It's a joy to be with you this afternoon. My assignment for this hour is to speak on true greatness, defining spiritual leadership in terms of selfless service. I want to do so by asking you to turn with me to Mark chapter 9, and I want us to meditate on a section of Mark 9 as we consider this subject this afternoon.

Mark chapter 9, I want you to note with me verse 30 through verse 37, "They went on from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know, for He was teaching His disciples, saying to them, 'The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.

When He is killed, after three days He will rise.' But they did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask Him. And they came to Capernaum, and when He was in the house, He asked them, 'What were you discussing on the way?' They kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.

He sat down and called the twelve, and He said to them, 'If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.' And He took a child and put Him in the midst of them, and taking Him in His arms, He said to them, 'Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives not Me, but Him who sent Me.

I am the Son of Man.'" 7.51 a.m. on a Friday, June 12, 2007, a man in jeans, a t-shirt, and a ball cap arrived at the Washington, D.C. metro platform and played his violin there for 43 minutes. During that time, 1,097 people passed by, most on their way to work.

Forty-seven people stopped to listen. Over those 43 minutes, 20 people tossed in a total of $32 in the open violin case that sat at his feet. That subway fiddler was the world-renowned and Grammy-winning musician Joshua Bell. On a violin worth $3.5 million, Bell played six of the most intricate classical pieces ever written for the violin.

Two days prior, he performed a sold-out theater show in Boston, where the average seat cost $100. Bell's stunt that day was a social experiment sponsored and organized by the Washington Post. The experiment proved its point. The average person doesn't recognize true greatness when it's in their midst. Unfortunately, the same can be said of too many of us pastor-teachers.

Mark chapter 9, verses 30 through 37 is a divinely inspired social experiment. The platform for this experiment is a journey through Galilee. Jesus and His disciples were on the opening leg of His final journey. This slow and long journey would ultimately end in Jerusalem, where Jesus would be betrayed, arrested, condemned, crucified, and buried.

The previous verses of Mark 9 that lead up to our text record miraculous events. The chapter begins with the glorious transfiguration of Jesus, where His divine nature shined through His human flesh. And when Jesus descended from the mount of transfiguration, He healed a boy that was possessed by a demon that caused him suicidal seizures.

But when you get to our text, there are no miraculous events recorded, only conversations between Jesus and the disciples. First, Jesus predicts His crucifixion and His resurrection. Then the disciples, as they travel, argue with one another about who is the greatest. And finally, Jesus teaches them what true greatness looks like.

The beginning of our text, the greatest person who ever lived announced that He would make the greatest sacrifice ever offered, but His closest followers did not understand what He was talking about. There's a sense in which they didn't want to understand. The disciples no doubt believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah King, but they had wrong expectations about what the Messiah King would accomplish.

They were expecting military conquest, political revolution, and economic prosperity for Israel. And of course, as His closest followers, the disciples expected top cabinet positions when these great things occurred. Being in the proximity of greatness would make them great, so they thought. But none of this could be accomplished if Jesus was going to be delivered into the hands of men and killed.

And so, even as Jesus predicted these things would take place, the disciples literally blocked out of their mind the notion that any of this would come to pass. Here in our text, we feel the tension between the theology of the cross and the theology of glory. In the theology of the cross, there is glory through suffering.

But in the theology of glory, there is glory without suffering. This is what the disciples wanted and expected. In the parallel, Matthew 18 verse 1 says, "At that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'" This worldly question, unfortunately, often raises its ugly head among the disciples of Jesus today, including spiritual leaders.

R.C. Sproul wrote, "It seems that great is not good enough for us. We want to be determined to be the best of the best." And we fail to recognize that the person in the front of the line is not necessarily the most important person in the line. And so because we confuse prominence with significance, too many pastors are driven, prideful, frustrated, discouraged, burned out by a futile pursuit of so-called greatness.

We ask the question of greatness with the wrong motives, and we accept the wrong answers to the question of greatness. But in our text, Jesus answers the question of greatness once and for all. His answer is countercultural. In fact, it would be better to say that His answer is supracultural.

Very simply, here Jesus teaches us, brothers, that as Christians, we descend into greatness. J.C. Ryle commenting here said that this fact is recorded for our learning. The Holy Ghost has caused it to be written down for the perpetual use of Christ's church. Let us take care that it was not written in vain.

So the question on the table this afternoon, brothers, is this, "What is true greatness?" And I just want to walk you through Mark chapter 9, verses 30 through 37, and here I want you to see two characteristics of true greatness as Jesus defines it. First, true greatness suffers. True greatness suffers.

Verse 30 says, "They went on from there and passed through Galilee." The publicity surrounding the healing of the demon-possessed boy made it impossible for Jesus to remain where He was. So Jesus and the disciples passed through Galilee. There is a sense in which this marks the end of the public ministry of Jesus, as Mark will tell the story.

Without a doubt here, it is clear He is no longer focused on the people of Israel. It is now His priority to teach His disciples in preparation for the things that will come. And this is what you find in verses 30 through 32. Jesus is teaching His disciples. Notice three aspects of the lesson He teaches them.

It is, first of all, a private lesson. Verse 30 says that He did not want anyone to know. Don't miss the magnitude of that subtle statement. It is a reminder that Jesus is not as impressed with crowds as we are. Sure, Jesus loved people, but He did not need the affirmation of people to validate Him.

Jesus was wise enough to know that catering to crowds can shift the priority of the mission. And so He passed through Galilee inconspicuously, not wanting anyone to know. The text tells us why at the top of verse 31, "For He was teaching His disciples." At this point, there were still many needs to meet, many bodies to heal, many demons to exercise, but Jesus had more important work to do.

His time on earth was coming to an end, and that time left must be used strategically if His kingdom work was to continue after His departure. So Jesus prioritized private time with His disciples to teach them. He still does. Brothers, Jesus wants to spend private time with you. Mark it down, crowds, noise, and hurry will short-circuit your spiritual effectiveness.

Crowds, noise, and hurry will short-circuit your spiritual effectiveness, your spiritual devotion, your spiritual maturity to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. You've got to learn how to get alone, quiet the noise, and slow down to be with Jesus. What life lessons are you missing because you are not spending time alone with Jesus?

A couple of years ago, I was in the car with a pastor friend. It mentioned that he attended a conference that I wanted to attend and was not able to, and I was asking him about the event, asked him who spoke. He mentioned the name of a pastor that I had heard of but had never heard speak before, and I asked him, "Is he a strong preacher?" "Absolutely," my friend replied.

He says, "And as he's preaching, it's obvious that he's been with Jesus." What a great statement. I didn't ask any more questions, I couldn't. I just felt the weight of that answer. Of course, you know this as a reference to Acts chapter 4, verse 13, where in the midst of persecution, the authorities recognized that these untrained Galileans had been with Jesus.

The same should be said of every pastor teacher. It should be evident in your private life and your public ministry that you have been with Jesus. So in the text, we see a private lesson, and then secondly, a prophetic lesson. Verse 31 says, "He was teaching His disciples, saying to them, 'The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.

And when He is killed, after three days, He will rise.'" This is the second of three times in Mark's gospel Jesus predicted to His disciples His crucifixion and His resurrection that is to come. Listen to the language here, "Jesus would be delivered into the hands of men." What a thought!

The one that they had been with and watched Him steal the seeds, cast out demons, and heal the sick would be delivered into the hands of men. He would be delivered into the hands of men by the betrayal of Judas. Moreover, He would be delivered into the hands of men by the divine plan of God the Father.

Acts chapter 2 verse 23, Peter will say, "This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." That's the historical truth of it. Romans 4:25 states the theological truth of it. He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Jesus would be delivered into the hands of men, and then they would kill Him. He doesn't merely say He's going to die, He says He will be killed. He says it twice here. The double use of "kill" emphasizes the violent nature of His death. It was cruel and unusual punishment for a righteous man who had done no wrong.

Isaiah tells us, though, He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. Oh, we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, but the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Jesus declared to them what was to come when they arrived in Jerusalem. He would be delivered into the hands of men, and they would kill Him. But thanks be to God, brothers, that's not the end of the story. Jesus says, "And when He is killed, after three days He will rise." No one survived a Roman crucifixion, but Jesus would die on the cross and yet live to tell about it.

Not just that, He foretold it before it ever happened. He would rise from the dead by divine might and power and authority, and not only did Jesus predict His resurrection, He predicted when it would happen. After three days, He will rise again. Jesus is sovereign over the worst that could happen, death itself.

And so, after this prophetic lesson, would you note thirdly here in this first section that Jesus gives them a private lesson, a prophetic lesson, and then a perplexing lesson. Verse 32 says, "They did not understand what He was saying and were too afraid to ask." The disciples' messianic expectations had no place for crucifixion.

How could one who came to restore Israel die before that happened? And resurrection was even more perplexing to them than crucifixion. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, and the rest of the Jews believed that there would be a general resurrection on the day of the Lord. They did not have a category for a person rising from the dead after he died.

And they didn't understand what Jesus was talking about, even though this is the second time He predicts His crucifixion and His resurrection. The disciples did not understand, but they were afraid to ask. Go to Acts chapter 8 after the great confession, in verses 27 through 30. After that great confession, Jesus gives His first prediction that He would die and rise from the dead.

In Mark chapter 8, verse 32 and 33 says, "And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning and seeing the disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, 'Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.'" And so, maybe they were afraid to ask because they didn't want to be called Satan.

Or perhaps at this point they were afraid to ask because they understood enough to know that they didn't want to learn more. Consider these next two sentences very carefully, brothers. Self-centeredness avoids the cross. But to avoid the cross is to stop following Jesus. I'm moving on, but just let me pause here to say before I move on.

That it is not accidental or incidental that the Lord's prediction of His suffering and death immediately precedes His instructions about greatness. You don't understand greatness until you see the One who made everything hanging on the cross for your sins and mine. True greatness is not defined, brothers, by power, position, prominence, popularity, or possessions.

It is measured by the cross where Jesus suffered and died for our sins. And so, very clearly here we see that greatness is not about success. In the real sense, it's about what are you willing to suffer for the One who suffered for you. Galatians chapter 6 verse 14, "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world." In an interview before his death, Carl Henry was commended for his humility, and he objected to the compliment, asking, "How can anyone be anything but humble when you're standing next to the cross?" So may that be our constant prayer.

Jesus keep me near the cross. There's a precious fountain free to all, a healing stream that flows from Calvary's mountain. In the cross, in the cross be my glory forever, till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river. In our text, Jesus gives two lessons about what true greatness is all about.

We have seen the first. True greatness suffers. There is a second lesson. True greatness serves. True greatness suffers. True greatness serves. The text begins with Jesus and the disciples passing through Galilee. At some point, they arrive in Capernaum, the headquarters of the Galilean ministry of Jesus. They enter the house, maybe Peter's house, maybe Andrew's house, and it is there that the question of greatness arises.

They did not understand the greatness of Jesus, and they misunderstood their own lack of greatness. So, in verses 33 through 37, Jesus teaches what true greatness means. It is servanthood, not lordship. Here Arkyn Hughes comments that there is a mindset that defines ministry as a kind of lordship, sitting in the honored seat, being the feeded guest at luncheon, speaking to vast thrones, building monuments, and collecting honorary titles.

This type of attitude values being served. That is not what discipleship is about, much less what ministry is about. It is not what discipleship is about. It is not what leadership is about. It is not what greatness is about. And what does it mean to be great? Two answers.

Being the last and receiving the least. What is true greatness all about? First, it is about being the last. Verse 33 says, "And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house, he asked them, 'What were you discussing on the way?'" So, you already know, brothers, when Jesus asks a question, He's not trying to gain information.

It's like a parent asking a child, "What are you in there doing?" He already knows it is something you should not be doing. Note "asked" in the text is in a grammatical emphasis that indicates He kept asking. Jesus was demanding to know what they were talking about. The disciples apparently followed Jesus to Capernaum from a distance, and as they were walking behind Him, apparently, they had among themselves what they thought was a private conversation.

But Jesus knew what they had discussed. We're tempted to giggle at that, but just remember the implications of that for our own lives. How would your conversations change if you believe Jesus was listening to everything you say? Verse 34 says, "But they kept silent. For on the way, they had argued with one another about who was the greatest." As Jesus kept asking, the disciples remained silent.

It was the silence of shame. They were embarrassed that they were arguing. Verse 14, earlier in the chapter, "They were arguing with the scribes, but now they are arguing with one another." And they are arguing about who was the greatest. It's the question as old as time. Who's number one?

Listen to the language of the text. They are not asking who will be the greatest one day. They are arguing about who's the greatest now. Charles Spurgeon said of this text, "It was a dreadful descent from communing with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration to meeting the furious demon at the foot of the hill." But this looks like a far greater descent from the self-sacrifice of the divine Master to the petty jealousies and self-seeking of His chosen servants.

So Jesus intervenes. Verse 39, "He sat down and called the twelve." That is, Jesus took the teaching posture and began a formal lesson. This instruction consisted of a paradoxical statement. If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all. Would you note, brothers, that Jesus does not here rebuke the desire or the determination to be great.

He rebukes the wrong path to greatness. What is the right way to achieve greatness? Jesus says to be first is to be last. Last to be the spirit of spiritual leaders, not an argument to try to get to the front of the line, but a willingness to go to the back of the line.

In Matthew 19, you remember there the encounter Jesus has with the rich young ruler. It's one of the sad passages of the Bible, one of the sad encounters Jesus has. The rich young ruler has eternal life offered to him, but he walks away sorrowful because he had many possessions, or maybe it could be said his possessions had him.

But as sad as that story is, it gets worse. You remember that when the rich young ruler walks away, Jesus tries to warn His disciples about the spiritual dangers of material wealth. You know what their reply is? "Lord, we gave up everything to follow You, what will we get out of it?" In Matthew 20, Jesus tells that parable about the landowner who keeps going out throughout the course of the day collecting workers for his field, and at the end of the day, just for the fun of it, he pays the latecomers first and the early birds last and gives them all the same amount.

Remember the story? Those early birds wanted to give the landowner a piece of their mind. "We've labored all day and borne the burden. You made these men equal with us." You need to go back and read that parable in Matthew 20 and see if you can hear the Lord Jesus talk to you as the landowner talks to those angry early birds.

Have I wronged you? Here's the big question, don't I have the right to do what I want to do with what belongs to me? Or are you just envious because I decided to be generous to somebody, not you? The whole passage ends in Matthew 20 verse 16 with the principle here that Jesus confronts us with, "So the last will be first and the first last." Jesus says you want to be first?

Don't fight for first place, just get to the back of the line. How do you get there? Jesus says, "Be servant of all." The Disciples Study Bible notes here that Christ teaches only one office, God's slave. Willful, joyful, obedient service for Christ is expressed by putting the concerns and interests and benefits of others ahead of our own.

Here's our problem, even as ministers, there are times that we want to be thought of as servants without being treated as servants, but it doesn't work that way. The test of servanthood is how you respond when someone treats you like a servant. Hebrew commerce humility and service are not only the passport to greatness in Christ's kingdom, but also the very essence of greatness in His kingdom.

So what is greatness all about? It is, first of all, it is being the last, and then Jesus says in verse 36 and 37, "It is also receiving the least." And He took a child and put him in the midst of them. Now, don't read that too quickly. Remember the implications of this.

Little children were viewed and treated as the most insignificant people in the Greco-Roman world. At birth, the newborn would be placed at his father's feet. If he picked up the child, it was an act of acknowledgement, affirmation, and adoption. If not, the child was put to death. The bottom line is that children had no rights, and there were no orphanages, foster care, welfare system.

Children then would make the perfect illustration of weakness, neediness, and helplessness. Now hear the text again, "Jesus took a child and sat that child in the midst of the disciples who are arguing about who's the greatest." I like these little touches Mark gives of the tenderness of Jesus. You see it here in this text.

He brought the child into the midst of these arguing disciples and He took him in His arms. Holding this child in His arms, Jesus now has the text for a sermon He wants to preach. He says, "Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives not Me but him who sent Me." The key word here is "receives" is used four times.

In the next chapter, Mark 10 verse 15, Jesus says, "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child shall not enter it." Childlikeness is how you become a Christian. We enter into the kingdom of God by childlike dependence upon the total sufficiency of Christ.

We follow Him by trust and obedience that submits every sphere of our lives to His authority. On one occasion, the famous Chicago evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, once returned from a meeting and reported two-and-a-half conversions. Someone said, "I suppose you mean two adults and one child." "No," said Moody, "it was actually two children and one adult." The children gave their whole lives; the adult only had half his life to give.

We are to be like children and give Him all. We are saved by childlike trust, not righteous acts. But in our text, Jesus is not talking about how to become a Christian. Remember, He's talking about how Christians, how disciples, how ministers become great. And He says, "Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me." The world thinks, brothers, it's not what you know but who you know.

And so we try to associate ourselves with those who are considered great. Here Jesus says we should welcome those who are considered insignificant. We should show care and concern for the inconsequential in the name of Jesus, and to do so is to receive Jesus Himself. Remember the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 verses 31 through 46?

Jesus renders judgment on the sheep and the goats, the sheep to His right hand, goats on His left. And then He tells the criteria of judgment of the nations, and that criteria is how the nations treated Him when He was hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, a stranger, or in prison.

And what blows me away about that parable is that both groups, those that got it right and those that got it wrong, have the same question, "When did we ever see you like that?" And as much as you did it to the least of these, my brothers, you did it unto Me.

That's not all. Jesus says, "Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives not Me, but Him who sent Me." Do you see the progression here? To receive a little child is to receive Christ Himself, and to receive God the Son is to receive God the Father.

I'm wrapping up. And so, as Jesus is prone to do, what He basically says in His answer is, "You've got to hold question wrong." At the top of the talk, I said the question is, "Who is the greatest?" Now, at the end of the text, though, we see the real question is this, brothers.

How high can the Lord lift you without losing you? Are you pursuing worldly greatness or the true greatness that suffers and serves? Dawson Trotman, the founder of the Navigators, was going through a difficult period and felt he needed to get ready for something that was about to change. His wife didn't understand what he was thinking or feeling, but she knew him well enough to know that when he started talking that way, she should take him seriously.

So they pulled away from their work to pray and rest, to seek God. They spent some of that time at Word of Life on Shrewn Lake in New York. One day, while riding a boat with Jack Wurtson, the founder of Word of Life, and a few other campers, they hit some choppy water on that lake.

Dawson and a female camper fell off the boat. Dawson held up the young lady until she was rescued, but in the process drowned in Shrewn Lake. But at his funeral days later, the eulogists noticed that Trotman Dawson died the same way he lived, holding others up. That's true greatness.

I am thine, O Lord. I have heard thy voice, and it told thy love to me. But I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to thee. Here's my verse. Here's the great prayer we should pray. Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine.

Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, and let my will be lost in thine. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, precious Lord, to thy blessed bleeding side. Let's pray. Father, we recognize that there are so many temptations around us that would lead us astray, temptations of the flesh, the world, and the devil that would pervert our calling and assignment and mission to exalt ourselves rather than exalting Christ.

Lord, would you help us to guard our hearts, knowing that from it flow the issues of life? Would you help us to bring every sphere of our lives under subjection to the lordship of Jesus Christ? And would you help us, Lord, to ignore, to reject, to condemn the worldly standards of personal success that have like a snake slipped and slithered into the church of Jesus Christ?

May we look at Jesus who died at the cross for us and remember that true greatness suffers, and may we remember his illustration of the helpless child and remember that true greatness serves. And may that be, Lord, our devotion and our dedication to the place where you have assigned us to minister, even if that is a difficult place.

May we be willing to suffer and serve to the praise of your glory, knowing that when the chief Shepherd comes, we will receive the crown of life. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you, brothers.