Jesus came as a servant, not as a superstar. His three-year ministry was a powerful example of servanthood—from
His first miracle of changing water to wine at a wedding feast to His sacrificial death on the cross in which His
own blood flowed freely for the salvation of all who would believe in Him and receive God's offer of forgiveness
from sins.
Jesus made two great statements about servanthood that were not only references to His own life and sacrificial
death, but words that are related to our role as servants today.
Planted Like Wheat
In the days immediately preceding His crucifixion, Jesus spoke candidly with His disciples about His impending
death and resurrection. Much of what He said they didn't understand fully at the time He spoke to them; looking
back, however, they understood very clearly the meaning of His words.
John tells in his Gospel about an incident that happened just before Passover. A group of Greeks had come to
Jerusalem to worship at the feast, and they asked for a private audience with Jesus. The news that Jesus had raised
Lazarus from the dead had spread quickly and widely. Many had lined the path leading into Jerusalem from the Mount
of Olives to shout “Hosanna!” and to declare Jesus as the “King of Israel!” ( John 12:12–15.) A strong effort was
being made to rally support for Jesus to make a public, political move to consolidate power and become an earthly
ruler in place of both the Roman occupation and what was perceived by many to be an oppressive, legalistic Jewish
Temple rulership.
The Greeks said to Philip, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip told Andrew of their request, and together, Andrew
and Philip went to Jesus. From a human perspective, this could have become a top-level meeting, leading to a human-engineered
political coup. Jesus gave this answer: “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified” (John 12:23).
On the surface, this statement must have been taken by the disciples and supporters of Jesus to be a strong signal—“Now
is the time!” To be glorified means to reach your crowning moment, your shining hour. But then Jesus quickly went
on to say this:
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but
if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world
will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:24–25)
Jesus made it very clear that He was not called to be a political king so that people might experience a better
temporal, earthly existence, but, rather, that He was destined to die a sacrificial death so that man might experience
an eternal, spiritual life. Jesus was not called to become a king over a political domain, but, instead, the King
of kings who might reign over an eternal kingdom not made with human hands.
The means to achieving Jesus' much higher and more meaningful goal was not to be found in the man-made systems
and alliances of this world, but rather through the ultimate act of ministry and servanthood, a sacrificial death.
Jesus followed His statement to Philip and Andrew by saying, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where
I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor” (John 12:26).
Not only did Jesus choose the servant role for Himself—which was actually the heavenly Father's role for Him—but
He called His followers to become like Him, and to be, first and foremost, servants.
Jesus concluded, “What shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
Father, glorify Your name” (John 12:27). Jesus did not back away from servanthood or the ultimate act of service—His
sacrificial death. He did not regard His crucifixion in any way to be a demeaning or diminishing act, but he considered
it to be the very purpose for His life and the fulfillment of His time on this earth. His entire life and ministry
had been aimed at this supreme act of service.
There's a phrase that embodies this principle: “Make sure that what you are living for is what you are willing
to die for.” That's the way Jesus lived. He lived a life of service, and He died a death that was an act of service.
• What new insights do you have into the way Jesus was a servant?
• In what ways are you feeling challenged in your spiritual walk with God?
Poured out Like Water
Psalm 22, which is a prophetic psalm linked very closely to the crucifixion of Jesus, has in it this phrase:
“I am poured out like water” (Psalm 22:14).
The very life essence of Jesus, indeed, was poured out like water. During His life, He poured Himself out on
all those who were hungry and thirsty for the things of God. He gave of Himself freely to all who came to Him in
need. He said to a woman by a well in Samaria, “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.
But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life”
(John 4:14).
In His crucifixion, blood and water mingled freely in flowing from Jesus' side. He willingly gave His life,
His blood “poured out” for the sins of the world.
The purpose of being “planted” like a grain of wheat or “poured out” like water is not the sacrificial giving
itself, but rather what follows such service: a great blessing and reward. In the case of a grain of wheat being
planted, the result is not merely the death of the grain of wheat, but an abundant harvest—the single dying grain
produces “much grain” (John 12:24). In pouring Himself out, Jesus intended that His own spirit become a “fountain
of water springing up” (John 4:14).
Death or sacrifice in itself is not the goal. Being a servant is not having a martyr's complex—a desire to die
just for the sake of dying. Rather, our life is to be poured out in loving and faith-filled service so that what
we give bears the quality of life in it. In pouring ourselves out to others, others are quickened to experience
greater life, and we, in turn, experience a more purposeful life and ultimately, eternal life. The end result is
not a moot death but a glorious everlasting abundance.
It was because servanthood brings about a great blessing that Jesus called His disciples, including you and
me, to be servants. He knew that anything you sacrifice in an act of servanthood to God—anything you do as an act
of your faith in and love for God—will result in something positive and beneficial to all involved.
Among the many benefits of servanthood are these:
• a radiant excitement in your life for God and for all things that are good
• a healing in your life
• a difference in the lives of those whom you serve
• inspiration and motivation to those who benefit from and who witness your generous service
• a more fruitful life, both in the natural and supernatural realms
• Reflect back over times in your life when you knew that you were filling a servant's role for another person.
How did you feel? What were the results in your life and the other person's?
• Recall a time or experience in which someone acted as a servant to you—meeting a need in your life or helping
you in a very specific way. How did you feel? What was the result in your life?
What the Word Says
Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,
My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!
I will put My Spirit upon Him,
And He will declare justice to the Gentiles (Matt. 12:18; also Isa. 42:1).
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness
of men (Phil. 2:5–7).
What the Word Says to Me
Like Master Like Servant
The disciples of Jesus had a very clear understanding of their role as servants. Note how the disciples described
themselves:
• “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1)
• “James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1)
• “Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:1)
• “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle” (Rom. 1:1)
• John wrote at the outset of the book of Revelation, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to
show His servants—things which must shortly take place.” (Rev. 1:1)
The Greek word that is generally translated as “bondservant” in the New Testament is a word that was also used
to refer to the “lower rowers”—the galley slaves who were kept in chains below the decks of large ships. They did
the exhausting, difficult, and unseen work of rowing vessels across the seas and through the storms. There is absolutely
nothing glamorous about being a “lower rower.” There is nothing about this image that brings about the praise and
admiration of others, since the work goes mostly unrecognized and unrewarded by humankind.
Yet this is the word that the disciples used to describe themselves in their work on behalf of others; they
saw it as an honor to be a bondservant of Christ Jesus, a lower rower in the work of God's kingdom.
This concept of success is completely inverted from that of the world's standard. The world tells us, “The successful
person is the one at the top, the one who is most visible, most admired, most talented, most accomplished.” The
Scriptures tell us that in God's eyes, the successful person is the one who is willing, even eager, to be a lower
rower for the benefit of others and for the sake of the gospel.
• How do you imagine it would feel to be a lower rower on a ship in the first century? How does it feel at
times to be a lower rower in the kingdom of God?
The disciples recognized, even as Jesus did, the blessing that came from being a bondservant. They knew that
their efforts in the spirit realm were cause for joy because they were helping others to find eternal life in Christ
Jesus. Paul wrote to the Philippians from a jail cell, “If I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice
and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all” (Phil. 2:17).
The disciples fully embraced their role as servants. They knew this to be their calling and identity, not
because they were leaders of the church, but because they were following in the steps of Jesus Christ, the
first and foremost Servant of God.
We are called to be servants today, and to have the heart of a servant as our hallmark, regardless of the area
in which we serve the church or the role we fill. Servanthood is to be our attitude and our motivation as we follow
Christ Jesus our Lord.
Some people seem to have concluded that it is only pastors or other members of a church staff who are God's
servants. In reality, any person who has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior is called to be a servant of God and to
be God's minister to others in particular areas of need, at particular times, but always with a mind and
a heart motivated toward generous service.
What the Word Says
If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also (John 12:26).
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Through love serve one another (Gal. 5:13b).
What the Word Says to Me
Nobody is excluded from service. We each are called to serve God and to serve others in need every day of our
lives. God has already identified the precise ways in which He desires for you to serve Him and, thereby, fulfill
your purpose in life. Ephesians 2:10 tells us:
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should
walk in them.
Service is the doing of good works as God leads and directs through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The works are there for us to do. Our responsibility is to obey God, even as Jesus obeyed the Father, and to serve
Him with our all of our lives—every last grain, every last bit “poured out” to Him and to others.
• How is the Lord challenging you to reevaluate your concept of service? In what ways is the Lord challenging
you to engage in more active servanthood?
From Developing a Servant's Heart by Charles
Stanley. Copyright 1998 by Charles Stanley.
