Mark 10:45

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45

One of the multitude of things I'm required to bring with me to camp is this verse locked in my memory.  Thankfully, God has blessed me with somewhat of a talent of memorizing verses and the memorization was not hard.  Tonight, though, I started to think about the application of the verse.  Before I could fully understand what the verse meant, I felt like I must fully understand the word ransom.  Now I do kinda know what this word means from prior knowledge and context clues, but what is the true definition of this word?

Ransom:  a sum of money or other payment demanded or paid for the release of a prisoner.

The first word that really sticks out to me is demanded.  This is such a strong word.. something that is not optional - not negotiable, something that absolutely must be done.  A word such as this is not used lightly - it was demanded, required, necessary for this payment to be made.  The second word that struck me was prisoner.  This word too is not one to be thrown around nonchalantly.  It's hard to see myself as a prisoner, not having committed any crime serious enough to be put in prison, but I was a prisoner to my sins and my sinful nature.  Obviously I know what a prisoner is, but I was curious to see what the official definition of a prisoner is..

Prisoner:  a person captured and kept confined by an enemy.

Personally, I don't like being captured or confined.  Independence is not something I lack and the idea of something capturing me and keeping me confined is not appealing whatsoever, especially if this something is an enemy of mine.  Since I was on a roll with definitions I looked up enemy.

Enemy:  a person who is opposed or hostile to someone.

Duh.  We all knew that.  Since this is just web definitions rather than Bible definitions, it did not specify that this enemy is the Devil; however, I made the connection.  Obviously this enemy is opposed to us.. again, duh.  But for him to be hostile?  What exactly does that mean?

Hostile:  unfavorable to health or well-being.

So the Devil is opposed to us and he is unfavorable to our health and well-being.  Things that are unfavorable to one's health and well-being eventually lead to death, right?  So it's safe to say the Devil wants to kill us (physically and spiritually).  How could anyone be okay with something that attempts to kill them day after day, year after year?  I can't imagine it.

So to tie everything back together: when I read a specific verse from the Bible and try to focus on it, one thing I like to do is reword the verse in my own words.  With the help of my new knowledge from tonight, my translation of Mark 10: 45 reads: 
Even Jesus, our Savior, didn't come here to earth to be waited on, but rather to wait on others, and to give up his entire life as a necessary payment for those who were imprisoned and enslaved by the Devil who attempts to kill them.