The Wrong Way to Be Great (and What Jesus Said Instead)
James and John pulled Jesus aside and made their request privately: they wanted the two seats of honor in His kingdom. One on the right, one on the left. It’s one of the most awkward moments in the Gospels and one of the most revealing.
In this episode of What We Didn’t Say on Sunday, Pastor Richie Baldwin is joined by Westside’s Ministries and Administration Pastor Zach Allen to dig deep into Mark 10:32–45: the disciples’ wrong view of greatness, the historical context that explains their confusion, and the verse that Jesus lands the entire conversation on.
Why James and John Got Greatness Wrong
The disciples were measuring greatness by the wrong standard, the same one the world still uses. Championships. Status. Position. Who’s in the cabinet when the new king takes over?
But their confusion wasn’t random. It was historically grounded. Richie and Zach walk through the story of Judas Maccabeus — the Jewish military hero who, around 165 BC, led a revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes, retook the temple, and became the greatest figure in recent Jewish memory. Maccabeus means “hammer.” He was the closest thing the Jewish people had seen to a conquering deliverer. And so when Jesus began talking about the Kingdom of God, the disciples layered that Maccabean framework over everything He said. They were waiting for Jesus to do what Maccabeus did, only bigger.
Jesus had already told them three times that He was going to be handed over, crucified, and rise on the third day. They weren’t ignoring Him. They just couldn’t make it fit the framework they had. A kingdom doesn’t start with the king’s execution.
The Cup, the Baptism, and the Cost They Didn’t Understand
When Jesus asks James and John if they can drink the cup He’s about to drink and be baptized with the baptism He’s about to undergo, they answer immediately: “We are able.” They had no idea what they were agreeing to.
Zach unpacks the depth of that exchange: suffering is built into the call. Not always martyrdom, sometimes it’s getting up early, clearing your calendar, showing up when it’s inconvenient. But kingdom service was never designed to be comfortable. It is always connected to the cross.
And then there’s the haunting detail in Mark 10:40, “to sit at my right or my left is not mine to grant.” The commentaries are divided: Is Jesus submitting to the Father’s authority in the roles of the Trinity? Or is this foreshadowing? Because when the crucifixion comes, Mark records that Jesus hung on the cross with criminals at His right and His left. John was standing there. The same John who had asked for that seat.
What Kingdom Greatness Actually Looks Like
Jesus lands the entire passage on one verse: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The Greek word for ransom is lytron, a price paid to purchase someone out of slavery. Jesus wasn’t just modeling servant leadership. He was purchasing people out of sin and death.
Kingdom greatness is never demanded. It’s never self-declared. It’s not measured by followers, titles, or platforms. It’s measured by how willing you are to take the lowest seat and serve the person in front of you from a motivation rooted entirely in the gospel. Not self-bragging power, but self-sacrificial empowerment.
Also in This Episode
• Pastor Zach’s wedding charge from Mark 10:45 that he’s given at every ceremony for nearly 20 years
• How spiritual gifts (Holy Spirit) differ from natural talents, skills, and personality, and how all four work together to find your place of service
• Why Spartacus, Julius Caesar, and the Roman cross all help explain what Jesus meant by “take up your cross”
• The “John was an introvert” theory and why he might have had a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash
• Preview of next week: 1 Corinthians 12 and the body of believers — every person has a place
What does the Bible say about greatness?
According to Jesus in Mark 10:42–45, the world measures greatness through power, authority, and status — but kingdom greatness works in reverse. Jesus told His disciples that whoever wants to be great must be a servant, and whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all. He grounded this in His own example: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Biblical greatness is never self-declared or demanded. It is expressed through servant leadership, motivated by the gospel, and measured by willingness to take the lowest seat.
What We Didn’t Say on Sunday
Every Sunday, our pastors preach. Every week, there’s more to the story.
What We Didn’t Say on Sunday is a weekly deep dive into Sunday’s sermon — the context, the questions, the passages we didn’t have time for, and the conversations that happened after. Hosted by Pastor David Chauncey and Pastor Richie Baldwin.
Q: Why did James and John ask to sit at Jesus’ right and left hand?
James and John were operating with a first-century Jewish framework shaped in part by the Maccabean revolt — the story of Judas Maccabeus, who around 165 BC led a successful military uprising against Antiochus Epiphanes and retook the temple. They expected Jesus to be a similar conquering deliverer who would defeat Rome and establish a political kingdom. Asking for seats at His right and left was asking for cabinet positions in that expected government. They had heard Jesus speak of His coming death three times but couldn’t reconcile it with the kingdom they were anticipating.
Q: What does Mark 10:45 mean?
Mark 10:45 — “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” — is considered by many scholars to be the theological center of the Gospel of Mark. The Greek word for ransom is lytron, meaning a price paid to purchase someone out of slavery or captivity. Jesus is not merely modeling humility; He is explaining the mechanism of salvation: His life given in exchange for the freedom of those enslaved to sin and death.
Q: Who was Judas Maccabeus and what does he have to do with the disciples?
Judas Maccabeus was a Jewish military leader whose name means “the hammer.” Around 165 BC, he led a successful revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes IV — the Greek ruler who had desecrated the Jerusalem temple. The victory is commemorated today in the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. For first-century Jews, Maccabeus was the defining picture of a deliverer: a military hero who defeated the enemies of Israel by force. The disciples likely expected Jesus to follow this same pattern, which explains why they repeatedly misunderstood His predictions of suffering and death.
Q: What does “drink the cup” mean in Mark 10:38?
When Jesus asks James and John if they can drink the cup He is about to drink, He is referencing an Old Testament image: in the prophets, the cup of God’s wrath is what the guilty must drink as judgment. Jesus is foreshadowing His crucifixion — the moment when He would bear that wrath as a substitute for humanity. James and John answered yes immediately, without understanding. But both would eventually fulfill their answer: James was martyred, the first apostle killed. John was exiled to Patmos “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 1:9).
Q: What is the significance of the criminals at Jesus’ right and left at the crucifixion?
In Mark 15:27, Jesus is crucified with criminals on His right and His left — the very seats James and John had requested. John was present at the crucifixion (John 19:26). The parallel is intentional: the seats of honor in the kingdom of God were occupied by criminals on crosses. It is a picture of the upside-down nature of Christ’s kingdom, where the King who came to serve gives His life as a ransom, flanked not by generals but by the condemned.
