Firefighters and First Responders

The human instinct is to run away from danger. Firefighters and first responders run toward danger, which can puzzle others.

Jesus was a firefighter and first responder. Twice before, he had told the disciples that when they entered Jerusalem, he would be caught, tried, and killed. Now, he was doing just that:

“They were on the road, ascending to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading them. The followers were troubled and frightened.” (Mark 10:32)

Jesus has a way of calming their nerves (wink wink):

“Gathering the twelve around, he once again told them what would happen to him: ‘See, we will ascend to Jerusalem. There, I will be handed to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn me to death and hand me over to the nations. The nations will mock me, spit on me, whip me, and kill me.’” (10:33–34a)*

Like a firefighter or first responder, Jesus was rushing into danger! He could because he knew the conclusion:

“After three days, I will resurrect.” (10:34b)

But the disciples didn’t hear that. They fainted much earlier – at condemning, mocking, spitting, whipping, and death.

Their fear, however, didn’t stop wanting priority. They fought about who would be at Jesus’s right and left when he came in glory. Jacob and John started it (10:35–37), and Peter and the other nine finished it (10:41). In response, Jesus said three truths.

First, the disciples would drink the same cup he drank and be baptized with the same baptism he was baptized in (10:38–39). These were metaphors for suffering and death. True to the Lord’s words, Jacob died first, within three years of Jesus’s death (Acts 12). John died the last among the disciples. They both drank from the same cup Jesus drank and were baptized in the same baptism he was baptized in – suffering and death.

They weren’t alone; all disciples faced similar fates. Peter was crucified upside down in Rome; Andrew was crucified right side up in Asia Minor. Matthew was stabbed in Ethiopia, and Jacob (son of Alphaeus) was clubbed and stoned in Syria. Thomas was speared in India, while Philip was decapitated in Carthage. Simon, the zealot, was killed in Persia and Bartholemew in Saudi Arabia. Matthias, Judas’s replacement, was burned alive in Syria, while John was exiled to Patmos and returned to Rome, where he was boiled alive in hot oil. Their hesitation and fear departed by Jesus’s example. They drank from his cup and were baptized with his baptism.

Second, Jesus didn’t decide who sat on his right or left in his glory. “Those seats were to whom he was preparing” (10:40b). Without saying who was preparing, Jesus stressed its benefit for the ones who would get those seats (by the middle voice) without naming the recipients.**

Third, the disciples’ leading would be upside down. The rulers ruled the nations by lording over them, and the mighty (mega) exercised authority over their people (10:41). If the disciples wished to be mega (mighty), they should be servants (diakonos). If they wanted to be first (protos), they should be slaves (doulos) (10:45).

Even now, his disciples are called to be first responders – rushing to help the needy, suffering, lonely, and hurt. Sadly, some disciples still fuss over leading under the camouflage of “servant leaders,” almost imagining a seat at his right or left. We are called to be servants and slaves. Period.

* Mark, several years later, uses the third singular and the title “Son of Man.”

** The verb could be passive without an agent.