Considering Mark 10:45

This is our congregation’s verse of the month for memorization and meditation.

⁴⁵ 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

The context of this verse was the sons of Thunder rumbling with a request to the the best seats when Jesus sits on the throne to judge the tribes of Israel (see the parallel passage of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:28). The disciples seem to think that when Jesus gets to Jerusalem the work of judgment will begin. They couldn’t be much farther from the truth as it turns out. Jesus returns to the work of Messiah in His earthly ministry.

The greatest in the kingdom is the one who serves according to Jesus (vv. 43-44). It is the one who puts aside his/her will for the will of God and the interests of others (Phil. 2:4). The disciples might think that the Son of Man is exempt from this.

“Even the Son of Man” is how Jesus begins this statement. The Son of Man, Himself, was not exempt from this but will actually be the greatest example of service. Jesus serves His people. Even Jesus.

Caesar wouldn’t think of serving his people. They existed to serve him. He had any number of servants to clothe him, feed him, clean the palace, fight in his armies, provide resources for the empire and on and on. Caesar wouldn’t wait on tables as the word to serve indicates. He wouldn’t be a slave to all.

Jesus, on the other hand, don’t equate greatness or dignity with being served. The Son of Man came to serve, not be served.

The form His service takes is paying a ransom.

He didn’t pay that ransom with gold or silver. He’d pay that ransom with His life; His blood (1 Peter 1:18-19). He service was His death, or should I say culminated in His death. He served in many ways before that: teaching, healing, casting out demons, providing food, saving people from storms.

Paul follows this line of thought in Philippians 2 as well. He became as a slave and was obedient even to death, death on a cross.

No one forced this out of Him; He gave it.

Ransom: the price paid for the release of a slave, prisoner or debtor.

We were slaves to sin, prisoners on death row because our life was forfeit, and have an incalculable debt. Jesus paid it. There are no more sacrifices left for sin. Faith embrace Christ and His sacrifice as paying our debt in full. It rests in that payment instead of trying to add more.

WSC Question 86: What is faith in Jesus Christ?
Answer: Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.

WSC Question 87: What is repentance unto life?
Answer: Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.

This ransom doesn’t feel necessary or important unless you feel a sense of your slavery, debt or recognize you are on death row. This is not something we can conjure up. It is something the Spirit works in us when we hear the law which can only be alleviated by the Gospel. People generally fight a sense of guilt. We don’t want to feel guilty. If we do we try to talk ourselves out of it. We can be fighting the work of the Spirit intending to draw us to Christ. Submit to the work of the Spirit revealing your never-ending need for Christ as you read the Word and your sin is exposed.

“… a ransom for many.” Many stumble over this. It is a text that figures into the debate over the intent and extent of the atonement: for whom did Jesus die? In rabbinic usage it refers to the elect of God, His eschatological people. This would be consistent with what we find in John as Jesus lays down His life for His sheep (10), those who were given to Him. There are particular people in view, a definite intent.