Mark 10:43-45

[Jesus said:] “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I find this one of the most embarrassing passages in the whole Bible. James and John were in what is often referred to as the inner circle of disciples. They had even been with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. However, it was them who came to make this foolish request. They had worked out that Jesus had huge authority, so they asked him to provide them with the very best seats when he launched his kingdom (Mark 10:37). They thought they would get in there first and bag the seats on his right and his left. Jesus gently responded that they didn’t know what they were asking and then slowly and carefully explained that the kingdom of God was not about power, influence and the best seats but about powerlessness, service and taking the worst seats. Indeed, Jesus himself came as the ultimate servant and had no authority to hand out special seats in heaven (Mark 10:40).

We can all easily understand where the disciples were coming from. Everybody likes to be served, but Jesus wants to turn our thinking upside down and show us that service is the way to perfect freedom. This will involve us in a continual process of challenging our natural self-centredness. Mother Teresa expressed this well when she wrote: “Love is a one-way street. It always moves away from self in the direction of the other. Love is the ultimate gift of ourselves to others. When we stop giving we stop loving, when we stop loving we stop growing, and unless we grow we will never attain personal fulfilment; we will never open out to receive the life of God. It is through love we encounter God.”

Our society will always tell us that what we really want is to be served and to be given the best seats, but Jesus loves us so much that he offers us a better way: a life of service.

Question

Why is being a servant so important and so blessed?

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, you have shown us what it means to be a servant. Help me to be willing to pour out my life for you in loving service. Amen