Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good afternoon, dear people.

I got out of bed, did a walk/jog with Becki, went to church, ate lunch in a café, took a very brief old man nap, went to Pheasant Pointe for our Gospel Sing, and now I’m scrambling to load up and get off to meet my cousin and brother at SunRiver just south of Bend—followed by skiing tomorrow at Mt. Bachelor.

Blessings on your goings and comings.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Is it possible that the same flawed posture of heart as displayed here by James and John is at the core of much of our own praying? They said, “We want you to do for us whatever we ask”—making Jesus out to be some kind of personal genie who loves to proclaim, “Your wish is my command—no further questions asked.” Sorry folks—the Sovereign God just doesn’t work that way.

One thing for sure, the competitive power struggle recorded in the previous chapter (Mark 9:33-37) is certainly not dead. That’s where the disciples actually had engaged in verbal debate over which of them was the greatest in the line-up behind Jesus. Good grief! And it’s like the disciples totally ignore the clearly-stated future facts that Jesus discloses in verses 33 and 34. (Read it again.) It just doesn’t register. But James and John seem to sense that things are heating up and coming to a climax. So they are motivated to get their bid of glory in early—ahead of the others. Of course that doesn’t set well with the other disciples who have their own visions of greatness. They were ticked!

In response to the selfish request by James and John, Jesus said, “You don’t know what you are asking…Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” (v. 38). I’m inclined to interpret the CUP Jesus referred to as suffering, and the BAPTISM as death. They are certainly not very attractive pursuits in themselves, but if we can accept suffering and death as essential and unavoidable developmental stepping stones in the course of fulfilling God’s Will, they are certainly not things to fear or reject. After all, Jesus Himself said, “As the Father has sent Me, so send I you” (Jn. 20:21).

My thoughts at present are giving me a sense of feeling very, very, very small. The attitude of James and John, while very understandable, is raising in me a certain amount of revulsion—viewing those notions as nothing short of absurd arrogant stupidity. After all, against the backdrop of history, amidst the countless millions of souls that have ever cried out to God down through time, I am feeling more like a grain of sand than a marble monument. The wonder of the Gospel is that the Sovereign God is concerned with and has a special place for each little grain of sand—for even me! Hey! A thought has just occurred to me: Maybe all these grains of sand that are “tried by fire” (1 Peter 1:7) join together to form the symbolic “sea of glass, clear as crystal” (Revelation 4:6) that John describes in his vision of heaven. Whatever. I know—that’s a stretch. But I think this kind of perspective is a whole lot safer than the one demonstrated by James and John.