But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. Matthew 20:26-27
When Jesus came to earth, He turned the whole world upside down. What seemed important to many people was not as important to Him. He valued many things that the majority of people did not value. For example, earthly possessions were not very valuable to Him. He cared about eternal things, such as honoring God the Father and the souls of people. He was not impressed by outward appearances, but instead cared about a person's heart. Matthew chapter 20 teaches that Jesus also held a different view of what it meant to be great.
In this chapter of Matthew, the mother of Jesus' two disciples, James and John, came up to Jesus and said, "In your kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left" (verse 21). In other words, their mother was seeking honorable places for her sons to be in heaven one day. Next, Jesus looked straight at James and John and responded to the request. It appears that perhaps they had asked their mother to make this request from Jesus, and Jesus knew it. "'You don't know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?' 'Oh yes,' they replied, 'We are able!'" (verse 22). Jesus then confirmed that they would, indeed, face much suffering for their faith, but God the Father is the one who appoints those seats of honor that their mother had asked about. Next, we learn that the rest of the disciples heard this conversation that had been taking place and were "indignant" (verse 24).
Seeing this response from His disciples, Jesus brought them together and said that greatness looks different in God's economy. "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave" (verses 25-27). In other words, Jesus was flipping the disciple's greatness paradigm upside down. In God's economy, if you want to be great, you serve. If you want to be a leader, you serve. If you want to be first, you serve.
In these verses found in Matthew 20, Jesus defined true greatness: servanthood. This is still true for us today. If Jesus came to earth for the purpose of serving, then we certainly have no excuse. This is particularly true as we consider sharing our faith. If we want to reach the lost, we must serve them and care for them. As we do this we will model Jesus' example and show them God's care for them.
How can you serve someone today? Take a few minutes to think through your list of people who are far from Christ, and pick one person to serve. Invite them to dinner and pay for their meal. Take them a coffee while they are at work. Call and ask them to tell you one thing that they really need help with, and then help. Your willingness to serve them will speak volumes to them about God's love for them.
Read Matthew 20:20-28 (NLT)
Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. “What is your request?” he asked.
She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”
But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?”
“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”
When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
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