Greatness

Robby Pollard, Lead Pastor

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Mark 8:31-33

³¹And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³²And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

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Mark 8:34

³⁴And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

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You can’t follow Jesus if you’re trying to lead him.

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Mark 9:30-32

³⁰They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, ³¹for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” ³²But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

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Luke 2:49

⁴⁹And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

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John 4:34

³⁴Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

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John 9:4

⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

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Isaiah 53:6-7

⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

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Isaiah 53:4

⁴Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

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Isaiah 53:10

¹⁰Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

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Acts 2:23

²³this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

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Romans 8:32

³²He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

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Mark 9:31

³¹for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”

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Mark 9:32

³²But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

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Mark 9:33

³³And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”

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Mark 9:34

³⁴But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.

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Mark 9:33

³³And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”

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Mark 8:17

¹⁷And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?

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Mark 2:8

⁸And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?

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Mark 9:34

³⁴But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.

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We don’t play for fellowship, we play to win.

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The opponent can find mercy at the cross, but not here on the field.

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We don’t sing to worship Jesus, we sing to win.

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We don’t preach to exalt Jesus, we preach to win.

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We don’t follow Jesus to make Him known, we follow to make our name known.

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Who is the greatest?

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Mark 9:2-6

²And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

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Mark 9:7

⁷And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

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Mark 9:8

⁸And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

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Mark 9:9

⁹And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

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Mark 9:10

¹⁰So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.

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Who is the greatest?

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Mark 9:17-18

¹⁷And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. ¹⁸And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”

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Mark 9:19

¹⁹And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”

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Mark 9:21-24

²¹And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²²And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” ²³And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” ²⁴Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

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Mark 9:25-29

²⁵And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” ²⁶And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” ²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. ²⁸And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁹And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

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Who is the greatest?

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Mark 9:31

³¹for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”

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Mark 9:35

³⁵And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

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Greatness is not being first, it’s being last.

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Greatness isn’t being served, it’s in serving others.

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Mark 9:36-37

³⁶And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

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Greatness is not you being seen as significant, it’s you receiving the insignificant.

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Matthew 23:5-7

⁵They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ⁶and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues ⁷and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.

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Be last.

Be a servant.

Receive the insignificant.

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Who is the greatest?

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Philippians 2:5-11

⁵Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.