I think the key statement to answer that came from Jesus himself:
But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45, NRSV).
Or, we can see the remarkably similar wording in:
Jesus' brief explanation and exhortation above echoes the suffering Servant of the Lord, as found in Isaiah chapter 53. His followers on that day were seeking to position themselves - a not uncommon behaviour I think. He, however, casts himself as servant. Not only is he the Servant, he is the Servant who gives his own life to ransom. Here are some words from Isaiah (the whole chapter is weighty and moving):
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;[a]
when his soul makes[b] an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see[c] and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,[d]
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,[e]
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors. (53:10-12, ESV).
Jesus poured out his soul to death. We find Jesus himself speaking of his own action in giving his life as an offering:
Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep (John 10:15, CEV). He came to demonstrate perfectly God's way; he came to teach God's truth as it was not taught; he came to make life possible for anyone. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know[a] my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7, NRSV). Not just a wonderful spiritual teacher this, and no mere example setter. He gave up himself.
Taking a slightly different angle, a similar proposition from Paul:
He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God (Romans 4:25, NLT).
The Apostle is succinctly explaining what the work of Jesus was. But there was more:
who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father (Galatians 1:4, CSB).
Paul went on to explain the direct, personal, life altering, impact on himself:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20, NIV). The Son of God gave himself. His follower lives forever by trust in Jesus.
Elsewhere Paul makes a creed-like statement, showing the centrality of what Jesus did by coming:
But again, from another slightly different rescuee viewpoint, looking at consequences and purposes:
He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works (Titus 2:14, CSB). A new, re-made, people. His people.
A different writer puts it this way:
You were rescued[a] from the useless way of life that you learned from your ancestors. But you know that you were not rescued by such things as silver or gold that don’t last forever. You were rescued by the precious blood of Christ, that spotless and innocent lamb (1 Peter 1:18-19, CEV). Rescued from the useless! Strong words. The rescue was effected by Jesus, the only rescuer, giving himself.
It may not have been very frequent, but all were familiar with the possibility of a sufficient price being paid to free a slave. "Freedom" mattered just so much. Some may trouble over the ransom or rescue concept - to whom paid? That is hardly the point. Surely all of these passages point to the central fact that Jesus was here to give himself a ransom for his sheep, for many. Because of what Jesus did, people then, and now, could be set free. (What about slaves today? https://www.tearfund.org.au/forallcreation/speak-up )
Free from? Not from slave owners or foreign oppressors, but from what may be summed as - free from sin, and merited judgement.
During the meal they had before his execution, Jesus put the wine (and bread) to a special use: This is my blood, and with it God makes his agreement with you. It will be poured out, so that many people will have their sins forgiven. (Matthew 26:28, CEV). Plainly his actual blood was circulating in his body. However, not for much longer. So, using wine, they would henceforth be dramatically partaking of the benefits of his death for them (and for us). They were coming into a new relationship with God through the death of Jesus. We have the same opportunity.
Paul compared what Jesus did and what our representative man, Adam, did. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! (Romans 5:19, NIV). God's overflowing work. How amazing it is. (The man's [Adam's] story in found in the opening chapters of the Bible and that is what Paul discussed.) Overflowing grace comes to us through Jesus.
Thus, the believer, with the writer of "Hebrews", can say with thankfulness:
so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28, NLT). Jesus sorted the problem for us. There is nothing to be done. He awaits.
Paul puts it briefly: The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. (1 Timothy 1:15, NRSV)
He did explain how he considered himself to be the chief of sinners. His former implacable, devoutly religious, hatred of Jesus and the followers had had dire consequences (eg, see Acts 9). However, it does read here as though a slogan was then commonplace: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”. The cost all fell on Jesus. There was no other good enough to pay the price.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11, NIV)
This is the covenant I will make with them after those days,
the Lord says,
I will put my laws on their hearts
and write them on their minds,
and I will never again remember
their sins and their lawless acts.[b]
Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus— he has inaugurated[c] for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his flesh)— and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:12-25, CSB). His enemies will be totally overcome. Now his people can approach God in full confidence. They are not alone.
(Jesus' death was by judicial crucifixion. https://www.jesussaviour4unme.com/2018/03/jesus-executed.html )
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