Text: Matthew 20:25-28; Galatians
5:13; 2 Samuel 5:10
One day as Christ and His
disciples were walking down the road He discerned that there was a rivalry
among them. “Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked
them, ‘What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?’ But they kept
silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the
greatest” (Matt. 9:33,34).
Deep within the hearts and minds
of each of us is the desire to be great. Greatness is what champions are made
of and everybody loves a champion. Therefore, we all want to be great at
something. Anything. The recognition of being better, faster, stronger, or
smarter than anybody else creates in us an emotional high not to be compared with
anything else. What a delight it is to watch an Olympic champion stand on the
platform in proud splendor as he or she prepares to receive the coveted gold
medal. Many dream of being in the same position. To have the eyes of the entire
world focused directly on them…oh, what a thrill!!
Ambitions of honor, superiority,
and precedence cause those who desire to be great to aim high and nothing will
serve them short of being the greatest at what they do. To do what nobody else
has ever done before will drive a person to go to great lengths to accomplish
their goal of greatness. The compulsion to be the best will cause a champion to
train harder, work longer, and sacrifice more than the next person.
The desire for greatness compels
an individual to reach deep inside themselves for that added burst of energy
they never knew they had. Greatness means you give it everything you’ve got and
then some. And the rewards are unspeakable. Praise, wealth, and admiration are
but a few of the many benefits that accompany greatness, a quality many people
would die for. This is greatness as the world sees it but in the kingdom of God
greatness is seen in a different light.
In response to the disciple’s
dispute about who was the greatest, Jesus “took a little child and set him by
Him and said to them, ‘whoever receives this little child in My Name receives
Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him Who sent Me. For he who is least among
you shall be great. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is
the greatest in the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:47,48; Matt. 18:4).
On another occasion the mother of
Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus asking that her two sons be allowed to sit on
either side of Him in His kingdom. The other disciples were angered by this
request to which Jesus replied, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord
it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it
shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you let
him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your
slave” (Matt. 20:25-27).
Greatness, Humility, Servanthood.
These are all synonymous terms because in the kingdom of God they all mean the
same thing. Jesus went on to say, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).
Nearly two thousand years ago the
Son of God left the splendor and majesty of heaven and came to earth to live as
a man. Instead of the praise justly due Him He received ridicule and rejection.
Instead of being honored as the King of kings and Lord of lords many sought to
kill Him and His own twelve companions all ran away and fled at the time of His
greatest need.
One of them betrayed Him into the
hands of those who hated Him most while another openly denied three times that
he even knew Him. Soon thereafter, this humble Servant was hanging on a cross
between two thieves. Naked, bruised, pierced and bloodied, this Champion, Jesus
Christ, hung His head and willfully gave up His life as a ransom for you and
me.
This great Man, this great King,
the Son of God Himself came to earth to be a servant for all people everywhere.
Shortly before His death He set the example by kneeling down in front of His
disciples and washed their feet. In love He even washed the feet of the one He
knew would betray Him. Afterward, He sat back down and explained the meaning of
what had just taken place.
“Do you know what I have done to
you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then,
your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one
another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have
done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his
master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these
things, happy are you if you do them” (John 13:12-17).
The happiest people in the world
are those who serve. The willingness to lay down one’s life for the benefit of
another is the mark of spiritual greatness. To be a servant Jesus said
we must humble ourselves as a little child. To be humble means to be submissive
to the wants and needs of someone else besides ourselves. 1 Cor. 10:24 says,
“Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well being.” Heb. 10:24
tells us, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good
works.” To be humble implies becoming totally obedient to a higher authority.
Many people love to hear and
speak of privileges and glory and are willing to pass by the thoughts of work
and servant hood to others. They look so much at the crown that they forget the
yoke and the cross. 1 Peter 5:5,6 says, “Likewise you younger people, submit
yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be
clothed with humility, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you
in due time.”
We read in Prov. 16:19, “Better
to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the
proud.” A stern warning is given in the verse before this one. “Pride goes
before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (vs. 18). Pride is the
direct opposite of humility. Pride is the act of being self-centered and puffed
up with one’s own greatness. Humility, however, is believing that you are
“strong in the Lord” (Eph. 6:10) and not in yourself and having an attitude of
giving God all the glory.
A prideful man has a conceited
belief in his superiority over others whereas one who is humble will “esteem
others better than himself” (Phil. 2:3). Through pride a person will exalt
their plans, purposes, and desires above the will of God but a humble person
adopts with all his heart the plans and goals of the one to whom he is
submitted. A humble person will faithfully follow the instructions of Phil.
2:4, “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the
interests of others.”
Humility, like love, always puts
others first, especially their beloved Savior. Paul says in Rom. 14:8, “For if
we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore,
whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” For sure, humility is a lesson so
hardly learned that we have need by all ways and means to be taught it.
Greatness comes no other way.
*** Written by Randall Brewer ***
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