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"The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
The ransom note reads as follows: "Hand over the Son of Man to the chief priests and scribes who will condemn him to death. They will hand him over to the gentiles who will mock him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. And after three days, I will give Him back to you."
This is very strange ransom note. First of all, we wonder just who this ransom is being demanded for? Who's been kidnapped? Who's been taken captive? And of course, it's you and me. The whole world has been taken captive. And the only way the captives will be set free is if the ransom is paid.
The really strange thing about all of this is that the captives don't seem to want to be set free. Peter pulled the Son of Man aside and said, "Don't do it." James and John took the Son of Man aside and wanted to know, 'what's in it for us?' And the others were indignant because they hadn't thought to ask the same thing first.
And with that I think we can pretty well identify the kidnappers and captors. Of course, it's you and me. We've taken ourselves captive by our own sin. We're hostages to our own greed and selfishness, worries and fears. As the great theologian Pogo said so well, 'we have met the enemy and he is us.'
Now it makes sense why no one who hears the Son of Man read this ransom note, takes Him aside and says, "We'd be forever grateful if you would meet the demands that are being asked of you. For our sake, please give your life as a ransom for many."
If the Son of Man pays the ransom demanded, the kidnapper will have to hand over his captive. Which is to say, I'll have to hand myself over. That means I'll have to surrender my most precious captive, which is myself. It'll be the end of my life, as I know it. The life I've gotten comfortable living with. Sure, it may not be perfect and yes, I admit that I'm a captive to my own greed and selfishness and sinful desires. But I'm comfortable with it. I've adapted and adjusted and I've grown quite attached to my captor.
So, Son of Man, don't do it. Ignore the ransom demands. Just make our captivity a little more comfortable, a little easier. Strengthen the economy, raise the Dow. I'm not asking for the assurance of eternal security, just Social Security. "We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
Now there is one question in all of this we haven't yet asked. And that is, just who is demanding this ransom? Who sent the ransom note demanding that the Son of Man be delivered over? And who is it that's promising to return Him again after three days?
Of course, it is certainly not you and me. We don't want to be ransomed from our sinful lives, because "we love the darkness and do not want to come into the light lest our deeds should be exposed." (John 3:20).
And we can also rule out Satan as well. Why would Satan want to see us set free from our life in sin, which leads to death, which leads to hell, which is his goal for us all. Satan knows perfectly well that if the Son of Man pays the ransom being demanded, it would crush him.
Of course, it's God the Father who is demanding that this ransom be paid. He wants to have you for Himself. "I will be their God and they will be my people," He declares.
In the past, God demanded that the ransom be paid in cash. In the 30th chapter of Exodus, God told Moses to "take a census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord. Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the sanctuary shekel." (Ex.30:112-13).
That seems awfully cheap. Half a shekel? That's ridiculous. Is that really all my life is worth? No. In fact, all the gold and silver in the world wouldn't ransom your life from your captivity to sin. Might as well call a half shekel a zillion dollars. Don't think for a minute that you're meeting God's righteous demands for your life by your half shekel or whatever it is you put in your offering envelop.
In fact, now in these last days, God has made a whole new demand for the ransom of your life. "I am making a new covenant," He says. No longer will a man give a ransom his life to the Lord. Now, the ransom that must be paid will be more precious than gold or silver. Because that is what your life is worth to God. The new covenant demands a new ransom, which is, 'the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes who will condemn him to death. They will deliver him over to the gentiles who will mock him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. And after three days, I will be give Him back to you.'"
The same Peter who tried to talk the Son of Man out of doing it would later write to the Church saying, "you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (1Peter 1:18).
God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to be the ransom price for your life. Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, came down from heaven to set you free from your captivity to your sin, even while you were still opposed to the whole idea. Even while you were only interested in preserving your own little world and simply wanted God to do what ever you asked Him.
In point of fact, the Father has not sent the ransom note to you and me at all. He sent it to His Son who willingly, eagerly met His Father's righteous demands. Why do you think, as they were walking down the road to go to Jerusalem, "Jesus was walking ahead of them?" It was because "the Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
In our epistle reading today, the author of the letter to the Hebrews spoke about the job of the Priest. The job of the Priest was to sacrifice the offerings that people brought to the temple for their sins. Everyday, the priests on duty would take the offerings brought into the temple and sacrifice them for the sin of the person who brought it.
But one priest from among all the priests was chosen to be the High Priest. The High Priest wasn't involved in the daily sacrifices for sin. The High Priest only made one sacrifice for sin a year, on the Day of Atonement. On the Day of Atonement, one sacrifice was made for all the people.
On the Day of Atonement, all the people would gather outside the Temple. They would present two, male goats to the High Priest. The High Priest would draw straws for each goat and the goat that drew the short straw would be the sacrifice for the sins of all the people. He would take the blood of this goat behind the curtain and into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the sacrificed blood right onto the Ark of the Covenant itself where God was located. And then he would come out of the Temple and take the live goat and lay his hands on the goat's head and pronounce all of the sins of all of the people upon its head and it would be led off into the wilderness, let go and never be seen again. It was the scapegoat.
The point that the writer to the Hebrews wants to make is that Jesus Christ; the Son of Man, is the High Priest par excellence. Jesus not only brings the sacrifice for the sins of all the people to God, but He Himself is the sacrifice that no goat could ever be. By His sacrifice of atonement, the Father declares, "For I will forgive their iniquity."
He is the Scapegoat. All of our sins have been place on His head and He has taken them away, into the wilderness, never to be seen again. And the Father declares, "I will remember their sins no more."
St. Mark writes, "They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. Behold, your High Priest, going ahead of you, to the altar to be the sacrifice of atonement for all of your sins.
As He goes up to Jerusalem, He knows what awaits Him there. He sees it all. "Delivered over, condemned, mocked, spit upon, flogged, killed." A string of verbs like those ought to send a chill down your spine even though it's not your spine but His. This is verbal abuse. He knows all of this because the details of the ransom were made known long before the time had fully come. No one reads the ransom note more poignantly than the prophet Isaiah.
"He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of MY PEOPLE?" (Isaiah 53:3-4, 7-8)
Did you hear that? He said, "My people!" All this He does so that God may call us, "my people." "I will be their God and they will be my people." He was handed over to those who condemned Him and you were handed over to the One who loves you forgives you. He was mocked and you are blessed. He was spit upon and we are baptized, washed clean. He was flogged and your wounds are healed. He was killed and you have died with Christ. He was raised on the 3rd day and you have a new life.
Mark writes, "And they were amazed and those who followed were afraid." Be amazed at the love of God for you. But do not be afraid. "Lift up your hearts." Take His body and drink His blood. It is the ransom that He has paid to set you free from yourself and all of your sin.
And join your voice with the angels, archangels and all the company of heaven who sing the new song of the new covenant, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. (Rev.5:9).