The Sons of Thunder put a “gotcha” question to Jesus:
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you” (Mark 10:36). Playing along, at least momentarily, Jesus
inquired as to the nature of their request.
They wanted nothing less than to sit in places of highest honor, at his
right and left hand. (At least in Mark’s
rendering of this encounter they did not put their momma up to making the
request!)
The issue
of personal ambition among the disciples must have been a burning one, for
Jesus had already addressed it squarely in chapter 9. Mark is stressing the character of
discipleship and relating it to the servant identity of Jesus. This pericope ends with the great verse that
has shaped subsequent understanding of Christology and atonement theology.
The Promised One has come not to be served, but to serve—to give one
life in Ransom for the many. (Mark
10:45, The Inclusive New Testament)
Followers
of Jesus have always struggled to follow One whose primary identity is as
servant. He cooked, welcomed children,
washed feet, visited the sick—all acts of self-giving. To become his follower entailed the
expectation that one should emulate his actions; it was hard then and is no
less so today.
Competition
and ambition are inscribed into the human DNA.
Pretending it is not there is self-deluding. The first steps toward faithful discipleship
require discernment of the truth of the human condition and the conviction that
we are not utterly controlled by the impulses of our biological inheritance. Determinism should be left behind in our
study of humans, for the formation of our identity is richly complex.
Nancey
Murphy and Warren S. Brown tackle the challenge of moral responsibility and
free will in their groundbreaking book, Did
My Neurons Make Me Do It? Their
conclusion, after many dense chapters, argues that intentionality and belief
move persons from animal behavior to human reasoning. Thus the development of character, according
to Christian ethics, makes possible “unreckoned generosity . . . [and]
uncalculating love,” in the words of James Wm. McClendon in Ethics.
We will
send these sisters and brothers in Christ back home today. They have taught us through their humility,
gratitude, and service about the ways that Christ is being formed in them.
Molly T. Marshall
To learn more about Central as a formative, creative, and progressive seminary, visit our website at www.cbts.edu
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