The Heart of a Servant
Notes
Transcript
The Heart of a Servant
The Heart of a Servant
Easter is arriving soon, in seven weeks.
Seven is a good biblical number (days, sabbath, etc.)
It is going to seem like I am picking on the disciples James and John, and I am, a bit.
It just happens that they are at the center of some of our passages.
Let’s get some context:
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Appoint us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to appoint, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
And here is our verse…
For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”
James and John wanted to glory and power of the position.
We know this when they wanted to kill off the Samaritans with fire.
It seems to be a problem for them.
They want the power and authority
They don’t wan’t to put in the work
They are the original Millennials
For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”
The heart of service:
He did not come to be served.
Yet this seems strange, when you think about it.
It is a rejection of the king of service that Kings want
Food, pleasure, power, etc.
For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Philippians 2:5–7 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
Here is something you can consider:
Commit to a tangible act of service this week.
Some of you already do that.
Kids ministry, rummage sale, etc.
Consider what you can do in your family.
Now, what is the act of service Jesus will do?
For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”
This idea of ransom is abused with philosophy and theology.
It is not that hard to figure out.
The term used here refers to the restoration of land during the OT Jubilee
AND
The setting free of those who were in debtors prison
AND
Decontamination of humans (purgation)
Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: “Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands? I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.
The thing about Jubilee is there is no exchange of money.
Debts are to be forgiven
Meaning someone in debtors prison is set free for free
The land returns to its original family
Meaning the land is set free without loan
Paul centers in on this when he writes to the Colossians
He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
You have all three elements in this verse:
Transfer back to the ‘land’ in which you are meant to be
Redeemed (set free from all debt, and the transfer was at no cost to you)
Decontamination (purgation) of sins
The power of darkness is not going to observe Jubilee and set you free.
It took an act of God to make that happen.
Will it take an act of God for you to function as a servant instead of a tyrant?
Jesus served so you can serve
Service is the currency of the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son.
The Heart of a Servant
The Heart of a Servant
