Mark 10:23-45

Then Jesus looked at his followers and said, “How hard it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The followers were amazed at what Jesus said. But he said again, “My children, it is very hard to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” The followers were even more surprised and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For people this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Peter said to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or farms for me and for the Good News will get more than they left. Here in this world they will have a hundred times more homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields. And with those things, they will also suffer for their belief. But in this age they will have life forever. Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.” As Jesus and the people with him were on the road to Jerusalem, he was leading the way. His followers were amazed, but others in the crowd who followed were afraid. Again Jesus took the twelve apostles aside and began to tell them what was about to happen in Jerusalem. He said, “Look, we are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law. They will say that he must die, and they will turn him over to the non-Jewish people, who will laugh at him and spit on him. They will beat him with whips and crucify him. But on the third day, he will rise to life again.” Then James and John, sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want to ask you to do something for us.” Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” They answered, “Let one of us sit at your right side and one of us sit at your left side in your glory in your kingdom.” Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I must drink? And can you be baptized with the same kind of baptism that I must go through?” They answered, “Yes, we can.” Jesus said to them, “You will drink the same cup that I will drink, and you will be baptized with the same baptism that I must go through. But I cannot choose who will sit at my right or my left; those places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” When the other ten followers heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “The other nations have rulers. You know that those rulers love to show their power over the people, and their important leaders love to use all their authority. But it should not be that way among you. Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. Whoever wants to become the first among you must serve all of you like a slave. In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”