Ever notice how some of the New Testament epistles' opening lines read? It names the writer (s) and then annotates, "'a', or 'the', servant (s) of Jesus Christ ...". For instance, the epistle to the Philippians begins,
"Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, ..." (Philippians 1:1 ESV).
If you skip over to the epistle James wrote, you'll see,
"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ ... " (James 1:1 ESV).
A third example is from dear 'ole Peter. He called himself,
"Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ ..." (2 Peter 1:1 ESV).
Each of them saw themselves as "servants". To whom? To Jesus Christ and to those to whom He sent them.
Jesus Himself was a servant! We read about Him in Philippians 2 and verse seven.
" ... but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant ..." (ESV).
Jesus was a servant of God to all mankind. He suffered, bled and died because,
" ... the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6 ESV).
His purpose in coming to earth was sacrifcial. He was the sacrificial Lamb of God. He was the suffering servant come to take our place.
Servants, in general,
"come to make things better for others, with respect and effort" (anonymous quote).
Servants come to serve. They should be humble and obedient. We see that Jesus did not open His mouth while enduring the pain and shame of our sins. It was prophesied by Isaiah.
"He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth ..." (Isaiah 53:7 ESV).
Servants often take the blame for mistakes and mishaps they did not create. It is unjust blame. Jesus, our suffering servant took all our iniquities and transgressions upon Himself. This was vastly unjust because He was the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
Why should He have had to take all that?
But He was willing, humble and obedient to God, Whom He served flawlessly.
Do we take Jesus for granted?
Or, do we appreciate, even minutely, what He has done for us? It can be difficult to comprehend it all but we can give Him our thanks and praise.
One way would be to become His willing, humble and obedient servant ourselves, and serve Him as He desires and so let His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Another way, is to do what He had asked His disciples to do in remembrance of Him.
Let's do so together my brothers and sisters-in-Christ, even as we remember Him in His death and resurrection on any given Lord's Day. Partake of the broken bread. Drink of the cup of wine and give Him our grateful praise from hearts full of thanksgiving. Do this until He comes.
Perhaps today.
~ ERC August 2026 ~
Based on Isaiah 53 and Philippians 2.
Sing, Wounded For Me, along with Squirrel.
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