1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The message from God’s word on this Fifth Sunday in Lent, historically known as “Judica,” meaning “Judge me,” is taken from Mark 10:32-45. It’s entitled, “A Case of Mistaken Identity,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. The season of Lent turns our attention to judgment, especially God’s judgment against his own Son, instead of the world. But what does our world today think of judgment, and who in his right mind would invite it? Maybe the answer is found in the identity of the one calling out for judgment. Some are able to drink that cup; some are not. Jesus knows his identity; the disciples mistake theirs. Fortunately, in the dialogue that results, Jesus’ Identity Exposes Our Mistaken Identities but Also Restores Us in the Identity of Our Savior.
3. Jesus knows very well his own identity. Mark 10:32-34 says, “32And 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, 33saying, “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. 34And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
4. Jesus knows that he’s going up to Jerusalem. We have positive impressions of the phrase “going up.” We think of rising to a place of power & prestige, even as King David once did in this very city. But King David, like every other ruler who conquered Jerusalem, did so by the blood and at the risk of the lives of others. Now the descendant of David is going up to Jerusalem in order to suffer under the consequences of our self-exaltation. The Lord Jesus will conquer much more than Jerusalem and will do it only at the cost of his own life.
5. Jesus knows he’s going down the path of humility. While Jesus is going up physically to Jerusalem, he is going down the path to suffering and death, both physically and spiritually, as he describes in clear language to his disciples. Our Epistle lesson for today from Hebrews 5 also describes this beautifully and clearly.
6. Consider, then, the relationship between the upwardly mobile and the downtrodden. We can’t make ourselves higher except by making others lower and putting them under us. We have it in our minds that life consists of ruling over others while they support us. Jesus demonstrates what dominion really means by submitting himself to the support and restoration of the life of the world.
7. Jesus knows that the resurrection is the final piece of what is to come (v 34b). He’s plainly said it. The Gospel begins and ends with God’s gracious gift of life: the life of his incarnate Son and the restoration of that life given for ours. So, knowing his identity and what that ultimately means, Jesus welcomes judgment. He will rise because he is the source of all life. He simply can’t perish forever by either the execution of men or the judgment of God, since sacrificing his own life for ours out of love is the essential characteristic of life.
8. The disciples badly mistake their identities. Two disciples, James and John, have mistaken their identity. Mark 10:35-39a says, “35And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to [Jesus] and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38Jesus 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?” 39And they said to him, “We are able.”
9. In contrast to the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught them, “Thy will be done,” these two ask that Jesus would grant them whatever they ask. At times we feel entitled to seek our own way. At other times we might have a sense of excitement or anticipation in getting whatever we ask (as children do composing a Christmas or birthday list).
10. But we ought to consider the results of a world full of people all trying to get what they want while ignoring what God’s will is. A great illustration of this is in the 2003 movie starring Jim Carrey called, “Bruce Almighty.” It’s the tale of Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey), a down on his luck news reporter who gets frustrated with God. Bruce accuses God of being cruel and not doing His job, so God (Morgan Freeman) gives Bruce His powers for one week to show him that he can’t do it any better. In one particular scene, Bruce tries to figure out how to answer the prayers of the world and decides to create a computerized system called YAHWEH email. He realizes that the more prayers he answers, the more prayers come in. Frustrated, he decides to answer “yes” to all prayers. The results of Bruce’s action cause extreme chaos in the world when everyone in the world gets what they want. If left to our sinful wants and desires, we would be led to destroy ourselves and each other in our greed, our desire for power, and control. In fact, even when we do get our way, our own way keeps changing and the world is forever telling us we are behind or out of step or on the wrong side of history. The world and our own passions demand that we keep up by our own efforts, while Jesus is fulfilling the real demands of life for us.
11. Sitting at the right hand means a position of honor or power. But that position, in this case, seeks to use selfishly the power and honor that were earned selflessly by another. What is glory, anyway? Glory means to do what no one else can do or would do. In the case of James and John, there is no genuine glory in this for them since they are doing what everyone else does, acting selfishly.
12. And do the disciples really want Jesus’ cup and baptism? Cup in the Bible has to do with what one’s life is full of; baptism means “to be washed” or, more important, “awash” in something. Jesus is going to drink down all that life requires of a person; perfect obedience to divine Law and absolute condemnation for failure. James and John don’t really want to drink that cup! They have mistaken their identities!
13. The other ten are just as mistaken about their identities as are the two. Mark 10:41 says, “41And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.” The selfish character of our nature since the fall is shocking and evident as the other disciples have not learned from James’s and John’s mistake. Are we making the same mistake as well? Are you ever angry at the selfish behavior of others while unaware of your own? All twelve disciples are taking their lead from the world rather than from Jesus. The process of discipleship always has in view the fact that our human nature can’t be separated from the selfish orientation that it has inherited from Adam.
14. That being their identity, the disciples are foolish to invite judgment. Here’s the sad truth of humanity since the fall: the harder people try to make a life for themselves at the expense of others, the less they experience the real life they are seeking. How rewarding or fulfilling is it to buy things for yourself that you don’t really need? What genuine and lasting pleasure does a person have for taking affection selfishly from another? Do children have a better life because they disobey curfew set by their parents on the weekends?
15. But Jesus’ identity restores us to our identity in him. Jesus says in Mark 10:38-40, “38Jesus 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?” 39And 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, 40but 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.” Jesus’ matter-of-fact explanation to James and John is remarkable, but consistent with his love for his disciples since that love requires patience in order to reach its goal. The cup and baptism that were more than the disciples understood Jesus would take. Jesus would drink down all that life requires of us, be completely awash in the burden of our condemnation and the weight of restoring our lives. This love is his glory and what he properly effects from the right hand of the Father.
16. Submission to the Father is evident with Jesus even in his answer to the two disciples. Jesus doesn’t scold these two nor respond with outrage that they should so lightly seek what belongs to him at such a cost. Jesus defers always to the Father, whom he trusts absolutely. Jesus’ word to the Twelve shows the love that is always his identity. Mark 10:42-45 says, “42And 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. 43But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” We simply can’t tear our material passions away from a material world that appeals to us. But the power of God’s Word and grace, demonstrated here in Jesus, is capable of regenerating our soul, setting a very different force to work in our lives.
17. Jesus turns the pyramid upside down. Since ancient times, people have recognized that the more people you have supporting you, the less you have to do for yourself. Even today, people have made immense fortunes of money by organizing a business on a pyramid scheme. But, Jesus inverts the pyramid, teaching us that real authority and power are demonstrated in putting oneself at the bottom of the heap. The Old Testament Reading from Jeremiah invites us to consider this New Testament of Jesus, in which he provides all that supports our life.
18. Jesus provides the absolute foundation for identity and for life. Jesus introduces this absolute foundation with the word for. That little word explains to us that everything Jesus is doing and all he has taught is directed by this reality: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (v 45). Into this, Christ’s identity, we are baptized, and this gives us our new identity: in our Baptism, we are in Christ. His identity has become our identity.
19. Our new identity as Christians? Inviting judgment so that we may honestly repent of our mistakes; inviting the judgment of God that declares under the New Testament as Jeremiah declares, “For I will forgive their iniquity” (Jer 31:34). Being in Christ in light of Jesus’ identity makes us a people who seek to serve others from the abundance God gives each of us, rather than trying to get what we don’t have from others. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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