Mark 10:41-45 - Ransomed
- Chad Werkhoven
- May 8
- 6 min read
You've been bought at a price by the One who came to serve.
Mark 10:41-45 (NIV)
CONTEXT: Two of Jesus' disciples, James and John, had asked Jesus for the honor of sitting right next to Jesus in His glory. Jesus turns them down, and it doesn't take long for the other ten disciples to hear about this audacious request. If possible, read this passage in a printed Bible, looking at what came before and right after it for the full context.
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 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. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 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.”
Canons of Dordt
Point 2 - Limited Atonement
Article 1: God’s Right to Condemn All People
Romans 5:12-14 - Mis-Markmanship
Deuteronomy 28:15-20 - Not A Tame Lion
Luke 15:11-16 - Prodigious Deprivation
Psalm 143 - Aggressive Prayer Pattern
Article 2: The Manifestation of God’s Love
Zephaniah 3:14-17 - The Mighty Warrior Who Saves
Lamentations 3:19-23 - Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Article 3: The Preaching of the Gospel
1 Timothy 2:1-7 - God Our Savior
Rom 10:14-17 - The Power of Preaching
1 Cor 1.23-24 - God's Foolishness
Psalm 93 - Mightier Than Chaos
Article 4: A Twofold Response to the Gospel
John 6:37-40 - Tensegral Theology
John 12:42-50 - Buffet Theology
Article 5: The Sources of Unbelief and of Faith
James 1:13-18 - The Devil (didn't) Make You Do It
Ecclesiastes 7:25-29 - Many Schemes
Ephesians 2:8 - The Gift of God
Psalm 95 - The LORD is OUR God
Article 6: God’s Eternal Decree
Ezekiel 36:24-27 - A Whole New Reality
Romans 9:15-21 - God's Mercy, Not Your Effort
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 - Love The Truth
Article 7: Election
Ephesians 1:3-6 - Before the Foundation
Deuteronomy 7:1-10 - Set Apart
John 17:1-5 - Sovereign Submission
Psalm 115 - God Does What He Pleases
Article 8: A Single Decree of Election
Romans 4:1-8 - One and the Same
Romans 4:9-17 - Chicken or Egg?
Romans 4:18-25 - Faithfully Face the Facts
Hebrews 11:39-40 - Promises Kept
Psalm 33 - God's Control, Authority & Presence
Article 9: Election Not Based on Foreseen Faith
2 Timothy 1:7-10 - Passive & Powered
Deuteronomy 9:4-6 - You're Not That Awesome
Psalm 91 - The Shelter of the Most High
Article 10: Election Based on God’s Good Pleasure
Luke 2:13-14 - Christmas in March
Galatians 4:1-7 - From Slave to Son
1 Peter 2:9-10 - You're The Best Thing God Has!
Article 11: God’s election is unalterable.
Malachi 3:6-7 - Keep It Simple
Hebrews 6:13-20 - Unchanging Anchor
Hebrews 13:1-8 - Keep On Loving
Hebrews 6:13-20 - Unchangeable Blessing
Article 12: The Assurance of election
Hebrews 11:1-6 - Confident Assurance
Malachi 3:14-18 - Childlike Fear
2 Corinthians 7:8-11 - Godly Sorrow
Psalm 65 - The Hearer of Prayers
Article 13/14: The Fruit of our assurance
Isaiah 57:14-21 - God's Second Residence
2 Peter 1:3-10 - Make Every Effort
Isaiah 42:1-9 - The Sovereign & His Servant
Article 2: The Satisfaction Made by Christ
Since, however,
we ourselves cannot give this satisfaction [required by God's justice]
or deliver ourselves from God’s wrath,
God in boundless mercy has given us as a guarantee
his only begotten Son,
who was made to be sin and a curse for us,
in our place, on the cross,
in order that he might make satisfaction for us.
Summary
You can imagine the tension hanging over the group as James and John returned to the group after their selfish attempt to secure the highest places of honor from Jesus. Mark captures it well - the other ten were indignant. Maybe harsh words were muttered, or maybe it was just their silent but piercing glances at those two jerks who tried to make themselves the most important.
Mark doesn't tell us, but it's a safe guess that they weren't just mad at these fellas tried and failed, but they were jealous, because deep down they all wanted those spots next to Jesus for themselves. James & John's misguided power play and the indignation of the other ten really get at the foundation of sin: wanting to lord it over others.
Jesus doesn't let things fester. He immediately puts an end to it all, calling them together and turning the unfortunate episode into a teaching moment. Don't be like the rulers of the Gentiles and high officials (literally: the great ones), Jesus explains. He goes on to turn conventional wisdom on its top: whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.
Digital Bibles are a convenient and powerful tool for looking up and reading passages. But today's passage is a great example of why you shouldn't shelve your printed Bible. Notice the surrounding passages: Jesus welcomes children, sends away the rich man who won't give up his stuff, and explains to His disciples for the third time that He must die. And now He tells them that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. In the passages that follow, Jesus gives sight to a blind man and then enters Jerusalem as the servant King.
Dig Deeper
It's the last few words of Jesus' mission that grab our attention today. Jesus came to serve by giving His life as a ransom for many. We often associate the word ransom with the price paid to free a captive, which certainly fits what Jesus did for us. But in Jesus' day and age, the word would have been more commonly used to refer to the price required for a slave to redeem himself - that is, to buy his freedom.
This is one of the key things the Bible wants you to understand about yourself: You weren't just held captive by sin, as if you were tied up in the back room just waiting for your rescuer to arrive and pay the ransom. Rather, you were enslaved to it, mindlessly doing its bidding with no realistic hope of ever scrounging up enough to redeem yourself.
But this is exactly why Jesus came: to become your ransom - to pay the price of redemption that set you free from your slavery to sin. Jesus didn't enter Jerusalem as a King in order to gain the type of selfish glory the disciples so badly wanted, but rather to, as the Canons put it, make satisfaction for us.
Although you've been set free from slavery to sin, you're not really set free as if now nobody else has a claim on you. Rather, you now belong to the One who ransomed you - the One who redeemed (purchased) you. But His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He simply wants you to act like Him; not to be served, but to serve.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sent His Son to give His life as a ransom for many;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will seek to serve rather than to be served;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Matthew 24
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