TUESDAY, APRIL 23
Scripture: Mark 10:42

Mark 10:42 says, “But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, ‘You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them,…’” That Greek word is katakureuo from kata meaning to come against, judging or subduing. Jesus subdued satan taking the keys of death, hell and the grave. He passed that authority to us to subdue enemies. James and John were misusing their divine authority and they were using it to try to gain advantage and position for themselves against their peers. Jesus clearly let them know His kingdom operated differently. God’s Kingdom can’t work that way and it won’t work that way. Manipulating to set ourselves above others will actually disqualify us. The compound word is kata and exousiazo. Kata, is to stand against, and exousiazo is governmental authority. It is to dominate and tyrannize. Instead of using it to free people they were using it to abuse and dominate. One who operates this way is utterly misusing their God-given authority. The disciples were rebuked by Jesus because the enemy was trying to stir up this godless motivation among the twelve. The real question was, did James and John hear His rebuke? Apparently they did not because we see hints of this behavior at the Last Supper. Will we learn from their rebuke?