Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: So I'm going to open up with a question here. When you think of someone with a servant's heart, what do you imagine and why?
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Somebody that likes to serve others to the point that it's in their heart.
[00:00:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
So it's like.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: And they serve from their heart.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: They're doing it, like, out of a desire to love that person. Yeah, that's good.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like, not something heavy that they kind of feel obligated. It's more like a joyful thing.
People who are joyful.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: Yeah, they want to do it. It's not a. Like a. It's not like an obligation.
That's good.
[00:00:59] Speaker B: More so than maybe other people.
They have eyes to see and mean.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: I see. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I.
I think so, too.
That's especially a big thing we're gonna talk about today is the whole, like, meeting the needs of others.
So that's good.
So today we're going to be seeing. We're going to be looking at how Jesus, as fully God and fully man, displayed the ultimate servant's heart.
Not just an attitude, but in action.
And we're going to be looking at four familiar passages over here.
It's a lot of scripture today.
What?
Yeah, I'll try. Okay.
It's a lot of scripture today, but I think that's good because God's word can teach you better than I ever could.
So with that said, we'll dive in.
So we're going to start with mark 10, 35, 45.
So if you could. If you have your Bibles, you can turn there.
Mark 10:35, 45. Yeah.
All right, so I'm going to give a little context to this passage.
While many things have happened up to this point in the Gospel of Mark, three things that stand out are Jesus. Three passion predictions.
This is three times in which he proclaims that he is going to die.
So the first time is in Mark 8, where. This is where Peter calls Jesus the Christ. And then directly after that, Jesus predicts that the son of man will suffer, be killed, and be raised from the dead three days later, in which this is part of Jesus famously telling Peter to get behind me, Satan, because Peter didn't want that to happen to Jesus.
The next time it happens is the next passion prediction is in Mark 9. He predicts his death again, discusses himself being delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and then he will rise three days later.
Directly after this, it discusses how the disciples were arguing about who is the greatest among them, to which Jesus tells them, if Anyone would be first. He must be last of all and servant of all.
And then finally, right before our passage today is Jesus third Passion prediction, and it's the most graphic.
He claims once again that he will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him. And after three days, he will rise.
This brings us to one of our key passages for today.
So could somebody read the 11 verses in Mark 10:35, 45.
[00:04:20] Speaker B: And James and John, the sons of Zebedee came up to him and said to him, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory.
Jesus 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?
And they said to him, we are able.
And Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you will drink. And with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. To sit on my right hand or my left is not mine to forgive, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.
And when the 10 heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant. And whoever will be first and foremost among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of man cannot be served but to serve and to give his life a strength of all.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: Right, thank you, Bergashley.
So here's what's going on here.
After being told in Mark 9 at the second passion prediction that if anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all, James and John still do not understand after hearing about Jesus death for the third time, James and John ask for the greatest positions in Christ's kingdom, and this seems to come from a believing heart. They believe he's the Messiah. They believe he is going to usher in his kingdom someday.
However, Jesus sees into their true motives, which is why he, like they, are wanting those positions of power for worldly reasons.
So which is why he says, like he mentions the Gentiles and how they lord over the people beneath them. They crush people with their power.
And he says, like in his kingdom, it's not to be that way, instead to be great. If anyone wants to be great among you, they must be your servant.
And who would be first among you must be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Here is one of those moments where Christ's servant's heart is on full display.
The Lord, the One who created everything, didn't come for us to serve Him.
So we have to ask now, like, what does serving mean here?
I like the way that John Piper describes it. It's very simple. He just describes to serve as meeting someone's needs.
So Jesus didn't come for us to meet his needs. He's God, he doesn't have any needs.
As we see in Acts 17. It says the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands. As though he needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
So rather than us meeting his needs, he came to meet our needs.
Which is like we needed a way to be reconciled to the Father with God so we could taste and see that God is good forever.
We were made to worship him. But because of our sin, we decided to worship creation itself.
So he came to meet our needs. But how would he do this?
Through, as he said, giving his life as a ransom. That's how he would serve us and take care of us. He sacrificed Himself on the cross to take on all of our debt, all the eternal punishment of sin that we had accrued. He took all of that in our place.
So in this way he lived and taught.
He lived and died exactly what he taught the disciples.
To be great, you must be a servant. To be first, you must be a slave of all.
And Jesus was a slave of all.
Now by saying that he serves us, that's not saying that he's below us. Like nothing could be further from the truth like he is. We had sin sized, hell sized needs that only Jesus could help us with.
And so he met those needs and he delighted in doing so.
Now does Jesus serving us belittle Him?
Only if we think of ourselves as his masters or servant, as one who takes orders.
Instead, it honors him to say that we are weak and needy, like we need him to rescue us.
We need him to give his life as a ransom.
And before we close this section, I just want to read Psalm 147, 11 that says, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope, and his steadfast love.
And as Jesus is the Lord as well, his ultimate act of steadfast love was his, was his death on the cross for us.
So what we see right there is like the Lord our King, Jesus. He delights in us when we.
When we put our hope in what he's done for us, how he has served us.
Now, of course, when Jesus is referring to himself serving others by giving his life as a ransom, that's not coming out of nowhere.
You see, God's plan of salvation has been unfolding for a very long time up to this point.
And so when Jesus is saying this, one thing he is most likely referring to is the fulfillment of Isaiah 53.
If you've been in church a while, you've probably heard of Isaiah 53.
It's probably one of the most famous Old Testament passages, and for good reason, because it's very clearly the gospel in the Old Testament.
If you've never read it. Long story short, in Isaiah, God's servant is mentioned several times. It refers to the Messiah.
And in chapter 53, we see that this servant is suffering.
And so we're going to read Isaiah 53 here. It actually begins at the end of Isaiah 52, the section. So it's a lot of material, but we'll go through just a few parts of it. But it's good to have the entire chapter, the entire context as a whole. So could somebody read Isaiah 52:13 all the way to Isaiah 53, verse 6?
[00:12:29] Speaker C: You said starting in 13 to what?
[00:12:31] Speaker A: 52, 13, all the way to Isaiah 53, Verse 6? Yeah.
[00:12:37] Speaker C: Behold, my servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up. He shall be exalted.
As many were astonished at you. His appearance was so marred beyond human resemblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.
So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him.
For that which has not been told them, they see, and that which they have not heard, they understand who has believed what he has heard from us.
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
But he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form of majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him, stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities.
Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.
And with his wounds we are healed all. We, like sheep, have gone astray and have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: Thanks, James.
Now could someone finish us out with verses 7 through 12.
[00:14:28] Speaker D: He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. He led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep or a shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich. In his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth, yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer. And though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied by his knowledge. My righteous servant will justify them, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the grave.
He will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life from the death and was numbered with transgressors. For he bore the sin of many and remained in his.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: Cool. Thanks, Josh.
So just look at how this amazing chapter just screams about Jesus and what he did for us.
It describes him as the Lord's servant.
This is describing what Jesus did, what he meant by when he says that he came to give his life as a ransom for many, he now in this context, Jesus being God's servant, that doesn't mean that God needs something that only Jesus can provide.
They're both God. So it actually refers to Jesus being a willing slave to the Father's will.
So we're going to look at some specifics on like how did Christ serve us?
And we'll look at Isaiah 53:2.
So it says, for he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground, he had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty, that we should desire Him.
In other words, there was nothing about him that would like, that would make him like, look. You wouldn't look at him and go, okay, there's the Messiah, here's someone special.
In fact, the expressions about him growing up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground, simply indicate that he was irrelevant, insignificant, unwanted and unimpressive.
In other words, Jesus lived in complete obscurity in Nazareth, you know, up until his, up until his ministry, just a regular guy, regular blue collar carpenter.
And as the Jews expected this powerful militaristic leader, Messiah, to come and take over Rome and take over the world and bring his kingdom and bring shalom or wholeness to the world, Jesus couldn't have looked anything further from, from that.
So Christ's servant's heart is what both toward the Father and toward us is what led him to do this.
Looking at Philippians 2, it says this quite plainly starting in verse 6. It says who, though he was talking about Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
In other words, God the Son, the Maker of the universe, didn't look to his own interests. Instead, he humbled himself.
He didn't hold on to his glory as God, and instead he stooped low by becoming a human, taking the form of a servant, and obediently taking our sins on the cross.
What an amazing servant.
He literally had all the riches you could possibly imagine. You know, he had no needs. He was never hungry, never tired. He was supremely happy and delighted in his relationship with the Father in spirit for eternity.
And he stepped away from much of that for a time to become a perishable human being on earth. And not just a perishable human being, but just a regular guy. Like, he could have showed up as like a king, but he didn't. He was just a guy like out in a small town.
So that's one way he served us, by coming in humility.
And next I want to look at his crucifixion and taking on our sins. So Isaiah 53, 3:5, he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, as one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him, stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds we are healed.
So he was despised and rejected by men. He was just like rejected by his own people.
They didn't see anything great about him. They didn't believe in him. They rejected him.
And then he's rejected by taking on the shame of the false trial and the constant beatings, the scourging, and ultimately his crucifixion.
But he really did take on our griefs. He really did carry our sorrows.
He was pierced for our transgressions, our sins, crushed for our iniquities.
He was punished. He took on the punishment that brought us peace. And with his wounds we are healed. And with that word, wounds in particular could actually refer to like a raw wound, like something you would get from a scourging.
If you don't know what a scourging is, it's what happened to Jesus before his crucifixion, where they got a whip with several strands on it that was embedded with shards of bone and pottery, sharp things, and they just ripped his back apart with it.
So, yeah, so he died for our sins, terrible death.
And I want us to see as well, like, look at the pain that he was in.
Look how far his servant's heart took him.
So going to Isaiah 52:14, it says, as many were astonished at you, his appearance was so marred beyond human semblance and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.
Now we know that Jesus, the most horrible, horrific part of, of his death on the cross wasn't the physical pain.
It was the literally taking on all the sins ever that were ever committed, that will ever be committed, and taking on the punishment for those sins and being separated from God the Father because of it, that was the most horrific part for Christ.
But nevertheless, he still suffered terribly, as can be seen from this. Like, you may, I didn't know this. I never really thought about this before studying this. But when you read the Gospel accounts, they're not like they're. They're describing what's happening to Jesus, but they never describe what he looks like in that process. I think the reason is because people in that time period knew what scourging and crucifixion looked like.
They knew you were going to look horrible.
So.
But in Isaiah's time, this wasn't it wasn't a thing yet.
And so it's being described in this vivid detail.
And so it says that, like, basically, Jesus, the suffering servant of Yahweh, was like, so his body was so damaged that he didn't look human anymore.
He.
He didn't look human anymore.
And they had dehumanized him so much, like, in that way, to the point of he. His body was that. That damaged.
So, and you look at that word, it's kind of strange. That word astonish.
It actually has connotations of desolation, of destruction.
And so the connotations of that word really have more to do with horror.
And so the people were horrified looking at Jesus, which makes sense. You know, if you saw someone that torn apart, it would be horrifying.
So let's see. So that just shows, like, just another idea, another glimpse of, like, how far Jesus served us by taking on that excruciating pain.
Final part in Isaiah 53, it's the last three verses.
It says, yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied by his knowledge. Shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he will divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors.
So there are several things right here.
First, we see that this suffering servant, he's already died at this point. And yet it discusses how he will see his offspring, which I believe is an indication of. It's a reference to his resurrection.
It discusses on, you know, how he served us by making many to be accounted righteous, by being numbered with the transgressors and bearing the sins of many.
And not only that, but it says, God says that.
He says, I will make a portion, I will divide a portion with the many. And he, the servant, shall divide the spoil with the strong because of what this servant has done.
And so what does this mean?
I believe it refers to his redeemed people filled with the Spirit, who are only strong by the Spirit.
And the portion and spoil are the riches of Christ, which include being co heirs on the new earth.
Yeah, being co heirs on the new earth with him to worship him forever.
Let's see here.
So this is infinitely more like we get the riches of Christ and get to be also adopted. Not just reconciled, but adopted.
Adopted into the family of Yahweh.
So this is more than we could ever possibly deserve. And Jesus did so gladly. He did so for the joy set before Him.
He gathered to Himself a people, a bride, to delight in him forever. And so that he could delight in serving us forever by providing us with what we need forever, which is Him.
This is his servant's heart.
This is why he paid the ransom.
So so far we've seen why Jesus came.
We've seen how he came to serve us and be a ransom.
Then we looked into a little bit like, a little bit more deeply on what he meant by that ransom.
And now we're going to be looking at the suffering servant in action before his death. And how Jesus serves us by transforming us so. Another long passage.
Can someone read John 13, 1:17?
[00:28:26] Speaker E: I can read it.
[00:28:27] Speaker A: Cool. Thanks, man.
[00:28:28] Speaker E: Now, before the midst of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, taking a towel.
Taking a towel, he tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, what I am doing, you do not understand now that afterward you will understand.
Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. And Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me.
Simon Peter said to him, lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
Jesus said to him, the one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.
For he knew who was to betray him. That was why he said, not all.
[00:29:45] Speaker C: Of you are clean.
[00:29:48] Speaker E: When he had washed their feet and had put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right for so I am.
If I, then your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you.
Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
If you know these things, blessed are.
[00:30:21] Speaker A: You if you do know.
Cool. Thanks, Taylor.
So just to kind of set the scene a little here, Jesus knows his hour has come. The whole reason he's come to the earth to give his life as a ransom.
That's coming soon, in the next few hours.
So within the next few hours, within the next day, that would be when he would pour out the riches of heaven for those who would believe in him.
So they were about to begin the Passover meal where they would celebrate God passing over their households in Egypt back in Exodus.
And during this, the book of Luke actually gives us a depiction of kind of what's going on this night.
And so Luke shows us that the disciples were arguing once again about who was the greatest.
So at this point, this is at least three times that they've been discussing this. Who's the greatest in Christ's kingdom?
They still don't get it. Like, as Christ's representatives in the world, they still don't know how to truly love one another in humility by being slaves of all.
So at this point, the disciples didn't need another teaching lesson to learn about being servants toward one another.
Rather, they needed a demonstration.
And that's what Jesus did. Jesus took the form of a servant, of a slave. He took off his outer garments, put on the cloth around his waist, and he patiently washed the feet of every disciple.
As we saw in Philippians 2, he didn't count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but took the form of a servant.
So while this form of a servant would ultimately lead him to the cross, his feet wash was meant to show his disciples his kingdom and how they are to be in his kingdom.
So despite all the disciples selfishness, his feet washing. Oh, sorry, I'm off. The God of the universe stooped lower than they had ever seen, but they hadn't seen him crucified yet. That was to come.
Here was their Messiah, the one who they believed would conquer the earth and set up his kingdom and bring wholeness to the world.
Yeah, here he was performing the task that nobody wanted to do.
If there was any honor in doing this task, somebody would have done it the moment they stepped through the door.
So they never would have expected the King of Kings to pick up the towel and do it himself.
So during a time that they were arguing about who was the greatest, Jesus loved them to the end, patiently, lovingly serving them. And by doing this, he was giving them what they needed most.
What they needed most was to see his glorious humility, to see just how far he was willing to go in his humility, which would lead to the ultimate humiliation of the cross.
They needed to see that in Jesus kingdom that greatness is radically different. It's upside down.
So yes, he washed their feet, but he helped them see glories that they couldn't have seen otherwise.
Looking at Philippians 2, 1 8, we see the same idea played out.
And so it says, so if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Excuse me.
Have this in mind among yourselves. Which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
So in other words, Paul is calling the Philippians to love one another, to comfort one another with love, to have the same love, have the same mind, which is the mind of Christ.
He was calling for them to count themselves, count others more significant than themselves, put others first and then it goes into Jesus humbling himself by becoming a human and going deeper and deeper down in humility until his cursed death on the cross.
In other words, Peter, sorry. Paul is telling them to wash each other's feet.
They are to go low and to put each other first.
This is the life that Jesus calls us to and has lovingly given us an example of. And washing the disciples feet so they are not greater than their master, so they should do to each other what Jesus has done to them. As he says, Jesus servant's heart is on full display here.
However, Both in John 13 and in Philippians 2, these things can't happen without the cross.
The disciples of Christ cannot.
They don't have the power to love each other in this way. To go low in this way.
So we need the power of sin broken over us. We need the Holy Spirit to empower us to live these lives of radical love, joy and servitude.
That's another way Jesus servant heart is on full display in that he not only died for our sins and took our place he also like taking on our eternity's worth of punishment but rather through his death he knew that he would destroy the power of sin over our lives.
He would grant us the Holy Spirit to anyone who would believe in him ensuring that we would become more like him until we die until he calls us home and the Spirit would empower us to love one another sacrificially and humbly for eternity.
So overall Jesus really did take the form of a servant the servant of Yahweh who loved us by serving us, dying for us and making us like him in his death and in his life.
What an amazing God. What an amazing servant's heart.
So with that said that's my lesson.
