The Servant is the Greatest

Rev. AJ Espinosa, assistant pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Irvine, CA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 9:30-37.

Jesus continues to teach His disciples concerning His upcoming suffering, death, and resurrection. For the sake of the salvation of sinners, the Father delivers Jesus as the Son of Man into the hands of men. They will do their worst to Him by killing Him, yet He will be vindicated through His third day resurrection. The disciples once again fail to understand what Jesus is saying concerning Himself, and they also fail to ask Him further. Their conversation understandably yet unfortunately revolves around who is the greatest in their ranks. Jesus overturns their earthly conception of greatness by placing a child in their midst. The greatest in the kingdom of heaven is least and servant of all, which is exemplified fully by Jesus.

“The Gospel in Action” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the Gospel according to St. Mark. The Evangelist hits the ground running with the very first verse of his Gospel account, and he never lets up the pace. As one deed of Jesus comes right after another, always paired with His authoritative Word, St. Mark proclaims the good news that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, revealed conclusively by His death on the cross.