When the children of Israel boasted to Moses at the foot of Mt. Sinai, in the Presence of God, that they will do everything that God wanted them to do (Exodus 19: 8), in the next chapter (Chapter 20), we read that God gave them the Ten Commandments. And almost immediately following the passage of scriptures on the Ten Commandments, we read a law that God gave to the people regarding a servant in Exodus 21: 1 - 6.
1 Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them:
2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing.
3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.
4 If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.
5 But if the servant plainly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,"
6 Then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

When I was a young Christian, I used to wonder what relationship this passage has to do with the Ten Commandments. I mean, it is fine to give that law but why there, right after the issuing of the Ten Commandments? Why not a couple of chapters later? I struggled with this for some time not being able to reconcile until one Sunday sermon some months back when our pastor encouraged us to look at the passage in the light of Jesus Christ and what He did on the Cross for us.

The apostle Paul, in Philippians 2: 5 - 8,
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Our Lord Jesus, even though He Himself is God, took on the form of a humble servant and came to die for our sins. He could very well have refused to come to be born as a human for our sakes and we would have no reason to blame Him. After all, He is God. What is so special about mankind that the God of Heaven would choose to die for us? I tell you, it is because of the great love that He has for each one of us that He took the ultimate plan and died for us to redeem us from Satan.

Lets look back at Exodus 21. The passage in verse 2 speaks about a Hebrew servant and how after serving six years, the law permits him to go out from his master's house as a free man; he would have completed his time and the master cannot refuse him his freedom. Jesus was a Jew and He could very well have come as a man but He could still refuse to serve on after completing the required number of years and He could legally have walked away leaving us in our sins. Praise God He chose to love to the end. He came empty-handed and God gave Him a wife (the church) and children (we are children of God).

His love for His Master, His Bride (the church) and His children (us who believe) must have been so compelling that He chose to remain as a servant. As a sign of that choice, the Master took Jesus to the door and with the help of the wood of the doorpost, pierced His ears in the presence of the elders of the city. Jesus was nailed to the cross outside Jerusalem and He was on public display for six hours. Just as the holes pierced on the ear-lops of the servant were permanent, Jesus' nail-prints on the palms of His hands is permanent and we will be able to see them when we meet Him in Heaven. He bears the mark with love because of that great love He has for the Father, His Bride and His children.

What is our response to that love of Jesus? Just as the wife, when she lies in bed every night can see the holes in the ears of her husband and felt love, she will then respond to him with love. The children too knew for a permanent fact of the love of the father and have confidence whenever they looked up and see the mark on his ears. No way the father will abandon them. He loved them too much to abscond and leave them to fend for themselves.

Jesus is more than the servant in the parallel of Exodus 21 is. He is God Himself and yet He chose to fulfill all the requirements of the law because He loves the Father so much and He does not want to leave us lost, separated from God, for eternity. By dying on the cross, Jesus fulfilled the full requirement of the law that sin must be atoned for. Because He is God, His death on the cross is able to cover the sins of every man and woman in the entire history of mankind.

Jesus' love is available to you and I. Have you responded to that love by accepting Him into your hearts? If you have yet to do so, why not take a couple of minutes and tell Him that you love Him and invite Him into your life? Go on; pray this simple prayer of faith.

"Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and sending Jesus Your Beloved Son into this world to die for our sins. I acknowledge my sin and my need for Your love and forgiveness.
Thank You for coming into my life, Lord Jesus and for forgiving me my sins and for giving me eternal life, a life with You. Thank you that I am now a child of God, a joint-heir with Jesus of the inheritance that is ours.
Jesus who knew no sin had become a curse for me so that I can receive His blessing.
Thank you that I am greatly blessed, highly favored, deeply loved and completely protected.
I thank you in Jesus' Name. Amen."

If you have prayed that prayer for the first time and received Jesus into your heart, congratulations and I would like to encourage you to do one more thing. Get in touch with friends whom you know are Christians and join them in a local church so that you will learn more about the love of Jesus and grow deeper in love with Him.

Welcome to the family of God.

The Lord blesses you and keeps you;
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all your loved ones;
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24 - 26

Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee

Dated : 27 January 2002