Slave of His Kingdom
According to the New Testament, collectively, the followers of Jesus constitute a “kingdom of priests.” As citizens of this realm, they rule with Jesus both now and in the “age to come.” But such a high calling raises the obvious question: How does each believer participate in his present reign? Fortunately, both Jesus and Paul provided straightforward explanations for how his disciple implements his sovereignty on Earth.
When James and John asked Jesus to appoint
them to high positions in his kingdom, he responded: “You know not what you
are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am drinking, and to be
baptized with the baptism with which I am being baptized?” – (Mark 10:35-40).
In the Hebrew Bible, the image of a “cup”
often symbolizes something given by God, and usually in the negative sense of
judicial punishment. Likewise, here, the image of drinking the “cup” illustrates
how Jesus was to partake of the wrath of God on account of sin, and likewise, the
metaphorical use of “baptism” - (Psalm 11:6, 16:5, Isaiah 57:17-22,
Jeremiah 25:15-28).
When James and John declared that they were
indeed prepared to drink this bitter “cup,” Christ retorted that they had
no idea what they were saying. However, eventually, they would indeed drink from
the same “cup” when they also suffered for the kingdom.
When the other disciples heard what these
two presumptuous men requested, they became indignant. But Jesus took them all
aside and explained just what it means to become “great” in his kingdom
- (Mark 10:41-45).
Contrary to the ways of this age, “greatness”
is found in self-sacrificial service to others, and not in political power,
wealth, or societal rank. In contrast to the ways of this world, the one who wishes
to be “great” in HIS kingdom must become the “servant” of
all. And here, the English term “servant” translates the Greek
noun ‘diakonos’ which is used elsewhere in the New Testament as a
general term for “servant” or “minister,” one who serves.
But in secular Greek, ‘diakonos’ originally
referred to servants who waited on tables, and such a servant was
usually a slave since waiting on tables was considered a truly lowly task. In
the parallel passage in the Gospel of Luke, this term is used in this very
manner:
- (Luke 22:26-27) - “But let him who is the greatest among you become as the youngest and the leader as the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus defined
his messianic and royal mission as one who came “not to be served, but to
serve and give his soul a ransom instead of many.” The Greek verb rendered
“served” in Mark’s version is the verbal form of the noun ‘diakonos.’
And in Mark, the Greek word
translated as “slave” or ‘doulos’ could refer to anyone who was a “servant,”
but among Greek speakers, most commonly it referred to slaves.
Unfortunately, because of the negative connotations we associate with that word,
many English versions prefer to translate it as “servant,” unintentionally
dulling the sharpness of the original point.
Unlike the political rulers of this age, HIS disciples are not to lord it over others, they are not called to be overlords. Instead, to reign with him means his disciples must become the “servant” of others, and to be “first” among our brethren, we must become the “slave of all.”
And that is exactly what Jesus did - the “Son
of Man came to serve, not to be served, and to give his soul a ransom instead
of many.” This saying alludes to the
‘Suffering Servant of Yahweh’ found in the Book of Isaiah:
- “Yet Yahweh purposed to bruise him… He shall be satisfied with his knowledge, a setting right when set right himself shall my Servant win for the many, since of their iniquities he takes the burden. Therefore, will I give him a portion in the great, and the strong shall he apportion as spoil because he poured out to death his soul, and with transgressors let himself be numbered, Yea, he the sin of Many bare, and for transgressors interposes” - (Isaiah 53:10-12).
The term “many” heard here on the
lips of Jesus is a verbal link to this passage in Isaiah, where “the
many” are the “transgressors” for whose sins the “servant” makes
atonement. Just as the “servant of Yahweh…poured out his soul”
for the “many transgressors,” so the “Son of Man gave his soul” to
ransom the “many.”
And in first-century Greco-Roman society, “ransom”
money was paid to purchase the freedom of a slave. Christ’s statement was a
declaration of his mission - to give his life as the ransom price to
free others from slavery to sin. And he summoned his disciples to emulate his
example by becoming “servants” and “slaves” of others.
Paul made a similar argument to the
Philippians, also alluding to the very same passage in Isaiah. The follower
of Jesus is to exercise the same “mind” that Christ did by “counting others
better than himself.”
Unlike Adam, Jesus did not consider the “being
like God” as something to be seized. Instead, he “poured himself out,
taking the form of a slave… and he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death.”
It was for that very reason that God exalted him to rule over all things – (Philippians 2:1-11).
And Paul provides two real-world
examples of what he means. First, Epaphroditus, his “fellow-worker” and “servant
to my need” who became seriously ill - “nigh unto death” - for the “work
of Christ, having hazarded his life to supply” what was lacking in the
Philippians’ service to Paul. And thus, Epaphroditus “poured himself out”
for the sake of his congregation – (Philippians 2:25-30).
Second,
himself. For the sake of the “excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,” Paul
experienced the “loss of all things.” Previously, he had placed great
value on his Jewish heritage. Had he not been “circumcised on the eighth
day, a member of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a
Pharisee, regarding zeal, persecuting the church, and regarding the
righteousness that is in law, blameless.”
But the “Apostle
to the Gentiles” left all that behind to serve Jesus. And considering what
he gained in Christ, he came to value his ancestral heritage and past
accomplishments as little more than “refuse” in comparison – (Philippians
3:4-11).
And in the Book
of Revelation, all those who are redeemed by the “blood of the Lamb”
become “priests” in his kingdom in the present tense. They now reign
with him on Earth, however, they do so in the same paradoxical manner that
he did:
- “He that overcomes, I will give to him to take his seat with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne” - (Revelation 1:4-6, 3:21, 5:10).
Thus, the disciple
of Jesus becomes a citizen of his kingdom in the present. This means he participates
in a real political order with genuine sovereignty. But unlike the governmental
institutions of this age, he does not become a lord or tyrant. Instead, he is
now a “priest” and rules by engaging in priestly service for others.
To change the
imagery, anyone who wishes to become a disciple of Jesus and reign with him must
first “deny himself, take up his cross,” and follow Jesus “wherever
he goes,” even when doing so leads to very unpleasant places.
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