LUKE 23:33-43
“OUR SERVANT KING”
BY: Kenneth Emerson Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport
News, VA
There is a song by the rock band, Gethro Tulle in which some of the lyrics say something
like this, “If Jesus saves, why didn’t He save Himself?”
And unfortunately, I’m afraid that this is the view that many people take on the
crucifixion of Christ.
But if this is our view, then we’ve completely missed the point.
The crucifixion was actually the summit of sin and love.
In the simplest terms, Christ was crucified for our sins in order to bring us to God.
As the Bible says in 1st Peter chapter 2, Jesus “Himself bore our sins in His body on the
tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been
healed.”
Jesus had no intention of saving Himself....this is not why He came to earth....instead He
came to earth in order to save us!
And this is exactly what He did.
Jesus Christ is the perfect model of a servant leader.
Today, leaders of commerce, industry, government, education, and the church are
learning about the principles and tools of servant leadership because they are effective and do
not create losers or enemies.
And as disciples in the church of Christ we are all called to emulate the enlightened
servant leadership of our Lord Jesus Christ!
So what is a servant leader? I know that the term sounds like a contradiction, but we only
have to read a few gospel passages in order to get some understanding.
For example, in the Gospel of Mark, James and John asked Jesus if they could be the
ones to sit at the right and left of Christ in His glory, and Jesus replied, “You know that those
who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise
authority over them. Not so with you.”
Have any of you ever had bosses who were so consumed by their power that they lorded
it over on you?
I have. Maybe some of you have bosses right now who are like this.
But Jesus said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and
whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a
ransom for many.”
What a radical departure this is from the way so many of us operate.
In order to get ahead, in order to be in charge, in order to climb up the next rung in the
ladder so many of us are willing to step on so many people’s hearts and heads. It’s like, “Do
anything to get ahead. You have to push your way through if you want to get anywhere in life.”
But this is not true in the kingdom of heaven, and this is not even true hear on earth.
The old adage that “Nice people finish last is definitely not true!”
As a matter of fact we have many examples of contemporary leaders who have used
the model of Jesus’ servant leadership.
Jimmy Carter is a great example. He builds houses for the less fortunate, and works to
resolve disputes between nations in the name of peace.
And Mother Teresa dedicated her life to serving the poorest of the poor in the name of
Christ.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s courage and vision still influences the struggle for civil rights
over thirty years after his death.
And since true servant leadership tends to be selfless, many servant leaders are not well
known but they are known by God, and after all that is what really matters.
In our Scripture lesson for today, we see Christ giving us the model of ultimate servant
leadership.
As Christ was suffering the most horrible of deaths, He actually prayed for those who
were doing this to Him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Oh, the grace and love and understanding of Our Lord Jesus Christ is so unbelievably
and exceedingly great!
It’s hard enough for us to forgive someone who unknowingly cuts us off in traffic, or
forgive another church member who unintentionally hurts our feelings, but Jesus forgave those
who were putting Him to death, who were dividing up his clothing, who were mocking Him
and sneering at Him.
Now there is someone for us to try and emulate!
And we see in verse 35, that as the people stood watching this humiliating execution,
“They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
Kind of sounds like that Jethro Tulle song, doesn’t it?
Kind of sounds like what many people still think about this ultimate act of love today.
But the fact is that Jesus is the Christ of God. He is the Chosen One.”
Sure, He could have come down off that cross, but Jesus knew that if He was to do this,
humankind would have no way to be reconciled to God.
As the perfect servant leader, Christ showed us by His willingly going through death on
the cross what true love is all about.
As Jesus declared in John chapter 15, “My command is this: Love each other as I have
loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Jesus has commanded us to love each other, and the true test of a servant leader is that
he or she leads by example. And this is exactly what Jesus did.
The servant leader puts the servant before him or herself, and this is what Jesus’ ministry
was all about.
An excellent of example of this can be found in the Gospel of John when Jesus “took off
His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist,” and began to wash His disciples’
feet.
And Peter, knowing that Christ was Lord,was going to have none of this. “You shall
never wash my feet,” Peter declared.
But Jesus said to him, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
And I love Peter’s response to this: “Then Lord,’ Simon Peter replied, ‘not just my feet
but my hands and my head as well!”
It didn’t take Peter long to change his tune!
And this should be our attitude as well. Yes, Jesus is Lord, which is a confession of His
deity, but this aside, we must be willing to allow Christ to wash us, to serve us, to die for us.
Servant leadership is leadership without ego. Servant leadership is unselfish, and this is
the example that Jesus has called us to follow.
As Jesus continues in John chapter 13, “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so,
for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should
wash one another’s feet. I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you.”
Jesus has called all of us, all of us who take the name Christian to serve each other in
love.
Are we doing this?
And if so, how can we do this even more effectively?
We see in our Scripture lesson that as Jesus hung on the cross there was a sign placed
above His head: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
This sign was intended to mock the Jewish authorities and to reproach Christ’s claim, but
it’s an ironic inscription in that the very charges against Jesus actually proclaimed His deity and
honor.
As the Bible says in Philippians chapter 2, “And being found in appearance as a man, he
humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted
him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
confess the Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The acknowledgement that Jesus Christ is Lord, is actually an acknowledgement that
Jesus Christ is God.
Yes, Jesus Christ is God, He is our Lord, and He is our King.
He is our Servant King who came to give Himself as a ransom for our sins!
Now we see in our Scripture lesson that Jesus was executed with two other men, and that
these men were criminals.
“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save
yourself and us!
But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under
the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what we deserve. But this man has
done nothing wrong.
Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’
Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Now we don’t know what this thief had done that caused him to be executed, but whatever
it was the Roman government had decided that he was not fit to live on earth.
And the thief admitted that he was being punished justly.
He basically, had humbled himself and confessed his sin before Christ.
Now obviously, this thief had come a long way theologically while hanging on that cross.
Perhaps his eyes had been opened by Christ’s perfect model of servant leadership. After all,
he must have heard Jesus as He prayed and forgave those who were executing him.
In any event, this criminal demonstrated the steps to salvation and true repentance: He
feared God; He declared that Jesus was righteous; and he asked for Jesus to remember him.
And because of his faith in the Son of God he became a saved thief.
Our Lord made the remarkable statement that this criminal would be in paradise with Him
that very day!
What a witness to the unmerited grace which is poured out on all who believe!
As the Bible declares in Ephesians chapter 2: “For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can
boast.”
That’s all it took for this man to be saved--faith.
And this is all it takes for any of us to be saved.
Do we have this faith? Even this faith that this criminal had who hung on a cross?
The United Methodist Book of Discipline states that “The New Testament witness to
Jesus Christ makes clear that the primary form of his ministry in God’s name is that of service in
the world,” and that “all who follow Jesus have a share in the ministry of Jesus who came not to
be served, but to serve.”
Jesus is the model of the servant leader, He is our Servant King.
Do we have a desire to be like Jesus?
He has told us that He has set the example that He wants us to follow, and this example is
the general ministry of all baptized Christians.
If you have not done so already, are you willing--through faith--to follow Christ’s
example?
