24.168 | Servant Leadership | Mark 10:41-45 | God’s Word for Today with Pastor Nazario Sinon

God’s Word For Today

Text: Mark 10:41-45 ESV

41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.

42 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.

43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,

44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

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 10:41-45 ESV

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

When the others heard about James and John’s request, they were indignant. They were very displeased. Why? Did they want to sit beside Jesus too in his glory? Perhaps. There was some competition among them to bring such reactions. As James says, “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (Jas 4:2–3).

Their idea about honor and glory is like the Gentiles. If not, Jesus should not have corrected it by saying, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you.” Greatness is about control and subjugating others. Such attitudes should not be found among Jesus’ leaders. There should not be a power struggle among His followers.

Why?

They are operating in another realm – the kingdom of God. It has a different model. In Christ’s kingdom, the leader is the one who serves. The leader is the greatest should he serve all. The word "slave" is from the Greek root word ‘doulos’. It means someone who is bound to another to meet their needs. The submission of a ‘doulos’ is at a higher level than that of a ‘diakonos or servant’ (see Mark 10:43). He is not thinking about himself and his honor but towards others on how to meet their needs. This is servant leadership.

This is modeled by Jesus Himself. He came to serve and not to be served, even to sacrifice His life to redeem us. Paul articulated this beautifully, saying, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”[Phil 2:5-8]

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