Can you picture the head of a multi-billion dollar company vacuuming the front office after business hours? How about a president or prime minister taking out the trash in his capital office, or the biggest movie star or fashion model rolling up her sleeves and washing the dishes? We don’t usually picture great and powerful people, people of wealth and position, doing menial tasks. We think that is for the hired help to do, the maids and other servants, not for the powerful, the movers and shakers. In today’s Gospel reading, we will read of two disciples who wanted to step into positions of power and prestige, and what the response of Jesus was. Let’s take a look.
Jesus and His disciples were making their way to Jerusalem for the last time, before He would be crucified. For several days now, Jesus had been giving rather open hints about what would happen to Him there in the capital, even speaking of it quite plainly several times. However, the disciples didn’t get it. Either they were ignoring His words, or just hadn’t listened at all to Jesus’s repeated telling of His impending crucifixion. The disciples still thought that a physical kingdom was about to be set up, and they were jockeying for important positions in this kingdom.
As they neared Jerusalem, two disciples, the brothers James and John, decided to actually ask Jesus for the prestigious positions of sitting on His right hand and left hand in His kingdom (vs. 35-37). A king’s closest and most trusted and powerful advisors are generally seated at his left and right. They believed Jesus was the Messiah, and would soon come to His power, and they wanted these prized positions.
Jesus did not harshly chastise the two brothers, but He did question them about what they were asking for (vs. 38-40). He pointed out to them that they really did not know what they were requesting. Their thinking was still centered on believing that Jesus would soon reign over an earthly kingdom, and they wanted chief positions in that kingdom. His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).
Jesus then questioned James and John, whether they were willing to go through suffering for His sake. They answered that they were willing to suffer anything for Jesus, and they would actually do that later in their lives. James was martyred by King Herod (Acts 12:1-2), and John was persecuted, often imprisoned and beaten, and spent years in a forced labor camp on the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9).
As we continue reading in our Scripture passage, we see that the other ten disciples were angry with the brothers for seeking those coveted positions (vs. 41). This was probably not righteous indignation, because they all wanted those positions. They were angry because James and John had stepped up and asked the spots for themselves.
Jesus used this moment to teach the disciples, and us as well, an important lesson (vs. 42-44). The way of the world says that the greater the position, the greater the authority. But that is not the way of the Lord. Jesus tells us that true greatness comes in serving others. Peter also taught that those who are leaders in the church need to be servants (I Peter 5:1-4). There is no place in the Church for domineering leaders. The desire to be on top will hinder, not help. In God’s Kingdom, the greatness of the individual comes from the lowly place he takes as a servant of all. Rather than seeking to have your needs met, look for ways to minister to the needs of others.
As our Scripture closes, Jesus told us that He, though the Son of God and the second Person of the Trinity, did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for us (vs. 45). A ransom is a price paid to redeem a slave or prisoner. The ransom that Jesus made was not paid to Satan. Satan is a foe to be defeated, not a ruler to be placated. The ransom was paid to God to satisfy His justice and holy wrath against sin. In paying it, Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the cross (I Peter 2:24). It was a ransom paid with His Blood, not silver or gold.
Jesus is our example of a servant leader. He relinquished the privileges He had in heaven to come to earth and give His life as a sacrifice (Philippians 2:5-8). Instead of seeking for the best positions and for all the praise and glory accompanying those positions, let us as believers and followers of the Lord Jesus, seek instead to be a servant, and minister to the needs of others. If any praise comes our way, instead of basking in it, let’s instead deflect it onto the Lord Jesus, where it belongs.
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