Not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many
Mark 10:43-45
“Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many”
Twice in Mark’s gospel Jesus refers to servanthood.
And both times it was in the context of His disciples’ grappling for grandeur.
In the first, they argued about which of them was greatest (9:34). The second was after James and John requested the seats of honor in His coming glory (10:37). In both cases Jesus rebuked them with the vision of a servant: “If any of you wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all” (9:35), “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant” (10:43).
But Jesus also referred to Himself the same way. “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve” (10:45). With this statement He directly evoked the imagery of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. New Testament writers quote this passage multiple times in reference to Jesus. Jesus invokes Isaiah’s prophecy Himself on the way to Gethsemane (Luke 22:35-38). The prophet’s words are pivotal in understanding Jesus’ Good News and how the early church understood Him.
Throughout history scholars have argued whether Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) referred strictly to the nation of Israel or to Jesus the Messiah.
Was it either or?
I suspect that as is often the case, the answer is “both/and.”
The passage refers to “We,” Yahweh’s chosen people of Israel, who introduced monotheism and became the foundation of faith to three major religions embraced by half the world’s population; to whom we have been grafted through faith in Christ (Romans 11:17,18, Galatians 2:28,29).
It refers to “He,” Jesus the Messiah, the one who has foretold His betrayal, suffering, death and resurrection three times already in the gospel of Mark; who saw Himself as the Suffering Servant and who the early church saw the same way (Mark 8:31–35, Mark 9:30–32, Mark 10:33-34).
It is “both.”
But it is also “and.”
It also refers to “Me,” to each of us as followers of Jesus the Lamb of God embracing the example of Jesus; trying to demonstrate His attitude of emptying Himself, taking on slavery, servanthood and humility, willingly suffering and sacrificing ourselves for the sake of the Kingdom and our King (Philippians 2:5-11).
When we come to the communion table, remembering with thanksgiving the Eucharist instituted at the Last Supper, all three – We, He and Me - are crystalized in the bread and wine that He declared to be His body and blood. We willingly take Him to ourselves - His broken body and the life of His blood – declaring our communion with the saints and with the Savior, accepting that we are the many for whom His life was given as ransom.
We needed a Savior. We needed to be saved.
And as we embrace His call to follow Him in a world promoting power, the accumulation of wealth, the practice of violence, the subversion of truth and the exploitation of the weak and powerless,
We know we need the Savior still.
Have a blessed, restful second Sunday in Lent
