The Great Serve
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.” (Mark 10:45)
How many times didn’t Jesus’ disciples come to him and ask him for something, only to be told that it was not his to give or do? It seems as though there were times when Jesus’ disciples understood that he was true God. They understood the power and the ability that he had, not only in this life but in the life to come. And they wanted to take advantage of that power and authority. They wanted to ensure their prominence in the life to come. In doing so, they missed another key aspect of Jesus. They failed to see his purpose in coming to this earth. They missed the point of Jesus setting aside that power and authority.
On this occasion, James and John had come to Jesus to ask him for the two most prominent positions in heaven. They wanted to sit at his right and his left hand and reign with him in glory. But Jesus asked them if they were willing to endure the suffering that he was about to endure. In just a few short days, Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey to eat the Passover with his disciples. He would be arrested and beaten and crucified on a cross. By doing so, he would pay for the sins of the whole world. And James and John would undergo similar sufferings for the sake of the gospel. James would be the first of Jesus’ disciples to die. King Herod would have him killed for spreading the gospel, as Luke tells us in Acts 12:2. John would be exiled to the Island of Patmos, where he would be the only disciple to die of natural causes, after many years of suffering for his faith. They would both serve to advance the gospel to the ends of the earth and in doing so, would suffer for their faith.
But Jesus also reminded them that the Kingdom of Heaven does not work like the kingdoms of this world. The one who wants to be first in heaven must be a servant to all. And he was modeling that. He left his place of authority in heaven and came down to earth to serve us sinners. He came into this world, was hated by the very people he was here to help, and willingly gave up his life for them. And in doing so, he took care of our greatest need. He wiped away our sin and made us righteous before God.
This grace that was shown to us motivates us to serve others. We want to help our neighbors because of the immeasurable love and service that we ourselves have received from Christ. We want to be of service in any way that we possibly can so that the gospel might continue to spread to all people. Amen.
The song for today is “The Servant Song” By Maranatha! Promise Band