When we read this verse our hearts go automatically to the great sacrifice of the Lord as He laid down His life on the cross. No one took His life—those who crucified Him did not—He gave it. In John 10:17 the Lord had said, “I lay down My life that I may take it again.” It is beautiful to see the perfect little details as the Lord said, “It is finished, bowed His head, and gave up the spirit. His head did not fall down, as we might sometime imagine; no, He bowed His head and then gave His life.

But as we contemplate this verse, we understand that He also gave His life as a life of service and self-denial. He was the perfect servant who answered to the example of the Jewish slave who said, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free” (Ex. 21:5).

The Lord’s life on earth was a perfect sacrificial life. Even though He was tired, He ministered to the Samaritan woman in need. When the disciples turned away the children, He insisted that they be brought to Him and blessed them. He worked so hard that He had hardly time for rest, so much so that His own family said, “He is out of His mind” (Mk. 3:21).

The Creator of the universe and King of Israel was born in a stable, had no place to lay His head, and had to borrow someone else’s coin to teach a lesson. Although He healed the multitudes, fed them, taught them, did all things well (Mk. 7:37), yet He was rejected, despised, and defamed. He knew it all beforehand, but even so served a sacrificial life, culminating in His death on the cross. We may never have the opportunity to give our life in death for a brother, but we can follow the Lord’s example of sacrificial living for others, for the glory of God.