Matthew 20:20-28 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. “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.” “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. 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.” When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 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. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—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.”
We are still seeing in this account of the Zebedee brothers the theme, the last will be first, and the first will be last. We have already discussed the rich young ruler’s inability to give up everything in this world, to become the least in the world’s eyes for the cause of Christ. We have seen the master of a vineyard treat the last hired, the least productive workers, equally with the first hired. In today’s focus Jesus clearly hammers down the idea of people changing positions from last to first and first to last. Those who desire to be great in this world must be servants to all; they must take the place of the least respected or honored in this life of the flesh. The last will be first is a construct that surfaces throughout the Bible. Abraham gives Lot the best land in Canaan when they were deciding where they should live. Jacob, the second born, wins Esau’s birthright as the firstborn. Joseph, a slave, rises to become Pharaoh’s right hand man. Moses, an abandoned Jewish baby, as an adult leads the Israelites out of slavery. We see King Saul chosen from the ignoble tribe of Benjamin, the least of the twelve clans. David, the youngest most immature son of Jesse, was chosen over his brothers to rule Israel. The Babylonian slave Daniel rises to second in command in that country. We know many of the prophets were ordinary men, given the privilege of being oracles of God. In the New Testament, God calls John the Baptist, who is an unknown, to fulfill prophecy: As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’” (Luke 3:4-6) John, a wilderness dweller, was given the privilege of announcing Jesus the Messiah to the world. Jesus, another ordinary man, lived in Nazareth, born from a virgin’s womb, nothing but a carpenter, away from the power structure found in Judea, in Jerusalem. The least will be first and the first will be last runs throughout the New Testament. The disciples were common people. Peter becomes least with his catastrophic denial of Jesus, but is elevated to be the first one to minister about Jesus’ resurrection and his saving power. We see Jesus proclaiming the poor widow who gives two mites as being great in the kingdom of God. Jesus identifies with the least, Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. (Matthew 25:34-36) God honors greatly the last, not the first: kings, rulers, and lords of this world. This theme of elevating the least is a cardinal principal in God’s mysterious plan to redeem humans. God uses the faith of children to illustrate what is needed for humans to be rescued from damnation. He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2-4)
Even in the geopolitical world, Israelites are the least. Small in number and in land, not very important to the world. In the astrophysics of existence, our world is but a speck in our own universe and much less than that in our galaxy and the galaxies beyond. Why we might ask is least so important? Why did not God make us the largest and the best in all of existence? Why do not the Galaxies revolve around our planet, our existence? Probably because God was doing something unheard of, unimagined even by the angels. He was making children, adopted through the work of Jesus Christ his Son. The least are those who must know God through their sheer dependency on something better in this world. Their hope of better depends on God. If Christians lived much longer than anyone else, the whole world would be saved in a generation. If Christians were never ill, never in need, the world would understand there is a God to serve. If all that we know validated the existence of God, faith would not be needed. But faith is the only way to God’s domain, essential in crossing over to a life in the Spirit. To know the everlasting, timeless God, we must activate faith in our lives. In the book of Daniel we get a glimpse of the God we serve. I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow, his hair like purest wool. He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from his presence. Millions of angels ministered to him; many millions stood to attend him. Then the court began its session, and the books were opened. (Daniel 7:9-10 NLT) He is the God of existence. Millions of angels minister to him, others stood to attend him. His Being is beyond our understanding, our knowledge, our awareness of what is. Therefore, his plan of redemption is not based on our feelings, our knowledge, our anthropomorphic understanding of him. No, He is the God of existence, millions of divine entities minister and attend him. But his plan of redemption was for us to know him and to be intimate with him through faith, not knowledge or wisdom, for our concept of heavenly reality is too time warped, too based on our earthly existence. But God’s plan for redemption was not to include us into merely existing, but to change our nature by the work of Jesus Christ into his perfection without one fault. A holy God who sits on a fiery throne will not let flaws enter into his eternal presence—we must be perfect. Perfection does not come from our works, for we are horribly flawed lawbreakers, but comes fully from Christ’s work alone. Everything from the beginning of the Bible to the end points to this reality. A holy God can only be approached by a holy people.
Jesus came as the great servant to all people. So much so that He became the least among people by going to the cross. On the cross, He was mocked and ridiculed. If you have so much power, come down from the cross and restore Israel to its rightful place of honor. In today’s verses, we see Jesus asking James and John, Can you drink the cup I am going to drink? Do you really know what you are asking? In Daniel’s revelation of God we see the Lord descending to be near the Holy One of existence. Of course, where the Lord is so are we. James and John did not have a clue what they were asking. Jesus tells them in the terms they might understand what it would mean to be in the household of God, what it would cost them. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—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.” Jesus’ illustration clarifies the last will be first, and the first will be last. To be great or even accepted into the household of God, you must live a life given to God by faith. Your reality, what you believe is great, is not the way to the throne room. All of what Jesus is saying is counterintuitive to the flesh. We honor greatness, strongness, powerfulness, capableness, not the least. Jesus tells them, if you want to be great in God’s kingdom, you must be as God is, you must be a servant TO ALL. To be his child, you must care for others as He cares for them. Of course Jesus fulfills that template, only him. He became the least so that we could be the most in the kingdom of God. He made himself of no reputation so that we might be known by God. Faith is not a matter of wisdom and knowledge. Faith is the wholehearted belief that God loves his people so much that He will carry them into his household. The body of Christ is made up of us. We have been created NEW. Not made over humans, perfecting us as one would work on an old car, restoring it to newness. No, God has made us new creatures who can relate to him as his children. The Holy Spirit has been given to us to know God, to hear God, and to talk to God. That is not the old creature made new, but we are a new design. Our newness comes through Jesus the Lord. Yes, all of this is counterintuitive, but the plan of God allowed us to be free to rebel, to be made fully in his image. He could have made us perfect in every way, but we would not have been free. Children of God must be free to discover what it means to love God fully. We find this love in Jesus, for He loved us when we were yet sinners. But his love for us makes our allegiance to God strong, an eternal allegiance. Breakfast companions, we are those people who love God, who are placed with God in high places. Let us sit with him, in his presence of PEACE, JOY, AND VICTORY IN CHRIST.
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