The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1
Some 800 years before John Mark wrote the book that bears his name, the prophet Isaiah included in his book three very important words: ‘Behold my servant’ -Isaiah 52:13. He was speaking about the Saviour Who would come. And in Mark’s Gospel, we find the description of the Servant Who we are to behold. Mark was essentially recording what the apostle Peter told him, and the book reflects Peter’s busy personality. In presenting the Lord Jesus as God’s perfect servant, Mark records more of what Jesus did than what He said. There is no introductory genealogy as in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, because that is not relevant to the role of a servant.
We often refer to our commended workers as the Lord’s servants. And they truly are. And we respect them for that. And hopefully remunerate them adequately for their role. The Lord Jesus, in all four Gospels and especially in Mark’s, emphasizes and displays by His own example what a true servant is to be. Humility, devotion, and the master’s approval are all important. We see these abundantly in the life of our Lord. Now, the question is, does He see these in our lives?
Commended workers are not the only servants of our Lord. None of us would ever say we are greater than the great apostle Paul, and yet Paul would say frequently in his letters that he was just a servant, a bond slave even, of Jesus Christ. There is no room in the life of a believer for pride of position. We are only servants, and we are all servants. Our commended workers are not our masters. Neither are Assembly overseers, who are specifically instructed not to be ‘lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock – 1 Peter 5:3.
If we remain dedicated to our rightful position before the Lord, we can hope to hear His declaration at the Bima: ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant’. – Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/-T4k977xuwk