Mark 10:32 - Meaning and Application

Here, I. Christ predicts his own suffering. This was a subject he returned to often, even though it sounded very hard to his disciples. When they were going up to Jerusalem, Jesus walked ahead of them, like the captain of our salvation, who would be made complete through suffering (Mark 10:32). In this way, he showed that he was willing to go forward with his mission, even when he came to its hardest part. Now that the time was near, he said, “Look, I am coming.” He was not pulling back. He pressed forward more than ever.

Jesus went ahead of them, and they were amazed. They began to realize the danger they themselves were facing by going to Jerusalem. They knew how hostile the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, was toward their Master and toward them, and they were ready to tremble. To encourage them, Christ went before them. It was as if he said, “Come on, surely you will venture where your Master ventures.” When we see suffering ahead of us, it helps to see our Master go before us.

Or, he went before them, and that is why they were amazed. They marveled to see how cheerfully and eagerly he moved ahead, though he knew he was going to suffer and die. Christ’s courage and steady purpose in carrying out our salvation are, and will be, the wonder of all his disciples.

II. He corrects two disciples for an ambitious request. The story is much the same as in Matthew 20:20. There, their mother is said to have made the request; here, they are said to make it themselves. She brought the petition, and they supported it.

We should notice that some people fail to use the great encouragements Christ gives in prayer, while others abuse them. He has said, “Ask, and it will be given to you,” and it is a fine act of faith to ask for the great things he has promised. But these disciples were wrong to make such an unlimited request of their Master: “We want you to do for us whatever we ask.” It is better to leave it to him to do what he sees fit. He will do more than we can ask (Ephesians 3:20).

We must also be careful about making broad promises. Christ did not agree to do whatever they wanted. Instead, he asked what they wanted: “What do you want me to do for you?” He wanted them to continue with their request, so they would feel ashamed of it.

Many have been misled by wrong ideas about Christ’s kingdom, as if it were of this world and like the kingdoms of earthly rulers. James and John seem to have reasoned like this: if Christ rises again, he must be a king, and if he is a king, his apostles must be noblemen. One of them hoped to be the highest, and the other right after him, like Joseph in Pharaoh’s court or Daniel in Darius’s.

Worldly honor is a shining thing, and even Christ’s own disciples have often been dazzled by it. Yet being good should matter more to us than looking important or having the highest place. Our weakness and short-sightedness show up in our prayers as much as anywhere. We do not know how to speak rightly to God because of the darkness in our minds, both about him and about ourselves. It is foolish to try to direct God, and wise to submit to him.

It is Christ’s will that we prepare for suffering and leave it to him to reward us for it. He does not need to be reminded, like Ahasuerus, the Persian king, of the services of his people, nor can he forget their work of faith and love. Our concern should be to have the wisdom and grace to know how to suffer with him. Then we may trust him to arrange how we shall reign with him, and when, and where, and what our degrees of glory will be.

III. He corrects the rest of the disciples for their resentment over it. They began to be very displeased and became indignant at James and John (Mark 10:41). They were angry with them for wanting the higher places, not because it was so unfit for Christ’s disciples, but because each of them hoped for the same place himself. A man once said he was trampling on Alexander’s pride, but he was rightly answered that he was showing even greater pride of his own. In the same way, these disciples showed their own ambition in being upset at the ambition of James and John. Christ used this moment to warn them against that same spirit, and against it in all later ministers of the gospel (Mark 10:42-44).

He called them to him in a familiar way, giving them an example of humility while he corrected their pride. He showed them, first, that power is usually abused in the world (Mark 10:42). Those who are called rulers over the Gentiles exercise authority over them. That is what they focus on. They care less about protecting people and providing for their good, and more about using power over them. They want to be obeyed, they want to act arbitrarily, and they want their will to rule in everything. Their attitude is, “So I will, so I command, and my will is reason enough.” Their concern is what they can get from their subjects to support their own display and greatness, not what they can do for them.

That, then, should not be allowed in the church. Jesus says, “It shall not be so among you.” Those under your care must be like sheep under a shepherd. He is to tend them, feed them, and serve them, not treat them like horses under a driver, who only works them and beats them for his own gain.

Whoever wants to be great and first, and pushes himself into worldly rank and power, will be the servant of all. He will be low and without honor in the eyes of all wise and good people. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled.” Or, to put it another way, the one who truly wants to be great must use himself to do good to everyone. He must be willing to do the humblest tasks and endure the hardest work. Those who are most useful are not only the most honored in the life to come, but the most honorable even now.

To prove this, Christ sets his own example before them (Mark 10:45). The Son of Man first takes the hardest sufferings and greatest dangers, and then enters into his glory. Can his followers expect to reach it any other way, or to have more comfort and honor than he did? He takes the form of a servant. He did not come to be served and waited on, but to serve and to be gracious.

He also came in obedience even to death, and under death’s power, because he gave his life as a ransom for many. If he died for the good of his people, should we not also aim to live for their good?