26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew20:26-28
This text is Christ's Mission Statement:
"To serve and give my life as a Ransom."
All His life was prayer and love.
He gave Himself generously:
- Sacrificed the glory and perfection of heaven for the brokenness of earth.
- Put omnipotence in the background to embrace our frailty.
- Tasted poverty and simplicity, working for a living. (Can you imagine the Creator of Heaven and Earth, making furniture to put food on the table?)
- Once His public ministry began, He sacrificed privacy and "me time" for the sake of the needy masses. (Even the disciples disturbed His prayer times.)
- Healed others even though energy would leave Him when He did. (See the account of the woman who touched the hem of His garment.)
- Walked, Worked and Taught to the point that it left Him tired. (See Him sit down at the well in Samaria, "tired as He was.")
- See Him washing the feet of disciples who were arguing about who was greatest, and this after three years of being with Jesus!
- He wrestled with His destiny at the cross and accepted it, even the the enormity of it weighed very very heavily on Him. (Describing His state of mind to the disciples in Matt26:38 He says:"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death...")
- He endured the cross and all of hell for us
- Even after His intercession He continues to serve us, because the writer to the Hebrews reminds us that He makes intercession for us. (Heb7:25)
In His letter to the Philippians, Paul quotes what many scholars believe to be an early Christian hymn:
2:6 [Jesus] who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross!
If Jesus lived a life of service and He is God's Son, what excuse do we have not to serve?
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
