A RANSOM FOR MANY

Scripture: Mark 10:35-45

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."

Mark 10:45

Both Matthew & Mark, in their gospels, record a request made to Jesus that James & John have a place of prominence, at his right & left in glory. In Matthew's account, it is their mother that makes the request on her sons' behalf, but I think that we can assume that the idea first came from the sons. In any case, the reply of Jesus is the same. He says, "You don't know what you are asking . Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with ? " "We can," they confidently reply, although it is certain that they had no idea what Jesus meant. But Jesus continues, "You will drink the cup and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared ."

It's quite obvious that these men are looking for the crown before the cross. In the course of history, many of them will die a martyr's death.. But first, they must receive a hard lesson on what the cross is all about. Their proud, selfish request provides an opportunity for Jesus to teach them. "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them ...(but) not so with you. Instead, anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 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." (Mark 10:42-45)

First , let's look at this word translated as...

Ransom

The Greek word means literally "something to loosen with".The word "wrench" immediately comes to my mind & that is certainly the meaning for as those who have been redeemed - which is , by the way, another meaning of the word - the redeemed have been wrenched away from the grasp and power of Satan. And there is a price to be paid for redemption, that price being the blood of Jesus. Paul writes to the Corinthian, warning them against the lure of sexual immorality: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in, whom you have received from God ? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honour God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19,20)

And Peter ,in the same vein, speaks of a price being paid for our redemption: " Since you call on a Father who judges each man's works impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear . F or you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake."( 1 Peter 1:18-20)

And Paul, in his farewell speech to the elders at Ephesus tells them to " be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood." (Acts 20:28) The wonderful story of redemption through the Lamb is proclaimed throughout the Scriptures & in Revelation 5 we have this song to the Lamb: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." (Revelation 5: 9,10)

Jesus is the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world, for as we have already seen, the cross was not just an evil plot on the part of sinners to get rid of the only perfectly sinless person on earth. No, it was in the plan of God from the very beginning, when our first parents Adam & Eve fell from grace. This redemption was such a great & thrilling concept that, in English at least, we have created a new word ....that word is ...

ATONEMENT

It contains the verb to atone & that, in turn, is made up of the words: at & one. Thus , atonement is being made "at one". This atonement involves redemption, reconciliation, being both brought back to God & bought back by God or brought into tune with him , harmonized with him and justified before him. Thus atonement combines all of the concepts in God's great plan of redemption So let's look first at ...

OLD TESTAMENT ATONEMENT

The basic meaning for the Hebrew word we translate as "atone " is

to cover, to expiate or condone, placate or cancel, appease, make an atonement for, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, pitch, purge (away), put off , reconcile .The word "atonement" has also been traced back to the word for wipe & both meanings may go back to the word "rub". This suggests the transference of sin to another, as in the use of an eraser, the marks that we want to remove are actually transferred to the eraser. Thus the idea of substitution , or somebody taking our place is clearly seen, as in the case of the scape goat of Leviticus 16, or the suffering servant in Isaiah 53:6 upon whom the LORD has laid the iniquity of us all.

We must not forget that covering sin does not mean hiding it. It has to be dealt with. It cannot, as we say today, be swept under the carpet. Somebody has to pay. This is an important point to remember as we look at the New Testament idea of the ransom. The Psalmist waxes eloquent in speaking of the removal of sin: "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."( Psalm 103: 11;12). Several different verbs are used to stress this important point. Our sins are carried away, erased, blotted out. Micah ,for example, at the end of his prophecy , underlines God's great forgiveness. "Who is a God like you ," he asks , "who pardons sin and forgives the transgression ...of his inheritance ? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea."( Micah 7:18,19) We wonder how we can dispose of nuclear waste & other contaminants, but God solved a much more serious problem, that is how to get rid of sin. We have already seen that covering sin does not mean hiding it. How does he dealt with it ?

An incident in the Old Testament that teaches us the importance of a covering for sin is found in the slaying of Abel by his brother Cain. After, the foul deed, Cain is asked , "Where is your brother Abel ? " "I don't know," he replies, "am I my brother's keeper ? " Little did he know it, but his brother's blood could not be hidden. In fact, God told him that his brother's blood cried out from the ground." The author of Hebrews seizes upon this incident to make a very important point. He writes that " by faith Abel offered unto God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offering. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. " (Hebrews 11:4)

Charles Wesley almost certainly had this passage in mind when he wrote:

"All ye that pass by, To Jesus draw nigh,

To you is it nothing that Jesus should die ?

Your ransom & peace, Your surety He is,

Come see if there ever was sorrow like his ?

His death is my plea; My advocate see,

And hear the blood speak that has answered for me:

He purchased the grace which now I embrace,

O Father, Thou know'st he hath died in my place."

It is interesting, in this regard, to look at the colours of the Bible . Any of you who have worked with children. Have no doubt used the wordless book or the gospel glove. The colours are black, representing sin, red for the cross or the blood of Christ, white for cleansing and gold for heaven, but the Bible nowhere talks about our sins being black. It may come as a surprise that in Isaiah 1:18 our sins are red. It is there that God extends this invitation: "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. " And we thought that white-out was invented in the late twentieth century ! They had it back in Isaiah's day & before that. One hymn writer exclaims, "Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe; sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow." (Elvina M. Hall 1820-1889) And the same truth are presented as we look at .....

ATONEMENT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Those ideas that were foreshadowed in the Old Testament are now fulfilled & made clear in the New. The Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word for atonement is not widely used , but when it is , it coveys the idea of being reconciled or harmonized with God, i.e. it's the result rather than the act being made right with God or experienced peace with God. Both the ideas of peace with God and his righteousness being transferred to us are clearly seen in 2 Corinthians 5:21: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us that we might the righteousness of God." And in Romans 5:11 we read that we "rejoice in God through whom we have now received reconciliation." And James writes that "if anyone should wander from the truth & someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death & cover over a multitude of sins. "( James 5:19,20)

There are at least two interesting words here: (1) The first is the verb to wander. It the word that gives us our English word planet. For those who gazed into the heavens noticed that some heavenly bodies "wandered". They were called planets.

In the spiritual life, it is all too easy to wander from the truth. It may be some new teaching or it could be falling into sin, but we are told that the one who brings the wanderer back will actually save a soul from death & shall cover over a multitude of sins. The word used here is the opposite of apocalypse which means an unveiling but through forgiveness our sins can be covered over, not in the sense of being glossed but atoned for.

Remember how Charles Wesley talked about the blood speaking ? Well, he means , of course, the blood of Christ .The writer of Hebrews tells his readers that, "you have come to God. , the judge of all ...(and) to the spirits of (the) righteous ...made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant , and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." (Hebrews 12:23,24) The blood of Abel cried out from the ground of the ugly reality of sin. It spoke as well of death. Cain had beat upon Abel so violently that he killed him..Years later , Jesus was left to die on a Roman cross. And once more, the blood bore witness to the horrible reality of our separation from God through sin. But it spoke also, for those who believed in him of forgiveness & love. Wesley and a host of others have heard the blood speak that has answered for us. To return to his hymn, there are two more verses that tell of the blood that speaks on our behalf.:

" He dies to atone for sins not his own

Your debt he hath paid, and your work he hath done;

Ye all may receive the peace he did leave,

Who made intercession, ' My father forgive.'

For you and for me he died on the tree;

The prayer is accepted, the sinner is free.

The sinner am I , who on Jesus rely,

And come for the pardon God cannot deny."

James & John were looking for recognition. They wanted to be served rather than serve, but Jesus, in sharp contrast gives them a foretaste of what is yet to come, "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."We read that when the ten heard the request of James & John, they became angry with them, but they were no doubt just as guilty of seeking the crown before taking up the cross.

They with ourselves must seek the mind of Christ. "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God

something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself

and became obedient to death - even death on the cross !

The verses that follow speak of Jesus' exaltation. That's the Easter message and the message of his ascension to the right hand of the Father. Today we look at the ransom he paid to set us free. Are you free ? Have you been redeemed ? Easter means nothing if you have not really come to understand what Jesus has done for on the cross. As we bow together in prayer, let us ask ourselves these important questions and be sure of our relationship to Christ.

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