The Proper Gospel

Transcript

Well, this morning’s sermon passage comes from Mark chapter 10, verses 32 through 45. That’s Mark chapter 10, verses 32 through 45. And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priest and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.

And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, Grant us to sit, one on your right hand, one at your left, in your glory. Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, We are able. And Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized. But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers

— Mark 10

(ESV)

of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

— Mark 10

(ESV)

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

The Gospel Under Attack

Well before we begin this morning, would you take a few moments to pray with me. Ask for the Lord’s help. Our good and gracious Father, our kind and loving King, would you please provide for us this morning everything that we need to understand your word. We submit ourselves under your word. Would you lord over us with your word. Would you empower us by the Holy Spirit to take in everything that your word has to say to us this morning. We need you. We need you. Give to us this morning the life-giving words through your scripture. We recognize that when your spirit empowers the preaching that powerful things happen, supernatural things happen, so we pray to that end this morning. We pray all of these things in the mighty name of Jesus, amen. Well if we are in fact a congregation filled with Christians, and if the gospel is foundational

to the Christian faith, it should be relatively easy for us and for all Christians for that matter to answer this question, what is the gospel? But truthfully it’s often more challenging than you might think. As author Greg Gilbert in his book What is the Gospel points out, if you were to ask any 100 self-professed evangelical Christians what is the gospel, you’d probably get 60 different answers. And the reason is because the word gospel has been hijacked. It’s been manipulated. It’s been used in many ways as a tool to push a very particular agenda. Actually a lot of agendas, whether those agendas are social, political, economic, or even personal. This is why you often hear people reference the social gospel or the self-help gospel. Maybe you’ve heard of the American gospel or the therapeutic gospel, and that’s just to name a few. Perhaps the greatest challenge is that all of these so-called gospels have at least some

aspects of the real gospel, but either by subtraction or addition it becomes something totally different, which can make it a very extremely or very difficult, confusing thing for people to understand. Now most people attempt to hijack the gospel because it’s obviously full of power. But these people fail to understand that the moment you add anything to the gospel it becomes completely empty of its power. Take for example the prosperity gospel. You have these preachers who have taken the gospel and they’ve added to it, they’ve created this idea that says that if you become a Christian God promises to bless you with good health, with extreme wealth, with comfort, and with prosperity. Or the idea that through positive thinking, like Joel Osteen, that God will give you whatever you want, that your dreams and your desires can be fulfilled, but it never works because it’s empty of power.

Or take for example another gospel that’s become quite popular in certain evangelical circles more recently. It’s the gospel that adds civil liberty to spiritual liberty. It’s what you might call the political gospel. A gospel where the primary message being preached is either patriotism or activism, where salvation and redemption are ushered in through policy and politicians or through progress and protest. But that doesn’t work as we’ve seen in recent years. It doesn’t work because the prosperity gospel and the political gospel are not the proper gospel. They’re anti-gospels. The gospel is quite simply the good news of Jesus Christ who lived the life that we failed to live, who died the death we deserve to die, and rose victorious from the grave to conquer sin, Satan, and death so that all who believe in this mighty Jesus might be saved from their sins and the wrath of God.

This is the proper gospel. This is the only gospel, and any deviation or addition to it should be rejected at all cost. In fact, the Apostle Paul made this very clear. He said that if anyone, including angels, were to preach another gospel, they should be cursed. The reason why the Apostle Paul was so fierce with this statement is because all these so-called gospels attempt to overshadow and pass over the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. All these so-called gospels have no power to save and ultimately lead people to hell. Only the proper gospel of Jesus has the power to save sinners. Paul made this statement because in his day, there were a lot of people who were preaching false gospels, and a lot of people were putting all of their faith and trust in these false gospels. The truth is these false gospels that were in Paul’s day that pointed people to a false

The Political Gospel

hope have always existed, even in Jesus’ day. They might not have been called the political gospel or the prosperity gospel, but essentially were saying the same thing. We get a small glimpse of that reality in our text this morning, where Jesus confronts both the political gospel and the prosperity gospel long before these ideas were popular. What I want to accentuate in our text this morning is how Jesus gently deals with these issues, how he corrects the political gospel, and how he corrects the prosperity gospel by way of contrast with the proper gospel. Let’s begin in verse 32 by looking at the political gospel. They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. Now I mentioned a few weeks ago that Jesus had been making his way towards Jerusalem. We who sit on this side of the narrative know exactly what awaits Jesus once he arrives

there, a bloody cross. What we see here is that Jesus was resolute in his movement towards what we know to be a bloody cross. As he’s moving forward, his determination caused both amazement and fear with the crowd that was following him. The question is, why these two different responses? Both of these responses have everything to do with what Peter had previously confessed about Jesus. If you remember in chapter 8 verse 29 when Jesus asked his disciples, who do you say that I am? And Peter, the very first human to utter these words, responds, you are the Christ, meaning you are the Messiah. So once Peter rightly IDs Jesus as the Messiah, news spreads, and the crowds become aware that Jesus is the Messiah. Now you have to remember that the majority of the people viewed the Christ as a military Messiah, one who would come with a political force to overthrow Rome and liberate the Jewish

people. Remember Jesus was consistently talking about the kingdom of God. Well, most people viewed the kingdom as an earthly kingdom. So some of the people following Jesus were full of expectation and excitement because of what they perceived Jesus would do politically for the Jews. The Jews had long been oppressed by the Romans, and as Jesus and his crew marched towards Jerusalem, there was an aroma of liberation in the air. They’re excited because of what they perceived Jesus would do, because of this perceived fight that was coming to Rome. Now there are typically two types of responses when a fight’s about to break out. Consider junior high. Well, if you were raised in the inner city, then you know what this was like. It’s either going to create a sense of excitement or a great deal of fear. That’s where we get the phrase fight or flight.

Some in the crowd were excited about the prospect of a fight, but others in the crowd, they were afraid. They were full of fear because they don’t know exactly what’s going to go down. What’s going to happen if civil war breaks out? Well, one thing’s for sure. If a revolt against Rome does happen, it’s going to mean violence, because no war is without casualties. Even the winners of war lose people in a fight. So obviously some of the followers were afraid. And you see what’s driving this fear and this excitement is the fact that Jesus is leading the way forward. Jesus in his determined march towards Jerusalem looks like a military leader and less of a religious leader. You see, back in the day when rabbis would teach their folks, they would typically walk behind their followers. And as their followers would lead the way, the rabbi would kind of lay in the cut and

instruct the passengers traveling along the way. Military leaders, however, at least the good ones, well, they always walk ahead of their people. They lead the charge. Jesus knows that the crowd, including the disciples, think that what’s going to happen in Jerusalem is a political fight. And you see, this is why Jesus immediately grabs his 12 disciples and begins to confirm for the third time what exactly awaits Jesus in Jerusalem. Look at the second half of verse 32. And taking the 12 again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him. You see, Jesus doesn’t want his disciples to assume that he has come to start a political war. He’s not come to build an earthly utopia based on changing the social and political dynamics of Rome. He’s come to renovate this world and usher in a better world, not through conquest or political reform, not through violent protest, but through suffering and sacrifice.

And you see, brothers and sisters, this is where many professing Christians stand today. This is what many Christians pursue, not a gospel of suffering and sacrifice that brings us into a new world, but a political gospel that seeks to change this world without Jesus, that seeks a better world through politicians and presidents, through policy or reform or through protest. But none of those things can transform our world. And the truth is, they only bring about more problems because every policy that’s written by a politician and every protest marched by a protester in every way is marred by sin. Brothers and sisters, we’ve seen this over the last two years over and over again, how professing Christians have placed their faith and trust in whatever presidential candidate that supports their political agenda. But it doesn’t work. Now I’m not anti-politics. I have a very particular political framework.

But we need to understand that we cannot place our faith and trust in a sinful politician to deliver us with better policy. We need to place our faith and trust in a sinless Savior who can deliver us from our sin and from this world. And this is precisely what Jesus has come to do through his life, death, and resurrection. And in verse 33, Jesus masterfully reorients their thinking and moves them from a political kind of gospel to the proper gospel. Jesus corrects their thinking concerning the popular opinion of Jesus as this kind of political Messiah. He wants them to know that his gospel is not a political gospel that seeks to make war with Rome, but a gospel that seeks to make war with our sin through suffering and sacrifice. And he gives his disciples with prophetic precision exactly what the suffering and sacrifice will look like.

In verse 33, see, look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him. And after three days, he will rise. It’s here where Jesus makes his third and final passion prediction. This third passion prediction is also the most descriptive of the predictions. Notice that, notice the specificity with which Jesus uses to describe what’s going to happen in Jerusalem. He mentions nothing about overthrowing the Roman government, but he does reference the phrase the Son of Man. Now why? Because Jesus wants to start this description by reframing their view of the Messiah from a political Messiah to a suffering servant. Now we’ve seen this before.

In chapter 9, on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus had already connected the Son of Man from Daniel 7, which talked about this conquering king who was going to establish this unending kingdom, to Isaiah 53, which talks about the suffering servant. Jesus wants to remind them what he’s been telling them over and over again. I’ve not come to establish an earthly kingdom through policy, but to establish an eternal kingdom through a bloody and agonizing death. And Jesus says he will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes. We’ve talked about this before. That word delivered means to be handed over. Now in one sense, Jesus will be handed over through this deep betrayal of his own disciple Judas. But in a greater sense, Jesus will be handed over by God himself. That’s why Jesus uses this specific language here to stress that everything is working

according to plan. It is God’s perfect will to use sinful people to deliver Jesus to sinful people. Did you catch that? He’ll use sinful people to deliver Jesus over to sinful people. This speaks of the independent exercise of people and their wills working in accordance with God’s providence and purposes. This is what you would call the doctrine of concurrence. Jesus uses this language to remind his disciples none of this is out of control. All that’s happening here, Jesus is in control of. Every detail is meticulously and divinely orchestrated by God, but it’s being played out by sinful men. And Jesus tells his disciples for the very first time that they will mock him, that they’ll spit on him, that they’ll flog him, and eventually kill him. Jesus gives these details with such specificity, and this is the first time where the disciples are made aware of how much agony and suffering comes with this role of the Messiah, the suffering

servant. It’s not a triumphant march into a political victory. It’s a march of death, a procession of agony and deep pain. This is a very different picture than what the disciples had in mind concerning a military Messiah. It’s a march that is quite literally a lamb being led to the slaughter. But despite all the agony and all the suffering and all the seeming defeat, Jesus will be victorious, but not in a shallow earthly political sense, but in a cosmic and eternal sense. He will die a real death for the sins of the world, but he will raise from death to life, proving that the payment for the penalty of sin was paid in full for those who would trust in him. Now these disciples couldn’t possibly understand exactly what Jesus was referring to here with this death and resurrection. But eventually, they would come to figure out that Jesus was not a political prince,

but the king of creation, a suffering servant. Now typically when people speak about death, it has a way of sobering people, kind of snapping you back into reality. When someone is laying on a deathbed and mentions that their life is about to come to an end, it has a way of silencing the room. Typically what happens is that the people in the room become emotionally overwhelmed. Tears begin to blur their vision. Emotions hinder their speech, and memories quickly play out in their mind. The sudden realization of a coming death brings to focus all the feelings of love that they’ve had for that person, and their heart floods with unspeakable sadness. If you’ve experienced it, then you know that this is what it’s like. But these disciples, upon hearing in vivid detail the coming betrayal of Jesus, the extreme torture that he’ll face, his agony, his mockery, his suffering, and his ultimate death, two

The Prosperity Gospel

of the disciples pass over it as if it’s no big deal. In fact, they’re so emotionally disengaged that they choose to exploit this discussion on death as an opportunity to secure their prosperity. And we see that in verses 35 through 40 with the prosperity gospel. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. Now imagine for a second a father telling his grown children that he’s got two days left. And immediately, without skipping a beat, one of the children blurts out, you know, I’m curious, Dad, have you filled out your will? Have you made all the necessary arrangements concerning the financial affairs? And I’m just curious because I want to know how much money I’m going to get out of the deal. I mean, is it going to be split three ways or two ways?

Because you know Michael hasn’t really spoken to anyone in the family for at least 10 years, so he should be cut out of it. By the way, when was the last time you got the house appraised? Do you think the market’s stable enough for us to sell the house now, or should we just hold on to it, build enough equity, and then sell it? Imagine saying that. This would be horrifically insensitive and totally inappropriate to ask these questions moments after they hear the news of their dad’s coming death. But here you have John and James doing something similar. Not only was their request ridiculous, but their timing was horrible and grossly insensitive. They ask this immediately following Jesus’s prediction of death while they’re walking up to the place of his death. In this moment, these two men care nothing about what lies ahead for Jesus.

They only care about what’s in it for them. I do find it fascinating that James and John call Jesus teacher here, because it’s obvious that they failed to rightly understand all that Jesus has been teaching them about humility and selflessness. And you see, this is one of the biggest problems when it comes to the prosperity gospel. The people who subscribe to this prosperity gospel, the people who follow this, they never really read their Bibles, so they too fail to understand all that Jesus taught about humility and selflessness, and more to the point, the fleeting riches of this world. But look at how Jesus responds to them in verse 36. He says to them, what do you want me to do for you? And this just shows you the kindness of Jesus. They approach him with this poorly timed, insensitive, and obviously loaded question, with this request for kind of a blank check, and Jesus gently responds, what exactly do

you have in mind, dear brothers? In verse 37, and they said to him, grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory. So here we see what’s behind the question for a blank check. It’s a request that’s baked in pride, position, platform, prominence, but really what lies underneath their request is ultimately prosperity. They want the goods. They want the glory. In their mind, they’ve paid dues, they’ve followed Jesus, they feel like they deserve something for that. After all, they’ve given up their careers as fishermen, for them was a good business. They’re willing to make that sacrifice to give up their job to get a bit of glory in the end. You see, that was nothing more than a momentary shift in a career. They saw this as upward mobility. And you see, I think what this reveals is that these two guys don’t actually believe

that Jesus is going to die when they get to Jerusalem. Maybe they think Jesus will eventually die, but not right away, obviously not right before he establishes his earthly kingdom. And this further pushes the reality that they really believe Jesus was going to Jerusalem to be a political Messiah who would rule over Rome in glory, and they wanted to share some of that glory. So they ask, let us sit at your right hand, let us sit at your left hand, we don’t care which one, either one of us. They want to sit in the seat reserved for honor. Now, just a little observation here that I think is interesting, in Matthew’s account of this story, the mother of James and John approached Jesus with their request as well. And this just shows you the kind of family dynamics at play here. Obviously, James and John come from a very ambitious family, so that even the mother

is seeking status and a position of influence for her boys. They’re hard-working boys, Jesus. They deserve it. You know, this would be a check for us on how we raise our children. Are we raising children to be this very power-hungry, ambitious kind of people, or are we raising servants? But in verse 38, Jesus said to them, you do not know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, we are able. So Jesus was absolutely right. When he said, you don’t know what you’re asking, he was right, and their response only proves it. Either they thought Jesus was referencing this cup and this baptism as some sort of language for a pre-war event, and if that was the case, then their response was like, yeah, let’s go.

You know, these guys were not afraid to fight. Jesus referred to these guys as the sons of thunder. These were scrappers, so they weren’t worried about it. Or either they thought Jesus was referencing, you know, the cup as some sort of celebration feast and an actual baptism, but in both cases, they were very wrong. The cup of Jesus, the cup that he’s referring to was the cup of suffering. We’ll eventually get to this in Mark’s gospel, but when Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, sweating drops of blood because of the overwhelming stress and anxiety for his coming death, he prays, Father, if possible, pass this cup from me. If possible, if there’s another way, take away all this suffering that I must endure for our people.

This suffering is so intense, he drops sweat of blood. That’s because this suffering is the full weight of God’s wrath for humanity that will be poured out on Jesus. And the baptism that Jesus is referring to here is not the baptism that he experienced with John the Baptist. It’s the wave of agony and death that will wash over Jesus in the crucifixion. These two had no clue what they were asking. Verse 39, and Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you will drink. And with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. So Jesus, knowing that they had no clue about the cup and the baptism with what Jesus was referring to, tells them, actually, you will drink the cup, and you will be baptized. James and John, in the moment, were clueless, but I’m certain that Jesus’ words here eventually

reverberated in their hearts when they actually did drink from the cup of suffering and faced the baptism of agony and death. You know, Jesus, knowing exactly what would happen to these arrogant men in the moment, could have said, oh, you want to drink the cup? Oh, you want to be baptized, right? Okay, great. James, you die first. John, you die last. Because that’s exactly how it plays out. James would indeed be the first apostle to die. He suffers. He’s eventually martyred sometime around 44 AD. He’s beheaded by King Herod. And John is the last of the disciples to die. He suffers decades and is eventually banished to the criminal island of Patmos, where he dies. So both will suffer and die. Both drink from the cup and are baptized in his death. But listen, the compassionate Jesus, the kind Jesus omits the details of their coming suffering

and ultimately withholds from them what awaits John and James for following Jesus. Not once did Jesus swiftly rebuke them for such an outlandish request. They come to him in arrogance, and Jesus is kind and gentle. He tells them, you have no idea what you’re asking. Furthermore, your request to be seated at my right hand or my left hand, I can’t give you. I don’t make that call. We see that in verse 40, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. The father from eternity past has already worked out those details. That’s not part of Jesus’s ministry role. Jesus has come to die and to rise for the sins of his people. The father has predetermined those details. It’s already worked out. Now listen, the sentiment of status sought by James and John and even their mom, it’s

not unique to them. All of the disciples felt this way, and you see that in verse 41. And when the 10 heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. You see, the other disciples are not upset because John and James would bring such a ridiculous request to Jesus. They’re upset because John and James got there first. See, at this point in the narrative, this is their MO, all the disciples. We’ve seen this pattern pretty consistently. All of them have been proudly gunning for position. Remember a few weeks ago, we talked about how they were discussing among themselves about who would be the greatest. Remember when they were arrogantly trying to stop this man from casting out a demon because that person wasn’t part of their crew. We just saw a couple of weeks ago that they were blocking children from coming to Jesus

because they view children as less important than they are. This is a very proud bunch of dudes, but listen, the cup of suffering and pain has a way of humbling the most prideful of people. All of these men eventually drank from the cup of suffering and were brought low and changed as a result of it. You see, it was in their suffering where God produced all of their godliness and all of their contentment, all of their ministry boldness and their joy. Now, this doesn’t make any sense on a human level. None of that sounds like it would work, but it is the beautiful mystery of God’s handiwork through suffering. Now listen, this more often than not is how God works on us. Suffering makes us better Christians. Suffering pushes us into deeper dependence and a richer closeness with Jesus. Look at the mature Christians in this church and you will see the breadcrumbs of extreme

suffering and pain. This is what God uses to grow our faith and maturity in him. And you see, this is quite opposite from the prosperity gospel and what these prosperity gospel preachers preach. God is not some utilitarian genie granting our greatest desires and wishes. We are clay being molded in the hands of God through trials, pain, and suffering. This is how it works. Now listen, some of us have come to Jesus because we were told that God had a wonderful plan for our life. Some of us in some degree or fashion came to Jesus because we were told that we would experience comfort, happiness, a better life, or health. And so some of us came to Jesus precisely because we wanted to avoid suffering at all cost. But then we quickly found out that following Jesus is harder than we initially thought. We found that pursuing Jesus was not easy or comfortable.

In fact, most of us, for most people, our lives got harder. We began to suffer immediately. But it was through that suffering where we really met Jesus, where we eventually came to realize that Jesus is enough, that he is a God of comfort. We experience that comfort in the most tangible way precisely when we suffer. See, the prosperity gospel gets one thing right, that if you come to Jesus, you will be richly blessed. But as we prayed this morning, that rich blessing comes from the realization that Jesus himself is the greatest blessing, that he is our greatest joy and our greatest treasure, and that we will spiritually prosper most profoundly when our pride and our self-sufficiency is stripped away through the providence of pain. Now, I don’t know practically how that works, but all I know is that it works. You see, Jesus knows that these disciples and us are very proud and that they were consistently

in pursuit of greatness. And with all the teaching from Jesus, with all the time that they’ve followed Jesus, they have completely missed the point of following Jesus, that it’s not about them. It’s not about their greatness. It’s not about their platform or their position. It’s not about them sitting at the right hand or the left hand of God. It’s not about them receiving glory. It’s all about Jesus and his glory. Trinity Church, listen to me. This is important for you to hear. This life is not about you. It’s not about your greatness or your platform or your power. It’s not about your influence or your success, your position or status, or even your prosperity. It’s all about Jesus. It’s all about his glory. Are you living like that? Do you know that? Can I ask you this morning, who is at the center of your universe?

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The Proper Gospel

Is it you or is it King Jesus, the one to whom all glory belongs to? The sooner you realize that your life is all about Jesus, the quicker you will find freedom from the tyranny of self-exaltation and pride, which is precisely what these disciples were so entangled in. You quickly realize that the chief end of mankind is to glorify God, and when you realize that, you can enjoy him forever. Verse 42, And Jesus called to him and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Jesus pushes his disciples into this issue of power and greatness. These disciples, in the moment, were ultimately seeking to use their connection with Jesus, those in the inner circle, as a means to attain a certain level of greatness and power. We all know this routine very well.

This is part of the human condition. When someone is great or has exceptional power, they typically use it to lord over people. They use their power to push people down, to make other people their servants, to build themselves up, to be perceived as better than other people. This is mostly true for humanity, and this is definitely true in our social influence celebrity world culture. Jesus points them to the pagans as an object lesson. Essentially, Jesus tells them, You know the Romans, the ones you want me to go to war with? They lord over the Gentiles with heavy hands. They use power and greatness to abuse and coerce people. They use their power and greatness to oppress people and push them down. They desire to be great, ultimately, because they’re thirsty for power. But Jesus says in verse 43, But it shall not be so among you.

It may not be this way with the people of God. It must not be this way for God’s people. This is not what the people of God do with greatness and power. Jesus is telling his disciples, I know this is how the world works, and I know that’s how your mind is oriented, but the people of God who rise to power and prominence are not to function that way. We don’t do that. That’s the opposite of how my kingdom works. We use power, and we use our prominence to push people up, to lift them up, to build them up. Look at the second half of verse 43. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. You see, greatness is not defined by ambition and by power-hungry people. Greatness in God’s economy is defined by service and sacrifice.

This is how God’s upside-down kingdom works. Everything is upside-down. We become better Christians when we suffer deeply. We use our power to build people up. We find freedom through being enslaved to Christ. We live by dying to ourselves. We receive honor through humiliation. We lead by being servants of all. Traditionally speaking, this is crazy, especially in our world, but this is the way of Jesus. This is the way of Jesus. In fact, Jesus himself says in verse 45, for even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus is the ultimate example of servant leadership. The greatest one, the most excellent one, the creator and sustainer of the universe, the one who deserved to be served, did not come to be served but to serve his created ones. The very ones who would mock him, spit on him, flog him, crucify him, and kill him.

He has come to serve. He does not come as a military messiah to destroy his enemies. He comes as a suffering servant to die for his enemies. Listen, all of us have sinned against this great and holy God, and because of that, we rightly deserve his wrath. We deserve to die for the sins that we’ve committed against him. The Bible is clear. The wages of sin is death. And the only escape from this death is if someone pays that debt. And this is precisely what Jesus has come to do, to serve us with his life. The author of life gives his very life as a ransom for sinners. Even though we deserve to die because of our sin and because of our unrighteousness, our sinless Jesus comes. He comes to us and dies for us and declares us righteous. You see, brothers and sisters, this is the proper gospel.

This is precisely why it’s so powerful and compelling, and it’s powerful on its own in its beautiful simplicity. This is what makes the gospel so powerful and mysterious, is that we’ve done nothing to earn it, but we received it freely through Jesus’s sacrifice, through his ransom. This should put to death all of our notions of greatness. Our great God died for us. This should put to death all of our sinful desires for power and for platform. This should reorient our thinking concerning this world and its fleeting treasures. The God who made us, loved us enough, came to this earth, died for our sins so that we might be saved. So that whatever we face in this world, whether it be suffering or political turmoil, we can know with certainty that we have a great servant king, Jesus, who is our greatest treasure in this life and in the life to come.

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This is the God that we serve. The king of all creation who came in humiliation to lay his life down for sinners as a ransom. Let’s pray. Father, you are consistently turning our world right side up. So many things in this world we’ve gotten backwards, and we are thankful for the power of your word and for the power of your gospel that not only reorients our thinking but changes us. Your gospel changes us because it’s mighty and it’s powerful. Your word helps us to live more like Jesus. And so we pray this morning, Father, that you would strip us from all of our attempts to trust in policy, in presidents, or prosperity, that we would trust only in the life, death, and resurrection because it is there where real power is found, where your life-giving words are found, where you will take hearts of stone and turn them to hearts of flesh,

where you will bring us into your everlasting kingdom. And I pray for those here this morning who do not know you, who have been so confused about your gospel because of how so many people have deluded it, confused it. I pray, God, that this morning as they heard the proper gospel, they would bend their hearts and their knees to King Jesus, that they would embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior, that they would be confronted with the true and living God this morning, that you would turn their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. May we see the power of your gospel at work this morning in the hearts of unbelievers. We pray these things in Christ’s name, amen.