He came not to be served but to serve

(The Church of South India celebrated her 60th anniversary last year. A church that encompasses four lingual states in India along with the Jaffna Diocese in Sri Lanka was founded in great faith and has grown into a role model of unity that has held it together despite the various challenges it has faced through its growth. This message is intended to focus on Redeemer Christ and the principal mission of His mortal life.)

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by Victor Karunairajan

(June 01, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) Jesus was not a God who stayed on some elevated spot or in a temple and preached a spiritual philosophy of some kind but lived among ordinary people and ministered to their spiritual needs giving them assurance of eternal life. In St. Mark 10:45 it is said that even the Son of Man, which was Jesus as much as He is the Son of God, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

The concept of the ministry of Jesus is centered on one of the finest elements of love, the love of God for humanity so that it can save itself from its sinful ways and seek redemption in the eternal presence of God. When He preached the Good News of hope to the multitudes that gathered around Him wherever He went, He did not say, “Come to me” meaning some form of religious practice or system or doctrine, it was a personal invitation to an eternal source, the God of all creations.

The essence of His ministry was certainly to serve God, which meant serving humanity. It is in this spirit His earthly mission should be understood. This legitimizes the reality that all humanity is one family in God. Whatever se see around categorized as religions of various types are interpretations that are borne by cultural factors and traditions as well as fears and prejudices.
These, over a period of time have become lost in the abyss and labyrinth of ignorance and greed perpetrating divisions in the ranks of humanity. In other words, humanity has strayed away from God. Divisions are also pursued within the church shamming holy pretence for power and greed and in the process misleading the people who believe false leaders in holy vestments.

When Jesus preached about redemption, He was talking about reconciling humanity with God. This is conclusively expressed in 2 Corinthians 5:18: “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

Among the multitudes He preached the Good News, He ministered to their various needs in a manner of a servant conscious of his obligations as well as one whose faith could move the mountains for after all He was the Son of God whose mission was one of service and sacrifice of the highest degree. In the Gospels we read how He cured the ten lepers (St. Luke 17:11-19) people condemned to live and perish far outside villages and towns, the dumb demoniac (St. Mathew 9:32-33) and the Centurion’s servant (St. Luke 8:22-24) despite the fact that his master was in the legion of the Romans whose tyranny was a terrible yoke of suffering of the people among whom Jesus was born.

This is a clear message that in the kind of servitude Jesus was involved in, all that mattered was the spirit of humanity and not what people believed or did against fellow human beings.
During His ministry, we also see such miracles as feeding the five thousand, walking on water and stilling the storm, all events that exceed the known laws of nature and science. Such are considered acts of God done through humans of immense faith or those committed to serve God among fellow human beings. These miracles and others performed by Jesus may still be beyond the understanding of human beings but yet are credible when one accepts the reality that there are many elements in nature that are beyond our comprehension.

This is where one has to accept that Jesus was born as a Messiah, one sent by God to be born among human beings, to save them so that they are assured of eternal life. There are parallels to this hope among peoples of many faiths. The Hebrews called a prophetic utterance of such a birth as the coming of a Saviour, which in time was acknowledged as one that materialized in the birth of Jesus. He was born among the lowly which, itself became the hallmark of His mission on earth.

Perhaps the one word that places a true stamp on His mission is labour; laboring unto the needs of others. This also emphasized the compassionate nature of Jesus. In St Mathew 9:35-38 we read as follows:

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd.

Then He said to His disciples: “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.”

These words have deep meanings but the stress is on labour and service so that the Son of Man can truly serve God and bring to His fold all humanity as the Son of God.

All great religions speak of One God of all creations and Jesus never spoke of other gods but One God and in His ministry it was Immaterial whether His followers or those in their thousands followed Him belonged to various beliefs and faiths. He urged all of them to believe in One God and not to have blind faiths and worship whatever they conceived in their minds in their ignorance and despair or set for themselves gods that gave them power over fellow human beings.

Jesus was a servant whose ministry was one of service and sacrifice to save humanity so that it can be redeemed to the Glory of God.

- Sri Lanka Guardian