Matthew 20:28a indicates that in His earthly ministry Christ served people: “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.” He, of course, served God. He served people by doing such things as healing them and feeding them. For example, His feeding the five thousand in John 6 was a great service rendered to them. The Lord Jesus also served the disciples when He washed their feet (John 13:1-38).
The Gospel of Mark emphasizes Christ’s serving in His earthly ministry. Mark’s intention is to impress us with the Lord’s excellent deeds in His gospel service, providing more detail than the other Gospels in order to portray Christ’s diligence, faithfulness, and other virtues in the saving service He rendered to sinners for God. While Christ’s diligence in labor, His need of food and rest (Mark 3:20-21; 6:31), His anger (3:5), His groaning (7:34), and His affection (10:21) display beautifully His humanity in its virtue and perfection, His lordship (2:28), His omniscience (2:8), His miraculous power, His authority to cast out demons (1:27; 3:15), to forgive sins (2:7, 10), and to silence the wind and the sea (4:39) manifest in full His deity, even as He served people. Such a One served sinners as their Savior, with His life as their ransom (10:45), for the fulfillment of the eternal purpose of God.
In Luke 19:1-10 we have the case of Christ’s seeking and saving Zaccheus, a lost sinner. Zaccheus, a chief tax collector, was an isolated person. He was despised by the Jewish community and was even more isolated than a leper. Nevertheless, in front of a large crowd the Lord Jesus said to him, “Today I must stay in your house” (v. 5). Although the Lord did not say much to Zaccheus, Zaccheus responded in a very strong way, recognizing Him as his Lord: “Behold, the half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusations, I restore four times as much” (v. 8). This was the spontaneous issue of the dynamic power of the Lord’s salvation. This salvation is actually the Lord Himself. In verse 5 He says, “I must stay in your house,” but in verse 9 He says, “Salvation has come to this house.” The “I” in verse 5 equals “salvation” in verse 9, indicating that salvation is actually Christ Himself. When He comes, salvation comes.
In Luke 19:10 the Lord Jesus says, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.” Here we see that Zaccheus was not only a sinner but also that he was lost. The Savior came to Jericho purposely to seek and to save such a lost one. The Lord stayed in Zaccheus’ house in order to save this lost sinner.
In 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul declares, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Christ came into the world to be our Savior by incarnation (John 1:14). He was God incarnated to be a man so that He may save us through His death and resurrection in His human body. This should be constantly announced as the gospel, the glad tidings, in the local churches.
Another aspect of Christ’s earthly ministry was His shining upon the people in darkness and the shadow of death. At the beginning of His ministry He went to Galilee of the nations. Matthew 4:16 says, “The people sitting in darkness saw a great light, and to those sitting in a region and shadow of death, to them light sprang up.” Here we see that Christ’s ministry did not begin with earthly power but with heavenly light. This light was actually Christ Himself as the light of life (John 8:12) shining in the shadow of death.
When the Lord began His ministry as light, He made no display of power or authority. Rather, He walked on the seashore as a common person. But when He contacted people by the Sea of Galilee, He shined upon them like a great light shining in the darkness and in a region and shadow of death. At His birth He was a little star, but in His ministry He became a great light. As such a great light, He went to Galilee to shine upon the people in darkness and in the shadow of death.
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