Mark 10:37 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Mark 10:37

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This is what they said. Grant unto us, that we may sit one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.’ And they didn't mean heavenly glory; they meant in the glory of this earthly kingdom, which they believed he was about to set up. ‘Oh, that we may be the most honourable: at your right hand, at your left.’ In those days the ones who sat on the right and on the left of a reigning king were almost his equals. They were his first officers of state, to whom he immediately delegated great tasks. They were almost as honourable and glorious as he was. What was happening to James and John? James and John of all people! They were two of the trio, who were closest to Christ: Peter and John and James. Only shortly before, they had been on that mountain of transfiguration, and they had seen the glorified Christ. They were trusted; they were close disciples, the chief among the disciples. What has happening that they should suddenly be consumed with earthly ambition, pride and ambition. James would be the first martyr among the apostles. John, who was the one who had the courage to stand right next to the cross when Christ was crucified, the nearest disciple to him, the one who went into exile in due course on the Isle of Patmos and suffered greatly for the Lord, and may have been executed, martyred, like the others. ‘Let us sit beside you.’ They forgot that they were entirely dependent on Christ. They had power to heal, the apostles, and they had power to cast out demons, and it seems to have gone to their heads. ‘It’s my power.’ They forgot it had been given to them by Christ, and they depended upon him for its continuance. They thought they had office and position, so that they were worthy of sharing the applause of the Saviour. They forgot their complete dependence upon him for mercy, for forgiveness, for new life, for being his servants.

Application

How quickly the mind can switch from spiritual to carnal, earthly things. We have a service of worship, and sometimes within a second of being outside the door we will talk about anything but the Lord. We switch so suddenly.

Pride in the believer, and ambition for position! We want the applause and the glory and to appear right beside you. It's a tremendous shock and warning to us. Even among the best Christians and servants of God, pride and ambition, and the desire to draw attention to self. The old nature, the recessive nature, is still in the Christian. There's a new nature. It's more powerful; it should reign, but the old nature is still there. This was always the view of the Reformers, always the view of the Puritans, always the view of the great historic confessions of faith: the Westminster, the Baptist, the Savoy – the old nature is still there. It's becoming sadly fashionable among even Reformed evangelicals in places to say, ‘No, it's gone. There is only the new nature.’ But to really understand ourselves and our potential weakness and to watch ourselves and to fight ourselves, we have to understand that the old nature is still there. As Luther said, it is like a ship with two captains. The old captain [the old nature] is tied up and put downstairs somewhere in the hold. The new captain runs the ship. But security a slack. The old captain can get out and express himself and demand that this and that is done, and your old nature can rise up within.

If you are saved, you may be a young man, a young woman; you haven’t been a Christian long, maybe months, maybe just a few years – be very careful, because there is still within you that old nature, that residual sin, and even if you serve the Lord there can be selfish motives, selfish, self-glorifying desires. Fight them for all you are worth, that the Lord would take them away and help you, and relieve you of fleshly, self-seeking notions. Well, the disciples had been in the best seminary in the world, they had been with Christ for three years, and still they are looking out for themselves, and they are confused. So it just warns us how much we have to fight against what is left of the old nature within us.

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Mark 10:37 Commentary and Bible Study