Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
If we’re honest, when we approach God in prayer, we want Him to do for us whatever we ask of Him. For example, if we pray for advancement in our career or a desired ministry opportunity, we don’t want Him to answer by giving us more grace to continue waiting. We want Him to deliver our desires immediately.
We’re not the only ones who have talked to God this way. Jesus’ disciples James and John said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you” (Mark 10:35). Jesus’ response displays His long-suffering and patience: “What do you want me to do for you?” (v. 36). Their request reveals how self-oriented their thoughts were. In a moment when they should have been focused on Jesus’ revelation of His suffering, they instead craved honor: “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory” (v. 37). They failed to understand that in God’s kingdom, God alone receives the glory. They also failed to understand their severe limitations. When Jesus asked if they could drink His cup, or be baptized in the way that He would be, they responded, “We are able” (vv. 38–39). Such proud confidence reinforces their sheer misunderstanding of Jesus’ teaching on being the suffering Messiah. Since the other ten disciples were “indignant at James and John,” we can conclude that even they thought the brothers’ request was wrong (v. 41).
Not surprisingly, Jesus turned this occasion into an opportunity to reveal that the values and victory in God’s kingdom come in a far different way than they do in this world. The great ones are servants. The winners are slaves of all. The leaders are to serve, even if it costs them their very lives. Jesus is the preeminent example of this: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The One who “was given . . . everlasting dominion” and an eternal kingdom (Dan. 7:13–14) came to serve and to die for God’s people.
It is encouraging that the Apostle John did not continue to crave glory. God sanctifies His own, and that was certainly true in the case of John. Not only did he write one of the Gospels, but he also wrote 1–3 John and the book of Revelation. Through his writings, we see how much he grew in understanding the gospel. He came to model his Savior’s words and actions: “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).
As we look toward the week ahead, we’re likely hoping that God will do for us whatever we ask of Him. Instead, let us follow the example of our Savior. Let us go and serve, giving up our desires for advancement, comfort, and convenience so that we can share the gospel and glorify God alone.