Mysteries of the Trinity - Mark 10:40
Jesus' inability to grant their request leads into the mysteries of the Trinity. See Article on the Trinity. Jesus was fully God, but bowed to the Father's will. In this sense he was the perfect Son who served the Father. This thought prepares the way for verse 45.
Ungodly ambition - Mark 10:41
The fact that the other disciples became
angry is a hint that James and John were not the only disciples who struggled with ungodly ambition.
Leadership involves serving - Mark 10:42-44
Jesus
called all the disciples to him because all the disciples needed to hear this teaching. His words were the great reversal of the typical human perspective and behavior. Leadership among the followers of Jesus involves serving.
Jesus' death paid the debt. - Mark 10:45
Verse 45 gives the reason for Jesus' words in verses 42-44. The followers of Jesus must be great in service not in ruling, because Jesus was the great servant. In all of their sacrificing service the disciples must be motivated by gratitude for how Jesus had served them. A
ransom is the payment for the release of a slave or a debt. Jesus' death paid the debt for the release of many.
Divine healing - Mark 10:46-52
This is the last story from Jesus' journey to Jerusalem which began at 8:31. This demonstration of divine healing is a strong contrast with the rest of the section which emphasized Jesus' role as the suffering Messiah, the great demands of discipleship, and the failure of the disciples to understand the character of their calling.
Bartimaeus - Mark 10:46
Jericho was a city about 16 miles northeast of Jerusalem. The large crowd was at least partly due to the growing number of pilgrims who were traveling to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover.
Son of Timaeus is the translation of the Aramaic name
Bartimaeus.
The Nazarene - Mark 10:47
The Nazarene means
the one from Nazareth.
Son of David - Mark 10:48
The
blind man kept on
crying out in spite of attempts to silence him. He called Jesus
son of
David. This title appears only here in the Gospel of Mark as Jesus is approaching the royal city of Jerusalem. It stresses Jesus' royal messiahship. Mark closed this section which emphasized Jesus' suffering by focusing on the fact that he was the Messiah. Jesus' terrible, suffering death could not be allowed to obscure the fact that he was indeed the Messiah.
Humble servanthood - Mark 10:52
Jesus responded to the
faith of a man that most people regarded as a nuisance who should be silenced. Jesus
healed him. Even though Jesus had his own future in Jerusalem on his mind, he demonstrated that he came to serve the neediest people in society. Again he modeled humble servanthood. The word that is translated
healed is also often translated
saved.
Ministry in Jerusalem - Mark 11:1–13:37
The Messiah's Ministry in Jerusalem. In this section it became more and more clear that Jesus was the Messiah. At the same time, it became more and more clear that his messianic path was leading to his death on the cross.
The Messiah Moves toward the Cross. - Mark 11:1-12:44
Jesus' anger with sin, his frustration with unbelief, and his commitment to his role as the suffering Messiah were all more boldly presented by Mark at this stage in the Gospel.
Related Resources
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License.
