be given To them For whom it is prepared Of my Father That seems to Underline even more That he doesn't have This kind of authority But look at what it says Turn the page Matthew 21 Verse 23 When he was come Into the temple The chief priests And the elders Of the people Came unto him As he was teaching He said By what authority Doest thou These things And who gave thee This authority
[23:52] What is your authority In the temple What is your authority To declare these things Yes he said Before you know It's my Father's house Will be called A house of prayer To all people But you've made it A den of peace And likewise If we go to the end Of Matthew's account Of the gospel In verse 18 Of Matthew 28 Jesus said All power is given Unto me In heaven And in earth All power There's nothing That he can't do There's nothing That he's not Able to do Or qualified to do And likewise When it says When Jesus says In Matthew again About the time When the world Will come to an end That day and that hour Knoweth no man Knoweth not the angels In heaven But my Father only He doesn't mean Oh well so I don't recognise this I don't know it It has been determined It has been fixed But he's not able Just to say Well it's going to be This date In the calendar He is here Upon earth
[24:52] For his brief Three and a half years Approximately Earthly ministry He's not about To spring all the surprises Of eternity On everyone then There's what he Has the power to do And there's what He is going to do Or can legitimately do That would violate His authority Otherwise Let me give you an example If for example The Queen were to say Right tomorrow I'm dissolving parliament And I'm just going to Rule myself By orders and counsel I've had enough Of all the politicians And I'm just going to Do it myself And you know There might be an initial Outburst of cheering People fed up Of politicians And so on But eventually People begin to say Well you know We actually want Our democratically Erective representatives And so on Why is she doing this This can't be legal Well actually it is The Queen does Have the power Under her constitution She does have the power Just to dissolve parliament Whenever she says Whenever she decides
[25:53] Usually she does it On the advice of ministers And at set times And appoints elections Usually she distributes The honours and the honours list In accordance with Advice from other people Usually she appoints The bishops of the Church of England In accordance with Whoever recommends Appropriately But technically And actually She's got the power To do all these things Without asking anybody She's got control Over the armed forces She's got control Over all these things The amount of power That is actually vested In the sovereign Although it is meant To be curtailed By all the machinery Of parliament And so on All of them ultimately Answer To the sovereign Now she could say Somebody could say Oh come on Use your project Just send all these Politicians away And she might say Well I can't And what she actually Means is If I do that It would be an abuse A violation Of the trust That is placed in me Of the obligation
[26:54] That is upon me To serve my people To serve my country In this way Yes she has The power to do it And yes Jesus Would have The power to say Well I know What was the Creature Modernity You know I'm God the son So I think Actually we can Change our minds And we can Output somebody else In place He has that Authority but to do so Just as the queen Would provoke A constitutional crisis Jesus would If we can say it Reverently provoke A crisis In the Godhead's Predetermined plan Of all that That is ultimately Going to fall out He would He would have Upset all the Balance of trust And all the Relationship And the Perfection And balance Of the trinity All these things He could do But to do it Would destroy More than it Would ever build Yes the authority Is there And so when he says
[27:54] To sit on my right Hand and my left Hand is not Mine to give What he means is Look I can't just Give you everything You ask I can't even say Who it's going to Be I can't tell You these things These are not Things for you To know These are not Things for you To be concerned About It's rather like You know at the Beginning of the Acts of the Apostles When the Disciples Say unto him Lord will Thou at this Time restore Again the Kingdom to Israel And he said To them It is not For you To know The times Or the seasons Which the Father hath put In his own Power He doesn't say I don't actually Know if it's Going to happen Yet I don't actually Know what It's going to Be But if it's In the Father's Power The son Will know About it It's not For you To know These things But ye Shall receive Power after That the Holy Ghost Has come upon You and ye Shall be Witnesses Unto me Both in Jerusalem And all Judea and Samaria Unto the Uttermost Part of The So Jesus Says he's
[28:54] Not able To do This He doesn't Mean that He doesn't Have the Power He means That to Do so Would be An abuse Not only Of his Power But of Everything All the Trust All the Planning From all Eternity All the Free will That men Are meant To be Given All the Opportunities That they Are to Have It would Be to Violate All these Things Just because Technically He has the Power to Do so It's in That sense That he Says It's not My For good I can't Do that It's It's going To be Given To those For whom It is Prepared Notice Also what He doesn't Say He doesn't Say And it's Not going To be You James and John It's Definitely Not you How dare You ask Me These Things He doesn't Even Rule out That it Might Actually Be James and John But what He does Say is It is Not mine To give But it Shall be Given To them For whom It is Prepared He doesn't Tell them For whom It is Prepared He doesn't
[29:54] Tell them Whether it's Them Or whether It's Somebody Else We are Not given To know These Things And when We do Know You know As it Says in 1 Corinthians 13 Now I Know in Part But then Shall I Know Even As also I am Known When we Do Come to Know These Things Perfectly We Will See That they Are Perfectly Right And as They Should Be With Our Imperfect Knowledge They Might Not Seem Or Sound Right Just That And they Will Cause More Trouble And they Will Solve So These Things Are Withheld From Us Just In The Same Way As Mom And Dad Don't Say To Their Little Infant Child At The Dinner Table When They're Busy Spooning In The Meaty Food They Say We've Got All These Bills To Pay And We've Got The Mortgage Here The Car To Pay What Say Something You'll Put
[30:55] Your Friend In What It Hasn't Got The Knowledge It Hasn't Got The Ability These Things Will Be Done Without Any Of It's Knowing Electricity Will Be Paid And The House Will Be Sold And The Car Will Carry on Get It Servicing It And It And It Will Sit In A Little Kitty Seat In The Back Oblivious To All These Things Just As We Go On Oblivious To All That The Lord Does In The Maintaining And Running And Sustaining Of This World Of Creation And Our Place In It It Is Not Given To Us To Know These Things It Is Not Mine To Give Jesus Says I Can't Just Drop Everything And Give It To You It Will Be Given To Them For Whom It Is Prep And When The Ten He Be Be They Almost Certainly They Not Saying Oh How Terribly Stuck Up You Were Imagine Thinking That You Should Sit On The Right Hand And The Left It Almost
[31:56] Certainly In The Center We Should Have Thought Of That They Got In Quick They They Tried To Stake Their Place If Only We Thought That We Could Have Got In There If It Is Not Going To Be Them Maybe It It Be One Of Us They Were Displeased With James And John They Started Having A Go At Them But Jesus Called Them To And Said You Know That They Which Have Counted To Rule Over The Gentiles Exercise Lordship Over Them And Their Great Ones Exercise Authority Upon Them But So Shall It Not Be Among You Whosoever Will Be Great Among You Shall Be Your Minister Servant And Whosoever Of You Will Be The Cheapest Shun Servant Of All For Even The Son Of Man Came Not To Be Minister But To Minister And To Give His Life For Ransom For Many Now He's Talked About Being As A Little Child He's Talked About You Know Entering The Kingdom Of God With The Humility And The Dependency Of A Little Child He's Talked About Woe To Those That If They Offend One Of These Little Ones It
[32:56] Is To Stumble It Better To Be Cast Into The Sea With A Millstone Around Your Neck He's Trying To Teach Them This Is The Kind Of Greatness You Must Seek It Is The Service Of Others Now If We Think About It That Is Technically Again What All Our World Rovers Are Meant To Be Doing They're Meant To Be Their People People Won't Vote Them In In Terms Of What They Think This New Leader Or The Next Leader Or Whoever The Next Parliament Can Do For Them They Want To Know How Will They Make My Life Better How Will They Protect Me Better From Threats External Or Internal How Will They Help With The Day To Day Of My Life Or My Home Or The Problem That I Have And They Will Vote Accordingly Because They Will Say Who Will Best Serve The Interests Of Their Electorate That's What They Are To
[33:56] Doing Of Course All Power Corrupts Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely And When People Have A Bit Of Brief Authority It Often Tends To Get Abused Jesus Power Doesn't Get Abused Jesus Power Is The Power Of The Servant Who Leads By Service This Is How He Shows How Indispensable He Is Because He Is There To Help And To Serve All There Is Not A Single Soul Who If They Come To Jesus Will Not Find Their Life Improved Made Better Because Jesus Has Come Amongst Us As One Who Serves And He Emphasizes That Point Again And Again And Again Across All The Gospel Accounts Think Of John 13 There When He Lays Aside And He Washes The Disciples Feet And You Can Just Imagine Them All Absolutely Stunned Into Shot Silence That This Is What The Lowest Slave In A Big Household
[34:56] Would Do Why Is Jesus Doing This This Is Embarrassing We Don't Want Them To Do Us And Peter Says Lord You Never Wash My Feet And Jesus Says If I Don't Wash Your Feet You Are No Part Of Me And Then Peter Says Oh Well It Not Just My Feet My Head And My Hands And Everything Else As Well And We Know How Jesus Deals With Him Thereafter But Jesus Is Seeking To Emphasize Look If You Really Want Greatness You've Got To Serve That's What I Do That's What I Did He Said The Son Of Mine Came Not To Be Minister To But To Serve And To Give His Life A Ransom For Many Now There In Verse 45 There's There's Two Aspects To A Ransom For Many One Is That There's A Contrast Between The One Life Which Satisfies The Death For Many Lives A Ransom For Many Now If You've Got In A Wartime Situation Say A Prison Of Exchange Or Something And One Side We've Got Ten Prisoners Here We'll Exchange Them
[35:56] For Ten Of Years And It Tends To Be In Equality One For One Ten For Ten Whatever Well Jesus Is Saying My One Life Is Going To Be A Ransom That Will Buy The Lives The Redemption Of Many multitudes What It Also Doesn't Say Is It Doesn't Say A Ransom For All Jesus Does Not Preach Or Teach Universalism Neither Does The Bible It Doesn't Say Absolutely Everybody At The End Of The Day Is All Going To Be Saved So It's Okay Because God Loves You So Much God Does Love You So Much But God Also Has Respect For His Creatures And He Will Not Coerce Them Kicking And Screaming Against Their Will Into An Eternity In His Presence Of Holiness And Goodness And Love When They Hate That Lord That They Have Rejected For Their Entire Lives If That's What They Choose That's What They Will Get It Is Not All Who Will Be Saved Many
[36:57] Are Called But Few Are Chosen It Is A Ransom For Many Jesus Said The Shepherd Laid Down His Life For The Son Everybody In The World Has This Invitation Given To Them Everyone In The World Has This Opportunity But The Ransom Will End Up Having Been Paid Only For Some For Many But Not For All Not Everyone Will Be Saved Simply Because Not Everyone Will Come To Christ By Faith Jesus Says Him That Come To The No One Is Cast Out If We Don't Come To Him For Salvation We're Already Out We're Already Cast Out Jesus Didn't Cast
[37:57] Us Out We Cast Ourselves Out When We Wouldn't Come To Him So The Son Of Man Came Not To Be Served Not To Be Minister But Life A Ransom For Many That Ransom Is Paid For All Who Will Trust And Believe In Finally Then We Come To This Incident In Jericho With Blind Bartimaeus Incidentally This Is Again One Of These Little Instances Where Mark Has Got These Little Eyewitness I Can't See It's Only Mark That Gives Us His Name It's Only Mark That Spells Out And Specifies Bartimaeus That Means The Son Of Timaeus And If You Think Of How In Matthew 16 Where Peter Makes His Confession Of Christ And Jesus Says Blessed Ought Thou Simon Bar Jonah Simon Son Of Jonas This Is What Bar Jonah Bar Timaeus The Son Of Timaeus Sat By The Highway Side Begging When He He Began To Cry Jesus Son David Have Mercy On
[38:57] Me Now What Does This Blind Bigger Half When He Keeps Crying Out To Jesus In Messianic Terms Jesus Stood Still And Commanded That He Be Called And They Called The Blind Man Saying That That Is Only In Mark It Is Only In Mark And The Crowd Turn And Say It He Is Calling For You Come On Now Be Of Good Comfort Rise He Casting Away His Garment Rose And Came To Jesus Jesus What Would Thou Should Do Unto The Blind Man Said Lord That I Might Receive My Sight I Hope We Talk About This Morning The One Request You Might Have Of The Lord If You Knew It Was Going To Be Granted What Would Be The One Thing You Would Ask For Here Is This Blind Beggar With This Single Focus Lord That I Might Receive My Sight Now What He
[40:22] Mark Tells Us He Casting Away His Garment Rose And Came To Jesus Now He Is Not A Wealthy Man What Is This Outer Garment His Coat Or Blanket Or Whatever He's Got Almost Certainly It Is That Which Exodus Refers To In Chapter 22 Where It Says If Thou Lend Money To Anyone That Is Poor Thou Shalt Not Beat Him As Us Nor Shalt Lay Upon Him Usually If Thou At All Take Thy Neighbors Raiment His Clothing To Pledge That Thou Shalt Deliver Unto Him By That The Sun Go Down For That Is His Covering Only That's All He's Got Now I'm Not Suggesting Bartimaeus Was Naked After That But This Is His Only Warm Garment This Is What He Wraps Himself In As He Sits By The Side Of Come To Pass When He Cried Unto Me That I Will Hear For I Am Gracious And This
[41:22] Is What Bartimaeus Casts Away So That He Can Get To Jesus He Has This Single Focus This Is His Desire To Get To Jesus And To Receive His Sight He's Only A Beggar With Nothing But He's Going To Teach Us A Single Focus Now I Don't Know If You One Request Would Be This Is His He Wants To Be Able To See He Throws Away His Only Valuable Possession His Garment Casting Away His Garment Rose And Came To Jesus What Wilt Thou Should Do Unto The Lord That I Might Receive My Sight He Has The Single Focus He Knows His One Request He Is Coming To The Right Source And When It Looks As The Lord Might Pass By He Cries Out Again And Again Unto Him Now We've Said Already This Evening That This Is An Opportunity
[42:22] This Brief Life To Engage With Christ And Jesus Of Nazareth Passes By We're Not Going To Have Unlimited Opportunities To Call Out To Him To Engage With Him To Receive His Blessing But While He Is Passing By Cry Out To Him Seek Unto The Lord While He May Be Found Call Upon Him While He Is Near Because It Won't Be Forever Here Is The Single Focus And What Then Does He Do When He Receives It Jesus Said Go Thy Way Thy Faith Hath Made The Whole And Immediately He Received His Sight And Followed Jesus In The Way Jesus Said You Go Your And As Soon As He Had His Sight He Follows Jesus In The Way There Is Only One Way Ultimately To Go If We Would Have Life In All Its Fullness That Is The Way That Jesus Is Going It
[43:23] Is Not My Way And His Way And Somebody Else Way Go Your Way Jesus Says And Now For Bartimaeus His Way Is Christ's Way He Doesn't Want To Be Else Except Where Jesus Is Here We Have The Beggar Who Has Nothing Who Freely Follows Jesus And All That He's Got From Jesus Now Is The Ability To Physically See Where He's Going And He Follows Him And Remember Going Back To Verse 22 The Tragic Case Of That Rich Young Ruler Who Was Sad At The Say Of Jesus And Went Away Grieved For He Had Great Possessions And He Went Off In The Opposite Direction His Way Was The Opposite Of Jesus Way Blind Bartimaeus Has Got Nothing And Yet His Way Now Is The Way Of Christ Time And Again The Lord Takes That Which Is Insignificant Weak And Despised By The World To Show Us The True Path Of Obedience And Faith Here We Have
[44:23] His One Single Request His One Desire Granted And What He Puts It To He Follows Jesus In The Way We Don't Know How Far We Don't Know For How Long All That We Hear Is That This Is The Last Time Bartimaeus Is Mentioned In Mark's Account And He Is Mentioned Having Received The Sight And Following Jesus If The Lord Would Open Our Eyes That We May Behold Him With The Eye Of Faith There In The Way Yes The Cup May At Times Be Bitter And Yes The Waters Through Which We Must Pass May At Times Overwhelm Us But His Way Is Always The Way Of Blessing It Is The Way Of Service Yes But It Is The Way Of Glory At The Last Whoever Is Sitting On His Right Hand On His Left Nobody Is Going To Worry Too Much About The Seating Arrangements When We Get
[45:23] There Just As Long As We Be There Where He Is And Follow Him Until We Get There Let Us Pray