IS THE CROSS AT THE CENTER FOR YOU?
Sermon Text, St. Mark 9:30-32; 10:32-45. Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. For He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.
Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they “will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able.” So Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Faithful and loving Savior, You walked the way of the cross and atoned for the sin of all mankind: Give us grace to remember always in faith what You have done for us; and give us also willingness and strength to follow You on the way that leads through the thorns of suffering and grief to eternal joy. Amen.
Dear people loved by God in Christ, who gave His life as the ransom-price for all: Grace, mercy, and peace be with you, in truth and love, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
On Good Friday, Jesus was crucified between two criminals. His cross was “in the center” (Jn 19:18). Here in our church, our cross is centered. That’s usually how it is. The cross is at the center. It also should be that way in our faith and our life. Should be. So the question is: Is the cross at the center for you?
We hear Jesus predict for the second and third times that He will suffer, die, and rise from the dead. He says not only that He will be betrayed into the hands of the Jewish leaders; but they “will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles,” that is, the Romans, and that they would kill Him. Their manner of execution was the cross. The cross is at the center.
But Jesus’ disciples listening to this were in denial, led by James and John. They hear Jesus’ prediction of the cross and they reject it. They take it out of the center and want to put it off to the side, even way behind them. They go straight to the glory part. In essence, they say: “Skip the cross.”
- If you leave the cross behind, you’re left outside of heaven.
James and John take what Peter did, the first time Jesus predicted His death, a step farther. Remember, Peter had said, “Lord this shall not happen to You!” But now James and John say, “Lord, this shall not happen to us!”
James’ and John’s request is: “Grant us that we may sit in Your glory, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left.” In other words, at the top positions in Christ’s kingdom, above the other disciples and all other people.
They were imagining a glorious kingdom, without a cross. But they were thinking of themselves mainly. They want to be considered spiritually great, or greater than others. The other ten disciples were the same. We hear that they were “greatly displeased with James and John,” they were jealous. Jesus had to step in and address this “desire among you to be great.”
This wasn’t about being great in a worldly way: to be great at what you do. It isn’t a sin to want to be all that you can be, to dedicate yourself and get the most from your abilities – but it can turn into sin as Satan lures you toward self-glorification and being ruled by a desire to be praised by others.
Instead, this was about the desire to be great spiritually. Jesus didn’t say, “Blessed are the great in spirit,” but instead: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” To be “poor in spirit” doesn’t mean God wants you to be lacking spiritually. It means: you know your sins, you know that you need the cross.
The key to this sin was that they didn’t want any part of the cross. Jesus puts it in terms of contrast with Himself: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” It’s wanting to be the one being served.
Spiritually what this means is you want to be considered a super-Christian. You focus on having a great or strong faith. Maybe you wish you didn’t need Jesus so much, you want to not need so much forgiveness. You want to be good on your own. Maybe you look down on others whose sinful ways you see. Church becomes about what we do, it’s focused on everything but Jesus.
Quite frankly, we have to ask whether the cross is at the center for us. Jesus’ words at the end – that He had “come to give His life a ransom for many” – holds out to His disciples His “ransom”accomplished on the cross.
To ransom or redeem is to buy back. Jesus here declares that He came to do this: to make full payment for everyone’s sins. We know He did this with His holy, precious blood. It’s the only way in to heaven. So if you leave the cross behind, your sins will hurt you, they’ll condemn you. If you leave the cross behind, you’re unprotected from the devil’s accusations about your sins. If you leave the cross behind, you’re left out of heaven by your own doing.
- As you come to the cross, you can be certain you ARE in the kingdom of heaven, and it IS great.
Jesus asks James and John: “Are you able to drink the cup that I am drinking, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
What is this about a cup and a baptism? This is actually Jesus’ suffering.
Jesus would speak of Himself in terms of drinking “the cup” in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He said: “Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” This idea of a “cup to drink” refers to something put in someone’s hand, his share – in this case, the amount of suffering – and he has to “drink” it – not avoid it but partake it, go through it. Jesus did that. It’s the cup of God’s anger over sin. Jesus drank it all up. He took all of God’s anger over everyone’s sin, including yours and mine – and James and John’s.
The “baptism” is a baptism of blood. It’s that Jesus cleanses the world – just as the flood once did – by the shedding of His blood, by His holy precious blood, the blood of the Lamb of God, which “cleanses us of all sin” (1Jn 1:7).
This is the cross. This is what Jesus came to do as the Savior. When He asks James and John if they can do this, they foolishly say yes. Obviously they can’t suffer for the sins of the world. But if they’re Jesus’ disciples, if they follow Him closely, they will face suffering. They’ll be persecuted. James would be the first apostle to be killed for his faith. John (with Peter) would be imprisoned and beaten right after Pentecost for preaching Jesus. It will only be Jesus’ cross and resurrection that will give them strength to endure it.
His resurrection would make them changed men – changed from self-serving into unselfish men who seek the salvation of others, changed from fearful into courageous men who would rather be killed than give up this faith. This isn’t a courage only some can have, but what every Christian is to be – whether it’s St. Patrick facing violent pagan druid chieftains and still preaching the Word to them, calling on God as His shield; or if it’s you or I facing the hostile powers that surround us wherever we are in daily life: we vow to suffer death rather than fall away and not confess this faith. It’s dangerous to be a Christian. It isn’t a life of ease. It’s the way of the cross.
So Jesus encourages them and says, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized.” He goes on to teach them that they are not to angle for position in His kingdom, because that just isn’t a thing. But see what Jesus does? He anchors them (and us) in – what? – His redeeming work: “the cup that I drink … the baptism I am baptized with,” which is shedding His blood and dying our death.
This is where we are anchored: at the cross, in His death. From His death we draw our life. At His cross we no longer want “to be served” by anyone but Him – as He serves us in His Word and Sacraments. This is where we come to the cross: where we hear Jesus Himself speak in the preaching of His Word and the absolution; where we meet Jesus Himself in His Supper, in His body and blood, as He gives us remission of sins, in fact He gives us Himself.
When we come, we should know that we are coming to His cross – this is where He brings the blessings of His cross to us. We are coming because we are not super-Christians, we can’t be good on our own, we do need to repent – all the time! – and we need Jesus and His forgiving love, more than anything!
Sometimes we take too long to come to the cross. Sometimes we fear that He wouldn’t want such damaged goods as us. Sometimes we’ve been too into ourselves and our worries and distractions. Should we still come? What if we have doubts? Well, then you know you aren’t great spiritually, and here’s the thing: That’s exactly who Jesus wants! You, the poor in spirit, what does He say you are? “Blesséd!” – in Him. He gave His life as a ransom for you. Amen!