Servant (21 Days of Prayer & Fasting)

Servant – Mark 10:45; Philippians 2:5-8

In Mark chapter 10, the disciples James and John request of Jesus to sit at his side in glory and Jesus rebukes them. The other disciples become angry with them, and so Jesus addresses all of the disciples about their need for humility. He flips the cultural norms saying that to be great you must be a servant, and then brings Himself into the mix with these important words, especially on this Good Friday, in verse 45, that “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” We see Christ model this in a culturally profound way as he washes the disciples’ feet in John 13 and encourages his disciples to model the same thing. And we see in the verses from Philippians 2 that Christ’s ultimate service was in taking on the form of man and walking in obedience, even to the point of death on a cross.

What does Jesus model for us about how to be a servant? Apart from the work of a servant, which is implied in the name, I think there are three things He models in developing the heart of a servant. First, a servant demonstrates humility. Humility is a right understanding of ourselves before God that leads to complete submission and obedience to His will. Christ, who was fully God, humbly took on the form of man in obedience to the Father’s plan even when the cup of suffering seemed unbearable. Second, a servant operates under authority. In John 12 Jesus says that he doesn’t speak or act on his own authority but under the authority of the Father who sent him. The final thing is that a servant sees the need. How often do we miss seeing needs because we are so focused on our own agenda that we can’t be interrupted, or we miss needs because of our heart towards the people in need? Jesus served the societal outcasts during His ministry and was immensely interruptible.

What makes being a servant so hard? When we look at these three things, we remember that in our flesh, we are quicker to think selfishly rather than selflessly. So let us pray together for humble hearts that are submissive to the will and authority of God. And let us ask God to help us see the needs that He is equipping us to meet and then challenge ourselves to be interruptible and obedient in serving Christ in the same way He has served us, His church!