As Jesus gains popularity, his disciples and relatives have dreams of positions in His future kingdom. Jesus patiently explains that great leaders in His kingdom are those who serve the best.
Overview
Who is the greatest?
The disciple’s response
Christ’s response
Christ’s cup
Our cup
Stepping Down
What service does Christ look for?
God’s final call
Bible Passage
Bible Passages: Matt 20.20-28; Mark 10.35-45; Luke 22.24-30
A Mother’s Request
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
21 “What is it you want?” he asked.
She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
Bible Passage
Matt 20:22 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
“We can,” they answered.
23 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
Bible Passage
Matt 20:24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Who is the Greatest?
Just prior to this, Jesus is talking to the disciples pertaining to the rich young ruler and concludes with. The first shall be last is the theme of the passage. This story again concludes with this statement.
Prior and post these there are incidences of the disciples arguing of who is the greatest. The incident soon following indicates mother of James and John asking for special positions for her sons.
Disciple’s response
The response is indignance among the disciples.
Today, whenever this passage is preached, it is met with the same indignance.
Everyone wants to be a step ahead. Are we resentful when others seem ahead?
Jesus drops a real heavy hitter..
then patiently again repeats his perspective.
Christ’s response
In my kingdom, no one pulls authority. It’s not about power
In my kingdom the leader serves
The higher up in rank you want to get the more you need to serve
More so, can you drink the cup I drink?
Even then, it’s God who will ultimately allocate positions.
Can you drink the cup that I drink?
Whoa!! Did they even know what it was?
Jesus came “not to be served
But to serve
And to give His life as a ransom for many”
Christ cup brought Him the greatest glory and the greatest suffering.
Christ’s cup
Love was the main motivator for Christ to drink this cup.
Our weak human understanding cannot even begin to comprehend it, let alone drink it.
We focus on the poverty, the rejection, the suffering.
Probably because wealth, acceptance and health top on our agenda.
His rejection reflects rejection of the loving God which is far more grievous and the suffering it will inflict on those who reject Him.
Christ’s cup
His physical suffering and material sacrifice was probably far less in comparison with having to live in a sinful world and bear the weight of sin on His Holy Divine Self.
A weak example would be if we found ourselves in the body of a swine wallowing in sewage while our mind is human.
You will drink the cup
Is it the same cup?
Only Jesus’ blood paid the ransom.
We are nowhere close.
Christ is far above us in every way.
But the apostles and disciples are to serve
And to dedicate their lives to God
Many, to be martyrs
What is our cup?
As followers of Christ, we are here
Not to be served
But to serve
And to offer our lives as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1,2)
Not to be served
It is not about position, popularity, authority and clout – “lording it over”
When Jesus came from perfect rule and perfect purity into a degraded sinful world, we cannot even begin to understand how it was to live a perfect life in a sinful world.
Isaiah calls him “man of sorrows” and acquainted with grief.
It appears it refers to more than just the cross.
But to serve
He served his family as eldest son. He served his disciples and the people of Israel and surrounding areas by tirelessly reaching out with love and brining hope and healing through teaching and healing.
He held no positions and served in such utter humility few recognized Him as Messiah. Even his own family didn’t.
He came “to serve”
But to serve
Do we serve tirelessly, without appreciation, without recognition?
Do we seek only the honour of the one who called us and died for us?
Are we ready to seek the path God has for us?
Or are we clambering for the popular paths others are traversing?
GET OFF YOUR HORSE, CORPORAL
A rider on horseback, many years ago, came upon a squad of soldiers who were trying to move a heavy piece of timber. A corporal stood by, giving lordly orders to “heave.” But the piece of timber was a trifle too heavy for the squad.
“Why don’t you help them?” asked the quiet man on the horse, addressing the important corporal. “Me? Why, I’m a corporal sir!”
GET OFF YOUR HORSE, CORPORAL
Dismounting, the stranger carefully took his place with the soldiers. “Now, all together boys – heave!” he said. And the big piece of timber slid into place.
The stranger mounted his horse and addressed the corporal. “The next time you have a piece of timber for your men to handle, corporal, send for the commander-in-chief.” The horseman was George Washington, the first American president.
Stepping Down
The world is all about stepping up
God’s Kingdom is all about stepping down.
Those who serve best will rule best.
Again stepping down doesn’t mean any random act of service.
Many serve in various capacities of their personal choice assuming they will get brownie points by God
What service does Christ look for?
Before service, Christ is looking for obedience – in every way.
Then, a Spirit of service speckled with love:
- To our family
- Church and Community
- World
As led by the Spirit of the Lord
As modelled by Christ the Lord
Service - To our family
Jesus, as eldest son, took care of his family. More so after His father Joseph’s death.
For almost 30 years, he served in perfection and love.
He never retaliated, put himself first, always forgave.
He had such a servant spirit, his brothers felt they could dictate what he should and should not do in his ministry.
Does this kind of service mean being taken advantage of?
Service - To our family
Jesus, as eldest son, took care of his family. More so after His father Joseph’s death.
For almost 30 years, he served in perfection and love.
He never retaliated, put himself first, always forgave.
He had such a servant spirit, his brothers felt they could dictate what he should and should not do in his ministry.
Does this kind of service mean being taken advantage of?
Service - To our family
Even in death, He handed His mother over to his beloved disciple John. He knew where she will be safe, grow spiritually and be taken care of the best.
What regret his family may have felt when their eyes were later opened that they missed out on recognizing the greatest gift in their life.
Eventually, his brothers James and Jude become ardent disciples and leaders in the church. His mother becomes a believer. Probably his sisters served him too.
He never Gave up on them
Jesus, as eldest son, took care of his family. More so after His father Joseph’s death.
For almost 30 years, he served in perfection and love.
He never retaliated, put himself first, always forgave.
He had such a servant spirit, his brothers felt they could dictate what he should and should not do in his ministry.
Does this kind of service mean being taken advantage of?
Service - To our community and Church
Jesus doesn’t seem to have held or sought positions in the synagogue.
While Jesus may have openly confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees of their emptiness and hollowness, in fact the evil within them, he never sought to overthrow them.
They were overthrown by their own wrongdoings.
He increased in His knowledge of the scripture.
His service was in the form of teaching and healing.
We need to serve as per God’s leading and gifting.
Service - To the World
While Jesus’ ministry was focussed around the Jews and some Gentiles in and around the nation of Israel, He eventually sent His followers to all the world.
We need to be clear of God’s focus and strategy for our lives. This happens by listening to His voice and obeying Him on all matters.
There are many Christian world wide ministries which are not in line with God’s will at all. They are man made.
We need to be careful to tread on God’s paths, not popular ones.
Being Transformed
Selfless obedient service with love, in the place God has placed us brings transformation, first in ourselves then others.
Stepping down
We need to step down from our own plans and step forward to execute God’s plans.
We need to step down on our expectations of others and step up on our humble joyful service to them.
We need to step down on our expectation of God to give us a lifestyle of our desires and step up on giving God the lifestyle He wants us to have.
Stepping down
When we walk in obedience, God will enable us to be where we need to be. When we trust Him, there’s no pressure on us to achieve.
Service is an offering
Jesus offered His life a ransom.
We too are offering ourselves a living sacrifice.
Sacrificing worldly interests to allow God’s Sprit free reign in our lives.
An offering doesn’t compare itself with other offerings.
We just need to be pure, holy and obedient to Him.
Saving Lives
Toward the end of the 1800s, sailing ships were in their heyday. Nantucket Island saw hundreds of vessels passing by each day—all navigating without the advantages of modern technology.
On March 31, 1879, a violent storm swept across Nantucket Sound, bringing powerful winds, freezing rain, snow, and heavy fog.
Saving Lives
By April 1, over sixty-eight vessels lay wrecked or disabled around the island. This led to the largest rescue effort in the island’s history.
Captain Thomas F. Sandsbury and his crew of volunteer lifesavers rescued many. Their motto was “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.”
How much are we ready to sacrifice to help save souls?
God’s final call
No matter where we place ourselves or be placed in church and society, it is God who decides our final position – in earth and eternity, the latter, being obviously the most crucial to us.
Jesus has indicated that the criteria will be based on our obedient heart in following Christ’s footsteps to the best of our capacity.
Where we stand in God’s sight is what counts most.
Discussion
1.How can we reduce being taken advantage of during service?
2.How can we mentally prepare ourselves to step down when others are scrambling to climb up?
3.What service does Christ expect from us?