Christ Rules The Road

Christ Rules! Gospel of Mark Series (Part 23)

A Sermon By Jim Hammond from Mark 10:32-52

Yesterday my family went Christmas shopping.  The girls in my family went to Flagstaff and the boys in our family went to Prescott.  When we came back together to Cottonwood, the girls brought in packages and packages.  The boys came back with nothing but a Jack N the Box receipt and full tummies!  Christmas shopping can be a challenge sometimes.  Do any of you have an uncle Harry in your life?  Someone who has everything and always gets you something nice and you feel obligated to get something for him, but you have no idea what to get?   Let me make a suggestion.  Get him a GPS unit. 

“A what?” you ask.

A GPS unit.  How many of you don’t know what that is?  Before I tell you let me describe how it might be the perfect gift for Uncle Harry.  Does Uncle Harry go on Hot Air balloon Adventures?  The GPS unit would be the perfect gift.  Not into Hot Air Balloons, huh?  O.K.  Does he like to go boating in the ocean?  A GPS unit would be perfect.  Not into boating, huh?  O.K. is he a hiker?  It would be perfect.  Not a hiker, huh?  O.K.  Does he love to travel?  It would be perfect.   Well, is he a man who, when he gets lost, hates to ask directions?  OK.  Then a GPS unit would be perfect.  What is a GPS unit?  GPS stands for Global Positioning System.  It is a devise that helps you locate exactly where you are.  The US Department of Defense spent $10 billion on the 24 GPS satellites that orbit 12,000 miles above the earth twice a day.  Through the use of these satellites and atomic clocks, the hand held GPS unit or the on board variety found in some cars, etc. send and receive a signal between multiple satellites to locate precisely where you are on the globe within 1 to 3 meters accuracy.  Are you impressed?  It actually has a broad range of usefulness.  It can track where things are going.  With the GPS unit and a map, even on the ocean with no landmarks, you can go precisely where you want to go.  I have a friend who collects rare and exotic cacti and is able to locate them precisely in the desert.  There are many uses.  So why am I telling you about these.  It’s not what you’re thinking—I don’t want one of these for Christmas. [i]

It amazes me how complex the technology has become in order to let us know where we are, and how to get somewhere.  Guess what?  What Men spent billions on, God already knew.  God knows precisely where we are and where we are going.  And God knows what no GPS unit knows, where we are spiritually and where we are going.  Today we are going to talk about how Christ Rules the Road.  Read the focus with me from your outline.

Focus:  Christ Rules the Road because he had a flawless navigational system.  He was born with a purpose and unswervingly plotted the course that accomplished that purpose.  For the disoriented world, Christ IS the unerring navigational system charting the correct course to an eternal relationship with God

What do you want for Christmas?  What if you were granted one wish, and you were not allowed to ask for more wishes?  What would you ask for?  Today we will see a little bit of ourselves in two men who asked Jesus for something.  They weren’t that much different from little children we have seen sitting on the lap of Santa asking for something.  With Children and Santa that something is almost always something self serving, something they want.  The focus is on ME.  What do I want?  Well, I’m asking you, what do you want? 

In this passage we will also see Jesus asking a blind man this very question.  What do you want?  Interestingly, Jesus gives him exactly what he wants.  The blind man’s answer is fascinating because the blind man actually sees more than the most of the people. 

We know that what we want isn’t always what we should get.  What we learn today will help us to curb and correct some of those disorienting desires and to become fully oriented by Christ’s unerring navigational system.

I.                   Christ Rules the Road

Let me show you why I’ve called this section “Christ Rules the Road”. 

“. . . On their Way. . . with Jesus leading the Way. . .” (10:32-34)

“ . . . was sitting by the roadside begging. . .”  (10:46)

“. . .  Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. . .” (10:52)

All of the words for “way”, “road” , or “roadside” here are from the same root word.  Mark tells us that Jesus was on “the way”.  He knew exactly where he was going.  He knew not only that it was a destination, but it was also a way of traveling. Notice that the disciples are following him “on the way”, and they’re not too sure about the destination.  Notice that the blind man was on the side of the road, or “way” begging, but when he got what he wanted he joined Jesus on that road.  He became a follower.  The blind man discovered what we have discovered.  Jesus Knows the way. 

A.     He Knows The Way (10:32-34)

B.  He Shows The Way (10:35-45)

Jesus was right when he told James and John they didn’t know what they were asking.  They are asking to sit in his seat.  At the right hand of God. I like what John MacArther said,  “Some people get so caught up in their own holiness that they look at the Trinity for a possible vacancy.”[ii] 

Obviously the disciples are confused.  They are actually trying to follow Jesus while Going the Wrong Way (10:35-40).  It doesn’t work.  They don’t yet know it doesn’t work, however.  They assume the way Jesus is traveling is the way they are trying to go.  Jesus corrects them here.  He doesn’t just tell them.  He shows them. 

Climbing the Ladder up the wrong Wall

Jesus tells them that the path of Greatness is by way of serving not climbing the ladder.  He does James and John a great favor.  James and John at the outset have set up their ladder of success against the wall they want to scale.  They are trying to climb up those rungs on the ladder.  Jesus does them a great favor by telling them the ladder is leaned up against the wrong wall.  Some people never learn this.  They spend all their lives, and all their energy climbing the ladder of success, and only after their lives are spent, sometimes after retiring, sometimes after seeing their marriages fail, or sometimes when their children have left their homes and they live the lyrics to “Cats in the Cradle”:

My child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad.
You know I'm gonna be like you."

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."

My son turned ten just the other day.
He said, "Thanks for the ball, dad, come on let's play.
Can you teach me to throw?" I said, "Not today,
I got a lot to do." He said, "That's ok."
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmmed,
Said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah.
You know I'm gonna be like him."

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."

Well, he came from college just the other day,
So much like a man I just had to say,
"Son, I'm proud of you. Can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head, and he said with a smile,
"What I'd really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys.
See you later. Can I have them please?"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."

I've long since retired and my son's moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kid's got the flu,
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad.
It's been sure nice talking to you."
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."[iii]

 sometimes it is only after it is too late that they discover that they leaned their ladders against the wrong wall.  Where is your ladder?

The Way of the Towel

Jesus shows us the true path of greatness. 

⁴³Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

The Way of the towel reminds us of the time Jesus took the towel and basin and washed his disciples feet (John 13).  He told us to take the towel.

This is the Way of The Towel.  It is the life of serving others.  Learning what makes others tick, and helping them tick is the path to greatness.

The Secret of a Happy Home

“The secret of every discord in Christian homes and communities and churches is that we seek our own way and our own glory.”[iv]  The secret of a happy home is the way of the towel.  Asking the question, “Is there anything I can do for you?” is a good starting point.  Happy people have learned to look for ways to serve because they love.

True Heroism

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic.  It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. [v]

Good to the Last Cup 

In one large church with a large staff it was noted by one secretary that whoever had the last cup of coffee often failed to replenish the pot for the next person. Trying to motivate the staff to be more responsible, the secretary taped a neatly-typed plea to the pot: "If Jesus drank the last cup of coffee, what would he have done? Go thou and do likewise."  The next morning she found this scrawled response: "Jesus would have turned the water into wine instead of coffee." [vi]

Reach  Neighbor

Joseph Aldrich, author of Lifestyle Evangelism, and How to be a Redemptive person tells the following story:  

“In my neighborhood is a neat couple across the street who are a key couple. When they trust the Lord, the gospel is going down a web of relationships, and I think there'll be fifteen or twenty couples who'll trust the Lord within a very short period of time. This has been our experience.

   The husband, Phil, travels a lot. He's a sales representative, and he's on the road a lot. So somehow I've ended up being Mr. Fix-It. I've been over there to unplug toilets. Twice I've been over there to fix their garbage disposal unit. I wish they'd get a new one! The last time I was there, it was such a bad deal that I had to take all the molding out around the dishwasher and pull the dishwasher out. I was lying there on my back, all wet, with water and food all over everything.

   Right in the middle of it, I started laughing out loud. I just said, "God, you've got an incredible sense of humor, because I'd been praying for opportunities to serve, and you're sure giving them to me. I wish sometimes you'd keep your big fist out of that garbage disposal unit." I knew good and well why it was clogged up. [God wanted to reach them,.so I needed to remind myself. ] Servants have no rights.” [vii]

Point People to Christ

The best way for people to learn about the church is by seeing a face and hearing a voice say, "We're here to serve in the name of Christ, and God bless you whether you come or not." [viii]

By the Way. . .

  You can tell whether you are becoming a servant by how you act when people treat you like one. [ix]

The Way of the Cross

Jesus doesn’t stop at showing us the way of the towel.  He shows not only the way of the Towel, but the way of the Cross. 

C.  He Goes All The Way (10:32, 34, 45)

Mark has already told us that Jesus knew that he was going to go to Jerusalem and be killed.  But this is the only place that Mark tells us why.  It wasn’t just that he knew in advance what was going to happen.  It was because there was a purpose behind it.  He was on a set course for a reason.  He was going to pay the ransom price.  He was going to shed his innocent blood as the ransom price to set the guilty free.    ^10:45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  

If there was any life verse for Jesus, this was it.  This was the internal GPS unit for Jesus.  This set His course; this told him where he was; this told him where he was going.

The term “Ransom” was used 1)  for compensation for personal injury or a crime, 2)  for purchasing the freedom of a slave or prisoner, and 3)  for the price paid as an equivalent for the sacrifice of the first born.[x]   All of these images are appropriate.  We were the criminals, we caused the injury, but He paid the price.  We were the slaves.  We were the prisoners to our own sin, but he paid the price to set us free.  In the Old Testament there were the ransom images of redeeming the firstborn.  These were the pictures that remind us that God paid his firstborn to set us free from the Death Angel that passes over. 

D.      He Makes The Way (10:45)

Do you remember Jesus asking the question in 8:37 “What can a man give in exchange for his soul?”   He didn’t answer that question.  The Psalmist in Psalms 49:7-9 gives us a gloomy answer.

Psalm 49:7-9 (NIV) ⁷No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him—⁸the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough—⁹that he should live on forever and not see decay.

Do you remember what Jesus said in the text we studied last week. “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”  Where there was no way, Jesus made a way.  The ransom was impossible for us to pay ourselves.  God paid the ransom we could not pay.  The righteousness of Christ was what made the ransom payment adequate as an atoning sacrifice.  His perfect life was an adequate payment to set us free, and because of his righteousness He conquered death for us.

The Catch

This is all wonderful news.  We have been set free.  However, there is one catch.  There is a principle that was true with the ransom image.  Demonsthenes cites the law that the one who was ransomed became the property of the one who freed him.[xi]  Paul assumes this principal also.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV) ¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Here’s the catch.  Ransomed people belong to Christ.  If we want all the benefits that come with that ransom, and the benefits are really more than we can imagine, we must acknowledge that we belong entirely to him.

It Is Your Baby

Calvin Miller shows us how there is nothing easy about this little catch.

“I walked through Children's Hospital in Omaha not too long ago, and I saw a little baby boy there, below two years of age, with tubes running in and out of his body--clearly very, very sick. I asked the nurse about him, and she said, "I want to thank you for asking about him. He will die before he is 2 years of age, but the worst part is that his mother died in childbirth and his father's in the penitentiary. Nobody comes; nobody asks about him much, and he lays there. You're one of the first to even ask about him." I walked out of the hospital that day thanking God that my two children are well and that it wasn't my baby. Then it seemed like out of the very atmosphere around me, God said, "Yeah, that is your baby."

      If you're a servant, the world you see and touch is yours.”

Here’s another example, also from Calvin Miller:

   I was coming back from Ridgecrest a few years ago, and there had been three thousand students or so. They show up everywhere--in your bath, in your shower--for a whole week. Finally you're on the plane, and you think, "O Lord, thank you that I'm moving away from this place." And because the Bible is the last desperate defense, you pull it up around your face. When you have your Bible around your face, everybody will leave you alone. It's a frightening specter. Even the stewardess won't ask you if you want peanuts. I said to the Lord, "Lord, please, I just want to be alone for two or three hours before I get back to Omaha."

   I became aware of a young man crying in the seat beside me. He looked like a student, 19 or 20 years of age, and again I said, "Lord, he's not mine. My sinners are all on the ground in Omaha." He kept crying, and finally I put down my Bible and I said, "Son, I don't know what the matter is, but if there's anything I can help you with, I'd like to."

   He told me that his mother and his father and his little sister had all three been killed in a car accident in Asheville, North Carolina, the day before on vacation. Suddenly, my heart grew very still and silent. Then I felt the pain, or tried to. I turned to him and said, "I don't know what you must be feeling. I can't imagine this, but I know Someone who understands it perfectly." I took the Bible behind which I'd been hiding and shared with him about Jesus Christ and was able to lead him to Christ in the air.

   But it was not my last act. I got off the plane there, and I called someone I knew and asked him to meet him at the plane where he was going to be landing. He needed help that day.

   You see, the world is mine. I can't brush off somebody because I happen to sit by him and don't know him. Yes, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." If he is a servant, then we are servants. [xii]

E.  He Is The Way (John 14:6)

John 14:6 (NIV) ⁶Jesus answered, “I am the way [same word again] and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

II.  The Blind man Saw The Way (10:46-52)

The blind man saw the way was Jesus.  His faith was demonstrated in his answer to Jesus before Jesus healed him.  His faith was demonstrated after Jesus healed him, when he flung his old cloak aside, abandoning all, and his old way of life to follow Jesus.  The question is, “are you still blind or do you see Jesus as the way?”  And if you do see Jesus as the way, have you abandoned all and recognized that you have been bought with a price, and that now you are on the way of Christ, the way of the Towel, the way of the Cross?