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24 And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." ~ Matthew 20:24-28
Today, we continue our study of Matthew 20 where the mother of James and John has just made a request of the Lord Jesus that He grant her two sons the right to sit at His side in His kingdom. The disciples didn't understand that in order to wear the crown they had to first go to the cross. Like you and me, the disciples were naturally selfish and their natural instincts were to advance themselves and use anyone else, including the Lord, to do so. Discipleship demands that we actively lay down our lives which is antithetical to our normal way of doing things. When we choose to give up the right to rule our own lives, we gain the ability to be defined by His kingdom. And, we know that we are being defined by Him when we are obeying Him.
In v.24 of today's passage we read, "And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers."
James and John asked to have the preeminent place in the Lord's kingdom. Even though the other ten disciples had the same desire, they responded to the request of the brothers with indignation at the thought of such selfishness. I find it most instructive that the Lord Jesus didn't scold James and John for their ambition. He loved their ambition and He encouraged their adventurous spirit. It was then that He taught them how to fulfill it, by redirecting it to the correct objective, which is to serve others in love and sincerity.
In v.25-26 of today's passage we read, "25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.'"
The self-serving, self-promoting, self-glorying ways of this world are the opposite to the ways of God. This world teaches us to seek greatness through audacious and political power. It also teaches us to reach for greatness through dominating as dictators. This is how the world accomplishes leadership which isn't leadership at all. To God, it is not wrong for us to desire to achieve greatness. But, we must remember that according to God's culture those who are true leaders are those who first follow Him. It is only after we have followed Him as servants do we serve others. As servants, true leaders do not seek to intimidate and dominate those whom they seek to lead. No, true leaders lay down their lives for those who follow them. Humility leads them in an authentic way whereby trust is garnered. Is this not the way the Lord leads us?
In v.27-28 of today's passage we read, "27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. 28 Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
If we desire to be great, we must not seek greatness. To be leaders, we must resist climbing the ladder based upon the ways of this world. We know that we are being defined by this world when the appeal of this world motivates us in a selfish way. We must not manipulate our way that renders the outcome we desire. We must be careful to be defined by the cross of the Lord Jesus, after all that is where God shouted His love to us the most. When we do this, we will find ourselves putting humility before honor. Before we ever seek the crown, we must be defined by the love that motivated the Lord Jesus to go to the cross.
Notice the change in terms here. Where He had previously defined us as servants, now the Lord Jesus refers us to the slave. Slaves are the last to have their needs met, if at all. It was the slave who was treated most lowly. Those who are real leaders have lost sight of themselves to the point that when they are treated as such, they are not offended. The Lord Jesus teaches us to adopt the mentality and the outlook of a slave in our interactions with everyone, not just those in authority over us.
The position and the work of the "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" 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 the one who purchased him. The slave had no rights, he was at the mercy of his master. If we want to be first and we want to be great then we must become the slave of the Lord. We must yield ourselves to Him who bought us at a great price if we are to serve Him, otherwise we will fail at our attempts. This is true greatness according to the God of the Bible.
