One of the most conspicuous features of Mark's Gospel is its pace. Things happen quickly. Amongst the four evangelists, Mark's work is akin to an action movie. Not a moment is wasted. There is little actual teaching in Mark. We see more of Jesus doing and moving than Jesus saying. He's heading toward Jerusalem, and more specifically, the cross. We learn this as readers in Mark 8:31: "Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering . . ." This occurs roughly midway through the narrative. No wonder many scholars refer to Mark as a passion narrative with an extended introduction. Jesus has a destination and proceeds toward it--and please pardon the pun--with a relentless passion. It seems, then, that Jesus is very goal-minded. The whole point of his ministry is to reach Jerusalem, the cross, and the destiny that he came to fulfill for us all.
Some of his disciples, it would seem, were also very goal-minded. They too were looking to the future and to what they thought the point of Jesus' ministry ought to be. In Mark 10 James and John, Jesus' second pair of converts, approach Jesus with a request: "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." Jesus' response, though oblique, proves that they had no idea who Jesus really is and what it will take for them to sit with him in his glory. They wanted power, influence, authority. A certain greed was rearing its ugly head. No surprise, then, that the rest of the apostles were angry with them once they found out. And as usual, the dull-headedness of the disciples provides Jesus with significant opportunity to teach them what service truly means. He ties his mission and identity directly to what he expects of them: "Whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve . . ."
What specific difference does this make? Look at Mark 10. In one story his disciples tried to prevent little children from approaching him. Jesus, they think, has more important things to do. "Don't disturb the Master," they say, "with such insignificant people!" Children had no status in Jesus' day. They were people beside the point. But precisely for this reason, Jesus admonished his disciples sternly and let them know that this children were precisely the point. A little later in the same chapter, a blind man cries out to Jesus for mercy. Many there try and shut him up. We don't know for sure if the disciples were among them. Whatever the case, the man just cries out louder. And Jesus stops. Jesus shows mercy. Jesus stops at the side of the road to heal a blind man crying out desperately for his touch. And then we are told that after he regained his sight he "followed him on his way."
People that many thought were incidental, distracting to the real work at hand, unimportant, and beside the point, Jesus treated as worthy of attention, time, and energy. Jesus often treated what people considered beside the point as the point. Yes, Jesus had an agenda. This agenda, this mission, meant proceeding towards the cross. But not at the expense of people; in fact, he proceeded toward the cross--a destination even his closest disciples did not yet understand--precisely for these very people. "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve . . ."
What his disciples didn't get in their immature and hungry grab for power was that power was not on Jesus' "to do" list. They were only concerned for themselves. James and John, in vying for positions alongside Jesus, missed the point entirely. The little children were the point. The blind man crying out desperately for mercy and for his sight was the point. Jesus was giving up his life for "the least of these."
How often do I do the same thing? How often do I overlook and shove aside that which Christ wants front and center? How often do I do that because I am more interested in personal gain and self-interest than I am in the needs of those around me? We can make fun of those disciples (duh-ciples!) all we want, but we are more often like them than Jesus. Do I have an agenda that pushes away the least of these or do I allow my agenda to be shaped by the least of these? Jesus' passion and mission was restoring fellowship between God and anyone interested in that restoration, and this meant treating with respect, dignity, and a fierce love many that we normally see as beside the point when we're preoccupied with ourselves and our own self-important agendas. May we be more like Jesus, willing to stop at the road side to assist those crying out, knowing full well that doing so is a part of the journey along the road in the first place.
