By Chris Chambers
Pastor, Brush Creek Baptist Church, Brush Creek
Focal Passage: Mark 10:35-45
“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 came as a servant. He did not come the first time to be exalted or worshiped. He came to serve. Hebrews 2:9 says we “see Jesus — made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone.” Philippians 2:7 says He “emptied Himself by assuming the form of a servant.” What does someone who serves look like? They look like Jesus.
Jesus did not think less of Himself in order to serve, He simply thought of Himself less. That is what we should do. We are no less valuable in God’s eyes when we serve. And I believe that is why there are so few true servants.
We have the world’s perspective that someone who serves is less than the one being served. But that is not the case with Jesus. He served others because He placed the needs of others above His own needs. That did not mean He was less than the Son of Man, He just considered others before He considered Himself. He served, not out of humiliation but out of humility.
One who serves with the heart of Christ does so not for the reward of what will be done for them, but for the reward of seeing the one being served increasing in their joy and happiness. Jesus served us by tasting death for us. What greater service could there be? He placed our desperate and hopeless situation ahead of His comfort and glory.
The cup Andrew and John said they could drink from was the cup Jesus drank for all of us. That was the cup of God’s wrath. And, according to Romans 5:10, He served His enemies, not those who followed and loved Him. He was not forced to serve us, He chose to serve us. He even served those who would reject Him and deny Him.
My mother-in-law showed me for 11 years how to serve. After my father-in-law had an accident that almost cost him his life, but did cripple him, he needed around the clock care. My mother-in-law quit her job and stayed with him and did not leave him for more than a few hours at a time. She placed all of his needs above her needs and truly served him for the eleven years he lived after his accident. She served him day and night with a Christ-like spirit. She is an example of what serving really is.
When you serve, do you do so out of obligation and because someone shamed you into it? Or do you serve from a humble heart because you see the needs of others as greater than your own? That is the way Christ serves us.
