Light on the Hill

Guest (Male): You heard it said, be careful what you ask for because you may just get it. We'll hear a case in point next on Light on the Hill.

Very few people understand what it means to obtain something they think they need with the full effect of what it causes. In the case of the kingdom of God, it never works according to human wisdom. As a matter of fact, it's destroyed by it. Today on Light on the Hill, we're going to talk about that and much more as Pastor James Kaddis returns to Mark chapter 10.

James Kaddis: All right, Mark chapter 10. There's a lot to say about so much of what Jesus says in the gospels. I think that there's a real danger that exists when we choose to quote the gospels because oftentimes quoting the gospels brings this traditional picture and the effectiveness of the words don't really wear on us, if that makes any kind of sense.

We say things regularly and we don't understand what they mean. I could give you one great example of this. As an exercise when I go through Bible study methods, or if I do a homiletics class—I've done this in homiletics, I've also done it in hermeneutics. One deals with the study of teaching the Bible, and the other deals with the study of learning the Bible, understanding it, and studying the Bible basically.

One of the exercises that I go to, even in Bible study methods class, is I will go to this room of students and I will say, "You have one exercise, and your exercise is to describe John 3:16 to me." Now, how many people in this room can actually quote John 3:16? Anybody? Yeah, a lot of you. Okay. Most of you can tell it to me. It's, "For God so loved the world that he gave his son, or only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

Do you know that of probably the hundreds of students that I have asked in the Bible college to define that passage the way it was intended to be understood, there were maybe two that were able to correctly define it? And those two were people that went to this church. Okay. It's funny because I'm not trying to challenge anybody or, for lack of a better term, damn people's understanding of the gospel.

What I am saying is that we have gotten so acclimated to quoting passage after passage, especially when they relate to the words of Christ, that we really don't take the time to understand the depth of what's actually being communicated, what it means, and why it's so critical. The reason why I'm bringing this up is because the passages that we are about to go through actually give us a great demonstration of where this happens commonly.

As a matter of fact, this area in the Bible is one that is oftentimes not correctly understood or not even correctly applied. It creates lots of problems for somebody who's wanting to understand it and learn it, yet they come out void with any real understanding of it because they're bound by what I would call the chains of tradition. They're so used to hearing it that their familiarity with it is kind of lost.

Again, we do this a lot. Listen, the Bible is filled with circumstances related to this. I mean, oftentimes we hear lots of things communicated to us regarding what happened in the Bible, and yet the Bible never makes mention of it. Here's one example. I would challenge anybody to find for me where in Genesis it says that they mocked Noah.

If there's any place in Genesis that you could find where it says that they actually made fun of Noah because he was building the ark, I would be shocked, or I would just venture to say you don't have the Bible that we normally read. And yet we teach it, and it's something that's commonly spoken of, but it's an assumption; it's not actually in the text. There's a reason why you can assume it safely, and we've talked about this on multiple occasions, especially when we went through Genesis.

My whole point is I want you to get your head out of what is traditionally understood when you read passages like this, and I want you to approach it as though you've never heard it before. That's going to come into play significantly and consequentially in this passage because in this passage, we are going to get into a section where you see these two brothers who want Jesus to do whatever they want him to do.

It is always understood separate from the context that we're about to read, and it's going to fall upon you with great loss if you don't understand them and make the connections. Let's just dig right into this along the way here. We are still looking at the same section, dealing with the same area that we've been over the last several weeks. The environment is still the same. Everything that's happening here is very interesting.

We just finished talking about the rich young ruler. We just finished talking about how the teaching of the Lord just shocked a lot of people and caused everybody to be just absolutely mind-boggled because of this idea that they realize that salvation is impossible. A camel going through the eye of the needle—there is a lot of stuff going on here.

Last week we went over a very short section. We only went over three or four verses, and now we enter into this area, and it is very interesting. Look what it says here. It says, "And they were in the way"—this is verse 32—"going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them, and they were amazed, and as they followed, they were afraid. He took again the twelve and began to tell them what things should happen unto them."

This is interesting because there's a lot of things that just got told to them that made them not only amazed but also made them afraid. That caused them to develop a deeper awareness of what was going on. There were things that they thought about traditionally that were no longer the traditional way that they viewed things, and it caused them to second-guess everything.

For example, many of these people thought that their salvation was intact and that it was in the bag, and Jesus said, "It's impossible for you to be able to achieve salvation." And they realized that. So in their minds, they wonder, "Well, how do we obtain salvation?" God says something that's very cryptic in many ways to them. He says, "With man, it's impossible, but with God, all things are possible."

That in and of itself is a very challenging statement to hear because then the question is, how do we invoke God to give us the salvation that we apparently cannot bring to ourselves? These are things that have really been concerning them. Then Jesus goes on to talk about mothers and brothers and sisters and giving up those relationships and what happens when you actually put God first and you allow him to become the first over everything.

We talked about that last week and what that actually means. But for these guys, as they're listening to it all, you have to keep in mind they're freaking out because so much of this stuff doesn't make sense to them. Then Jesus is going to lay something on them that's even heavier. Picture this. They're walking away from the last area where Jesus was communicating. They're moving towards the city of Jerusalem. They're ascending to Jerusalem.

Probably at this point, they are singing some of the psalms that are oftentimes associated with ascension. They are probably talking back and forth about what they're going to experience as they go into Jerusalem. There's a lot of this back and forth going on, and then Jesus speaks to them. This is what he says. Watch this.

"Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death and shall deliver him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock him and shall scourge him and shall spit upon him and kill him, and the third day he shall rise again." First of all, there's a context here that is not oftentimes understood and is lost upon most people that hear this.

When most people think about this passage, who have been raised up in the church, the common assertion made concerning this passage is that Jesus is simply explaining to his disciples what to be expecting as they go to Jerusalem. It is Jesus preparing them for the moments that they're about to experience, and to that assertion, I would say you're correct.

But what most people miss from the context of this passage is the fact that this would have impacted them far more dramatically than just a simple declaration made by Christ as into what was going to happen. Here's the thing you have to understand, and this is the context that a lot of people don't oftentimes share. When you would go into Jerusalem, when you would go down the Jericho Road, when you would ascend into that city, there were a series of psalms that you would sing.

They were oftentimes referred to as the psalms of ascension. You can look those up; there's quite a few of them. The psalms of ascension are the type of psalms that oftentimes declare not just the victory that God brings to his people, but they declare the goodness of God to his people. They make declarations concerning the future that God has for his people.

They continue to be the type of psalms that allow people to experience a certain joy and happiness about the promise of Jerusalem. I think nowadays it's interesting to hear the term Zionist and make it such a bad word when, in reality, it's a beautiful word. Oftentimes when you would sing the psalms of ascension while you were headed towards Jerusalem, part of those psalms would be talking about the beauty of Mount Zion.

The picture would be drawn for anybody who would sing the psalms concerning that ascent. So when you were on your way to Jerusalem, the standard conversation that would take place would always be that of God's hope, the future, the promise of God, the deliverance from the enemies of God. A lot of people during this time of the Roman occupation would ascend into Jerusalem and would oftentimes reflect on the fact that one day a time will come where even the Romans will be defeated by the hand of God.

When God sets up his kingdom, wonderful things will happen, and we will no longer be subjugated to the nonsense that we continue to be subjugated to with respect to these pagan governments. There will no longer be an Antonia Fortress at the corner of our temple while guards are being allowed to come down into the courtyard. There will no longer be people compelling us to take their packs miles.

There will no longer be Roman occupiers who will condemn us for proclaiming the God of heaven as our God and require us to declare Caesar as God. They would always rejoice in these things. As they would go up to Jerusalem, it was a time of great anticipation, rejoicing, and happiness. That's why you would never say "we're going down to Jerusalem." To this day, Jews say, "We will ascend." It's the reference.

The idea behind it is it was always coupled with an awareness of the victory that God would give to his people. You have to understand something. There is apprehension amongst the people who are with Jesus right now because of the things that they had just heard. Now Jesus, instead of leading them in the traditional songs of ascent as they head into Jerusalem, tells them that the only hope they've ever had for the redemption and deliverance of Israel from their Roman enemies is about to be destroyed by the very enemies that they hope to have deliverance from.

Can you imagine how they're processing that? Because what they don't see, recognize, or understand is that all of these things that are about to happen to Christ are necessary in order for them to find the very redemption of their souls. In their mind, their system of redemption comes from what happens at the temple, and in their own minds, they cannot even imagine that that system will be destroyed.

As a matter of fact, their thought process is, "When our Messiah delivers us, then the center of everything will be where this temple is, and we will be the ones that will rule and reign with the Lord." So you have to keep something in mind. The average person who then reads the response of these two brothers will teach this passage with this representation. They will say, "Do you see how oblivious these guys are?"

Jesus is talking about the fact that he is going to die, and all of a sudden, the first thing they do is talk about their position in heaven. How oblivious are these guys? What's wrong with them? But that's not what's happening here. What's happening here is something far more consequential and far more telling than what the average person is going to bring out of this passage. Let's read it, and I'll explain in just a moment.

So he says, "These are the things that are going to happen." Look what it says in verse 35. "And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, 'Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.'" In other words, they're basically telling him, "Jesus, is it safe to assume that you would do for us whatever we ask of you?" And that's kind of what they're saying here.

Look at Jesus's response. And he said unto them, verse 36, "What would you that I should do for you?" And look at their response. And they said unto him, "Grant unto us that we may sit, one on the right hand and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory." What does that tell us? The average person will read this and say that it speaks of them being selfish.

It speaks of them being so self-centered that they don't understand what Jesus said, and they blew past it because, in their mind, everything Jesus said was inconsequential compared to what they expected for themselves. But that's not what's happening. What's actually happening is that these men are doing what every other person is doing that's with Jesus at this point.

They are so reflective of what they believe Christ is going to do for them that the words that Jesus shares with them go in one ear and literally out the other. They're not making the connection of the Messiah suffering as Jesus is describing he would. They're simply thinking ahead of the next step. You ever had this happen to you? You have a conversation with somebody, and you recognize that as you're speaking to them, the only thing they are doing in their minds is thinking about what their next response is going to be.

You ever talk to anybody like that? You can tell they're not hearing what you're saying. All they're doing is thinking about what they're going to say in response to what you're saying, even though they don't know what you're actually saying. These people are walking up to Jerusalem with the Messiah that is going to spare them—the Messiah who said, "My time is not yet come." Now, all of a sudden, his time is coming, and they can sense that.

They're going to Jerusalem, and what's going through their mind is a very simple misappropriation of what is actually going to happen versus what they think is going to happen. They want what they believe is that of great consequence for them in the moment, but they're not capable of seeing through what that moment is all about.

But look what happens here, because this is interesting. This is where that phrase, "be careful what you ask for because you might just get it"—that's where this phrase is very applicable. That's where this phrase begins to make sense. Watch this. Jesus said unto them, "You know not what you ask. Can you drink of the cup that I drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"

And look at their response. And they said unto him, "We can." That shows you they're not following. It shows you they're not recognizing. When Jesus says, "Can you drink of the same cup?" in essence, "Can you walk in the same baptism?" Jesus is basically saying, "Are you ready to go through what I'm about to go through? Are you ready to deal with what I'm about to deal with?"

In their minds, they're thinking, "Oh, yeah, of course I'm ready to deal with that." He's going to be crowned the King of Kings, he's going to be crowned the Lord of Lords, he's going to be the one that's going to reign supreme. All the Old Testament passages that talk about him—I'm with him, I'm ready to be a part of that. Yes, I can take it, I'm ready to go.

By the way, just so that you know, for anybody that might be quick to condemn these men, this is basic in human nature, isn't it? Human nature—we're always like this. It's so interesting to me how so many people who say that it must be nice to step in my footsteps don't understand what it takes to get there. I think we can all say that about ourselves in our own situation, can't we?

We can all recognize that the steps that we walk in right now are a lot different than what people think they are when we do so. I have lost count of how many times people have made comments to me that say, "Man, James, it must be nice having this big audience online, whether it be the radio, whether it be YouTube, or whether it be doing the things that you do. It must be nice to have a massive audience. If I were in your shoes, wow, it would be so easy for me." Really?

Most people that tell me that have no idea what it takes to actually do that. Most people who make those statements actually don't have a clue about the level of discipline that's necessary to sustain an environment like that. Most people who look at what it's going to take in order for that to take place don't understand how it actually works out.

I laugh at this one. This is the one that makes me laugh the most, where people go up to my wife and they'll say something like this, or they'll imply it: "It must be nice to live in really easy circumstances where you don't have to go to work every day"—like you don't have what they call "work," which my wife works harder than most. "And you just, at your own whim, you could get whatever you want, do whatever you want. Must be a nice life for you."

Oh, yeah? Most people will never realize how hard my wife has to work. Most people will never realize what she has to go through day in and day out and the things she has to deal with. Most people will never understand or recognize the sacrifice that goes into that kind of life and what happens when things take place.

I can tell you story after story after story where any reasonable woman married to a man would require a certain level of attention given to them by their husband and would never share that attention with anybody else. There's a lot of women that are that way. And by the way, that's justifiable. I understand why women would feel that way.

But my wife recognizes the fact that the overwhelming majority of the nights that we go to bed, I never go to bed at the same time she does. She oftentimes falls asleep hours before I get to go to bed. She doesn't know what it's like to, on a regular basis, sit down and have pillow talk with her husband. She doesn't know what that looks like.

She doesn't know what it looks like to be guaranteed that certain things are going to go smoothly based on what happens in our family environment and not be disrupted by outside forces. Easy, to some people. But that's the kind of person that doesn't understand what's involved in it. "Oh, nice to get in front of a bunch of people and speak all the time." Is it also nice to do the hundreds of hours of studying that go behind doing that?

Again, I'm only bringing up my circumstance because all of you could reasonably argue these types of things with your circumstances, right? Each of you are wearing shoes that are very difficult for other people to be able to walk in. These guys are looking at the glory of what's involved with what Christ is and what he will become, but they don't understand at any level at all the suffering that they are going to go through as their Lord.

Guest (Male): This is Light on the Hill with Pastor James Kaddis, and we're currently going through the Gospel of Mark. Listen to this study and more at lightonthehillradio.com. Pastor James's teachings are also available through the Light on the Hill app and at oneplace.com. You can listen to us wherever you get your podcasts as well.

When you have a moment sometime today, send us an email. We'd love it. It's encouraging to hear what the Lord is doing in our listeners' lives, and it's an opportunity to thank the Lord for what he's doing. There's a place to contact us at our website, lightonthehillradio.com. We've been blessed by the feedback we've received thus far regarding Pastor James's new book, "The Last Book." If you haven't ordered a copy yet, we'd encourage you to do so.

This guide to Revelation covers the first half of the book, giving you what you need to know about the rapture and the end times in a clear and concise manner. Request your copy today at lightonthehillradio.com or through Amazon. If God is leading you to support this radio outreach, there's also a place to make a donation at lightonthehillradio.com. Pastor James, I know you spend a good amount of time writing these days, including a weekly devotional. Can you tell our listeners where they can find those and what sort of things you typically write about?

James Kaddis: Yeah, if you go to jameskaddis.com, you'll be able to find everything that I do and where it's all located. You can find it right there. You can find my weekly bulletin address that I have. You can also get a copy of the book that I wrote on Revelation—that's part one; part two is coming out very soon. The audiobook should be out by the time that you actually hear this, and we even have a workbook for you if you're interested in working through it with your family. But that and everything else that you could possibly need is there at jameskaddis.com. The whole idea is for you to be blessed. We want you to grow, we want you to be discipled, and you'll be able to find it right there.

Guest (Male): Again, you'll find the weekly devotionals at jameskaddis.com. Read through them and let us know what you think. More from the book of Mark coming up next time on Light on the Hill with Pastor James Kaddis. This listener-supported program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.