A Servant of All

INTRO

To be a follower of Christ, you have to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. While you might consider this a wheel of death, it is actually a wheel of life. When you exemplify these characteristics, you are a true disciple of Christ.

TEACHING

Mark 9:2-13: Six days after telling His followers to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him, Jesus took Peter, James, and John “up on a high mountain by themselves to be alone” (v. 2). Peter, James, and John were Jesus’ inner circle of disciples. On this mountain, these three disciples witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration and saw Him talking with Moses and Elijah. We covered this event in an earlier lesson in Matthew, so we’ll move past it this time.

Mark 9:14-29: These verses record another demonic interaction. Remember Jesus sent His disciples out to cast out demons, and here we see Him doing it Himself, not as Satan or as Beelzebub, because that doesn’t make sense, but because He is God, and He has authority from God to set people free.

Mark 9:30-32: Prior to His command in Mark 8:34, we saw the first prediction in Mark that Jesus was going to die. There are a total of three predictions in the Gospel of Mark; this is the second one. In verse 30, Jesus and the disciples “made their way through Galilee.” Jesus had this message only for His disciples. “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after He is killed, He will rise three days later” (v. 31a). Even though the disciples didn’t understand His statement, they were afraid to ask Him about it.

Mark 9:33-34: Then they came to Capernaum. When the disciples gathered with Jesus in the house (no specific house was named, but it could have been Peter’s house or even a house Jesus “rented”), Jesus asked what they were arguing about on the journey, totally aware they had not included Him in on the conversation. “Arguing” means this was a major problem—a serious discussion. They were silent because they had been arguing about who was the greatest. They missed the whole point of humility. In Matthew 5:3, Jesus said, “The poor in spirit are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.”

Mark 9:35: Whenever Jesus sat down, He had something important to say. “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” As described in Mark 8:34, following Christ means being a servant to others. Being a follower of Christ is countercultural. Commentator Henry Swete said, “The spirit of service is the passport to eminence in the Kingdom of God for it is the spirit of the Master Who Himself became diakonos panton[‘servant of all’].”1 If you want to gain access to the kingdom of God, then you serve. As followers of Christ, believers must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. This required mentality places self, last to become a servant to all. Our one word for the Gospel of Mark is Servant. Jesus came as a servant, and this is the lifestyle He wants us to have. John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). That goes against everything our culture teaches us. Life is not about us; it’s about Him. If no one knew what you did, would you still do it because Jesus asked you to? Compare this verse with Mark 10:45. At that point, Jesus begins exalting you.

The word used as “servant” is the Greek word diakonos, which describes somebody who serves willingly without being forced. You might fake it, but God totally knows your heart and motives (Psalm 139:2). Make this your prayer, “Lord give me a heart to put others first.” According to 1 Chronicles 28:9, God searches our hearts and knows our thoughts. Jesus asks us to serve, and to serve well.

1 Henry Barclay Swete, The Gospel According to St. Mark(London: Macmillan, 1905), p. 205; quoted in Thomas L. Constable, Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable: Mark, p. 203; available online at https:// planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/pdf/mark.pdf.

Brad Archer described seven characteristics of a godly servant.²

1. A servant is humblePhilippians 2:3-8 says Jesus “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.” He is our example of a humble servant.
2. A servant prepares. In 1 Timothy 4:7b, Paul said “train yourself in godliness.” How can we do that? Skip to verse 15 to see what Paul said. “Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all.”
3. A servant perseveres. In Luke 12:35-36, the servants remained ready for service even though they didn’t know when the master would return. Likewise, we are to be ready and waiting, to serve the master.
4. A servant serves where needed. In 1 Corinthians 9:19, Paul said, “I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win more people.” When we serve wherever needed, we have the chance to win people to Christ.
5. A servant serves (or not) as God directs. Romans 8:28 says God works all things together to those who are called. When you’ve been called, you just go. It doesn’t have to make sense. You do as God leads.
6. A servant expects to suffer. Matthew 10:24-25 and Mark 8:34 say that as servants of Christ, we should not be surprised when we suffer for our faith.
7. A servant is not ashamed. In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul said, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.” When we’re doing the work God has given us to do, then we won’t be quiet or ashamed if we’re correctly teaching the word of truth.

Pray for God to show you how to work on these things so that you begin to display these characteristics of a godly servant. As you read 1 Peter 5:6, consider how you might humble yourself under God’s mighty hand.

CLOSING

In Mark 9:37, Jesus took a child in His arms and said, “Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in My name welcomes Me.” Why did I make this random comparison? The word “child” and “servant” is the same word in the Aramaic language. You must have the heart of a child to effectively serve others. You willingly serve anybody without showing any favoritism. When you willingly put others before yourself, when you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus, when you have the mentality of “servant of all,” then Jesus gets the glory.