45. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many--"instead of many," that is, "In the kingdom about to be set up, this principle shall have no place. All My servants shall there be equal; and the only greatness known to it shall be the greatness of humility and devotedness to the service of others. He that goes down the deepest in these services of self-denying humility shall rise the highest and hold the chiefest place in that kingdom; even as the Son of man, whose abasement and self-sacrifice for others, transcending all, gives Him of right a place above all!" As "the Word in the beginning with God," He was ministered unto; and as the risen Redeemer in our nature He now is ministered unto, "angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him" (1Pe 3:22); but not for this came He hither. The Served of all came to be the Servant of all; and His last act was the grandest Service ever beheld by the universe of God--"HE GAVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY!", &c. "Many" is here to be taken, not in contrast with few or with all, but in opposition to one--the one Son of man for the many sinners.

JFB.