Reflective Bible Study

Have you ever wanted to do something great for God?

I know I have. This blog, newsletter, and website are one such “great thing” in my own life. However, in each of our lives, I believe there is a desire to start something great, do something great, or be a part of something great – and have the choices of our lives impact the world long after we are gone.

Our passage for this entry brings us into a similar argument that was happening among the disciples, only they were not arguing over doing something great, but over who would get the greatest position in Jesus’ coming kingdom. Each of the disciples were already aware that they were a part of something greater than each of them individually, and in this argument, pride and selfishness jump into the mix since they are looking to organize and rank each other’s worth in this big thing.

In Jesus’ response, He gives a clear answer regarding how to be great, though His answer is not one the disciples wanted to hear. Jesus said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (v. 35)

In this answer, Jesus turns the idea of climbing up the ladder into one where we are to climb down. I have heard that we could describe this as an inverted (upside-down) leadership pyramid, where the CEO serves the leadership and each member of the leadership serves their employees.

However, I believe Jesus’ response goes deeper than organizational structure. In this response, Jesus is teaching about the character of God, and about His own character. God served everyone (both active sinners as well as “perfect” Christians) by letting Jesus come to earth as a human. Jesus gave up everything and served everyone by laying down His life on a cross. Jesus’ death was for all humanity, not just those who think like us or believe in the same way we do.

Mark’s gospel is the only one that includes the phrase “the servant of all”, and in this phrase, we see Jesus asking all His followers (or at least the ones that have a desire to be great), to serve everyone, with no biases or favoritism, since God is not biased in His love, and His favorite person is everyone. Each of us is unique and special in His eyes, and we are all irreplaceable.

When we serve like Jesus served, we will become a servant of all – helping everyone without showing favorites, serving wisely with good boundaries so that our help does not enable/hurt others, and helping in ways that won’t burn ourselves out.

If the Bible had a theme verse or a theme statement, a statement Jesus makes during His conversation with Nicodemus would likely cover it. Near the beginning of this statement, we find one of the most well known verses in the entire Bible.

At the close of their conversation, Jesus takes an event that is coming up in His life, and He gives it eternal significance. Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, the Son of Man must also be lifted up. So that everyone who believes can have eternal life in him.” (v. 14-15)

After framing the key to eternal life lies in Him, Jesus continues by saying, “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him.” (v. 16-17)

These are two of the most famous verses in the Bible, and while we may be tempted to stop here, Jesus has more to help us understand on this idea. He continues by saying, “People who believe in God’s Son are not judged guilty. Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty, because they have not believed in God’s one and only Son. They are judged by this fact: The Light has come into the world, but they did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil things. All who do evil hate the light and will not come to the light, because it will show all the evil things they do. But those who follow the true way come to the light, and it shows that the things they do were done through God.” (v. 18-21)

These eight verses summarize God’s heart for us, Jesus’ mission to save us, and our possible responses to what God has done. Our response is either to love the light, which means believing in God’s one and only Son, or to love the darkness, which means rejecting Jesus in favor of doing evil things.

In a slightly disturbing way, Jesus actually quantifies what makes an action evil. The test for whether an action is evil is whether it wants to remain hidden from public view. Jesus says that evil actions want darkness because the light will reveal them. One easy way for us to tell if an action is evil or not is whether we would want it broadcast (in its entirety) for the world to see. We could also reframe this question on whether we would want it shared at our funeral.

Actions that are evil want the cover of darkness. Actions that are evil want to remain hidden and secret. In contrast, actions that are noble are okay being visible. They thrive in the light. Noble actions are done through God.

Even more important than the famous pair of verses (v. 16-17) is what comes next. While God gave Jesus and while Jesus did not come to judge or condemn, our response can either place us in the group that will not be judged or in the group that is already condemned as guilty. Everything comes down to one decision: Will you believe in, trust in, and place your hope in Jesus while continually moving towards the Light that comes from God; or will you reject Jesus and prefer the darkness? This is the most important decision of our lives.

During the night of Jesus’ arrest, before Judas the betrayer had arrived with the mob, Luke includes a detail about the time Jesus was praying that the gospel writers do not include. This prompts me to wonder if not all the disciples slept during the first part of that night.

Luke tells us that while Jesus was praying, “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. In great anguish he prayed even more fervently; his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (v. 43-44)

Tradition says that Jesus experienced a condition in this event known as “hematidrosis” which is where blood mixes with one’s sweat when under extreme stress. This is very possibly what happened, but when I compared a number of translations, they all said that Jesus’ sweat was “like” drops of blood. Maybe this was because the sweat looked red from experiencing hematidrosis, or perhaps it was simply sweat that was pouring and dripping off of His face like blood running out of an open wound.

But Luke’s record of this medical condition is not the main reason why his description stands out to me. It is the presence of an angel.

There are only two times I can think of in Jesus’ ministry where an angel appears to strengthen Him. The first is following Jesus’ time in the wilderness when He was tempted, and the second time is this one recorded in Luke’s gospel. Both times Jesus has faced a pretty intense trial, and it is likely that both of these events faced some pretty intense moments of temptation.

I wonder if, like the angel came at the close of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness, the angel came at the close of Jesus’ prayer before the last time He went to wake the disciples up. I wonder if the angel brought a last word of encouragement from God reminding Him of the reason He came. Perhaps many of those living in the first century wouldn’t be saved, but the angel may have reminded Him of the millions of people before and after the cross that Jesus would be giving His life for.

What if the angel reminded Jesus of your name while He was in the garden?

Jesus faced extreme anguish in the garden – probably even more stress and pain than the torture and the cross. The war in the garden was a war of the will, and once Jesus submitted to the plan of salvation they had put in place at the beginning of time, the angel came to remind, validate, and encourage Jesus of all those His life would be saving.

Have you ever felt as though you were doing everything, while someone else does little to nothing?

Every time I hear or read about Mary and Martha in this passage, I see how Martha feels like this: Mary is sitting doing “nothing”, and she is left to manage all the “hostess” details.

And with every passing minute, Martha gets more frustrated with Mary, which finally results in Martha’s outburst in verse 40, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself? Tell her to help me.”

It is in this verse that we find our big idea for today’s journal entry.

Often times when we find ourselves in a situation we feel is unfair, rather than confront the person who is slacking off, we go above them and ask someone they respect or obey to tell them to pick up the slack. In this verse, Martha does not direct her frustration towards Mary for leaving the work. Instead, she directs her frustration at Jesus, and she tells Jesus to tell Mary to help her.

I’m sure this is something that we all have done at some point. However, at the root of this request is manipulation. Martha is being manipulative by trying to get Jesus to tell Mary what to do.

However, Jesus does not fall for manipulation. I don’t think He ever does, since I don’t see any examples of this as I read the Bible, nor have I ever been able to manipulate His working in my own life.

About the clearest example of trying to manipulate God’s leading can be found in the Old Testament book and story of Jonah: He tries to ditch God’s leading by sailing to the far end of the earth, and ends up in the belly of a whale, who brings him back to shore.

Which leads me to the big idea: We cannot fool or manipulate God, nor should we even try to. Instead, we should let God lead us, grow us, and teach us because He knows what is best for us.