{"id":3676,"date":"2023-12-01T15:09:31","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T15:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/?p=3676"},"modified":"2023-12-01T15:09:31","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T15:09:31","slug":"advent-jesus-came-to-ransom-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/2023\/12\/01\/advent-jesus-came-to-ransom-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent: Jesus Came to Ransom You"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c<\/sup><\/strong>For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many\u201d (Mark 10:45).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why did Jesus, the Son of God, come to earth over two-thousand years ago? That is the question we should always ask, but it is especially fresh on our minds in the Advent season. And we also can\u2019t ask about Jesus\u2019 first advent without also looking ahead to his second advent. Nevertheless, we must first ask, \u201cWhy did Jesus come, the first<\/em> time? What did he come to do?\u201d According Mark 10:45, Jesus came to serve<\/em> and to give his life as a ransom<\/em>. That answer should shock us and move us to worship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What Jesus Did Not Come To Do<\/em><\/p>\n

In this Mark 10:45, Jesus first notes what he did not<\/em> come to do. Jesus says he did not<\/em> come \u201cto be served,\u201d or we could translate it, \u201cto be ministered to.\u201d His ultimate purpose in coming was not<\/em> for himself<\/em>. It was not<\/em> for his receiving of anything\u2014any act of service, any act of generosity, any meeting of a particular need, any honor\u2014from us<\/em>. This is shocking considering who he is.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Shock Factor<\/em><\/p>\n

In this verse, Jesus\u2019 self-proclaimed identity makes his not being served all the more jarring. Jesus identifies himself as the Son of Man<\/em>. Jesus\u2019 chosen moniker refers to the \u201cone like a son of man\u201d who comes to YHWH, the Ancient of Days, and receives from him all \u201cdominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples should serve<\/em> him\u201d (Daniel 7:13\u201314). Jesus is the promised divine king. And yet, according to the king himself, Jesus, he did not come to us in his first advent to be served. Why then did he come? What did he come to do?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What Jesus Did Come To Do: Serve and Die<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus says he did not come to be served. Rather, he came to do just the opposite. He came to serve, to minister, to give<\/em>. Notice Jesus does not separate his serving<\/em> from his giving<\/em>. His giving is what defines the nature of his serving. What does he give? He gives his life.<\/em> He came to die<\/em>. Again, given who he is, this too should shock us. And it should shock us even more than his not serving.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Greater Shock Factor<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus the divine king of Daniel 7:13\u201314 will have an everlasting kingdom\u2014\u201chis dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.\u201d How can the kingdom be everlasting if the king himself is not everlasting? How can the kingdom not be destroyed if the king himself is seemingly destroyed in death? Nevertheless, Jesus, the supposed everlasting divine king of an everlasting kingdom, says that he came to die. More specifically, he came to die as a ransom for many<\/em>. The nature of this ransom should move us to worship and will ultimately culminate in our worship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jesus Came to Ransom You<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many<\/em>. If Jesus is the divine king, then he must have a kingdom made up of people<\/em>\u2014\u201cAnd to him was given\u2026a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages<\/em> should serve him.\u201d What is it that holds his people captive that Jesus the king would need to give his life as a ransom? Exodus 30:11\u201316 notes that every individual in God\u2019s kingdom of Israel had to give a ransom<\/em> to make atonement for his life. They did this so \u201cthat there be no plague among them\u201d (Exodus 30:12). God\u2019s people are enslaved to and under the curse of sin and death and the object of God\u2019s just wrath. The only way God\u2019s people can be in his kingdom with him is if a ransom<\/em> is paid so that their sin is atoned. Jesus says that he, the divine king, came to pay this ransom. And he came to pay it not with coin or animal offering, but with the inestimable value of his infinitely, perfectly righteous life. Jesus became the curse of sin, wore the plague fully on the cross, and died his peoples\u2019 death to satisfy God\u2019s wrath completely\u2014to pay the ransom of your life in order to deliver you from the curse of sin. And then Jesus by virtue of his perfect sinless life, rose from the grave, defeating death and thereby purchasing his people not only from sin but also snatching them from the jaws of death. He is the divine king who is everlasting, who is not destroyed by death but is rather the destroyer of death. He lives forever, and his people will live forever in his presence worshiping and enjoying him in all his beauty and glory.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus’ Second Advent<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus came to serve by giving his life as a ransom for many, including you. He traded his perfectly righteous life for your completely sinful life. He paid the price of your debt and subsequently becomes your only viable asset. He is your ransom. This is why Jesus came the first time<\/em>. So if this is the reason for Jesus\u2019 first advent, what does his second advent look like? I think it looks something like what we see in Isaiah 35 and Revelation 22.<\/p>\n

“They shall see the glory of the LORD<\/span>, the majesty of our God\u2026Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the reward<\/em> of God. He will come and save you\u2026And the ransomed<\/em> of the LORD<\/span> shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away\u2026They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their lights, and they will reign forever and ever” (Isaiah 35:2, 4, 10; Revelation 22:4\u20135).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remembering Jesus\u2019 First Advent, Looking to Jesus\u2019 Second Advent<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus the divine king came the first time to ransom you by giving his life. Jesus the divine king will come again to reign with you as your king forever. This is why Jesus came. This is what we remember and this is what we look forward to this Advent season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFor even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many\u201d (Mark 10:45).   Why did Jesus,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,15],"tags":[109,296,2880,2879,1284,2881],"class_list":["post-3676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-devotions","tag-advent","tag-christmas","tag-first-advent","tag-mark-1045","tag-ransom","tag-second-advent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3676"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3679,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions\/3679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}