For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Up to the very night My Son was betrayed by Judas, indeed at the Passover meal itself, the disciples were arguing among themselves about who was the greatest of them. This may sound strange when they had been with Jesus and watched His humility, love, and self-sacrificing life—even washing their feet at the Passover meal. He had even told them that the greatest one among them was the one who served the rest and when they had asked who was of the greatest importance in the Kingdom of Heaven, He presented a little child to them and told them that unless they humbled themselves like little children they could not even enter the Kingdom.
But they were seeking greatness and importance, that is, their own glory, while Jesus was not seeking His own glory but Mine. He wanted to show My goodness and My love to all the world and give everyone who would receive it the gift of righteousness and the abundance of grace. I so loved the world I gave you Jesus to give you eternal life so you would never perish and He so loved you that He wanted to give you everything He had, and in Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He did not come to judge you but to save you and share His glory with you. He emptied Himself so you could become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9.
The more He humbled Himself, the higher I exalted Him. Learn a lesson from that.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:3-10.
Greatness eludes you as you run after it for yourself, but it lifts you up and promotes you when you seek to serve in love both Me and your fellow man.
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:5-7.
But let Me tell you what true humility is, it is being totally secure in who you are and not having to prove how great and amazing you are to anyone. And that true security in your identity only comes from knowing who you are in Me. It flows from knowing how much I love and value you. It comes from knowing that all I have is yours and you are Mine and that I will never leave you or forsake you. It comes from knowing that I am well pleased in you just because you are the you I made you to be.
But it also comes from knowing that you are not your own source nor do you have to be. And that is the greatness of a little child. He knows he cannot make it on his own or supply his own needs but he is very happy and secure getting everything from his parents. He abides in their love and care. He is not insecure about who he is or who is going to supply for him. He does not worry.
I am your good Father who loves you beyond love. In providing for you, I sent My Son to take your sins, ills, and pains and die for you so that divine justice fell on Him and you are free. You are in My hand. I want you to understand the greatness of this protection and provision. You are secure in My hand. There is no snatching out of My hand.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30.
People who act proudly or who run after fame and worldly glory are insecure and have no idea who they are. They are trying to prove who they are. And they are looking to the praise of men to find out who they are. They view themselves as their own source and base their opinion of themselves and their security on the prestige they acquire among men.
Jesus did not have to prove who He was to anyone. He knew who He was and He knew Me. I called Him “My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” And He told the Pharisees I was always with Him because He always did what pleased Me.
Even on the Cross when they mocked Him and taunted Him to come down and prove He was My Son, He did not even budge. He knew He was My Son and He knew why He was on that Cross and He was not going to allow you to lose your salvation by taunting Him to come down. He knew His mission. And to be secure you must know yours too and stay walking in it. But above all you must know how valuable you are to Me and you see this in the ransom.
Do not fear, I have ransomed you.
And the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away. Isaiah 35:10.
And today’s conversation occurs, of all times, right after Jesus told of how He was about to pay the ransom to Me for every soul, how I would redeem them with His blood from My divine justice.
They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.” Mark 10:32-34.
Now comes the conversation which is about the disciples again seeking the place of authority above the other disciples, and of all the ones to be doing it, it was the disciple who called Himself the one Jesus loved and his brother James, and their mother came to make the request with them.
Yes, this conversation occurs right after Jesus had again revealed to the disciples that He would face crucifixion and death but would rise on the third day. And James and John wanted to be ready to rise up and sit on the throne with Him. And the good news I have granted that request for every believer. When He died to sin, you died to sin in Him, and when I raise Him up free from sin, I raised you up in the spirit with Him and seated you with Him at My right hand. You can be secure in that.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:4-9.
The mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, His disciples, James and John. She bowed down to make her request as James and John came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” The were counting on His teaching to ask and you shall receive. And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And seeing their mother bowing down to also make a request of Him, He included her in the conversation, He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.” And James and John were in agreement. They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.”
James, John, and their mother are all showing faith, they believed Jesus was a King with a Kingdom and that there were seats of honor and that He would be willing and able to order for them to have these high positions of honor.
But Jesus took this as a teaching opportunity and said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” He had just told them what was awaiting Him a short time earlier and it was death and resurrection.
They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
Actually every born again believer is seated with Jesus Himself in Heaven even now in your resurrected, born again spirit, but physically you are still in your body upon the earth for completing your assignment as a member of the Body of Christ, the Church.
Hearing what James and John had been seeking, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. There were all still competing for the seats of honor.
Calling all of them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:35-45.
He gave His life to buy you out of slavery to sin and death and set you free to the glorious freedom of My children. I have found a ransom.
Then let Him be gracious to him, and say, ‘Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom’; Job 33:24
For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6.
In Hebrew, the word for “ransom” is “kopher (ֹּפֶר),” and it means the price of a life, ransom. The name of the Mercy Seat (propitiatory) in Hebrew is “Kapporeth (כַּפֹּרֶת),” which is from the same word as kopher. And on the Mercy Seat they would sprinkle the blood of the burnt offering and sin offering seven times to atone for the sins of the nation.
In Greek, the word is lutron (λύτρον): which means a ransom. It is from luó (λύω): which means to loose, to release, to dissolve loose, untie, release, break, destroy, set at naught, contravene, annul. It is what I tell you Jesus was sent to do, i.e., to undo (luo) the works of the devil.
The followers of Jesus called themselves His servants but actually He served them to make them able to do the excellent work of good servants. It is by grace that you have gifts and abilities and grace and truth come through and were purchased for you by Jesus. Everything you have that is good is through Him. And that is the One who serves you. For you know the grace of your Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you, through His poverty, might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9.
You will eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom. Blessed is the servant at work about his Master’s affairs, I will seat him at table and wait on him. Jesus came to serve not to be served, to give His life for you as a ransom. He paid the ransom for all. Not due to your works, a person that is taken captive cannot pay his own ransom.
“No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him—for the redemption of his soul is costly, and he should cease trying forever—that he should live on eternally, that he should not undergo decay.” Psalm 49:7-9.
You could not pay it, so I did, but not with perishable things like gold and silver, but with the eternal, imperishable sacrifice of My Son, by His eternal blood of the new and everlasting Covenant. I have found a ransom.
“Then let Him be gracious to him, and say, ‘Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom’; Let his flesh become fresher than in youth, let him return to the days of his youthful vigor; then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, that he may see His face with joy, and He may restore His righteousness to man. He will sing to men and say, ‘I have sinned and perverted what is right, and it is not proper for me. He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, and my life shall see the light.’ Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.” Job 33:24-30.
The ransom price lifts you up. Your kinsman redeemer has paid and bought you out of the slavery of sin and death to sit with Him, to be His body, to be the Church, His bride. You are now a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart. You are Mine and I am yours. I have ransomed you at a great price. An eternal life for the eternal life you lost, and the life is in the blood. I gave My Son for you. Do not fear. I am on your side, no matter what you have done, it is time for you to shake off Satan’s chains and declare that you have been ransomed.
I love you. It is time we celebrate the new and glorious you.