For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
Jesus explains to the Twelve exactly why He has come into the world. He has come to be betrayed, to be condemned, and to rise again, because He is God incarnate. He has come to suffer these things, not for His own benefit, but for ours: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.[1]
The Twelve do not understand this. From our perspective, reading Mark’s Gospel, we might find it difficult to understand why the disciples don’t understand what Jesus is telling them. They were the ones who heard John the Baptist call Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. They were with Jesus when He forgave the sins of the paralyzed man, and healed his physical infirmity.[2] They saw Jesus heal the man with the withered hand;[3] they saw Him raise the dead,[4] feed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish,[5] and walk on the sea.[6] They were His hand-picked students who were given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven;[7] they heard Jesus declare that He was the fulfillment of God’s promise to send His people a Savior of King David’s line; they saw the people to whom Jesus preached, the ones to whom He was sent,[8] reject Him.[9] Why, when Jesus explicitly predicts His impending death, can they not understand what He is telling them?
The Twelve, like the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Teachers of the Law, were expecting a different kind of savior. They were expecting the Messiah to be a political leader who would come and rescue the nation of Israel from the oppression of the Gentiles, and restore the kingdom. They did not understand that Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world.[10] Mark records proof of this when he tells us of James and John, the Sons of Thunder,[11] ask Jesus if they can sit at His right and at His left in His glory. They want, to put it in modern terms, to be appointed to high level cabinet positions in the kingdom’s government. The other disciples are not better in their thinking; they want the same thing. This is why, when the others heard what James and John ask for, they were upset.
Jesus doesn’t become angry with His disciples, however. He explains to them again what kind of kingdom the Kingdom of God is. It isn’t like the kingdoms of the Gentiles, where the high positions were for the benefit and glorification of those men who held them: Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.[12] Jesus came, not be served, but to serve. His service to mankind culminated in Him giving His life as a ransom for many. He died on the cross as the propitiation – the atonement, or the satisfaction – for the sins of the world.[13]
And what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Jesus’ disciples are also called, not to be served, but to serve. They will have prestigious posts in the Kingdom of God; they will be ministers in Christ’s government, so to speak. They will be servants. They will serve by preaching the Gospel and administering Christ’s sacraments as He has given them to His Church. In doing so, they will be bringing Jesus’ promises of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all who believe, and calling all men to repent of their sin. Jesus continues to serve us today in the same way. Through His Word proclaimed and taught, through the washing of rebirth and regeneration that is Holy Baptism, through the eating and drinking of Christ’s body and blood in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper, Christ serves us. Through these means He grants us repentance and faith in Him, and we receive His promised gifts of forgiveness and life. Jesus will continue to extend His Kingdom in this way until He returns in glory to judge the living and the dead, when those who believe will be raised to everlasting life, and those who have rejected Christ and His gifts to everlasting shame and contempt.[14]
Jesus did not come to die and rise again so that we would live our best lives now in this world. In fact, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.[15] That means that we will suffer the effects of sin while we live in this fallen creation, in this corrupt and perishable body. We will struggle with all manner of trial and tribulations; we are not, by any means, guaranteed health, wealth, or success. But when He raises us from the dead on the Last Day, we will live under Him in His Kingdom with imperishable bodies like His. We will serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.[16]
[1] Mark 10:45
[2] Mark 2:1-12
[3] Mark 4:35-41
[4] Mark 5:21-43
[5] Mark 6:30-44
[6] Mark 6:45-52
[7] Matthew 13:10
[8] John 1:11
[9] Luke 4:16-30
[10] John 18:35-37
[11] Mark 3:17
[12] Mark 10:43-44
[13] 1 John 2:2
[14] Daniel 12:2; John 3:15-16, 36; 5:24, 29
[15] 1 Corinthians 15:19
[16] Luther, Martin. "The Small Catechism." The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Lutheran Church. September 2008. Accessed February 27, 2019. https://www.bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php#creed. From the explanation of the Second Article of the Apostle’s Creed.
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