Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary
A first step toward reliable interpretation of today’s gospel text, Mark 10:35-45, will be to expand the limits of the lection to include vv 32-34. Doing so makes clear that we have before us the third instance of a threefold literary structure in Mark: 1) Jesus predicts his passion; 2) his disciples, uncomprehending, remain preoccupied with this-worldly notions of power; and 3) Jesus declares the servant-like, self-giving nature of greatness and leadership in the reign of God (cf 8:31-38; 9:30-37).
After declaring for the third time that suffering and death await him in Jerusalem, Jesus takes the lead, walking toward the city. James and John rush forward to catch up with him. One imagines a furtive, backward look, lest the others hear them blurt, “We want you to do whatever we ask of you!” Jesus doesn’t flinch. He asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” “We want to sit on your right and left when you come into your glory,” they say, which means, “Make us second and third in command when you take over.” Jesus’ third mention of being “raised” the third day (10:34; cf 8:31; 9:31) may indicate to them a political victory. Prudence suggests applying early for a power position.
Mark’s reader knows, as they do not, the potency of Jesus’ reply: “You do not know what you are asking.” Yet Jesus takes seriously their commitment; there is just one question they need to answer: “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and undergo the baptism that I shall undergo?” “Oh, yes!” they say. “We are able!” Jesus declares they will experience these things. “But,” he clarifies, “who shall sit to my right and left is not mine to grant.” The other disciples arrive, angry at James and John. Jesus repeats what he has said before: greatness means choosing to be servant of all, last and least.
Many a preacher has been tempted to turn Jesus’ closing statement into a Markan atonement theory: “For the son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Such theories were centuries away. Here, Jesus alludes to two OT texts to shed light on his mission. First, Daniel 7:13-14 speaks of a vision of “one like a son of man” whom “all nations . . . shall serve.” Jesus declares that, on the contrary, “the son of man” (referring to himself) has come “not to be served, but to serve,” thus undercutting his disciples’ obsessive chasing after this-worldly power. Second, Isaiah 43:3 speaks of God giving nations as “ransom” to buy back his people from captivity. Jesus states that he shall give his own life as a “ransom for many.” Discerning who these “many” captives are, and what deliverance means, is an ongoing task of the church in every age and context.
Today, pulpit musings about the dynamics of salvation can be an all-to-easy off-ramp for 21st century Christians who find Jesus’ description of his mission uncomfortable. God’s transforming power works in this world not through dominance—intellectual, monetary, political, juridical, or military—but through active self-giving on behalf of the world’s abused and scapegoated. Embodying God’s commitment to the most vulnerable can put us on a collision course with the powers-that-be. We may find ourselves drinking the cup of suffering when we stand with the targeted. Some of us may be “baptized,” like Jesus, in a brew of misrepresentation, ridicule, and condemnation. (The martyrs’ stories bear witness.) Are we able? No! We are not, in and of ourselves, “able.” Who is prepared for any of this?? But Mark points his community—and , us, as well—to Christ’s table. Here, the cup is grace, and the bread is life; and in the Spirit’s power, we may at last learn to give ourselves away.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 