Mark 10:45

0:00 Save money by spending it. Deep down, you're really shallow. This is the beginning of the end. If I know one thing, it's that I know nothing. These are all examples of paradoxes. Statements that on the surface seem to be contradictory, but when you dig a little bit deeper, they're not.

0:34 I'm explaining this because I think that our verse today actually falls into this category. In fact, it might be one of the most extreme paradoxical realities that exists. And its effect on our lives as Christians should be massive. Our text today is Mark 10, 45. Mark 10, 45. As you're turning there, I'm just going to go ahead and read it. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

1:14 For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. And I think that the main idea of our verse today is this. The king served you unto death. Now serve in his kingdom. The king served you unto death. Now serve in his kingdom. Two points. Point one, the paradox. Point two, the payment.

1:48 So point one, we're actually going to look at the first part of this verse for our first point. And it comes at the end of a section where the disciples, James and John, have just asked Jesus if they can sit at his right hand and his left hand in his glory. These places of power, honor, authority. It upsets the other disciples, and Jesus seeing this says, if you want to be great, you must first be a servant to those around you. If you want to be first, you must become a slave to everyone else.

2:24 And then Jesus makes maybe the most extreme paradoxical statement that has ever been made. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. And maybe you're thinking, wow, that didn't sound too crazy, Jacob. Well, let's dive into that. Because I think the key to seeing why this statement is so mind-blowing is to go back to what Jesus is referring to in Daniel 7. So what is and who is this Son of Man?

2:57 Well, I think that actually many of us come to this verse in Mark 10, 45, and we just automatically substitute the name of Jesus here and we keep reading. But this title, this reference demands our attention, and it's very purposeful by Jesus to use it. Jesus didn't say, I came not to be served but to serve. No, he says, the Son of Man. And he's in that passage that he's referring to in Daniel 7, verses 13 and 14 in particular. Daniel sees in a vision an incredible picture.

3:31 He says, behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one, and focus on this, like a son of man. And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and pay close attention to this too, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. This son of man is a king that is like us, but unlike us. He comes with the clouds of heavens like only God does, But he's like us, a son of man.

4:19 And every kind of person that has existed will serve him. The Ancient of Days, God the Father with his throne of flames and thousand thousands serving him has declared that all will serve this son of man. All hail this king, this son of man. We will all fall to our knees and serve him. His kingdom is everlasting. Oh, I hope he lets us in. Now back to our text.

4:52 Jesus was referring to himself in this verse. He declared himself to be the son of man. And Jesus, the son of man, who will be king of this everlasting kingdom with a thousand times a thousand people given to him to serve him, that son of man came to serve. I think if you're the original audience of that text in Daniel, your only hope in life is that one day you'll get to serve this king.

5:24 In whatever fashion, maybe that's as a door holder in the kingdom or as a great picker, as long as you're so blessed to be let in. But we get to see from our text in Mark that the King, the Son of Man, is serving us. The Son of Man who serves. It's oxymoronic. It's a paradox. It doesn't make sense. Yet, church, this is Jesus.

5:56 And after telling the disciples that they must first be a servant, they must become a slave if they're to be great, Jesus says, and look to me as your reason why. I came not to be served, but to serve. And church, this son of man, Jesus, has served you. Picture this. Think of your boss at work. Imagine if you showed up to work tomorrow and your boss called you in and said, Hey you, my purpose today is to serve you.

6:33 I'm your servant. I'm going to do everything that you need to do today at work for you. Pretty cool, right? Now imagine the president of the United States shows up on your doorstep tomorrow morning, and he says, I have come here to serve you today. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. Trump is not the president, but I don't know how to do a Biden voice, so that was my best shot. I'm sorry, actually.

7:04 but the president says I'm here to serve you I will take care of whatever you want that's even cooler than your boss right now imagine that the son of God by whom everything in this universe exists the immortal holy gentle and lowly imagine he said through his word today that he came to serve you. How would you respond?

7:43 I think that's our question. Church, if the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, then service must be an inextricable part of who we are as Christians. And Jesus came with the purpose of serving. He didn't stumble into a situation where he was like, oh, I guess I'm I'm going to serve now. No, he knew that that's what he was going to do. And we should be the same exact way here at Third. It's so easy to fall into the trap of James and John to want to see ourselves exalted, seen, respected, served. Church, before you walk in on Sunday mornings, Pray that the Lord would help you to seek to serve and not to be served.

8:37 I fear that far too often we have this consumeristic mindset. And we hear those words and we go, oh yeah, we don't like being consumeristic Christians. But I think in our lives, oftentimes we elevate ourselves into some kind of position of importance and we want others to serve us. And I even think that affects us on Sunday mornings. Brothers, sisters, do you come to church hoping that others would fill your cup after a long, hard week?

9:12 That others would encourage you and invite you to lunch and ask if maybe you would want to go get coffee this week? I would challenge you and say that it sounds like you're seeking for others to serve you. And I promise that with that kind of mindset, you're going to be let down. Especially in a church as large as ours, where it can be so easy to disappear into the crowds.

9:44 To feel like you're just another number when others aren't seeking you out. My encouragement for you this evening from God's word is to look at your humble king who served you and let him fuel your heart to step into the church expecting not to be served, but to serve. You, encourage your brothers and sisters, fill up their cup, invite the odd person out to come to lunch with you, ask that guy or girl if they want to grab coffee this week, And do all of those things because the Son of Man has already served you.

10:26 That reality, I think, should cause us to ooze humility that leads to service of others. And I would argue even contentment when it's not reciprocated. I promise that that kind of service mindset will bless you and so many of your brothers and sisters. Now point two, the payment. Let's look at the second part of our verse. to give his life as a ransom for many. So far, we actually haven't spoken much about what exactly what Jesus has done that would be considered service. And I do think that there are an infinite amount of ways that Jesus has served us, but I think that this part of our verse helps us to take our wide understanding of the service of Jesus and focus in on the most crucial part of his service. He gave his life as a ransom for many. So let's define our terms. What does ransom mean? It's the purchase price to free a slave, to set someone free. And there are this many in this

11:31 verse whom have this ransom over their head. And the ransom price that was paid was the son of man's life. That's the logic of our verse here. Purposeful service, climaxing with a purposeful death that would free the many. And who are the many in this verse? The many whom Jesus gave his life for are all who repent of their sins and put their faith in Christ. You don't have to wonder who those people are. So if you're sitting out there right now and death is still the ransom price that is over your head, come to the Son of Man. Accept his payment for your sin. Repent of your sins and put your faith in him. Let the scales of unbelief fall from your eyes like we heard from acts this morning, or if not, be warned that the scales might become even harder.

12:34 I was in the Air Force Reserves for six years, and by far the most respected guys in all the Air Force are the PJs, the pararescue men. They're part of special operations, and they have the highest rate of failure in their training of the entire Air Force. I believe it's something like Less than 10% of people who go through the training actually make it through. You can fail at any point in the training, and the training is years long. But the job, it specializes in search and rescue.

13:05 It's an elite force, and they have a motto, a purpose statement, that still gives me chills. The motto is, these things we do that others may live. So if you go into one of their buildings, most likely you're going to see a big painting of that on the wall. These things we do that others may live. It's what drives them. Could you imagine being saved by one of these guys? After being shot in the middle of a battle in Mosul, Iraq, you're bleeding out by yourself in this building.

13:43 You hear the gunshots of the enemy getting closer and closer and closer. And you know that your end is near. And as you give up all hope, all of a sudden, boom! The door gets kicked open and you see a friendly uniform. And it's a PJ. The PJ sees you, grabs you, throws you on his back, runs back to the helicopter, gives you life-saving treatment, takes you back to the base. And he's just saved your life. Imagine being able to look into the eyes of that guy who saved you many years later and shake his hand.

14:24 What do you think you would feel? Now imagine what it's going to be like one day to stand before Jesus, the Son of God who came and gave his life for your sin that you might live for eternity with him. Your life, my life, was bleeding out from our sin, and the ransom for our lives was death. And Jesus treated his blood for ours when he sacrificially served us in his death on the cross.

15:03 It's the kind of service that the PJs can only give a glimpse into. We who were once slaves to our sin have had our ransom paid in full. And now we are free to become slaves to others. Church, what an honor it is to be served by King Jesus, the Son of Man. To be brought into his kingdom by what he's done for us. Now let's serve in his kingdom and remember his service to us in his death as we participate in the Lord's Supper together tonight.

15:43 Let's pray. Father God, we are humbled by the selfless service of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, who gave his life for us that we may live. May that cause us to be faithful servants to you and to others. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.