Mark 10 32 - The Question

March 1st, 2026                             “The Question”                       Rev. Heather Jepsen

Mark 10:32-52

          This morning we continue our deep dive into the gospel of Mark.  Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem and the suffering that awaits him there.  We have heard him tell his disciples multiple times what lies ahead, but we find in our reading for today that they still don’t understand.

          We see in the first verse of our reading that fear is beginning to separate the disciples from Jesus.  “Jesus was walking ahead of them . . . and those who followed were afraid.”  The threat of suffering is driving a wedge between Jesus and his followers and though they love him, they fear for their own lives.  As we draw closer to the cross, this separation will become more pronounced.

          Noticing them lagging behind Jesus teaches them again that this is the way things must be.  Again, he tells his followers that in Jerusalem the Son of Man will be tortured and killed.  But the disciples don’t understand.

          Like kids in a classroom, James and John clearly weren’t listening to the lesson.  They were too busy making plans of their own to hear what Jesus had to say.  After his speech they pull him aside and ask him in private to do them a favor.  “What is it you want me to do for you?” he asks.  “Grant us to sit at your right hand and your left, in your glory” they say.  Could they be any more thick headed?

          Jesus corrects them, they know not what they ask, for the cup of his glory is a cup of suffering.  They claim to be able to drink such a cup, and Jesus says they will.  We read later in Acts that James will be martyred but we don’t know what happened to John.  Jesus says that places of honor are not his to hand out.  And those of us who know how this ends know that when he is in glory on the cross, those on his right and left are nameless criminals.

          It’s no wonder that the other disciples are angry when they find out what James and John are up to.  Here we are after years of following Jesus, and still these men are grasping and seeking after positions of power and authority.  So, again Jesus teaches lessons on humility.  The greatest must be the servant, the first must be the slave.  The Son of Man comes not to be served but to serve.  How can they still not get it?

          They travel on through the city of Jericho, and a blind beggar hears the commotion of their coming.  Bartimeus has heard of Jesus and so he cries out to be healed.  The crowd tries to block him, as we always tend to do when someone is disrupting things, but Jesus hears him and calls him forth.

          Again, the question is asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”  The man asks to be healed, and he is granted the request.  He regains his sight and unlike so many others he follows Jesus on the way.  This will be the last healing story in the gospel of Mark.

          There are a lot of directions I could go with this sermon today.  We could talk about who can clearly see who Jesus is and who keeps missing the mark.  We could talk about the Christian obligation for service.  We could talk about how true discipleship is a costly pouring out of one’s life for another.  But what really struck me this week was the question.  “What do you want me to do for you?”  Like a Rorschach test, to honestly answer this question exposes the heart of our faith and who we believe Jesus to be.

          Jesus asks the question twice in our reading.  First to James and John.  “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you”.  “What is it you want me to do for you?”  “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”

          One of the commentators I read this week said, “the disciples are relentless in their stupidity and self-centeredness” and it just made me laugh.  Like caricatures the disciples are so far off base that it is laughable.  Jesus just said he is going to die and yet they still seek places of power and authority.  Have they not been listening at all?  Have they truly no idea what is happening?  Or are they simply so stuck on their ambitions that they completely miss the mark again?

          Just a few short verses later and we find Jesus asking the same question in his encounter with Bartimaeus.  “What do you want me to do for you?”  “My teacher, let me see again.”  Bartimaeus asks for healing and sight.  He already knows who Jesus is, Son of David, and he is unafraid to follow on the way.  He has nothing to lose and everything to gain and so he easily follows on the path to Jerusalem.  Jesus has given him back his sight, his faith has made him well, and we can assume that he will continue to follow in clarity and understanding.

          I spent this week deeply wondering about that question, “what do you want me to do for you?”  If Jesus stood before me today and asked what I truly want, how would I answer?  I think our answer to the question reveals our deepest desires for ourselves and the world.

          I wonder about myself and what I would say.  I imagine that you can’t hide from Jesus.  That even though I know what the right answer would be, I have a feeling that standing before Jesus my true answer would burst out of me, unwilling.  Like James and John exposing their shameful quest for power, I imagine that we can not hide from Jesus what we truly want.

          If I was standing before the Lord and he asked me, “what do you want me to do for you?” I would hope I would ask for world peace.  An end to suffering and strife.  An end to war and famine.  Healing for the global community.  All the big things that I can’t control and that would make the world a better place.  I wish I would say, “fix it all, Jesus.”

          But I know that’s not the answer that bubbles up from my heart.  I am afraid that instead I would blurt out, “heal me, Lord.  Give me back my leg.”  I would ask for myself.  For healing that I know I cannot have apart from a miracle.  I know, when faced with the truth, I would put my own needs above the needs of the world.  My heart would ask Jesus to end my personal suffering before I asked Jesus to end the suffering of others. 

          It is so easy to rag on those disciples.  They seem like such fools.  Relentless in their stupidity and self-centeredness.  But I am a fool too.  I see all the ways I want to put myself first instead of last.  I see all the ways I want Jesus to help me before he helps others.  I know I would be more likely to tell Bartimaeus to come back on Tuesdays or Thursdays from 9-2 instead of receiving help right now.  I’m not as good of a disciple as I like to imagine myself to be.  I know this about myself.

          Lent is a time for us to think deeply on our own hearts, our motivations, our dreams and desires, our life of faith.  I invite you today to imagine Jesus standing before you and asking, “what do you want me to do for you?” 

Listen to that first thought that bubbles up.  The thing you really want before you correct yourself with the right answer.  Your true self is in there, and I think this question can be revealing.  If you could have any miracle, anything at all, what do you really want? 

          Jesus doesn’t judge our answers, he doesn’t condemn James and John for asking for honor.  He doesn’t condemn us when we put ourselves first.  Remember that those two follow all the way, that they will be the early leaders of the church, that they are filled with faith just as they are filled with self-centeredness.

          So too, are we forgiven and freed.  There’s a good chance that we all blurt out the wrong answer when offered the world.  That’s the nature of being human.  We are more like the disciples and the crowds than we often care to admit.  And still Jesus loves us, and still Jesus asks.  “What do you want me to do for you?”  May we be honest with ourselves about what lies in our hearts this day.  Amen.