God, what is your will?

(by Dave, 10 min)

Scripture

Mark 10: 33-45 (ESV)

And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, “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. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus 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?” And 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, but 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.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And 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. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

God, what is your will

We Christians spend time trying to discern the will of God for our lives. Maybe someone loses their job. The person must then choose between two other jobs, but one of them requires moving the entire family. The family is divided with some wanting to move and some wanting to stay put. So, the good Christian prays hoping God will reveal His will about this job decision.

The scenario I just described suggests people turn to God when human reasoning falls short. But that’s not always or even often true. Many folks will start to pray to God for guidance as soon as a decision is upon them. Either way, why do we ask God to reveal His will to us? Is it simply because we are dedicated servants of God? The behavior of John and James suggests we should be cautious in assuming this about ourselves.

Are you committed?

Jesus gives the disciples a prophecy of his suffering and death in today’s Scripture verse. At the end of it, they are told he will rise. James and John believe the risen Christ is the Lord foretold who will come in glory at the end of the age. God’s prophecy coming from Jesus echoes their knowledge of the Old Testament prophecies. They are convinced.

They are so certain, the brothers ask Jesus to grant what they want in the glory to come. Their desire is that God’s plan include them in a place of honor. Since they did not hear this from Jesus, they take it upon themselves to request it. The brothers want certainty about God’s will for them as they serve Jesus in the glory to come. Not just any certainty, but one that leaves them well-off.  

When we ask God to reveal His will about one of our decisions, are we asking so that we can serve God, or are we also hoping that it will go well for us? The answer Jesus gives the disciples cleaves these two motivations apart. It begins with a statement that the brothers do not know what they are asking. Jesus queries if they are able to drink the cup or receive the baptism he is going to receive. The sons of Zebedee declare themselves able.

You can imagine a modern-day corollary. A young fighter pilot goes to a decorated senior pilot and says I want you to teach me to fly exactly like you. The senior pilot says you have no idea what you are asking. Are you able to pay the price? Are you capable of putting thousands of hours in the sky? Will you take enormous risks, make colossal mistakes, and maybe lose your life? Are you prepared to take many lives? The young pilot responds, yes, I am. Although naïve, at least the youngster demonstrates he/she has the commitment to step into the suffering required to satisfy his/her request. So it is with John and James.

However, the brothers are ignorant of the suffering to come. In fact, they are woefully ignorant because the cup is an Old Testament metaphor for enduring the wrath of God. Jesus is not just taking on physical suffering. Sinless, he was baptized by John for the repentance of humanity’s sin. Therefore, when James and John reply, “we are able”, they are not. They are not able to bear the enormity of God’s wrath for all human sin. Still, at least their request for a place of honor is backed by a commitment to suffer if that’s what it takes.

Are we? When we ask God to reveal His will to us, are we committed to walk in that will even if it means suffering? Would we be willing to take the job that pays less, has little opportunity for advancement, and disrupts our family the most solely because we received a revelation from God to take that job? The answer to that question reveals a good bit about our motivations in asking to receive God’s guidance.  

Unknown outcomes reveal much

The Lord’s motivational dissecting scalpel probes deeper still. He tells the brothers that the suffering associated with their request will be theirs. They will drink the cup and receive the baptism he will. If I were either James or John, I would expect Jesus’ next words to be ‘and if you do, the place of honor will be yours’. Instead, he informs them that the place of honor is not his to grant.

What! Endure the suffering, and Jesus doesn’t even control my outcome? That had to surprise the brothers. Jesus says the place of honor is for those for whom it has been prepared. What a fabulously nebulous way of putting it. Perhaps James and John are the ones for whom it has been prepared or perhaps not. The point Jesus makes is that he serves the Father, and the Father has prepared the place of honor for whom He chooses. Maybe it’s James and John, but maybe not. Not even the son of God can put anyone else in that place. It seems the brothers have a decision to make that will reveal the core of their motivations.

Do they want to follow the will of God and endure the suffering that Jesus will, knowing that their desired outcome may or may not occur? If the answer is yes, then we know their desire to follow God’s will has been stripped of any self-serving purpose. We know from the rest of the New Testament that in the end they answered yes. Because they did, places of honor became irrelevant to them. John even writes in his first letter, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (1 John 3:16) Hardly words of a self-serving man seeking honor from God.

When we attempt to discern God’s will about a personal decision, the outcome of our decision must likewise be irrelevant. When it is, then we will know that the reason we ask for discernment was truly because we wanted to follow the will of God. Yet even if this is so, we still yearn for certainty. If suffering is required, that’s okay. If the outcome is God’s to determine, that’s okay. Uncertainty, not okay. We still want to know what God’s will is.

Service is certainty

The last part of the gospel reading for today gives us the certainty for which we long. We don’t know what’s happening in the hearts of James and John at this point, but the rest of the disciples are miffed at the two for clamoring after honor. Jesus responds to them that such thoughts are akin to the Gentile and have no place among them. They (and we) are to make ourselves least and be each other’s servants. This is a prevailing truism of God’s will. We know it because Jesus declares that even he is not exempt from it: “For even the Son of Man, came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Perhaps we should rethink how we approach our decisions. We can surely ask for God’s guidance, and we might receive it. There are many examples of that in the Bible. But today’s Scripture teaches us that such a request requires a selfless motivation to serve God. We should make ourselves least in the decision-making process and ask, for example, which job will give us an opportunity to serve people best. For that is a constant of God’s will. It was even imposed upon His own Son. We can always count on it, and in that confidence is the certainty we so crave. Selflessly pursuing God as servants in our decision-making should be certainty enough regardless of whether God gives us a definitive answer.

The outcome of our decision, irrelevant. The acceptance of God’s will to serve God by serving others, most relevant.

As an aside, I’ve often opined that it would be great to sit and talk with Jesus in the flesh for a couple of hours. I suspect it would be, but man oh man there’s no hiding who you are when you’re in his presence. Fantastic and sobering all at the same time.

I hope you enjoyed this take on the request of James and John. Many blessings to you today in your service to others, and thanks so much for reading.

Dave