THE K I NG ' S BUS I NES S He must be delivered to death. To Christ, it is all perfectly clear. His vision is undimmed. It was for this He had come into the world, and for this He devoted His life. Before Him stretched, as in a panorama, the details of the awful suffering which awaited HimJ^jj-the betrayal, the condemnation, the mockery, the scourging, the cruel cross and death, and the coming forth from the grave. Mark says that the • disciples were amazed and afraid (Mark 10:32-34). Luke says th a t they did not understand these things (Luke 18:31-34). The say ing was hidden. It was too much for them to comprehend, and they were dazed and stupefied at the thought of such a sorrow. The Lord Jesus had set His face like a flint, and went forward' with unfaltering steps (Matt. 26:53; John 10:17-18). “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay/ down my life that .1 m ight take it again. No man taketh it from me, but 1 lay it down of m yself. I have power to lay it down, and 1 have power to take it again.“ (Isa. 50:5, 6.) “The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and 1 was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the sm iters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; 1 hid not my face from shame and spitting.“ His heart was set on finishing the work for which He came into the world. (2) THE PLEA FOR PREFER MENT, vs. 20-23. “One on the right hand and the other on the left.” In strong contrast with the surren dered will of the Lord Jesus, is the self- seeking of the Zebedee family. Matthew says the mother came with the request, while Mark says that Peter and John came. (Mark 10:35.) Probably it was the mother who voiced the plea. Jesus had told them that they should sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes (Matt. 19:28), and they imagine that the time is near at hand, and in their, vain ambition they seek the fav ored places. These two men, together with James, had been honored in the house of Jairus (Luke 8:51) and a t the Transfiguration (Mark 9 :2 ), and they
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think themselves more worthy than the others. How sharp is the rebuke, and how well merited: “Ye know not what he ask.” How much of our praying is void of understanding. We ask for things with out thought of the consequences. We seek His blessing upon plans th a t have not been given us by Himself. How the natural heart longs for place and privilege. How little these disci ples apprehended the Way of the Cross! It was easy to promise to drink the cup and be baptized with the baptism, but it would be another thing to do it. • It is easy to make promises and pledges and professions, but it is another thing to make them good. How few are ready to pay the price of the best place! How few have the merit of Christ. (Phil. 2: 5-8): “Who . . . made himself of no reputation . . . humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross.” It is one thing to sing and testify, and quite another to take up the Cross and follow Christ. It is one thing to Volunteer for a foreign fields and quite another to be a missionary a t home and now. (3) THE PLACE OF THE DISCI PLE. “Shall be your servant.” The ten were indignant, yet they were themselves no better, for they had been guilty of the same self-seeking, desir ing to know who should be greatest. (Mark 9:33-39; Luke 22:24). In the Lord’s realm there can be no ambition for lordship in His kingdom. He will be greatest who serves best. The disciples failed to understand the mission of the King. He came to be the servant of His subjects. He sought no position or possessions. He asked no favor or flattery. He was a King, but His regal right was to be established in a far different way from that of earthly kings. His conquest was to be through a cross. Two men were to
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