"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Jesus uses no false advertising in attracting disciples. He states the cost of following him in the bluntest terms. As the height of his popularity, as throngs of people are tailing him, Jesus talks about his forthcoming suffering and death. Such talk baffles his disciples, whose image of a Messiah includes no such dark notions. Showing incredible insensitivity, they lapse into petty disputes about status. They cannot embrace the message Jesus patiently repeats for them: in his kingdom, the greatest is the one who serves.
No matter how many times Jesus explains the way of the cross, it never seems to sink in. He uses curious techniques to gain recruits for his kingdom. He uses words like cross and slave, rather like a modern Marine Corps recruiter displaying photos of war amputees and dead soldiers. How can the ugly image of an executioner's cross fit the nation's dream of a new kingdom?
Jesus' own disciples- let alone the admiring crowds- are wholly unprepared for his type of kingdom. Its demands are too hard, its rewards too vague. Although Jesus makes a point of mentioning his resurrection whenever he talks about his death, the disciples grasp neither concept- until he dies and then comes back.
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