“For even 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
That is a shocking verse. We often times think about ourselves as servants of God, which we should. The New Testament certainly teaches that we’re servants of Christ, we’re servants of God. We follow Him. We worship Him, absolutely. In those senses we are servants of God. But the whole picture here in Mark 10:45 is actually the opposite. This is Jesus, God in the flesh, saying He came not to be served by us, but to serve us. He came as our servant. Note the word there is helper, slave almost. Now obviously we know Jesus is not our helper, slave in a sense that He does whatever we tell Him to do. I know that’s clearly not what this means. But it does mean very clearly that Jesus came to serve you. Just let that soak in.
Jesus came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Praise God that He is where our help comes from for all our days.
Mark 10:45 Reminds of the Ways Jesus Helps Us
Whatever’s going on in your life right now you have a servant named, Jesus. It doesn’t mean you can tell Him what to do, but He exists. He came for this purpose to help you. To help you to give His life as a ransom for you, and to serve you. To save you from your sin and to serve you in your life. Just let this soak in. Jesus is your servant, and my servant.
Oh, I don’t even know how to comprehend that, but I believe that. I’m gonna rest and I’m gonna live based on that today. I want to encourage you to live based on that today. I’m guessing you got all kinds of things in your life right now that you need help in, you need wisdom for, and you need peace in, you need strength for. I’m guessing everything in your life you need help in right now if you understand your life rightly. Jesus, God in the flesh, is saying, “I’m here to serve you.”
Mark 10:45 Leads Us to Pray for God’s Help
Let’s pray then. Isn’t that what prayer is about? It’s about saying, we need help and You’ve promised to give it. God we need help. We need help. I need help in my life in so many ways. I just need wisdom as a husband, as a dad, as a pastor. And I need wisdom. I need strength to feel tired. I need Your peace as I’m wrestling with these things over here. And I need Your grace in these different ways. I need Your power to overcome sin and temptation in my life. I need Your help in wrestling through this or that issue. And I need Your help in what to do in this situation, or that situation. God, I need You to serve me today, and I praise You for Your promise to serve me today.
This Verse Reminds Us of God’s Love for Us
I pray that everybody who’s listening to this right now who’s in Christ would just feel the wonder of this. It almost feels inappropriate to say, but Your word says it right here. Oh God, I pray that people who are listening to this right now would know that you are their servant. You love them. That You came, and are present right now to help them, to give them what they need, to enable them in every way, to provide for them peace, strength, hope, joy, love, wisdom, all these things we need, and so much more.
Oh God, I praise You for this reality. I pray that You would help me and everybody who’s listening to this to live in it, to live as recipients of Your service to us today, all throughout the day. In Jesus’ glorious name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
