[0:00] As we look forward to hearing the Word of God preached, the powerful Word of God, let's take it again and read from Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10, verses 32 through to verse 45.
[0:21] This is the precious Word of God. Amen. They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid.
[0:36] Again he took the twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. We are going up to Jerusalem, he said, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law.
[0:48] They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.
[1:01] Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. Teacher, they said, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. What do you want me to do for you? he asked.
[1:12] They replied, let one of us sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory. You don't know what you are asking, Jesus said. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?
[1:26] We can, they answered him. Jesus said to them, you will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant.
[1:40] These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared. When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, you know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.
[1:58] Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
[2:16] Amen. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was born into this world to die the death that sinners deserve.
[2:30] Thirty-three years later, the time was now drawing near. The Passover feast was approaching, and so Jesus, the Lamb of God, is making his way to Jerusalem for the ultimate sacrifice at Calvary.
[2:49] And there he would suffer God's righteous wrath, that it might pass over all who take refuge in him. This was the climactic event for which he came into this world.
[3:03] It was all leading to this, the cross waiting for him at Jerusalem. Now, we're blessed to have eyewitnesses' accounts of Jesus' determined march to the cross, and that's what we're looking at this morning.
[3:19] So keep your eyes on our Savior and learn from him who is gentle and humble in heart. Four points this morning.
[3:29] The first is this. Jesus' repeated prediction of his own suffering and death and resurrection. His repeated prediction, verses 32 to 34.
[3:42] He says, Mark says, They were on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished while those who followed were afraid.
[3:56] Now, our Lord knows exactly what is waiting for him there in Jerusalem. The horror, the shame of it all.
[4:08] And yet, here he is out front, the captain of our salvation, leading the way. And his twelve disciples following him, astonished, afraid.
[4:22] What was it about Jesus that they saw that caused this fear and astonishment? Well, they must have seen something in his face, his demeanor, his walk, that both amazed them and scared them.
[4:37] They knew that the Jews in Jerusalem were plotting to kill him. We see that in other scriptures. And yet, here he is out front, marching with a look on his face of unmovable determination.
[4:54] Not drawing back, but rather pressing forward, leaning into it. Now, Luke tells us at this juncture in 951, as the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
[5:12] The ESV says he set his face toward Jerusalem. His jaw was set, fixed, locked in on his target.
[5:23] Or another translation, he hardened his face, like hardened concrete, that will not move. And it's all reminiscent of Isaiah chapter 50 and verse 7, where the suffering servant of the Lord is heard to be saying this, I have set my face like flint.
[5:43] Now kids, flint is a very hard rock. You remember, the Indians made their arrowheads out of flint. And Jesus says, I have set my face like flint.
[5:54] He's not going to be moved from his target, but is flying straight toward it. What is Jesus telling us by this?
[6:05] Well, he's telling us, surely, that the horrors of the crucifixion did not catch him unawares and by surprise. That he went knowingly, he went willingly, deliberately to the cross for us.
[6:25] Now we know what was on his mind as he walked along in front of them. We know because he breaks his silence and tells us. Verse 32 continues, again, and that's an important word, again, he took the 12 aside and he told them what was going to happen to him.
[6:45] This is what he was thinking about as he's determinedly setting his face to Jerusalem. We are going up to Jerusalem, he tells them, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law.
[6:58] That's the high court of the Sanhedrin. And they will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him.
[7:11] Three days later, he will rise. Again, this is not the first time Jesus has told him about what's going to happen in Jerusalem.
[7:25] And so again, he takes them aside to tell them. And this time, there's a few new details. There's the first mention about the Gentiles being involved.
[7:36] That the court will sit and condemn him and hand him over to the Gentiles. That means it's a death sentence and the Jews had no power to carry that out.
[7:46] And so they must hand him over to the Gentiles to kill him. And that tells us the kind of death that he will suffer for the capital punishment of the Gentile Romans was crucifixion.
[7:59] And it always was attended by scourging, flogging beforehand. The shame of having his own people hand him over to the Romans.
[8:14] To their flogging, their crucifixion, their death of shame and anguish. And some of this shame and humiliation is spelled out for us here for the first time.
[8:30] Mocking. Oh, how they mocked him. And spitting. That's the greatest insult that you could ever suffer. Worldwide. I remember talking to a policeman who was trying to catch a criminal and they were trying to get him into control.
[8:45] They finally subdued him and had his hands behind him in handcuffs and there was nothing more he could do except spit in their face, which he did.
[8:58] And Jesus says, that's what they'll do to me. This is what I came to do. He's telling them ahead of time that they not be surprised by it when it happens or think that he's surprised by it.
[9:12] And once again, he ends up reminding them three days later, he will rise. He will rise. That they might know that all that ends well is well.
[9:25] Now the first time he told them about his suffering and death in Jerusalem, back in chapter 8, 31 to 33, you remember what happened. Peter took him aside and rebuked him, saying, this will never happen to you.
[9:38] The second time when he told them, they discussed among themselves what he meant by rising from the dead. What must that mean? The third time, they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
[9:55] And this fourth time, Mark does not give us a summary of their response, but rather shows us their response. Although Luke, at this point, does tell us in chapter 18, 34 that the disciples did not understand any of this.
[10:13] They did not know what he was talking about. Learn from this the power of preconceived ideas, the power of faulty ideas in our minds that we come to the scriptures with and that keep us from a right understanding of the truth.
[10:39] These faulty ideas can blind us to the truth. kids, what does it mean when Jesus says three days later I will rise again? Well, you know.
[10:51] You've learned it in Sunday school. You've learned it at home. Jesus is going to die, buried, come back to life three days later. Exactly. These are grown men.
[11:03] They don't have a clue what Jesus means by dying and rising again. Why not? Because they, though they knew that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, they had no idea what Messiah's mission was.
[11:20] Because as they viewed the Old Testament prophecies, all they settled on were the glorious things that were said about Messiah. It's like the Old Testament prophets in their prophecies.
[11:33] You could put them all into two baskets about Messiah. There were his sufferings and then there were his glory passages. And they're both there. Read Psalm 22 and you'd think that someone was at Calvary reporting on the sufferings of Messiah.
[11:49] It was there a thousand years before Jesus was crucified. Prophesied in the suffering basket. Isaiah 53, crushed for our iniquity in the suffering basket.
[12:03] Oh, but there were many, many more glory passages about what Messiah will do when he comes. And the disciples had locked into those verses.
[12:13] Why? Because nobody likes suffering. And so they had cherry-picked passages. And this is the danger when instead of reading the whole counsel of God and taking it all in, all that God has said to us, we start cherry-picking.
[12:30] Oh, I like this. I like these sections. I don't like that, so I'll just read over that or pass. Ah, this is a good verse, and we read a verse here and a verse there. That's what they did with the Old Testament scriptures.
[12:43] And so they had no place in their theology of Messiah as a suffering Messiah. No concept that his great and most glorious victory would be won on a Roman cross bleeding and dying as a criminal.
[13:05] So beware of the presuppositions that you bring to the Bible. Oh, just come and say, Jesus, you teach me. You teach me. Left to myself, I'll go astray.
[13:18] Well, that's the first point. Jesus, you remember, said to his disciples on the road to Emmaus on the day that he was resurrected, how foolish and slow of heart you are to believe all that the prophets have written about me.
[13:34] Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter into his glory? Yes. So we see Jesus march up to Jerusalem deliberately and his prediction to his disciples again of what's going to happen to him there.
[13:54] Secondly, we see the response of James and John. Don't think what you believe doesn't affect how you live. These fellas, they've got their theology of Messiah all wrong.
[14:07] Now notice the effects of that theology, that erroneous theology. The response of James and John to Jesus' prediction about his suffering and death. Verses 35 to 40.
[14:18] Then, that's the connecting word. We just heard Jesus talk of his suffering and death and resurrection. Then, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, these brothers, came to him.
[14:30] Teacher, they said, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. Kids, do you ever do that with your parents?
[14:42] Will you do a favor for me? Will you do, can I do something? If they're wise, they won't say yes until they've said it depends on what you want. Right? That's what Jesus is teaching.
[14:52] Never promise to do something for someone until you know what it is that they want done. Or you might commit yourself to something you will later regret. And here our Savior in perfect wisdom says, well, what do you want me to do for you?
[15:08] He asked. Tell me that first and then I'll give you my answer. Well, they replied, verse 37, let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.
[15:20] Well, the stark contrast could not be greater, could it? Here's Jesus talking about humiliating himself to such mockery, suffering, and death.
[15:31] And all these two brothers can think about is the honor and glory of having the two top seats in the kingdom of Jesus. they're seeking their own glory while Christ is seeking the glory of others through his own suffering and death.
[15:50] They're expecting the glorious age of Messiah's kingdom to appear in Jerusalem. Indeed, that's what Luke tells us in chapter 19, verse 11. As Jesus soon comes near Jerusalem, he'll have to correct the people.
[16:03] Why? Luke says, because the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear all at once. This glorious kingdom promised that David would have a son to sit upon the throne of David in Jerusalem.
[16:18] It's going to happen. Jesus is that king. And they're all expecting glory days. You see, they're digging out of this side of the basket. The glorious things promised for the coming Davidic Messiah.
[16:32] And evidently, the disciples had bit that same idea as well. That if we're going to Jerusalem and Jesus is the king, Messiah, we're going to see glory, brothers.
[16:47] And could we have the two top seats? Jesus. Well, their response to Jesus' message of his suffering and death is that they want to secure glory for themselves.
[17:03] They're seeking to be first even though Jesus has just said in the previous passage that the last will be first and the first will be last. the doctrine you believe does affect how you live both for good and for ill.
[17:18] For good if it's truth. For ill if it's error. And we see how far astray their wrong views of Messiah have led them. Jesus says in verse 38, you don't know what you're asking.
[17:31] here you are seeking glory for yourself but suffering is the way to glory. The cross is the way to the crown.
[17:43] And that's true for both me and my followers. There is a cross to take up if you're following me. Are you prepared for that?
[17:55] Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with? Jesus asked. Now, the cup in scripture refers to suffering. Intense suffering.
[18:07] Indeed, Jesus says in Gethsemane, oh that this cup might pass from me Father. So it's an often symbol of suffering in the Old Testament too.
[18:18] Baptism also was a symbolic way of expressing an overwhelming ordeal of suffering. It's like waves crashing over us.
[18:29] And so we still speak, don't we, of a baptism by fire. We're not talking about some physical baptism. We're talking about some overwhelming situation. And that's how Jesus is using it.
[18:43] You want to be on my right and my left in the glory. Can you partake of my cup and baptism of suffering? And their answer says it all. We can.
[18:54] We can. Is that reminiscent of anything? Does it remind you of anyone in particular? Maybe Peter? Peter? On the night of Jesus' betrayal when they're in the upper room and Jesus says, you will all fall away because of me tonight.
[19:11] Peter said, even if all fall away, even if the rest of these eleven fall away, I will not. Jesus says, yes, you, Peter, tonight, before the rooster crows, you yourself will disown me three times.
[19:24] Peter insisted emphatically, even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. I can.
[19:35] I can be true to you. And all the others said the same. They all said we can be true to you.
[19:47] And here's James and John saying we can. We can handle any amount of suffering that comes to us in the way of following you, Jesus. Jesus. And let's be sure we understand.
[19:58] They were earnest. They really meant it with all their hearts. But they didn't have a clue about the power of temptation or the weakness of their own resolve and strength.
[20:12] Like Peter, they were overconfident in their own resolve, in their own strength. And so, they must learn the hard way. Brothers and sisters, if the Lord Jesus left us for a week, we would make a mess of things by Saturday.
[20:33] Lord, we can. And we must learn that we can. What did Jesus say in John 15, 5? Apart from me, you can do what?
[20:45] Nothing. Nothing good. Nothing but sin. Nothing but fail. Well, then let us cry, hold me that I do not fail.
[20:57] A better response to Jesus' question would be to the question, can you drink of my cup of suffering in overwhelming baptism? We can, but only if you hold us up.
[21:09] Or to say with Paul, I can do all things that you call me to do if you give me strength. You see, my trust is in you, not in myself. That wasn't the way it was.
[21:19] They just say, we can. And so Jesus said to them in verse 39, you will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with. Not speaking of the unique cup of God's wrath that he had to drink, but the cup in the sense of suffering.
[21:34] You will drink of the cup of suffering and the overwhelming ordeal of suffering, of baptism, because of being my disciple.
[21:45] that you will drink. So James, one of the brothers, becomes the first martyr. The first of the apostles to be martyred, I should say.
[22:00] After Stephen, he's the first apostle to be killed. Acts chapter 12, Herod takes his head off and to please the Jews. And John is exiled in his older age to the barren idol, our island of Patmos for the testimony of Jesus.
[22:18] You will drink of my cup of suffering for being my disciples, but to sit at my right or left, that's not for me to grant.
[22:30] Those places belong to those for whom they have been prepared, even from the foundation of the world. Matthew has, prepared by my father. That's his prerogative to give those seats to whom he has prepared them for.
[22:46] But he's inferring to them they're not for those who are out to seek glory for themselves. So that's James and John's response to Jesus' prediction about suffering and death.
[22:58] Can we have the seats of highest honor? Well, what's the response of the other ten? Well, we're not left to guess. Evidently, somebody snitched to the others saying, have you heard what James and John did?
[23:14] Verse 41 says, when the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Not for right reasons, but because they were wanting the highest positions for themselves and were mad that James and John should sneak in on the side and try to get them for themselves.
[23:33] How dare they? We've got as much claim to those seats of honor as they do. So the ten were just as consumed with selfish ambition and vain conceit as James and John.
[23:50] Now, this is not just guesswork. This is not just presuming the worst about them. This is what we read in the Gospels. This was the perennial argument among the twelve that never got satisfied.
[24:03] Never got settled who was the greatest among them. And it often came up in the context of Jesus talking about something like suffering that they immediately shift into the glory.
[24:21] Who's the best? Who's the greatest? Who gets the top seats? Strange, isn't it? Jesus called them out on this before. Chapter 9, 33 and 34.
[24:32] After he told them the third time about his suffering and death and resurrection. When they had come into the house, Jesus asked them, what were you arguing about in the road?
[24:45] But they kept quiet because on their way they had argued about who was the greatest. And Jesus called them together at that point and said, if anybody wants to be first, he must be the very last and the servant of all.
[25:02] And that argument is going to break out in a few weeks and months in Jerusalem, in the upper room, the night of Jesus' betrayal. Where Jesus says, one of you will betray me.
[25:17] And they began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. Who's such a low-down dog is to betray our master? But also, a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be considered the greatest.
[25:33] Isn't it something how swiftly they moved from who's the worst to who's the greatest? Well, that won't be me. I'm too great to ever betray him.
[25:45] I'm one of the greatest here. And they're arguing about greatness again. No wonder no one was found to wash feet that evening at the door when the water was there, the basin, the towel, but no one humble enough to serve except the Lord of glory who after washing their feet would on the morrow wash their eternal souls from their sins in his own precious blood.
[26:19] Here they are again all jockeying for the highest honors and recognition as the greatest, like cats and dogs going at it yet again, like little kids ever provoking and arguing with each other.
[26:32] These are the raw materials Jesus had to work with. These 12. It would be James, a different James, the brother of Jesus who will write in chapter 3, if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny it.
[26:51] Such wisdom does not come down from heaven but is earthly, sensual, devilish, devilish. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder in every evil practice, causing fights and arguments and splits and we find it here in the 12 over and over.
[27:16] Can you imagine the loneliness of the man Jesus of Nazareth at this point? He's making his way to the cross. These are the men he has spent three years with now, training them, teaching them, modeling for them and they haven't got to first base about the most important truth of all, the cross of Jesus Christ that we sang about.
[27:42] They don't have a clue about Jesus suffering and death though he's been teaching over and over. Nor do they have the first inkling, it seems like, of the most basic Christ-like virtues of a humble selflessness and loving service to others.
[28:05] And these are the men he's just a couple months away from entrusting with his gospel and his gospel mission. These are his chosen church planners through which he will build a universal church that no man can number.
[28:20] And they're still fighting among themselves over who is the greatest. They're still glory seeking for themselves while Jesus is heading to the greatest self-humility, self-humbling at Gethsemane and at Golgotha.
[28:36] Now this is poison in the well. It will destroy a marriage. It will destroy a friendship. It will destroy a church.
[28:47] Jesus sees it as destruction of the mission if left unchecked. It's huge to Jesus so he calls a time out. Halt the trip to Jerusalem.
[29:01] It's time to gather around again. Another school school is in session. And once more Jesus covers much of the same ground that he did the chapter before.
[29:14] Some of the very same things he will have to say again in the upper room. Oh the patience of Jesus with the twelve to repeat the same lessons over and over and over again.
[29:31] Again. Mothers and fathers do you ever get tired of going over the same ground with your children? I've been to the woodshed with them three times and it's not even noon.
[29:49] What's the use? They're just not going to get it. They're just not going to learn. They'll never change. It's not working. Don't give up. Don't give up.
[30:00] Another lesson is needed. Stick with God's program and know this you have a friend in Jesus who knows what it is to teach recalcitrant students who are slow to learn.
[30:14] He's been there with the twelve with their stubborn sinfulness and slowness to believe what he is saying to them. And oh he's been there with us too hasn't he?
[30:26] Or did you always get it the first time with our Lord? Has your life always got in sync with his teaching on the first lesson?
[30:39] Or has he not had to come back to us over and over and over again? well are your children slow to learn?
[31:02] Then you must learn the lesson to be slow to anger. How are you doing on your lesson parents? You see there's lessons for all of us over and over. So parents this is all part of the long program of change.
[31:16] Don't lose heart and give up. Watch Jesus with the twelve. Be patient to teach the same lessons over and over again. Here we are the fourth time about his suffering and death in Jerusalem.
[31:27] Here we are the second time about what true greatness is in the kingdom of God. So different from the world's view of greatness. Repeating the same lesson. So verse 42 Jesus called them together and said you know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them.
[31:49] Now be sure to know that Jesus is not against positions of authority. As God himself he's the one that established positions of authority. Of the family, the church, and civil government.
[32:01] He's the one that taught it and upheld it. Give to Caesar what is Caesar's. No that's not what he's against. What he's against is a leadership style of the way the world leaders lord it over their people.
[32:14] That's what he's against. They play the tyrant with their harsh use of authority sitting around barking orders to everyone as if they all exist just to please him using their leadership position to serve their own interests rather than the interests of others.
[32:32] That's authority gone bad, gone to seed and Jesus says not so among you. That's the world's view of greatness. But not so among you, verse 43.
[32:43] Instead whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. And whoever wants to be first must be slave, doulos, slave of all.
[32:58] Then your view of leadership is far too worldly. In my kingdom the way up is down. It's how low you can stoop to serve another.
[33:09] That's servant leadership. Servants and slaves don't serve their own interests. They don't show up at the beginning of the day and say, well, no, I'm going to do this and this. No, they're there to serve the interest of another.
[33:23] And that's what you are to do if you want to be great in my kingdom, is to show up as a servant and a slave to another, to each other, willingly humbling yourself and putting others first above you.
[33:38] J.C. Ryle says, this self-seeking pride is deeply rooted in our hearts. How many Christians have you known who felt irritated and annoyed when a brother or sister has been more honored than themselves?
[33:56] Blessed is that man who can sincerely rejoice when others are exalted, though he himself is overlooked and passed by. So J.C. Ryle. That was a problem that day among the twelve.
[34:10] Playing second fiddle well, that's a rare gift, a rare gift indeed. Paul says in Philippians 2, 3, and 4, do nothing out of selfish ambition and vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
[34:28] Each of you should not look to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. So greatness in God's kingdom is not what seats of honor you have and how many people are under you to serve you, rather it's how low you are stooping to serve others around you.
[34:48] That's the old lesson repeated. But there is something new in Jesus' teaching here, and it's the last verse, verse 45, and this is our last point, point number four, the greatest example of all, what greatness in the kingdom is of this stooping to serve.
[35:06] Notice it in verse 45, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. This verse is worth a whole sermon on its own, but let's look at it in the division of two points.
[35:23] First of all, let's notice who came to serve us, and secondly, how he served us. First, who came to service. So before you say, I ain't no slave, let's listen to what Jesus says about himself.
[35:40] For even, that's an important word, even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. This is the Son of Man revealed in Daniel chapter 7, 13, and 14, that describes the Son of Man who is so exalted that he comes before the Ancient of Days, his heavenly Father, and the Ancient of Days gives to the Son of Man authority and glory and sovereign power with an everlasting kingdom that will not pass away, so that all peoples and nations and men of every language might serve him.
[36:18] That's the Son of Man. This is the one who's been given eternal glory and power, glory and honor, and the people who will not pass to the people who will not pass into the world.
[36:34] Yet, even he did not come into the world to be served, but to serve.
[36:46] The even receives the emphasis. Here's something to be amazed about, that this one who is the highest in glory and honor and power, stooped to the lowest place.
[37:05] He's God, high and lifted up, but he stoops low to serve rebel God hating sinners like you and me. The Lord of glory willingly takes the position of servant slave.
[37:18] And so, if even the Son of Man, the highest position of all stoops to serve, well, you see, there's the example, man, for you to follow.
[37:31] As he gets back toward the front and they follow, follow that example, the greatest example of all. So, that's who came to serve us. That's amazing.
[37:42] And just as breathtaking is how he served us. And that's what he goes on to say. He says he served us by giving his life as a ransom for many.
[37:55] So, he who is Lord of all, deserving the service of all, doesn't lord it over his people like the rulers of this world. But he stoops to serve great sinners at great sacrifice to himself.
[38:12] The Son of Man came to serve and to give his life. as a ransom for many. That word, give. He gave all that he had to give.
[38:23] The person cannot give any more than his life. And this he gave in service to us. Now, this giving shows, again, that he's doing it willingly.
[38:36] He's not doing it with reluctance. It's not against his will. No one took his life from him. He laid it down willingly. How different is Jesus' self-sacrifice, self-giving, than James and John's self-serving and self-seeking.
[38:57] And then notice that he gave his life as a ransom. Every word is full of meaning. He gave his life. He gave his life as a ransom. You see what Jesus is doing?
[39:09] He's throwing more light upon this horrendous death that's awaiting him in Jerusalem. He's told them now some four times about it. And he's wanting them to understand this is not just going to be some martyr's death, like any other martyr that's died for a good cause.
[39:24] No. This is going to be an atoning death. I'm going to die as a ransom. A ransom. To ransom sinners who could not ransom themselves.
[39:39] Now, we're most familiar with a ransom that's demanded by kidnappers, aren't we? We still hear maybe the mob in Haiti or whatever, kidnapping someone and then demanding from the family or the government an enormous amount of money.
[39:54] If you want to see your loved one again, you must cough up the chain. That's the ransom price. Well, this is us. Now, in the Bible times, it had to do with slaves who could be ransomed by someone paying a price for their freedom.
[40:11] Or someone paying the price for a criminal to serve his punishment, to pay a ransom instead, to let them go free.
[40:23] But get the picture. We are in bondage to sin and guilt and the punishment of hell, and we don't have the first thing to pay off that debt.
[40:38] sin. You see, people think sin is just a little mistake. Remember who sin is against. We sang about it and heard it this morning in our worship. We've sinned against an infinite God, and that's what makes sin big.
[40:54] Whether it was a little lie you told, or you committed adultery. It's big because you've sinned against an infinite God. Your sin is infinite, and it carries an infinite debt that must be paid, but you don't have the way to pay it.
[41:13] You could go to hell and suffer forever and never be able to pay off that debt. That's why the punishment is infinite, because the guilt is infinite that was sinned against an infinite God.
[41:27] So there we are with our infinite debt, with no way to ransom ourselves, and would have nothing but hell forever to look forward to, unless a ransom could be found.
[41:41] And that's what Jesus is trying to teach his men, and you and me this morning, that a ransom has been found. He is the infinite God become man, and he as infinite God is going to the cross to pay this infinite debt that we owe.
[42:01] He gives his life as a ransom. to set us free by the pain of a debt. So hell came to Calvary that day as Jesus paid the debt by suffering it himself, and it has freed his people from their sin debt, their guilt, their hell.
[42:25] And then notice the last two words. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Now that little word for in the Greek is a very powerful word.
[42:39] It's not the ordinary word, it's a special word. And it means instead of. It means in the place of. And so he came to give his life as a ransom instead of many.
[42:56] In the place of many. In other words, the death that he's going to suffer under God's wrath and pay, make payment against God's judgment as justice as to what's due him for our sins.
[43:09] It was a death instead of others. It was a death in the place of. That's what we call substitutionary death. Ladies, you have it in your menu, your recipes.
[43:22] You can substitute honey for sugar. You can substitute this in for that. It's one thing in the place of another. And Jesus is saying that's the kind of death I'm going to die.
[43:35] I'm going to die a death that is instead of others. It's the death you and I should have suffered, would have suffered, that he is going to step in and die instead of us in the place of us.
[43:48] So Peter can say, you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were ransomed, redeemed, but with the precious blood of Christ as of the lamb without blemish and without spot.
[44:02] That was the ransom price paid to free us. It was the sweet, precious blood of Jesus. Giving up his life's blood for us.
[44:14] the substitute in the place of his people. For the Lord laid on him the iniquities of us all. And he bore our sins in his body to the tree.
[44:29] And there the father punished him instead of us. He was crushed for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. And the punishment that brought us peace was on him.
[44:40] And by his stripes we are healed. You see it's death for many. In the place of many. And so this tragic death that he keeps talking about, telling his disciples that he will accomplish, it will be for your salvation.
[44:58] It will be a death in your place. This greatest act of sacrificial service will bring eternal life to many. We sing it from Philip Bliss's song.
[45:11] Bearing shame and scoffing rude. In my place condemned he stood. That's it.
[45:22] That's that little word for. In my place condemned he stood. Sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah. What a savior.
[45:33] That's who served us. That's how he served us. And this is why he's marching with determined, set face toward Jerusalem.
[45:45] To do that for you if you will but take refuge in him. Are you one of the many for whom he suffers that? Only will you know that is if you put your faith in Jesus.
[45:59] You take refuge in him. You quit trusting in anything that you have done and you put all your trust in what Jesus did there. Dying in the place of the worst of sinners.
[46:11] What an example for us. Even the exalted son of man stooping to serve us at such a cost. There's motivation enough to move us to do the same toward one another.
[46:24] You see there's a reason this lesson on true greatness needs to be repeated over and over and it's because of our proud self-seeking hearts that are so stubborn and slow to stoop and serve. But when we see the greatest of all stooping so low the lesson comes home.
[46:42] And yes on the other side of the cross what do we find? We find this John. The same John that was saying I'd like to have a seat on your right or left. He gets it now.
[46:54] He has seen the example of his Savior. The Lord of glory stooping to die in his place. And this is what he says in 1 John 3.16.
[47:07] This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. But he doesn't stop there. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another.
[47:22] We don't want to hear this. I want this seat way up here. No. I want to be like Jesus and lay down my life for others. There's the example.
[47:33] There's the motivation we need. So who will you serve this week dear Christian? Whose load will you lighten a bit? Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
[47:50] He says to us do you love me? Then love and serve them. Amen.