Mark 10:45
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus spoke this verse because his disciples were quarrelling. The quarrel started in 10:35 when two of his disciples, James and John who were brothers, asked to sit on Jesus’ right and left when Jesus becomes king. When the other ten disciples heard of this request, they became angry. Perhaps they were thinking: “Who do they (James and John) think they are, that they are worthy to be Jesus’ most important people?” The other disciples too wanted to be sitting on Jesus’ right and left side, that is, to be the most important people or greatest people in his kingdom by holding positions of high authority. To this quarrel, Jesus replies: “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be the first must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44).
The path to greatness is lowliness. We are only great and important people if God regards us as great. God’s criterion is not the same as the world.
As Jesus explains, in the world, the greatest person is someone who exercises authority over another person (Mark 10:42). God, however, regards a person as being great only when he becomes a servant to everyone. If you want to be great in God’s eternal kingdom, you must a servant at heart and at work. Are you very particular that people honour you? Then you are not a servant. Are you unwilling to do things that make you feel lowly? Then you are not a servant. The converse is true: when you lower down yourself for others, human beings may not give you honour. Do not feel insulted or discouraged. If you serve others for God’s sake, God regards you as a great man or woman. Then, you are truly great. This was what happened to Jesus too: he suffered extreme humiliation and pain at the cross for others, that they may be saved. God later raised him from the dead to a position the highest glory.
2 Corinthians 4:5
“For what we preach is not ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” This verse tells us not only the content of Paul’s preaching but also Paul’s objective in life: to preach Jesus Christ. Preaching Jesus Christ is not only about words. To preach Jesus requires Paul to be servants, that is, to serve others. We study hard to obtain good results,, and work hard to earn a living. These are our responsibilities in life. However, these are not our ultimate objectives in life. Like Paul, our goal in life should be to tell others about Jesus and the love and salvation that he brings to humankind. To achieve goal, it requires us not only to use our mouths to share about Jesus. We also need to deny ourselves to serve others.
To better understand this verse, we need to look at the preceding context in 2 Cor 4:4: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.” Paul was explaining why some people reject him and the gospel he preaches: they are blind to Jesus Christ and hence blind to Paul’s gospel. Thus, when we serve God in telling people about Jesus, we will also face oppositions as Paul did too.