Service
Mark chapter 10, verses 35 to 45, gives a very clear picture of what service is. It presents a picture of position and glory, sacrifice, and also suffering.
In this portion of Scripture, we see James and John come to Jesus and ask that they be seated at His two sides, in positions of glory, when He comes into His kingdom. Jesus told them that they did not know what they were asking, and He asked whether they could actually drink the cup that He drinks and be baptized with the baptism with which He is baptized, referring to the suffering He was about to undergo. They replied that they could, and Jesus told them that they would, for He already knew that they would pass through trials and suffering.
For example, James was eventually executed with the sword, as recorded in Acts 12:2. John also endured suffering and persecution, although some accounts of the specific forms of suffering he experienced, such as being put into boiling oil, come from later Christian tradition rather than the New Testament.
And here is the point of all this: James and John’s idea of position and glory was about having the Messiah with them, and when He came into His glory and established His kingdom, being among those closest to Him and holding the two highest positions beside Him.
This mentality was not confined to James and John alone but extended to all the other disciples. Why? Because, as a quick backstory, in the previous verses we see them all arguing about who was the greatest. They believed that the greatest, or the one who should hold a position of glory, should be the one closest to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. James and John were among Jesus’ closest disciples, part of His inner circle, and so they sought the two positions beside Him.
Jesus Christ refuted that idea and told them that anyone who wants to be great among them must be a servant. He says in verse 43,
“And whoever wants to be first among you must be slave to 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.”
Jesus Christ was telling them what true greatness is and what greatness under His reign looks like. It is not about being close to a person of influence or seeking a position for personal status, but about service: truly serving and becoming a servant to others.
He Himself is God, and He came in the flesh as man to serve us. He was the Messiah, yet He came not to be served but to serve, and ultimately to give His life as a ransom for many.
They would pass through trials and suffering, and this picture in Scripture also brings to mind John chapter 13, verses 13 to 17, which speaks of servant leadership. Jesus Christ Himself washed the feet of His disciples and told them that as He had washed their feet, they should also do the same thing: that they ought to wash one another’s feet.
And so, it is entirely about being a servant and being ready to serve. It is all about service.
The point of everything is that to be a leader, to exercise greatness, or to occupy a position of influence, one must be ready to serve, ready to be a servant to many. Jesus teaches that greatness under His reign is inseparable from service: whoever wants to be great must become a servant, and whoever wants to be first must become a slave to all.
Leadership is not about bossing people around. True greatness under the reign of God is not attained through shortcuts or merely through seeking a higher position; it is expressed through humble and sacrificial service.
Jesus does not teach that serving earns salvation or that we can earn a glorious position through our works. Rather, He redefines greatness and shows that those who follow Him should reflect His own posture of humble, self-giving service.
