The Servant
Christ Shows Us the Essence of Love, Humility, and Sacrifice
By Derek Snyder
"For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45 (ESV)
I remember the first time I read Mark 10:45. As someone who was new to the faith, I didn’t understand why Jesus, the King of Kings, set aside the majesty of Heaven to give his life “as a ransom for many.”
Previously, I had understood servanthood as being the tangible way we, as followers of Jesus, lend a helping hand to those in need. And if we’re being transparent, I expected the people we served to receive our gifts gratefully. Little did I understand my heart for serving and Christ’s heart for serving were entirely different.
Jesus came into this world knowing He would be rejected, and yet, He still followed through in the steps that were set before Him by the Father. The Son of God, the One through whom all things in the universe were created, came to die for people like you and me— people who are sinful, imperfect, and broken.
HE PAID THE HIGHEST PRICE
The Apostle Paul perfectly outlined the ultimate form of self-sacrifice in Romans 5:7-8 (ESV): “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare to even die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
As a father, it’s easy to say I would die for my son. I was there the moment he was born, the moment he was transported to the NICU, and even when he began to breathe on his own. Not only have I held him, but I’ve fed him, cared for him, and loved him. For my son, I would absolutely give up my life.
I believe that many of us have people in our lives who we would put before ourselves in this way. Yet, Christ hung on a cross, giving up His own life, so the broken and fallen people of this world would have the opportunity to receive God’s grace. Yes, even the soldiers who nailed His hands and feet to the cross.
The concept of being a servant is something that’s tremendously foreign to my nature. I see Jesus washing His disciples’ feet and feeding the hungry, but most of the time, I don’t make the simple attempt to seek out my neighbors’ needs. If I were being honest, putting someone above myself is something I continually have to remind myself to do.
Nevertheless, Scripture calls us to walk in the ways of a humble servant, just like Jesus— giving our lives to the Lord and people around us. Whether we serve with our time, money, or gifts, God is asking each of us to devote our lives to becoming Christ-like servants.
A PICTURE OF TRUE DEVOTION
As Christians, when we look for encouragement and motivation to serve, our gaze should be directed toward the perfect life of Jesus. Even as the most holy and righteous Lamb of God, Jesus humbly submitted to the will of His Father, blamelessly accepting a sinner’s death on the cross.
While the Lord will never call us to die for the sin of mankind, He does expect us to devote our whole self to serving others—submitting to His perfect will for our lives. We may never find out how one act of compassion fully changes someone’s present circumstances, but we can trust the Holy Spirit to use our small, feeble efforts to lead that person toward the Kingdom of God.
At the end of the day, loving God and loving others is something God demands of our lives (Matthew 22:36-40)—it’s not a choice. If this command was vitally important to Jesus, then how much more should we focus on devoting our lives to humility, love, and generosity?
Without the example of Christ, we would have no understanding of what true servanthood looks like. In the most self-sacrificial act of history, the King of Heaven left his throne, walked with mankind, and hung on a cross. Ultimately submitting Himself to the Father and taking the punishment we deserved, Jesus was treated as a sinner so we could become the adopted children of God.