Rays of Hope ~ Tim Stockton

By Editor | March 19, 2024 |

Ransomed for Success

There are many other scholars
more knowledgeable than I that have
done great in depth studies and theories
on what I am about to write about. But,
as I was reading this past week in the
Gospel of Mark chapter ten and
specifically verse 44 which states, “For
even the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give His life
a ransom for many.”
Christ made this statement just
after some of the disciples had been
displeased with James and John for
asking to be able to sit on either side of
Christ when He comes in His glory.
Jesus tried to explain to them that they
didn’t really know what they were asking
for. They probably were still under the
impression that Jesus was going to be
setting up an earthly kingdom in their
time and they were wanting to be His
right (and left) hand men. Even though
He had multiple times explained to them
what would be happening to Him as in
being handed over, killed, but will raise
again.
He explained in the first part of
verse 45 that He came not to be served,
but to serve. He has great compassion
and love for all and has a desire to help
them find healing and deliverance. In
verse 44 He stated that “whoever of you
desires to be first shall be a servant to
all.” Jesus taught about being servant
leaders.
According to a 2022 study by
Sendjaya and Sarros, “Servant leadership is being practiced in some of
the top-ranking companies, and these
companies are highly ranked because of
their leadership style and following.
Further research also confirms that
servant leaders lead others to go
beyond the call of duty.”
It was surprising to me that even
when looking online to see what the
history of this concept or business
servant-leadership comes from it pulls
up Mark chapter 10. Wikipedia states,
“The roots of the concept can be seen in
much earlier texts such as Mark
10:42-45 in the teaching of Jesus.”
The most important part of verse
45 is when Christ explained that His life
would be a ransom for many. A ransom
is a payment for a prisoner or someone
held hostage. As I read that part of the
verse I could see us all being held
hostage by “the world” and our own
selfish desires. The enemy of us who
has had us bound or some still bound
doesn’t really want the ransom. The
enemy doesn’t want us to be free, but
through our faith in the One who knows
how to be a success will make us free
through our turning to Him.
Then we too can take part in His
successful business of telling others
who are in bondage to sin, addictions,
unforgiveness, anger, hatred, and the
list could go on, of things that have
people chained up and held hostage in
their own minds of being able to find
freedom.