Bible Discussion Thread

Mark 10:45 talks about Christ coming not to be served but to serve and giving His life as a ransom for many. This is also quoted in Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45. This theme again is played out through His preaching to the masses as we saw in the last posting; or to His Disciples. Service goes beyond Him being a "Cosmic Vending Machine" however ( John 6:26). What people needed was salvation of their souls resulting from forgiveness of sins; and He would emphasize this when performing His miracles even though His own life was threatened. He knew of course that He couldn't be touched until His time had come; and while He was on the earth His 12 Disciples also were protected; which we see when the soldiers came to arrest Him in Gethsemene. He was there to rebuke Peter when necessary and even offered what was considered the choice sop to Judas Iscariot before His betrayal. Unlike us as mortal men Jesus had us on His mind even facing death on a cross the next day; praying for all those who would come to Him eventually being as one; and as I mentioned before for Mary his mother to have John look after her as a mother showing that Joseph was almost certainly deceased at this time. He even reached out to the repentant criminal on the cross next to Him when dying assuring he would be with Him in paradise. Luke 23:34 is the ultimate forgiveness to those who didn't know what they were doing.

Part of service and having others as a priority over our own needs is taking time out for prayer. Jesus prayed all night before picking His 12 Disciples and this wasn't the only time He did this. Communicating with His Father in heaven was a constant ongoing process as He only said what the Father told Him ( John 12:49 etal). Service therefore for the Christian must involve a commitment of time not only for prayer for others but for ourselves; He may have been restricted while on earth to live as one of us but prayed to focus on God how much more should we seek Him?