A Ransom for Many
"Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).”
Earlier this week, we saw that we were saved in order to serve others. Jesus left us the ultimate example, by washing the feet of those He came to save. We will consider that same theme in another verse today.
One day, the mother of James and John came to Jesus and asked if her two sons could have the most exalted positions in Jesus’ Kingdom. The other disciples heard her selfish request, and an argument started among them all about who would be the greatest. Jesus responded by telling them that the greatest among them needed to be the servant of all (Matthew 20:20-28).
This statement is such revolutionary thinking! Why should the greatest be the one who serves? This statement runs against the entire thinking of the world, and even runs against the way we often view things as Christians. Shouldn’t the greatest among us be served by all? That is not what Christ said.
Once again, Christ pointed the disciples to His own example. He is the King of heaven, the Lord of lords, the omnipotent Creator of the universe. And yet why did He come to earth? Not to be served by others, but to serve them, and to give His life as a Ransom for our sins.
Why didn’t Christ come to earth to be served? If Christ had needed to be served, it would imply that He had some deficiency, or some need in Himself that He was coming to earth to fulfill. However, Christ had no need, no deficiency. He was eternally complete in Himself, and thus wasn’t coming to earth for people to meet His needs. Rather, He came to earth to meet our needs.
And that is the example we are to follow. We are not complete in ourselves, but we are complete in Christ. And out of our fullness in Him, we can meet the needs of others. We can condescend and look out for their interests. We don’t need earthly glory to be fulfilled, so we don’t need earthly kingship. All of our fulfillment is in Christ!
Only Christ could give His life as a ransom (payment) for sins. Our lives cannot pay for sin, but through the sacrifice of our lives Christ can reveal to others the sacrifice that He has made, and His sacrifice will serve every need anyone will ever have. Let’s give our lives to be servants of others.
Earlier this week, we saw that we were saved in order to serve others. Jesus left us the ultimate example, by washing the feet of those He came to save. We will consider that same theme in another verse today.
One day, the mother of James and John came to Jesus and asked if her two sons could have the most exalted positions in Jesus’ Kingdom. The other disciples heard her selfish request, and an argument started among them all about who would be the greatest. Jesus responded by telling them that the greatest among them needed to be the servant of all (Matthew 20:20-28).
This statement is such revolutionary thinking! Why should the greatest be the one who serves? This statement runs against the entire thinking of the world, and even runs against the way we often view things as Christians. Shouldn’t the greatest among us be served by all? That is not what Christ said.
Once again, Christ pointed the disciples to His own example. He is the King of heaven, the Lord of lords, the omnipotent Creator of the universe. And yet why did He come to earth? Not to be served by others, but to serve them, and to give His life as a Ransom for our sins.
Why didn’t Christ come to earth to be served? If Christ had needed to be served, it would imply that He had some deficiency, or some need in Himself that He was coming to earth to fulfill. However, Christ had no need, no deficiency. He was eternally complete in Himself, and thus wasn’t coming to earth for people to meet His needs. Rather, He came to earth to meet our needs.
And that is the example we are to follow. We are not complete in ourselves, but we are complete in Christ. And out of our fullness in Him, we can meet the needs of others. We can condescend and look out for their interests. We don’t need earthly glory to be fulfilled, so we don’t need earthly kingship. All of our fulfillment is in Christ!
Only Christ could give His life as a ransom (payment) for sins. Our lives cannot pay for sin, but through the sacrifice of our lives Christ can reveal to others the sacrifice that He has made, and His sacrifice will serve every need anyone will ever have. Let’s give our lives to be servants of others.
posted by Cameron at 9:19 PM
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