The Questions Jesus Asked Part 19

We are wrapping up our series called the Questions Jesus Asked this week by looking at a question Jesus asks in Mark 10:36, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Mark 10:35-45 (NIV)
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39 “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

In the first week of this series we looked at John Chapter 1 and saw a very similar question, “What do you want?”

John 1:35-38 (NIV)
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

We didn’t talk about who these two disciples were the first time we looked at this question. We know for sure that one of them is Andrew.

John 1:40 (NIV)
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.

The other one is most likely the Apostle John. He often alluded to himself in vague ways in his gospel. He referred to himself as the other disciple and also as the disciple whom Jesus loved. It is likely that John is recording for us his first meeting with Jesus. Anyway, back in John 1 Andrew and most likely John follow after Jesus when John the Baptist calls him the lamb of God. Jesus sees them and asks them this amazing question, “What do you want?”.

And in that first message we said they kind of choked on their answer. The very Word of God just asked them what they wanted and all they came up with is “Where are you staying”?

Do you ever replay situations in your head and wish you had a chance to say something different? I think that perhaps John has had some time to think about that first encounter and has come up with a different response to the question. If only he can get Jesus to ask him again. So he tries to get Jesus to ask him the question again:

Mark 10:35 (NIV)
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

And it works….

Mark 10:35-37 (NIV)
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

Jesus response…

Mark 10:38-40 (NIV)
38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39 “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

In response to James and John’s request, Jesus said, “You don’t know what you are asking….” By Jesus response I believe we can see that the problem with the request was that it was at odds with the Lord’s will. With all that in mind, let’s go back to the very first question we looked at in this series. What do you want?

The answer that we need to grow into…the one that will keep us settled in our souls is, the one that will allow us to experience the full and abundant life is……Lord, I want what you want.

We will be digging deeper into this at Keys Vineyard Church this weekend so make sure you join us in-person or online. Next week we are starting a series all about knowing the Bible, which we are calling “Sword Sharpening”.

Steve Lawes is a church encourager and the lead pastor of Keys Vineyard Church.