Chapter 22 - How to Be Great in the Kingdom (20:20-28)

22 How to Be Great in the Kingdom (20:20-28)

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, bowing down, and making a request of Him. And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left.” But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.” He said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself, and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (20:20-28)

We live in a proud and egotistical generation. People push and promote themselves in ways that would have been abhorrent and totally unacceptable only a generation ago. Yet in a great part of modern culture, pride and high self-esteem have come to be redefined not only as virtues but as the supreme virtues.

Our day is reminiscent of the time in history when at the height of the ancient Greek and Roman empires pride was exalted and humility belittled. This tragic development will surely contribute to the demise of modern society as it did to the demise of Greece and Rome. No society can survive the self-destructiveness of pride run rampant, because every society depends for its preservation and success on the mutually supportive and harmonious relationships among its people. When a significant number of them become committed only to themselves and to their own interests, with little regard for their families, friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens, society disintegrates. As self becomes stronger, relationships become weaker. As self-rights become supreme, the interpersonal bonds that hold society together are severed.

The promotion of self-esteem, self-fulfillment, and self-glory has become a major industry that ranges from exercise programs to motivation for executive success. Tragically, the cult of selfism has found its way into evangelical Christianity. Books, seminars, conferences, magazines, and organizations that promote self under the guise of personal spiritual development abound. The movement has found little resistance in the church, which often seems determined to beat the world at its own fleshly game. From countless sources, claims are heard that God’s great design for His people is health, prosperity, success, happiness, and self-fulfillment. The Bible’s teaching of suffering and cross-bearing for Christ’s sake are either ignored altogether or foolishly explained away. A weak gospel, easy believism, and nonsacrificial Christian living are the reflections of this new “evangelical” selfism.

Whenever the church has been spiritually strong it has distrusted its own wisdom and strength and looked to the Lord’s, it has shunned its own glory and sought only His, and it has condemned pride and exalted humility. Times of spiritual awakening are inevitably characterized by a sincere sense of brokenness, contrition, and unworthiness. There is always reverential fear of the Word of God, which, working through genuine meekness, gives the church great power. Like Paul, the church becomes strong when it knows it is weak (2 Cor. 12:10).

But a great part of the western church has become self-indulgent, self-satisfied, and self-reliant, claiming numerical and financial growth as evidence of spiritual blessing. It has replaced sacrifice with success, suffering with self-satisfaction, and godly obedience with fleshly indulgence.

Yet the Bible’s testimony is clear and consistent. It was out of pride that Adam and Eve doubted God, believed Satan, and relied on their own judgment, and since that time pride has continued to be the chief characteristic of fallen, sinful mankind. The book of Proverbs warns that “a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin” (Prov. 21:4), that “everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (16:5), and that “the fear of the Lord is to hate evil . . . pride, arrogance, and the evil way” (8:13). Insolence, arrogance, and boasting have always been marks of a depraved, reprobate mind (Rom. 1:30). Conceit is a favorite trap of Satan, even for believers, and has always been a trait of false teachers (1 Tim. 3:6; 6:4). “The boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world,” John declared (1 John 2:16).

Since the first rebellion in the Garden, God has sternly resisted the proud (James 4:6; Ps. 138:6), brought them into contempt (Isa. 23:9), abased them (Ps. 18:27), judged them (Ps. 31:23), humbled them (Dan. 4:37), scattered them (Luke 1:51), and punished them (Mal. 4:1). By the same token, God has always honored humility and meekness. “He regards the lowly” (Ps. 138:6), hears “the desire of the humble” (Ps. 10:17), and values humility even above honor (Prov. 15:33). The Lord intends humility to be part of His children’s daily clothing (Col. 3:12; 1 Pet. 5:5) and daily living (Eph. 4:1-2). He seeks to bless that one “who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at [His] word” (Isa. 66:2).

Abraham, that special servant and friend of God, humbly said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27). His son Isaac was selflessly willing to die as a sacrifice to God (Gen. 22:7-9). Isaac’s son Jacob cried out to God, “I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which Thou has shown to Thy servant” (Gen. 32:10). Jacob’s son Joseph, dishonored and sold into slavery by his wicked brothers, forgave them without a trace of bitterness or revenge. When they begged him for forgiveness, he lovingly told them, “‘Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. . . . So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.’ So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them” (Gen. 50:19-21).

Moses, the meekest man on the earth, humbly pleaded before the Lord, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Ex. 3:11). After Israel’s defeat at Ai because of the sin of Achan, Joshua, in humiliation in behalf of his people, “tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening” (Josh. 7:6). David, a man after God’s own heart, humbly prayed, “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the dominion, O Lord, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone” (1 Chron. 29:11-12).

There were also Hezekiah, king of Judah, who “humbled the pride of his heart” (2 Chron. 32:26); Manasseh, another king of Judah, who “humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers” (2 Chron. 33:12); Josiah, king of Judah, to whom the Lord said, “Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God, . . . I truly have heard you” (2 Chron. 34:27); Isaiah, who confessed, “I am a man of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5); and many others who were great in God’s sight because of their humility and their self-sacrifice for His sake.

The humility that accompanies true spiritual greatness is also illustrated throughout the New Testament. Although he was Jesus’ first cousin and had been called to the exalted task of announcing and preparing the way for the Messiah, John the Baptist humbly said, “He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals” (Matt. 3:11). It was because of such self-effacing and genuine humility that Jesus declared, “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:11).

Peter’s first hint of greatness was expressed in his saying to Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8). And at the end of his life, when “the laying aside of [his] earthly dwelling [was] imminent,” he could say of Christ with perfect sincerity, “To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity” (2 Pet. 1:14; 3:18). Paul’s greatness is seen in his declaring to the Ephesian elders that he had served “the Lord with all humility” (Acts 20:19).

Each of those heroes of Scripture characterized the person who is great in God’s sight, because they refused to seek personal prominence but gave all prominence to the Lord. It is only the humble heart, the servant heart, that enjoys greatness in the kingdom of God.

While they were with Jesus during His earthly ministry, the twelve disciples desperately needed to learn humility. Not only did they need it for its own sake but also to enable them to understand clearly many other things their Master taught. It was not so much limited intelligence but excessive pride that prevented them from understanding and accepting Jesus’ teaching about such things as servanthood, self-sacrifice, humility, persecution, and His clear and repeated predictions about His own forthcoming sufferings and death. They were too encumbered with self-promotion, self-service, self-esteem, and self-glory for those truths to penetrate their minds or hearts. They sought the high places of power and honor for themselves, with little regard for the welfare of their fellow disciples or even for their Lord.

The disciples had, indeed, left everything to follow Jesus. They had genuinely confessed Him as the Messiah and as their Lord and Savior. But, like many Christians in every age since that time, they often focused on what they would gain, revealing that they had not completely let go of pride, selfishness, and worldly standards. No doubt the greatest hindrance to their accepting the idea of a suffering, dying Messiah was that they did not want to believe in such a Messiah. If Jesus were to suffer and die, they feared that they would suffer the same fate. At best, they would be disgraced outcasts rather than honored rulers. They much preferred focusing on such promises as that of their one day sitting “upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” and of their receiving back many times what they had given up for Christ (Matt. 19:28-29).

Not only had Jesus told them on at least three occasions that He would be arrested and would suffer and die, but He had also told them explicitly that they should themselves expect and be willing to endure the same things. They had heard Jesus tell a certain would-be follower, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matt. 8:20). He had warned the disciples, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. . . . But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the courts, and scourge you in their synagogues; and you shall even be brought before governors and kings for My sake. . . . And you will be hated by all on account of My name” (10:16-18, 22). He had called for self-sacrifice when He told them, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me” (10:37-38; cf. 16:24). He had pointed them to humility when He told them, “Unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” and that “whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (18:3-4).

But the disciples persisted in bickering among themselves, in refusing to take Jesus’ words at face value, and in continuing to exalt and promote their own selfish interests. Their primary concern was expressed in Peter’s question to Jesus, “What then will there be for us?” (19:27).

Nineteen hundred years later, many Christians are still echoing Peter’s question: “What’s in it for me?” Many Christians look at grace as a free lunch, a divine open door to health, prosperity, and self-fulfillment, a celestial storehouse of good things they can order on demand from God.

John Stott has observed that “A chorus of many voices is chanting in unison today that I must at all costs love myself.” In his book The Danger of Self-Love, Paul Brownback writes along the same line, saying, “This sudden escalation of teaching on self-love . . . was the spontaneous response of those who were firmly convinced of the solid biblical basis of self-love. And . . . almost immediately the Christian public felt warmly at home with its newfound friend; self-love has been easily incorporated into the mind-set of evangelical Christians” ([Chicago: Moody, 1982], p. 13).

Also commenting on the current cult of self-love, John Piper writes,

Today the first and greatest commandment is, “Thou shalt love thyself.” And the explanation for almost every interpersonal problem is thought to lie in someone’s low self-esteem. Sermons, articles, and books have pushed this idea into the Christian mind. It is a rare congregation, for example, that does not stumble over the “vermicular theology” of Isaac Watts’s “Alas! And Did My Saviour Bleed”: “Would He devote that sacred head/For such a worm as I?” (“Is Self-Love Biblical?” Christianity Today, August 12, 1977, p. 6)

Referring to that last phrase from Watts’s hymn, critics often accuse evangelicals of being victims of “worm theology,” because they preach and teach the total depravity of man.

Embracing self-love is not a new danger in the church. It was clearly a threat to the unity, faithfulness, and purity of the Corinthian church and doubtlessly to many others of that day as well. Several hundred years later, Augustine wrote in his classic The City of God: “Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself. The latter in the Lord.”

About a thousand years later, John Calvin said, “For so blindly do we all rush in the direction of self-love that everyone thinks he has a good reason for exalting himself and despising all others in comparison.” He then comments that “there is no other remedy than to pluck up by the roots those most noxious pests, self-love and love of victory. This the doctrine of Scripture does. For it teaches us to remember that the endowments which God has bestowed upon us are not our own, but His free gifts, and that those who plume themselves upon them betray their ingratitude.”

Someone has wisely written,

The cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament. It is, rather, a bright ornament upon the bosom of the self-assured and carnal Christian whose hands are indeed the hands of Abel, but whose voice is the voice of Cain. The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemns; the new cross assures. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it. The old cross brought tears and blood; the new cross brings laughter. The flesh, smiling and confident, preaches and sings about the cross, and before that cross it bows and toward that cross it points with carefully staged histrionics, but upon that cross it will not die and the reproach of that cross it stubbornly refuses to bear.

It is to the cross of suffering and death that Jesus calls His disciples, and to the obedience and self-giving that lead to that cross. But the believer’s cross is small and his suffering insignificant compared to what his Lord’s suffering and death purchased for him. “For if we died with Him,” Paul assured Timothy, “we shall also live with Him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:11-12). To the Roman church he testified, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). And at the end of his life Peter had long since stopped asking, “What’s in it for me?” Instead, he confidently counselled fellow believers: “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (1 Pet. 5:10).

But while Jesus ministered on earth, the Twelve were far from such self-giving, self-effacing discipleship. Consequently, Jesus’ third and most detailed prediction of His passion and death fell on deaf ears. No sooner had He again finished mentioning His death and resurrection than two of the disciples tried to secure from Him a place of honor and greatness for themselves in the anticipated kingdom. In that event and in Jesus’ response to it we can see four wrong, worldly ways by which men pursue greatness. Following that, the Lord gave an exhortation and example of what constitutes the true greatness that God honors.

HOW NOT TO BE GREAT

It is impossible for the principles of the world to be effective in or adaptable to God’s kingdom. By their very nature they are contrary to His way and destructive of His work. They not only never produce greatness but always produce disharmony, pettiness, and spiritual weakness in the Body. In this passage four of those worldly principles are clearly seen.

POLITICAL POWER PLAY

The first worldly principle for greatness might be called political power play and is reflected in the attempt of the mother of the sons of Zebedee to persuade Jesus to give those two sons, James and John, the highest places of honor in His kingdom.

Throughout history, one of the most common tactics for getting ahead has been using the influence of family and friends to one’s own advantage. These people are manipulated to gain political office, a promotion in business, a lucrative contract, or whatever else is craved. As the saying goes, “It’s who you know that counts.” Some years ago a pastor frankly admitted that for his denomination’s annual convention he always reserved a hotel room next to the leaders in order to cultivate their friendships and thereby help secure future pastorates in larger churches.

It seems incredible that James, John, and their mother could ask Jesus such a crass, self-serving favor immediately after His prediction of the persecution and death He would soon face in Jerusalem. There is no indication, either in this text or in Mark’s parallel account (see 10:35), that any of the disciples made a response to what Jesus had just said about His own imminent death. They may simply have discounted His prediction as being merely figurative and symbolic, or they may have been so preoccupied with their own interests and plans that His words went by them. In any case, they did not pursue the subject. They did, however, continue to pursue their own interests.

From the Mark passage it is clear that the mother was speaking at the behest of her two sons. In fact, Mark makes no mention of her at all. The three obviously came with a common purpose and plan they had discussed among themselves beforehand. The mother probably spoke first, and then James and John spoke for themselves.

It is implied in Matthew but explicit in Mark that the first request was intentionally general and indefinite: “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You” (Mark 10:35). Their approach was like a child trying to get a parent to promise something before saying what it is for fear that a specific request for it might be denied.

The three of them may have been trying to capitalize on their family relationship to Jesus. By comparing the gospel accounts of the women who stood vigil near the cross, it becomes evident that the mother of James and John was named Salome and was a sister of Mary, the Mother of Jesus (see Matt. 27:56; Mark 15:40; John 19:25), making her Jesus’ aunt and James and John His first cousins. In addition to relying on their relationship as Jesus’ cousins, the brothers perhaps also thought to play on Jesus’ affection for his mother by having her sister approach Him for the favor.

Bowing down was a common act of obeisance given to ancient monarchs, and the mother may have been trying to flatter Jesus by appealing to His sense of power and royalty. By treating Him like a king, she hoped to manipulate Him into making a gesture of magnanimity. Near Eastern kings liked to pride themselves in having the resources to grant any favor or request. It was such pride that induced Herod Antipas to swear to the daughter of Herodias, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom” (Mark 6:23).

The fact that James, John, and their mother made a request of Christ for a blank check strongly suggests that they knew the request was not legitimate. The request was purely self-seeking, for her as well as for them. As their mother, she could bask vicariously in their exalted positions, and her own prestige would be greatly enhanced. In marked contrast to what they would become after Pentecost, James and John were not noted for their shyness or reticence, and Jesus had nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). Their request of Jesus not only was bold but brash. In effect, they were claiming that, of all the great people of God who had ever lived, they deserved to have the two highest places of honor beside the King of heaven.

Like the scribes and Pharisees who loved “the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues” (Matt. 23:6), James and John longed for prestige and preeminence and to be exalted over the other apostles. Like the self-seeking Diotrephes (3 John 9), they loved to be first. But that is not the way to greatness in the kingdom of God.

SELF-SERVING AMBITION

But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.” He said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. (20:22-24)

These verses reflect a second wrong way to spiritual greatness, that of self-serving ambition. The request of James, John, and their mother not only was brash but foolish. Bypassing the mother, Jesus answered the two brothers directly and said, “You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” The three had no idea of the full implications of their request.

The cup that Jesus was about to drink was the cup of suffering and death, which He had just finished describing to them (vv. 18-19). Jesus was saying, “Don’t you realize by now that the way to eternal glory is not through worldly success and honor but through suffering? Haven’t you heard what I’ve been teaching about the persecuted being blessed and about taking up your own crosses and following Me?”

The apostle Paul learned that the way to great glory is through great affliction for Christ’s sake. Although he suffered extreme hardship, persecution, and suffering, he considered those things to be insignificant compared to what awaited him in heaven. He told the self-serving, pleasure-loving Corinthians, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17). It is those who are persecuted “on account of Me” who Jesus said will have great reward in heaven (Matt. 5:11-12).

Suffering from physical afflictions such as disease, deformity, and accident or from the emotional distresses of a lost job or the death of a loved one can be used by the Lord to strengthen believers spiritually. He can help them grow even through problems and hardships they bring on themselves because of foolishness or sin. But the affliction that brings eternal glory is that which is brought about and is willingly endured because of faithfulness to the Lord. It is suffering because of the gospel, being “persecuted for the sake of righteousness” (Matt. 5:10). The one who has the greatest glory beside Christ in heaven will be the one who has faithfully endured the greatest suffering for Him on earth.

To drink the cup meant to drink the full measure, leaving nothing. It was a common expression that meant to stay with something to the end, to endure to the limits, whatever the cost. The cup that Jesus was about to drink was immeasurably worse than the physical agony of the cross or the emotional anguish of being forsaken by His friends, painful as those were. The full measure of His cup was taking the world’s sin upon Himself, an agony so horrible that He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39).

Either because they completely misunderstood what Jesus meant or because, like Peter promising never to forsake Christ, they self-confidently thought they could endure anything required of them, James and John foolishly declared, “We are able.” And just as Peter denied the Lord three times before the cock crowed, those two brothers, along with all the other disciples, fled for their lives when Jesus was arrested (Matt. 26:56).

No doubt with great tenderness and compassion, the Lord then assured the brothers, “My cup you shall drink.” But it would not be in their own power but in the power of the Holy Spirit that they would suffer greatly for their Master’s sake. James was the first apostle to be martyred (Acts 12:2), and John ended his long life as a condemned exile on the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9). They did indeed share in the “fellowship of His sufferings” (Phil. 3:10).

Nevertheless, He continued, “to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give.” Not only were James and John presumptuous in asking to sit on Jesus’ right and . . . left, but it was not, in any case, His prerogative to grant such a request. Rather, Jesus said, “It is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” It would not be on the basis of favoritism or ambition that those honors would be bestowed, but on the basis of the Father’s sovereign choice. Personal ambition is not a factor in the eternal, sovereign plan of God. It is therefore not only sinful but a foolish and useless waste of effort.

The response of the ten other disciples seems righteous on the surface. But they became indignant with the two brothers not because of their own righteousness but because of their envious resentment. They had in the past expressed the same proud and selfish sentiments, and they would express those sentiments again. On the way from Caesarea Philippi to Capernaum “they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest” but were ashamed to admit it to Jesus (Mark 9:33-34). Even at the Last Supper “there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Luke 22:24). They were all guilty of the same self-serving ambition that had just been demonstrated by the two brothers.

DOMINANT DICTATORSHIP

But Jesus called them to Himself, and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, (20:25a)

The other ten disciples had been standing near Jesus and overheard what He had been discussing with James, John, and their mother. Now the Lord called them to Himself and reminded them of another wrong way of achieving spiritual greatness besides the two they had just demonstrated. It could be called the way of the dominant dictator. Katakurieu (lord it over) is a strong term carrying the idea of ruling down on people, the prepositional prefix kata intensifying the verb.

“The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over their subjects,” Jesus said. Virtually every government of that day was a form of dictatorship, often of a tyrannical sort. The world seeks greatness through power, epitomized by despotic rulers of the Gentiles such as the pharaohs, Antiochus Epiphanes, the caesars, the Herods, and Pilate—under all of whom the Jews had suffered greatly.

One of the reasons many countries in the third world today are susceptible to the deceitful attractions of Communism is that they have lived so long under oppressive dictatorship. Centuries of abuse by vain, cruel, exploitive rulers has made them ripe for revolution.

Though not in as absolute or destructive form as those, the same philosophy of dominance is found in modern businesses and even in some Christian organizations. Many people in high positions cannot resist the temptation to use their power to lord it over those under them. Some are radical egomaniacs, whereas others are respectable and orthodox. But they share a common worldly desire to control others. Peter therefore warned Christian leaders against “lording it over those allotted to [their] charge” (1 Pet. 5:3).

CHARISMATIC CONTROL

and their great men exercise authority over them. (20:25b)

A fourth wrong way to achieve spiritual greatness is that of charismatic, manipulative control. The expression great men (megaloi) carries the idea of distinguished, eminent, illustrious, or noble. It represents those who have high personal appeal and have achieved high stature in the eyes of the world and who seek to control others by personal influence. They can be seen as different in style from those in verse 25a. Whereas the dominant dictator uses the sheer power of his position and is often hated, the charismatic leader uses the powers of popularity and personality. By flattery, charm, and attractiveness, he manipulates others to serve his own ends.

Exercise authority over also translates a strong and intensified Greek verb, combining kata (down) and exousiaz (to have authority), and could be rendered “to play the tyrant.”

The church has never been without self-seeking leaders who capture the fascination of the people who willingly follow them while they make merchandise of the gospel in order to feather their nests and build up their reputations. By telling people what they like to hear (2 Tim. 4:3), they skillfully take advantage of selfish, gullible believers.

HOW TO BE GREAT

It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many:” (20:26-28)

This simple, clear passage is one of the most beautiful in the gospels. The principle it teaches needs little explanation, but it is in great need of emulation by those who call Jesus Lord.

First Jesus presents the precept and then the pattern.

THE PRECEPT OF TRUE GREATNESS

It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; (20:26-27)

Jesus turned the world’s greatness upside down. The self-serving, self-promoting, self-glorying ways of the world are the antithesis of spiritual greatness. They have no place in God’s kingdom and are not to be so among you, Jesus told the Twelve. In many different ways He had taught them what He told Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

The world’s way of greatness is like a pyramid. The prestige and power of the great person is built on the many subordinate persons beneath him. But in the kingdom, the pyramid is inverted. As the great commentator R. C. H. Lenski has observed, God’s “great men are not sitting on top of lesser men, but bearing lesser men on their backs.”

Unfortunately, however, there are still many people in the church who, like James and John, continually seek recognition, prestige, and power by manipulating and controlling others to their own selfish advantage. A tragic number of Christian leaders and celebrities have gained great followings by appealing to people’s emotions and worldly appetites. But that is not to be so among Christ’s disciples today any more than among the Twelve.

Jesus went on to explain that it is not wrong to desire great usefulness to God, only wrong to seek the world’s kind of greatness. Paul assures us that “it is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do” (1 Tim. 3:1). As the apostle goes on to point out (vv. 2-7), the standards for an overseer in Christ’s church are high. But the man who is willing to meet those standards for the Lord’s sake and in the Lord’s power will have the Lord’s blessing.

Therefore, Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to become great among you, that is, great by God’s standards rather than men’s, shall be your servant.” He was not, as some have suggested, contradicting what He had just taught. He was speaking of an entirely different kind of greatness than the sort James and John were seeking and that the world promotes. This kind of greatness is pleasing to God, because it is humble and self-giving rather than proud and self-serving. The way to the world’s greatness is through pleasing and being served by men; the way to God’s greatness is through pleasing Him and serving others in His name. In God’s eyes, the one who is great is the one who is a willing servant.

It is not only not wrong but very much right to seek eternal glory, because that glory is God-given. Paul declared, “Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority” (1 Thess. 2:6). But he also declared to those same believers in Thessalonica that “it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:14). The way to that divine and eternal glory, which comes from God, is the way of renouncing the worldly and temporal glory that comes from men. The way to God’s glory is the way of the servant. Man’s focus must be on rendering spiritual service with consummate excellence and leaving the success of that service to the Lord.

Jesus was speaking of being a true servant, not a sham. He did not have in mind the “public servant” who uses his office for personal gain and power. Godly greatness comes from genuine humility. Only God knows a person’s heart, and Paul assures us that the Lord “will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God” (1 Cor. 4:5).

Servant is from diakonos, from which the term deacon is derived. The original Greek word was purely secular, referring to a person who did menial labor, such as house cleaning or serving tables. It was not necessarily a term of dishonor but simply described the lowest level of hired help, who needed little training or skill.

But Christ elevated diakonos to a place of great significance, using it to describe His most faithful and favored disciples. He could have chosen any number of more noble words to characterize obedient discipleship, but He chose this one because it best reflects the selfless, humble life that He honors. It is also the life that He Himself exemplified, as He would go on to say (v. 28).

The surest mark of the true servant is willing sacrifice for the sake of others in the name of Christ. The sham servant avoids suffering, while the true servant accepts it.

Paul had the pure, genuine heart of a servant. He readily acknowledged his apostleship and the divine authority that came with that unique, high office. But he even more readily acknowledged that his office and authority belonged to God and were only entrusted to him as a steward (1 Cor. 4:1). To the proud, self-centered, factious, and worldly Corinthians he said, “What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one” (1 Cor. 3:5). Later in that letter he says sarcastically,

You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us. . . . For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now” (4:8-13)

In his book A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, William Law writes,

Let every day be a day of humility; condescend to all the weaknesses and infirmities of your fellow-creatures, cover their frailties, love their excellencies, encourage their virtues, relieve their wants, rejoice in their prosperities, compassionate their distress, receive their friendship, overlook their unkindness, forgive their malice, be a servant of servants, and condescend to do the lowliest offices of the lowest of mankind.

Another great saint of past years, Samuel Brengle, wrote,

If I appear great in their eyes, the Lord is most graciously helping me to see how absolutely nothing I am without Him, and helping me to keep little in my own eyes. He does use me. But I am so concerned that He uses me and that it is not of me the work is done. The axe cannot boast of the trees it has cut down. It could do nothing but for the woodsman. He made it, he sharpened it, and he used it. The moment he throws it aside, it becomes only old iron. O That I may never lose sight of this. (Quoted in Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership [Chicago: Moody, 1967], p. 58.)

Jesus reiterated and intensified His description of God’s way to greatness: “Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.” The position and work of a slave were much lower and demeaning even than those of a servant. A servant was to some degree his own person. He often owned little more than the clothes on his back, but he was free to go where he wanted and to work or not work as he pleased. But a slave (doulos) did not belong to himself but to his master and could go only where the master wanted him to go and do only what the master wanted him to do. He did not belong to himself but was the personal property of someone else.

In several of his letters Paul identified himself as Christ’s slave (doulos) even before identifying himself as His apostle. He greeted the Romans with the words, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle” (Rom. 1:1; cf. Phil. 1:1; Titus 1:1). That is why he could say, “If we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8). Slaves were the property of their owners and could therefore be bought and sold. Like such a slave, Christians “have been bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:20; cf. 7:23) and are the property of the Lord who bought them with His own precious blood (1 Pet. 1:18-19).

Paul greatly desired to be exalted and to receive glory, but the exaltation and glory he sought were God’s and he sought them in God’s way, through the suffering of servanthood and the bondage of slavery. It was said of one leader in the early church that “He belonged to that class of early martyrs whose passionate soul made an early holocaust of the physical man.”

In one of her most beautiful poems Amy Carmichael wrote,

Hast thou no scar?

No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star;

Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?

Yet, I was wounded by the archers, spent.
Leaned me against the tree to die, and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed me, I

swooned:

Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?

Yes, as the master shall the servant be,
And pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole. Can he have followed far

Who has no wound? No scar?

The cost of true greatness is humble, selfless, sacrificial service. The Christian who desires to be great and first in the kingdom is the one who is willing to serve in the hard place, the uncomfortable place, the lonely place, the demanding place, the place where he is not appreciated and may even be persecuted. Knowing that time is short and eternity long, he is willing to spend and be spent. He is willing to work for excellence without becoming proud, to withstand criticism without becoming bitter, to be misjudged without becoming defensive, and to withstand suffering without succumbing to self-pity.

When faithful believers have done everything they can for the Lord to the limit of their abilities and energy, they say to Him, “We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done” (Luke 17:10). It is to such disciples that the Lord will say in return, “Well done, good and faithful slave; . . . enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21).

William Barclay has succinctly commented, “The world may assess a man’s greatness by the number of people whom he controls and who are at his beck and call; or by his intellectual standing and his academic eminence; or by the number of committees of which he is a member; or by the size of his bank balance and the material possessions which he has amassed; but in the assessment of Jesus Christ these things are irrelevant.”

THE PATTERN FOR TRUE GREATNESS

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (20:28)

The emphasis of this verse is in the words just as the Son of Man. What Jesus says about Himself should also characterize His followers. “I am your perfect Pattern,” He was saying, “your supreme Example. My attitude should be Your attitude, and My kind of living should be your kind of living. If you want to be great as God wants you to be great, be like Me.”

To discover what it means to become a godly servant and slave, the disciples had only to look at the Son of Man Himself. Many years after John presumptuously asked to be seated at Jesus’ side in the kingdom, the now humble apostle wrote, “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6). As once his life had centered in himself and his great desire had been to lord it over others, now it was centered in Jesus Christ and was abandoned to the selfless service of others in His name. He no longer sought to manipulate Jesus but only to emulate Him.

In His incarnate role as the Son of Man, Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve. “Although He existed in the form of God, [He] did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:6-9).

Jesus is the supreme example of humility and servanthood, because, as the sovereign of the universe and of all eternity, He subjected Himself to humiliation and even to death. He is the most exalted because He faithfully endured the most humiliation. Although He was the King of kings and had the right to be served by others, He ministered as a Servant of servants and gave His life to serve others.

During the Last Supper, after the disciples had again been arguing about which of them was the greatest, Jesus asked, “Who is greater, the one who reclines at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves” (Luke 22:27). It was probably at this time that Jesus gave them the beautiful object lesson of servanthood recorded by John.

[Jesus] laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. . . . And so when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (John 13:4-5, 12-17)

Jesus’ ultimate act of servanthood, however, was to give His life. “Greater love has no one than this,” He said, “that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Some years ago, Joe Delaney, a star football player for the Kansas City Chiefs, saw three young boys out in a lake, crying out for help and struggling to stay above the water. Although he was himself a poor swimmer, Joe dived into the water and tried to save them. One of the boys was rescued, but Joe and the other two boys drowned. He willingly laid down his life in an effort to save those boys, making the ultimate sacrifice in their behalf.

Although such heroes are lauded, the world understands little of that kind of selflessness, which runs counter to man’s natural inclination to self-preservation. But self-giving is to be the normal pattern for Christians, just as it was the normal pattern for Christ.

In His next statement, Jesus presents the first explicit New Testament teaching about the redemptive work of the Messiah. He would vicariously suffer for the sins of mankind as a ransom for those who trust in Him. He did not simply give His life an example for others. He was no mere martyr for a godly cause, as some claim. Nor was He merely an example of life-giving selflessness, although He was indeed the supreme example of that. Jesus not only lived and died for others but died as a ransom for others.

In that redemptive aspect, of course, His followers cannot follow His example. Nothing that a believer can do will have any direct spiritual benefit for himself or others. If he could not merit his own salvation, he surely cannot merit the salvation of someone else.

Lutron (ransom) was the term commonly used for the redemption price of a slave, the amount required to buy his freedom. It is used only twice in the New Testament (see also Mark 10:45), both times in reference to Christ’s giving of Himself to redeem others. Here it is followed by the preposition anti (“instead of”), expressing an exchange. In 1 Timothy 2:6, the word used for “ransom” is antilutron, which simply combines the two words used here. In both cases the idea is that of a price paid for a life.

The unbeliever is a slave to sin, the flesh, Satan, and death, and it was to redeem men from those slaveries that Jesus gave His life a ransom in exchange for sinners. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Paul explained to believers in Rome. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:1-3). “Having been freed from sin,” the apostle had told them earlier, “you became slaves of righteousness” (6:18). Christ’s sacrifice bought us back from the slavery of sin.

And although the noun lutron is used only twice in the New Testament, other forms of the root word are used frequently, as are numerous synonyms. “For you have been bought with a price,” Paul reminded the worldly Corinthian believers; “therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:20). To the Galatians he wrote, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13; cf. 4:5); to the Ephesians he wrote, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7; cf. v. 14; 4:30); and to Titus he wrote, “[Christ] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:14). Peter reminds believers that they “were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold, . . . but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18-19). In John’s magnificent vision on Patmos he heard the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders proclaim of Christ, “Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).

Jesus’ ransom was paid to God to satisfy His holy justice, and it was more than sufficient to cover the sins of everyone who has ever lived and ever will live. His death was sufficient for “the whole world,” says John (1 John 2:2). It is not the Lord’s will “for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). And because He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4), He has therefore provided atonement for every person. “For this is the will of My Father,” Jesus said, “that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40).

Although His ransom is sufficient for every person, it is valid only for those who believe in Him. It is in that sense that His redemption is for many, rather than for all. The Lord was not teaching limited atonement, the idea that He died only for the sins of a select few. Paul makes it clear that Christ died for the whole world: “The man Christ Jesus . . . gave Himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:5-6).

The basic idea behind anti (for) is that of being set over against something else, and the word was often used to denote an exchange or substitution. In becoming a ransom for many, Jesus exchanged His life for the lives of the many who would believe in Him. It became His death for the deaths of those many, His undeserved punishment for the punishment they deserved. As Isaiah had predicted 700 years earlier, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; . . . He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed” (Isa. 53:4-5).

Christ, then, is the pattern for all to follow in being servant leaders. By giving His life He gained the eternal glory and esteem of God and men. That is the path to greatness.