When great people are pictured, the backdrop is often a beautiful banquet hall, a gorgeous residence, or a private plane or yacht.
When given an award, it is often a lavish trophy or a position of great power. Some have buildings named after them, and many have foundations or charities that share some of their wealth with the less fortunate.
They’re all over the media to such an extent that college athletes are given compensation for their name, image, and likeness.
Billions of dollars will be spent in the coming months to elect a president whose role is to “serve” the American people.
In the preceding account, James and John sought positions of power in God’s kingdom. The other disciples were angry with them, and Jesus used the occasion to teach a lesson about true greatness.
But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.
“It will not be so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave,
“Just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20.25-28).
We are so accustomed to the world’s “great ones” lording it over underlings, that when they do an act of service, it makes the news. It was no different in Jesus’ day.
When I was young and working in a warehouse, one of the vice presidents would occasionally come down and help the employees fill an order. He made the time fun, was a good worker, and was a real treat to work with.
At the time, I didn’t know the principle of leadership by example, but I saw it in action and have tried to imitate it throughout my life.
Both of us could have learned that lesson from Jesus because he taught that the greatest among us is someone who leads by example or is a servant to all.
Jesus took leadership by example a step further than most of us want to go. The servant is someone who gives up his rights in order to serve another. He calls that servant a slave.
When we are a slave to other people, we are willing to give up our rights to be right, to have our own way, and rights to power, so that the other person can be benefited.
If this seems extreme, it is worth noting what Jesus did. He who was rich became poor so that we might become rich through Him (2 Corinthians 8.9). He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become God’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5.21).
These are just a couple of images that the Bible presents concerning Jesus’ willing service for us all.
A Ransom for Many
The image Jesus chose to use to describe his service was to give his life as a “ransom for many.” The image of a ransom dates back to the slave market. Debtors lost their freedom and were sold into slavery.
The ransom was the payment that was given to buy someone out of slavery. All of us are slaves to sin, and Jesus gave his life to set us free from bondage to sin.
Isaiah depicted how Jesus chose to serve his Father and humankind by being a ransom for many.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with affliction.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out himself to death
and was numbered with the transgressors,
yet he bore the sin of many
and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53.10-12)
Five hundred years before Jesus walked towards Jerusalem from Galilee, Isaiah prophesied how He would become great.
The way He did it was by being a servant. He offered His life for our sins, bore in His body our iniquities, and was counted by society as a transgressor.
This was the way He demonstrated His greatness both to honor the Father and to bless humankind.
We must praise the Lord for His gift and gladly receive His forgiveness and release from the bondage of sin.
We also must learn how to model His style of greatness as opposed to that of the world’s system.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 