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Over the nearly 2000 years of the church’s existence there have been many who have had a wrong opinion of what it means to be a minister of Christ.
There have been many who have seen the titles of minister, reverend, or pastor as a title of respect and or position.
One picture of this that comes to my mind is that of the Pope of the Church of Rome.
Whoever happens to serve in that exalted office is always seen in a regal type of attire.
He wear a special ring that others are required to kiss in order to show their allegiance to his regalness.
But this is far from the picture that Christ painted as to what a real minister is to be.
In fact, the Greek term that is translated minister is diakonos, from which we get the English word “deacon.”
Literally the term means servant, or when used in its verb form it means to serve or wait on tables.
For the last several weeks we have been journeying with Christ on His final journey to Jerusalem.
During this journey we have seen that the Pharisees sought to trap Him in His teaching on divorce and marriage.
We’ve also seen the twelve’s rather low view of marriage and children too.
We have looked at the interview with the rich young synagogue ruler, and then the teaching moment that arose from that discussion.
And we have looked at the parable that Jesus gave to the twelve regarding the laborers in the vineyard, with the emphasis on the first being last, and the last being first.
Today we come to in which Jesus gave the twelve the truth about serving Him.
As we consider this passage we will look at how Jesus was a true servant of God, how the twelve were self-serving, and at the example that Christ left for us to follow.
This morning I want you to see that since Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth in the form of a man was to serve, we, who are His followers, above all other things, should seek to be servants.
Let’s read our passage together.
JESUS WAS THE TRUE SERVANT OF GOD
Let’s consider what it meant for Jesus to be a servant of God.
Ultimately it meant that He would die on the cross.
Let’s look at His prediction concerning His pending death.
This is the fourth time that Jesus told members of the twelve that He was going to die.
The first time He made a statement about it was in .
On this occasion the emphasis was on the role which the elders of Israel working with the chief priests would play in His coming death.
And it was at this time that Peter took Him aside and rebuked Him for the very thought that this could happen to the Messiah.
And of course Jesus, in turn, rebuked Peter for trying to keep Him from His appointed mission.
The second statement came in .
On this occasion it was just Peter, James, and John who were involved in the conversation as they returned form the Mount of Transfiguration.
The third statement came a little later in the same chapter, .
This instance seems to emphasis the Gentiles involvement in His pending death.
This brings us to today’s passage which states for the first time that He would be crucified.
Crucifixion was a uniquely Roman form of execution.
It was the most brutal way that a government has ever used to execute what was considered to be the most heinous of criminals.
As brutal as it was, there were historically documented instances of people surviving crucifixion.
If Rome wanted to make sure that person would actually die, then they would scourge and flog him before his crucifixion.
Then because of the massive amount of blood loss, and sometime exposure of vital organs, the government was assured of the criminals death.
If you will recall, the parable from last week was all about grace.
With that in mind, D.A. Carson wrote: “These three verses may look back to the preceding parable by implying the grounds of God’s grace—viz., what his Son did on the cross.”
[1] Carson, D. A. (1984).
Matthew.
In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.),
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol.
8, p. 429).
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
One of the key factors in servanthood is obedience, and that is seen especially in the life of Christ who, as Paul wrote, was obedient to the point of death on a cross.
Notice verse 28 for a moment: Jesus served God’s purpose through His substitutionary death on the cross.
That is what it meant for Him to be a servant.
Let’s turn our attention now to how
THE TWELVE WERE SELF-SERVING
As we consider this we will look at the self-serving intentions of the sons of Zebedee, and the self-serving indignation of the ten.
THE SELF-SERVING INTENTIONS OF THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE
Often the apostles are pictured in the various Gospel accounts as being kind of dense.
They don’t seem to really understand what it was that Jesus had taught.
Or perhaps they considered that what Jesus taught applied to someone else and not themselves.
I think that this denseness comes shining through the episode of Jesus’ encounter with their mother.
When you piece together information from the various Gospel writers it would seem to indicate the James and John were actually Jesus’ first cousins on His mother’s side.
Their mother’s name was Salome, and she was the sister of Mary.
Thus, she would have had an open door for a close association with Jesus.
And since it seemed that He was heading to Jerusalem to claim His kingdom, at her son’s prompting, she approached Jesus with a request.
Since they were His own blood-kin she wanted to ensure that her sons were given the highest exalted position in Messiah’s kingdom.
This, at a human level, is not really an odd request.
We call it nepotism, and it still happens all of the time.
A common complaint is about a person who is not qualified for a position and gets promoted over a person who is, simply because they are family.
But on the spiritual level this request shows that either James and John were not listening to Jesus’ recent teachings, or else they just did not get the point.
I mean the whole parable emphasizing the first being last and the last being first should have given them a clue.
Not to mention Jesus’ prediction of His pending suffering and death!
Leon Morris wrote: “It was not a minor misunderstanding, but an error at the heart of what service in the kingdom means.”
[1] Morris, L. (1992).
The Gospel according to Matthew (p.
508).
Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.
Lest we be too hard on them, we need to realize that sometimes we don’t get the point of what is being taught either.
Our minds are prone to wander, no matter how good the speaker is.
And sometimes we miss a very important point.
Morris went on to state: “Despite all the teaching Jesus had given, they had still not realized that the kingdom meant lowliness, sacrifice, and rejection in this world.
Who would ask for places of honor in such a kingdom?
Who could ask for places of honor in it?
To ask the question is to show that one has not understood what the kingdom is; it is impossible to seek greatness for oneself in it.”
Notice Jesus’ reaction to this audacious request.
Look at .
What does the reference to drinking the cup mean?
Craig Blomberg wrote:
“‘Cup’ was a common Old Testament metaphor for suffering, especially that caused by God’s wrath.
Jesus asks if John and James are prepared to experience rejection and persecution for their faith.”
Carson wrote: “the brothers do not know what they are asking.
To ask to reign with Jesus is to ask to suffer with him; and not only do they not know what they are asking for, they have as yet no clear perceptions of Jesus’ sufferings.”
Let’s consider who it is that determines who will be exalted to sit on the right and left of Christ’s throne.
“Here, as elsewhere, Jesus makes it clear that his authority is a derived authority.
These positions have already been assigned by the Father: Jesus cannot assign them at a mother’s request.”
(Carson)
Carson wrote: “the brothers do not know what they are asking.
To ask to reign with Jesus is to ask to suffer with him; and not only do they not know what they are asking for (cf.
10:37–39; ; ; ), they have as yet no clear perceptions of Jesus’ sufferings.”
Obviously, James and John were acting in a self-serving manner when they prompted their mother to make this audacious request of her nephew.
But they were not the only self-serving ones in this account.
Let’s look at
THE SELF-SERVING INDIGNATION OF THE TEN
A part of my routine as I begin to study a passage in prep for a sermon is to ask myself questions — sometimes I already know the answers but most of the time I don’t.
The first question I asked from this section was this: “What do “the rulers of the Gentiles” have to do with a bunch of Jewish fishermen?
One thing is that due to the Roman occupation of the Holy Land, these fishermen were painfully aware of the brutal practices of the rulers of the Gentiles.
Crucifixion was not an obscure event, there were times in which the roadways were lined by crosses which contained the so-called enemies of the state.
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