Once again, we are going to need to remember the context surrounding the section we will be looking at today in Mark 10 and Matthew 20. This context is from Mark’s account, starting in Mark 9.
· The disciples try to cast out a demon but can’t. This apparently leads to some arguments among them.
· On the way to Capernaum, they argue about who the greatest one is. Jesus said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
· Then, Jesus gives the example of becoming like a child. ‘Whoever welcomes one of these in my name welcomes me.”
· Then: “We saw someone actually being successful in driving out a demon and we told him to stop because he was not one of us.” Jesus: ““If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.”
· Then he is challenged about divorce laws (an ongoing argument between Shamai and Hillel). “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife so he can marry another woman?” I’ll summarize Jesus response: No, and focus on serving, not being served. Your hearts are hard if you are wondering what your rights are rather than your responsibilities.
· Children show up again, and he blesses them. “The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.”
· Then the Rich Young Ruler shows up (that was the sermon last week), and Jesus finishes his teaching with, “Many who are first will be last, and the last first,” and tells the parable about the workers in the field
We are hitting two themes. First, in the Kingdom of God, there should be no one overlooked and marginalized. Jesus elevates the cultural “lasts” to show their value and dignity. Second, God loves to be generous to all, especially to those who have been overlooked, abandoned, taken for granted, or considered undeserving. We should not be surprised if the next events and teachings continue on this theme.
James & John: Serving vs. Ruling (Matthew 20:20-28; Mark 10:35-45)
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, and kneeling down she asked him for a favor[1], saying, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” He said to her, “What do you want?” She replied, “Permit these two sons of mine to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in the glory of your kingdom.”
But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I experience?” They said to him, “We are able.”
Then Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I experience,[2] but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give. It is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
Now when the other ten heard this, they became angry with James and John. Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them.
But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the servant 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.[3]”
HE GAVE HIS LIFE
Empire leadership principles have two main pillars: the ones who are ‘first’ lord your power over others (throw your weight around) and exercise authority - literally, play the tyrant. Kingdom leadership principles have one key pillar: the ones who are ‘first’ take the lead in serving others.[4]
Among the unconverted, great men are those who rule with arbitrary power, who are overbearing and domineering. But greatness in Christ’s kingdom is marked by service. Whoever … desires to be first should become a [servant] to everyone. (Believer’s Bible Commentary)
We live in a world that tells us it is important to be in charge, to be first, to have power, and to wield it. It starts when we are kids and the place of privilege is to be the line leader. Nobody privileges letting everyone else go first. True followers of Jesus learn to love the beauty of humble service.
We must, must resist the urge to fall in love with exercising power. I think Scripture presents power similar to how it presents money: the love of power and money are the problem, not the things themselves. When Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek,” that word means power under control. The image is that of a mighty ox yoked into service.
And let’s face it: we all have some degree of power in that we have an impact on the world. You have physical power and could hurt people or protect and help people. Your words have power; you can hurt people or heal people. Your facial expressions have power; you hurt people or give them hope with a well-placed expression.
We are called to be people who love to use whatever kind of power we have in the humble service of others. In our role as salt and light, we can and should encourage in the church and in our culture those who know how to manage their strength, their words, their presence in such a way that whatever power they have is used in humble service of others to protect, to heal, and to give hope.
Even Jesus, God in the Flesh, was not exempt from the rule of humble service in the kingdom. He is, in fact, the ultimate example of it, especially in his redemptive mission. He did not come as a strongman to demand and control; he came as a servant, giving "his life as a ransom for many."
AS A RANSOM FOR MANY
· The word translated "ransom" relates to the "redemption" or "release" of Israel's from slavery in Egypt.
· The phrase "for many" is an Aramaic expression meaning “for all.”[5]
In his death, Jesus pays a ransom. Among different theories of atonement, this is called Ransom Theory. It is a way of looking at what happened on the cross. What happened on the cross if far too complex and deep to be captured in one theory. Ransom Theory was quite popular in the early church and into the Middle Ages, though other ways of thinking of the atonement emerged that displaced its popularity.
However, any way of looking at the Cross that has a biblical foundation has value, and since the idea of Ransom shows up here, let’s look at it more deeply, beginning with Isaiah’s reference to the Jewish people being ransomed from Egypt.
Isaiah 51:10-11 “Did you not dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep? Did you not make a path through the depths of the sea, so those delivered from bondage could cross over? Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return; they will enter Zion with a happy shout. Unending joy will crown them, happiness and joy will overwhelm them; grief and suffering will disappear.”
“For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…” (Is. 43:3, 4).
Concerning their return from captivity in Babylon we read,
"For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he." (Jer. 31:11)
On a more theological note,
"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death" (Hos. 13:14).
“But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.” (Psalm 49:15)
Ransom theories focus on the fact that people are enslaved to the wrong master until, through Jesus’ death, they are set free. The dominant image here is “manumission”—the act of setting slaves free.[6] Notice how the Old Testament pairs redeem and ransom in parallel, so we can use them interchangeably.
The Hebrew word for 'ransom' never appears in the New Testament because, well, the NT was not written in Hebrew J However, it uses other words to refer to the same principle. Jesus uses the phrase anti lutron (lutron belongs to a family of words which convey the concept of redemption) to describe his death; Paul uses antilutron for the same purpose.
“The Son of man came ... to give his life a ransom for many.”
“Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all.” [I Timothy 2:6][7]
The writer of Hebrews uses apolýtrōsis: “redemption – literally, "buying back from or winning back what was previously forfeited or lost."[8]
“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (Hebrews 9:15)
There are other allusions to the idea of ransom or redemption without naming it specifically:
“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28)
“You were bought [9] with a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23)
And they were singing a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and bought people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation, and made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9–10)
When we see this term used for what Jesus does, it has to do with a dispossession where someone frees a person from the control of master or owner and brings them into a new place under the Ransomer’s protection and care.
A classic example from the Old Testament involves Boaz and Ruth. When Ruth asked Boaz to be her guardian/redeemer, he had to ‘dispossess’ another in order to bring her under his protection and care as the Kinsmen Redeemer.
I prefer the language of redeemer because the English word 'ransom' brings an image to mind that creates some tensions. A ransom is what we pay a kidnapper in exchange for releasing the kidnapped. This creates a problem: to whom does Jesus pay the ransom?
Is it paid to God? It’s not a good look for God to be a kidnapper needing to pay Himself to release people from Himself back to Himself. The early church never suggested this possibility: they primarily thought it was paid to Satan after Adam and Eve fell into the control of “the god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4)
Is it paid to Satan? That suggests God had to frustratingly pay Jesus to Satan to cover the cost. Yet Hebrews 2:14 tells us that “through death he destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil , and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” It sure doesn’t seem like a ransom would have to be paid to someone who has been destroyed.
Is it paid to death or sin? That seems the most likely because that is clearly stated in those two OT verses I quoted, but…those aren’t even ‘things’ that could accept a payment.
Bottom line: To whatever degree it’s a ransom, it’s not an exchange. It’s a deliverance from one kingdom to another. Notice that in the examples I gave, when God ransomed His people, there was a payment, but nobody is listed as receiving a payment. The ransom happened, but nobody was paid off.[10]
This suggests to me that’s we are meant to focus on the change of possession as God’s people are moved from life in the land of the enemy into life in the land of God. It was costly – really costly – but now they have a new King, a new Lord. They are now children of God.
In the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Redeemer lawfully and properly paid the ransom so we could be His. Jesus dispossessed the owner (Satan, sin death, hell, the grave?), secured us into God’s possession, an dprovided a permanent place of safety
This constitutes the “ransom” aspect of redemption as it is set forth in scripture.[11] A church Father named Eusebius wrote,
The Lamb of God . . . was chastised on our behalf, and suffered a penalty He did not owe, but which we owed because of the multitude of our sins; and so He became the cause of the forgiveness of our sins, because He received death for us and transferred to Himself the scourgings, the insults, and the dishonor, which were due to us… And what is that but the price of our souls?
1 Peter offers a wonderful chapter that captures the beauty and power of what has happened as a result of Jesus paying our ransom.1 Peter 1:3-23
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. This brings you great joy, although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials.
Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold—gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away—and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, because you are attaining the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched and investigated carefully. They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory.
They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things angels long to catch a glimpse of.
Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance, but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”
And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary residence here in reverence. You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed—not by perishable things like silver or gold, but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ...
You have purified your souls by obeying the truth in order to show sincere mutual love. So love one another earnestly from a pure heart. You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
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[1] If mom is asking, the odds are pretty high that James and John had not yet had their Bar Mitvah, the official entrance into adulthood.
[2] The cup, symbolizing trouble and suffering, is found in the OT (Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17; Jer 49:12; Eze 23:31-34 [see comment on 14:35-37]. Baptism is a symbol of a deluge of trouble (cf. Pss 18:16; 69:1-2). Expositor’s Bible Commentary
[3] “The phrase ‘for many’ is an Aramaic expression meaning “for all.” (Orthodox Study Bible)
[4] HT Africa Bible Commentary
[5] “The expression ‘the many’ is not to be understood in the sense of "some but not all" but in the general sense of "many" as contrasted with the single life that is given for their ransom (cf. Isa 53:11-12).” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)
[6] “Thinking About The Atonement.” Mennonite Brotherhood Herald
[7] Elsewhere in the New Testament, the phrase is used to describe things like John being unworthy to remove his shoes and Jesus dismissing a crowd after preaching. It is sometimes described as 'loosing' or delivering.'
[8] HELPS Word Studies
[9] “Agorázō is properly, to make purchases in the marketplace ("agora"), i.e. as ownership transfers from seller to buyer. Agorázō stresses transfer – i.e. where something becomes another's belonging (possession). In salvation-contexts, agorázō is not redeeming ("buying back"), but rather focuses on how the believer now belongs to the Lord as His unique possession.” (HELPS Word Studies)
[10] The top possibility, as I see it, is sin, but sin’s not a being to pay off. It’s more like “the wages of sin is death,” and Jesus absorbed that cost to free us from it.
[11] From a post in the Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange