Being a good parent isn’t easy. Sometimes our children do and say things that frustrate us and cause us to question our parental abilities. But sometimes they make us proud, too. And when they do, there’s a natural feeling of pride and joy that overcomes us.
The day that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the Bible tells us that God spoke from the heavens, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). Jesus had made his heavenly Father so proud that God broke his silence to commend him. But if we’re not careful, we can allow pride in our children to become more than personal joy, creating a sense of superiority and entitlement.
This morning’s Scripture reading is from Matthew 20: 20-28.
Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. “What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.
But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The world’s view of leadership is completely different from God’s. In this life, a person starts at the bottom and works their way to the top. And once they get there, they look down on everyone else and say, “I’m the boss. I’m in charge. All of you work for me and do what I say.”
But here, Jesus is claiming something completely different. He’s declaring that anyone who desires to be a leader in God’s kingdom must start at the top and work their way to the bottom; to turn the world’s model on its head by letting go of status and pride and becoming a servant for others and a slave for Christ.
As we look at the world today, are the leaders serving their people, or are the people serving their leaders?
What Jesus was essentially telling James and John is that in the Kingdom of God, the way up is actually the way down. The more useful that people want to be for God, the more that they want to please Him, the greater their responsibility becomes in serving others.
It would continue to be a hard lesson for the Twelve to learn, as throughout Jesus’ ministry they would go on to argue back and forth about who among them would be considered the greatest. Even during Jesus’ last meal with them in the Upper Room and just shortly after he had taken the role of servant by washing their feet, his disciples would once again engage in debate about who among them would be looked at as the top man.
Who among you are willing to put yourself last so that you can put others first? Who among you are willing to give up your status and prestige here in this life so that you will have status and prestige in the life to come? That’s the point Jesus was making.
Our children are easily influenced by the ways of this world. Do they see the ways of the Kingdom Life being modeled by us?
Former Blackout Artist 