The Son of Man - a Ransom for Many

Driving home: The way to greatness is the way of voluntary service. The way to primacy is the way of voluntary servitude, even to becoming a slave of all.

The compound verbs describing Gentile rulers 'lording it down upon them' are likened to men climbing over others to reach the top of a pyramid and then pressing down for personal advantage, illustrating worldly leadership.

The compound verbs giving the idea that men climb over their fellow men to places of prominence. And when they've reached the top of the pyramid, they press down upon those beneath them using their positions of authority for personal advantage. And our Lord, simply asserts that that is common knowledge of how things operate in the Gentile or the pagan world. Then in verse 43, having made that assertion, he pronounces a negation.

5:55 - 6:33 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The way to greatness is the way of voluntary service. The way to primacy is the way of voluntary servitude, even to becoming a slave of all.

The concept of greatness through voluntary service and primacy through servitude is described as standing the pyramid of power upside down, contrasting with the world's view.

That is, making yourself available with no claims and rights, purposing to minister to others for their good, the standing of the pyramid upside down. The way to greatness and primacy is the way of service to all. And then he concludes with giving the supreme illustration of the principles by which leadership is attained and exercised in his kingdom by referring to himself.

7:46 - 8:25 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains that Jesus' self-designation as 'Son of Man' (used 78 times in the Gospels) signifies his identity as the divine-human Messianic King, drawing on Mark 14 and…

Martin recommends William Hendrickson's commentary on Matthew as a profitable resource for studying the significance of the title 'Son of Man' for a Lord's Day afternoon study.

Now there are some seventy-eight instances in the Gospels in which Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man. Fourteen of them are found in Mark's Gospel. Fourteen times Mark records our Lord as designating himself as the Son of Man. Now for any of you who would love to spend a very profitable Lord's Day afternoon, tracing out the significance of this title of our Lord used some seventy-eight times by himself in the Gospels,

11:09 - 11:54 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The most fundamental question as we come to this that is the heart of the text is what is a ransom Jesus said the heart of my mission is bound up in the concept of giving my life a ransom what then is a ransom and the mo…

The concept of ransom is illustrated by securing the release of a slave from a master or a prisoner from prison by paying a demanded price, clarifying the core meaning of the term.

a ransom what then is a ransom and the most basic concept is simply this the securing of release by the payment of a price if there were a slave who was owned by a certain master and you desired to secure his freedom from slavery and the master demanded a certain price when you paid that price someone would have said of you that you ransomed the slave by the payment of a price you released him from bondage

33:25 - 34:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Master this text (Mark 10:45) to be able to expound it to your children, neighbors, and those who deny the need for a ransom, understanding its distillation of major biblical doctrines.

The phrase 'give his life' is contrasted with merely 'giving one's life for a cause' (like the poor), emphasizing that Jesus meant his actual violent death, not just selfless service.

I'm on my way to Jerusalem at Jerusalem I will be rejected I will be handed over to the Gentiles I will be spat upon I will be scourged I will be killed and I will rise again or be raised again for our Lord to say give his life it did not mean merely to give his life in selfless service we say that man gave his life for the cause of the poor what do we mean we meant he said he spent his energy spent his money spent his time exerted his influence for the poor and there's a sense in which that's proper to say that but in the context Jesus is not saying

37:05 - 37:48 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If the doctrinal roots are not continually breaking out in the glorious fruits of conformity to Christ, you do not have biblical religion. You have mere notional religion.

Martin shares that he finds comfort when criticized simultaneously for being 'too heavy and doctrinal' and 'too picky and practical,' seeing it as an indication of doing something right according to biblical principles.

And just as surely as all true Christian practice ultimately rests upon true Christian doctrine, all true Christian doctrine, when understood and believingly embraced, will flower in Christian practice. And it's a real comfort to me when we get criticized at one and the same time for being altogether too heavy and doctrinal and being altogether too picky and practical. And as long as those both guns are aimed at us, I say, hallelujah, Lord, we must be doing something right.

55:42 - 56:17 Read in full sermon

The point: Test your religion by asking: What place does Christ crucified have in your religion? Is he the Son of Man, the God-Man, whose mission is to give his life a ransom for sinners?

The text is presented as a 'touchstone,' a test or criterion for determining whether something is genuine, specifically for evaluating the authenticity of one's professed biblical religion.

A touchstone is the test or criterion for determining whether something is genuine. And this text constitutes the touchstone of all professed biblical religion. In the center of saving religion is Christ. And at the heart of the mission of Christ is a ransom.

56:38 - 56:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Unless you are found under the benefits of the ransom of Christ, you are lost and undone, and all your good works and 'brownie points' will be useless on the day of judgment.

Martin illustrates the futility of relying on good works (like collecting for charity or doing 'lovely things') for salvation on the day of judgment, contrasting them with the necessity of Christ's ransom.

The day is coming when this whole world is going to rock and shake, and the sky is going to be peeled back, and the Son of God is going to come, and he's going to consume this present world order. And unless you're found in that day as a sinner who has fled, and Christ crucified as your only hope of salvation, you've had it. You've had it. And you can bring out all your brownie points and all the collections you made in the neighborhood for the United Fund and for the local hospice, and you can give to God your string of ribbons for all the lovely things you did.

59:21 - 59:57 Read in full sermon

The point: You have no right to choose where you'll live, whom you will marry, or any other aspect of your life based on mere carnal desires, because you are not your own; you are purchased to be his loving bondslave.

The clearest indication of Saul's saving sight of Christ was his immediate question, 'What will you have me to do?', illustrating the practical demand of living as Christ's purchased possession.

You're purchased to be his loving bondswain. Have you resent that? If so, you've never had a sight of Christ crucified. The clearest indication that Saul of Tarsus got a saving sight of the exalted Christ was this.

63:15 - 63:40 Read in full sermon